A man linked to the 2012 slayings of two St. John the Baptist Parish, LA, sheriff's deputies was released from prison last week on "good time parole" after serving less than half of his original sentence, according to an official with the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
Derrick Smith's release came even though corrections officials acknowledged that early in his detention, he made threats to law enforcement officials and aligned himself with a loose anti-government group known as "sovereign citizens," reports the Advocate.
Smith was one of six people initially charged in connection with the shootout in a LaPlace mobile home park that was the deadliest assault on local law enforcement in years. Deputies Jason Triche and Brandon Nielsen were killed, and two other deputies, Michael Boyington and Jason Triche, were left severely injured.
Smith, who was convicted of being an accessory to murder, was released from the Tensas Parish Detention Facility to supervised probation on Saturday after spending nearly five years in custody.
He qualified for early release because of the state's "good time" law, which allows inmates to earn credit against their jail time by taking self-help classes and exhibiting good behavior, according to Ken Pastorick, a spokesman for the state corrections department.
