Michael J. Madigan , the country’s longest-serving state House leader and the longtime head of Illinois’ Democratic Party, is in prison.

Madigan surrendered Monday to a minimum security federal prison camp in Morgantown, West Virginia, according to a source close to the former speaker.

That facility is 500 miles away from Chicago and located just south of Pittsburgh.

Madigan had asked to serve his time at a prison camp in nearby Terre Haute, Indiana, instead. Either way, he was required to begin serving his sentence at 2 p.m. Monday.

Prison camps like the one in Morgantown are known to have little to no fencing. And inmates have access to a prison commissary. At Morgantown, Madigan could purchase pitted dates for $4.35, a chess set for $7.10 and an alarm clock for $10, according to a m

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