AUSTINTOWN Former Austintown trustee and ex-police officer Steve Kent has been released from prison earlier than expected.

Kent wasn’t expected to be released until September 11 after being handed a one-year sentence for tampering with evidence.

Records show Kent was released earlier this week after Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge John Durkin issued a judgment entry late last month, noting that Kent was entitled to 21 days of jail time credit for time spent in the Mahoning County Jail before he was sent to prison.

Durkin’s entry was submitted to the Ohio Attorney General’s office and the Warden of Grafton Correctional Institution, where Kent was imprisoned.

Kent was sentenced after being found guilty of tampering with evidence for doing a factory reset on his cell phone amid an investigation involving a former Poland school student, while serving as a school resource officer. He was acquitted of three other charges, including sexual battery.

Kent’s conviction made him ineligible to continue serving as an Austintown Township Trustee. In June, Judge Durkin denied Kent’s motion for early release from prison.

The Seventh District Court of Appeals has upheld Kent’s conviction.