A former Orange County Sheriff is asking to be let out of prison early, which would mean cutting his sentence by more than half.

Mike Carona led the Orange County Sheriff's Department for nine years until he was indicted in October 2007 on six felony corruption counts, which included theft of honest services of an elected official and conspiracy and tampering with a witness, the Orange County Register reported. He was found guilty on one of the felony counts in 2009. He began serving his 66-month prison sentence in 2011.

However, now his attorneys are arguing that a new law could mean Carona's prison term was wrongly calculated, and he should be let out as early as next year. If the judge rules in favor of Carona, he could end up serving only half his original sentence and be out of prison early next year, the Register reported. If not, he won't be eligible for release until 2015, as federal law requires prisoners serve 85 percent of their sentence.

"Carona seeks relief on the ground that the court erred in determining his sentence by using honest services fraud as the 'underlying offense' under United States sentencing guidelines," Carona's motion stated, according to the article.

The Los Angeles Times reported the one count the jury found Carona guilty of was witness tampering, for trying to persuade his former assistant sheriff to lie to a grand jury that had been investigating allegations of corruption within the department.

According to the motion filed by Carona's attorneys, he is asking his 5.5-year prison sentence be reduced to 24 to 30 months, the article stated. Carona is being held at a federal prison in Colorado.