A man convicted of second degree murder in Polk County in 1986 will be paroled early and released from custody on Feb. 15, 2010, according to the N.C. Post Release Supervision and Parole Commission.

Gary Thomas Case, age 55, will be released early from the N.C. Department of Corrections next year after being sentenced to 50 years in prison for second degree murder.

The parole commission sent notice last week of the early release saying Case&squo;s release was approved via the Mutual Agreement Parole Program (MAPP), a scholastic and vocational program that is a three-way agreement between the commission, the division of prisons and the offender.

According to the notice, the state&squo;s current sentencing law, Structured Sentencing, eliminates parole for crimes committed on or after Oct. 1, 1994.

Case was sentenced to 50 years and his projected release date was in 2023.