The former governor said he never took money from taxpayers. In an interview with CNN in 2014, Edwards and his wife spoke about his run for Congress. They starred in a short-lived reality TV show “The Governor’s Wife” on A&E, chronicling Edwards’ post-prison life. In an effort to make a political comeback in 2014, he announced a bid for Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District but lost to Republican Garret Graves in a runoff election.Īfter leaving federal prison in 2011, Edwards married his third wife, Trina, who is roughly 50 years his junior.

Bush but never got one and was released from prison in 2011. He requested a pardon from then-President George W. In 2001, Edwards was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $250,000 for extorting payoffs from people who had applied for riverboat casino licenses. A former US Navy aviation cadet and lawyer, he began his career as a city councilman and state representative before being elected to Congress, and then governor. He was elected to a third term in 1983 and a final term in 1991, when he beat Ku Klux Klansman David Duke. It’s heartbreaking for me because I know he so wanted to make Eli’s 8th birthday party August 1,” she said in a statement released Monday, referencing the couple’s son.īorn Augin Marksville, Louisiana, Edwards served two consecutive terms as governor from 1972 to 1980. “Nothing bothered him except bothering other people. Trina Scott Edwards remembered her late husband as being “optimistic all the time.”

I love Louisiana and I always will,” Edwards said, according to the release. I tried to help as many people as I could and I hope I did that, and I hope, if I did, that they will help others, too. “I have lived a good life, had better breaks than most, had some bad breaks, too, but that’s all part of it.

Last week, Edwards placed himself in hospice care following an examination at the hospital after complaining of “pain in his right lung,” according to the statement. Edwin Edwards, a Democrat who served four terms as governor and nearly 10 years in federal prison for extortion, conspiracy and racketeering, has died at age 93.Įdwards died peacefully Monday morning surround by his family and friends, Leo Honeycutt, a family spokesperson, told CNN in a statement.

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