A Chesapeake man who pleaded guilty in April to vehicular homicide has been released from prison after serving 6 months of a 3-year prison sentence.

Timothy Crouch, 26, was granted a judicial release Oct. 8 by Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge Richard Walton.

Under the terms of the release, Crouch must complete a drug rehabilitation program at the STAR Community Justice Center in Franklin Furnace and will be on community controlled sanctions under intensive supervised probation for four years. Crouch was transferred to STAR Oct. 14.

Crouch was sentenced to 3 years in prison in April after he pleaded guilty to charges of

vehicular homicide, aggravated possession of drugs and possessing criminal tools. The charges stem from an accident Nov. 3 in which Juanita Moore, 84, also of Chesapeake, was killed. In a written statement, patrol officers stated that Crouch's car was southbound on that roadway, but was in the northbound lane at the time of the accident. Moore was pronounced dead at the scene.

The judicial release is drawing negative comments from some Chesapeake area residents. One resident, who asked not to be identified, said he thought Crouch should have been required to serve more prison time for Moore's death.

"I grant you, it is not unusual to plea bargain a case. But I have known people get three times more jail time for theft and assault," the man said. "Six months for killing a woman? Give me a break."

Crouch's attorney D.L. McWhorter did not return calls.