A Butler man who was resentenced to serve 4 1/2 to 9 years in state prison after violating terms of his original sentence, which included intermediate punishment, is expected to be released because intermediate punishment sentences are no longer legal.

In a post-conviction relief hearing Thursday in Butler County Common Pleas Court, Judge Kelley Streib said she would enter an order vacating the resentencing order and reinstating the original sentence for Ryan Zachary Wilson, 31.

After pleading guilty to 10 felony charges and three misdemeanor charges in six cases filed by Butler Township police and one case filed by Butler City police, Wilson was sentenced on Oct. 8, 2019, to concurrent sentences of 24 months probation and 24 months intermediate punishment in most of the cases by Judge William Shaffer.

Wilson also was ordered to pay a total of $3,268.65 in restitution. The cases involved charges of retail theft, conspiracy to commit retail theft, conspiracy to commit criminal trespass, simple assault and intimidation of a victim or witness.

On Aug. 6, 2021, Shaffer resentenced Wilson to serve consecutive sentences totaling 4 1/2 to 9 years in prison.

Wilson was resentenced because he violated terms of his intermediate punishment by leaving a halfway house, Assistant District Attorney Mark Lope said after the hearing. He is serving the sentence at the state prison in Greene County.

During Thursday’s hearing, Lope and public defender Maura Palumbi, who is representing Wilson, told Streib that the state legislature repealed the law that instituted intermediate punishment.

Lope said the legislation that repealed intermediate punishment does not allow courts to resentence defendants. The repeal restricts the court to imposing the original sentence, he said. Wilson’s original sentence is 24 months of probation, Lope said.

Palumbi said Wilson has completed that sentence.

Wilson has already served a total of about 1,200 days in confinement, Lope said before the hearing began.