GALLIPOLIS — A Gallipolis man, formerly of Columbus, was recently released from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction after he was granted judicial release in the Common Pleas Court of Gallia County.

Brennan J. Duty, 21, was released following a hearing on August 2 in the common pleas court after serving approximately 12 months in a state penal facility.

Judicial release was granted in this case as per an initial plea agreement and upon the recommendation of the prosecutor’s office.

Duty was sentenced on August 22, 2011, to two years of incarceration after he pleaded guilty to the possession of drugs on July 21, 2011.

The defendant was arrested on January 5, 2011, by officers with the Gallipolis Police Department following a probation search of a residence located at 22 Neil Avenue.

During the course of the search, a weapons pat down was conducted on the defendant’s person and a pill bottle containing 39 Opana tablets was reportedly found in Duty’s pants.

The defendant was later indicted and charged with third degree felony possession.

A plea agreement was later filed in this case, and a victim’s statement signed by a representative of the police department agreed to the plea which specifies that the state will recommend judicial release after the defendant has served 12 months of a two-year sentence.

In addition to this, during sentencing, Duty’s operator’s license was suspended for a total period of six months and he was ordered to pay a mandatory $5,000 fine in connection with the case.

He was given credit for 47 days served.

During his release hearing, Duty was ordered to serve 24 months of probation, and, in addition to being subject to the supervision of the adult probation department, he was ordered to obtain a G.E.D. and pay the cost of prosecution.

Also during the January 5, 2011, probation search that resulted in a possession charge against Duty, Christopher T. Dray, 28, Gallipolis, and John S. Burke, II, 32, Gallipolis, were also arrested and charged with one count of drug possession in each of their respective cases.

A journal entry later filed in both cases indicated that the prosecutor’s office would be unwilling to pursue the the cases against Dray and Burke. Both cases were dismissed.

Burke’s case was dismissed in lieu of a plea entered in a separate 2011 case in which he pleaded guilty to trafficking in drugs. Burke was later sentenced to four years of incarceration in this separate case.