Posted on 04/28/2006 10:43:52 AM PDT by HAL9000
BENTON, Ark. (AP) -- Former Saline County prosecutor Dan Harmon, sent to federal prison on drug charges after his conviction in 1997, has been released from custody early because of assistance he gave in a murder conspiracy case.
Harmon had been sentenced to 11 years on public corruption and drug charges, but a federal judge in 2003 shortened Harmon's sentence after he helped thwart an attack on a federal agent. Harmon left prison Thursday.
Jurors in 1997 found that Harmon extorted money and drugs from defendants in exchange for dropped charges, and also said Harmon conspired with others to distribute marijuana. In 1998, he was convicted on four drug charges after his arrest in Conway while awaiting sentencing in the earlier case.
Harmon had been set for possible early release in June 2007 but asked for a reduced sentence after helping prosecutors in the murder conspiracy case. Prosecutors said another inmate confided in Harmon that he planned to kill an FBI agent and an informant who were responsible for his prison term.
The inmate, John McNeill, sought Harmon's help in obtaining false identification "so that once released, McNeill could change his identification to be better positioned to kill the two persons," a court document said. McNeill was sentenced to another 10 years in prison.
After Harmon testified at McNeill's trial, U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright reduced Harmon's sentence by 21 months.
Harmon had spent the last six months at a Little Rock halfway house. He will be on probation for three years.
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