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{p style="text-transform: none; background-color: #ffffff; text-indent: 0px; font: 11px/15px Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Geneva; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; color: #333333; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"}SALEM — As one of his final acts in office, Oregon's outgoing governor, John Kitzhaber, commuted the prison sentence of a young inmate convicted of attempted murder. {p style="text-transform: none; background-color: #ffffff; text-indent: 0px; font: 11px/15px Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Geneva; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; color: #333333; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"}Sang Dao, 25, sentenced to more than 12 years in prison, will be released next month, at least three years early. {p style="text-transform: none; background-color: #ffffff; text-indent: 0px; font: 11px/15px Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Geneva; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; color: #333333; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"}It's not clear why Kitzhaber granted him clemency. The commutation document, obtained by The Associated Press, didn't state a reason, and the former governor didn't reply to an email seeking comment. But Kitzhaber's fiancée, Cylvia Hayes, who's at the center of an ethics scandal that prompted him to leave office, spoke at a ceremony last summer when Dao graduated from college while locked in a correctional facility. {p style="text-transform: none; background-color: #ffffff; text-indent: 0px; font: 11px/15px Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Geneva; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; color: #333333; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"}Hayes faces allegations that she used her relationship to land work for her consulting firm. Kitzhaber has denied wrongdoing on both their parts. {p style="text-transform: none; background-color: #ffffff; text-indent: 0px; font: 11px/15px Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Geneva; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; color: #333333; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"}Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill, whose office prosecuted Dao, supported the clemency, noting that Dao was committed to education and that he took responsibility for his crime. {p style="text-transform: none; background-color: #ffffff; text-indent: 0px; font: 11px/15px Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Geneva; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; color: #333333; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"}Underhill wrote in a letter to Kitzhaber that Dao has taken "exceptional steps" to "improve himself and make amends to our community since his incarceration." {p style="text-transform: none; background-color: #ffffff; text-indent: 0px; font: 11px/15px Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Geneva; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; color: #333333; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"}The commutation was signed Tuesday, a day before Kitzhaber handed power to his successor, Kate Brown. Brown signed the document in her former role as secretary of state. {p style="text-transform: none; background-color: #ffffff; text-indent: 0px; font: 11px/15px Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Geneva; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; color: #333333; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"}Dao will leave prison March 17. Department of Corrections records show his earliest possible release date had been in November 2018. In addition to attempted murder, he was convicted of unlawful use of a weapon and assault. {p style="text-transform: none; background-color: #ffffff; text-indent: 0px; font: 11px/15px Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Geneva; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; color: #333333; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"}In earning his degree while at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility, however, Dao "took advantage of all the benefits and the programs that we offered, and he made the most of them," spokesman C.J. Drake said. {p style="text-transform: none; background-color: #ffffff; text-indent: 0px; font: 11px/15px Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Geneva; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; color: #333333; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"}"His conduct and his reformation while he was with us was exemplary," Drake said. {p style="text-transform: none; background-color: #ffffff; text-indent: 0px; font: 11px/15px Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Geneva; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; color: #333333; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"}Hayes, speaking at the ceremony, told the Portland State University graduates "education is something no one can take from you," according to the Woodburn Independent. {p style="text-transform: none; background-color: #ffffff; text-indent: 0px; font: 11px/15px Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Geneva; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; color: #333333; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"}Dao was transferred in November to a state prison in Salem when he aged out of the youth correctional system. {p style="text-transform: none; background-color: #ffffff; text-indent: 0px; font: 11px/15px Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Geneva; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; color: #333333; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"}He will leave prison more than seven years into his sentence. {p style="text-transform: none; background-color: #ffffff; text-indent: 0px; font: 11px/15px Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Geneva; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; color: #333333; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"}Kitzhaber's clemency requires that he complete three years of probation after his release. The conviction will remain on Dao's record. {p style="text-transform: none; background-color: #ffffff; text-indent: 0px; font: 11px/15px Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Geneva; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; color: #333333; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"}Dao's lawyer did not return a call seeking comment.