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Burglary sentence commuted A man convicted of burglary in Josephine County may be released from state prison early after Gov. John Kitzhaber commuted his sentence Monday. The inmate, LeRoy Denton Scott, witnessed the 1996 murder of another inmate in the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. His cooperation with law enforcement and his testimony for the prosecution helped convict inmate John Zalme in the murder of inmate Jackie Sharp. "He witnessed a grisly murder in prison, and frankly, his testimony placed his life in danger," said Henry "Chip" Lazenby, Kitzhaber's legal counsel. As a result, Scott is housed in an out-of-state prison. Kitzhaber's commutation, his first in his five years as governor, does not free Scott. But it makes it possible for the state Board of Parole to release Scott two years earlier than his projected date of April 30, 2003. Lazenby said although several inmates cooperated with investigators, Scott was the only one who had not been subject to Parole Board discretion in setting a release date. Scott's request for a 20 percent reduction in his sentence was supported by the district attorneys' offices in Marion County, which prosecuted the prison murder, and in Josephine County. Scott was convicted of first-degree burglary in Josephine County in 1995, after he entered a neighbor's property to retrieve goods he believed belonged to him. He received a 10-year sentence. The shortened sentence does not relieve Scott of his obligation for six years of post-prison supervision as a part of sentences related to the 1995 burglary conviction. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA