GARY-- Will Smith Jr., the former Lake County Council president convicted of tax fraud in 2007, is serving the remainder of his prison sentence at a federal halfway house and working in Gary.

Federal Bureau of Prisons officials wouldn't say where Smith's halfway house is located, but they said it is administered by a community corrections office in Detroit.

That office oversees halfway homes, or re-entry centers, in the northern district of Indiana, as well as the western and eastern districts of Michigan.

Federal halfway houses provide a structured and supervised environment for inmates who are nearing release, according to a Bureau of Prisons Web site.

Charles Prewitt, president of Prewitt Construction Co., said Wednesday that he has hired Smith through the federal program to monitor materials and man-hours at a handful of his private construction sites in Gary.

"This is no free lunch here," Prewitt said. "We work."

Smith's projected release date, according to the Bureau of Prisons, is April 10. Records show he is scheduled to spend the first year of his release under court supervision.

A federal jury convicted Smith, Gary attorney Willie Harris and Lake County tax collector Roosevelt Powell of wire and tax fraud last year. The men reported to prison in March.

Federal prosecutors said the men conspired to defraud the Gary Historical and Cultural Society and Lake County out of thousands of dollars. Powell was assigned to a 37-month prison term, and Harris is serving a 55-month sentence.