A Georgia man — who was sentenced to a minimum of 15 months in prison on separate felony gun and drug charges — was granted early parole in Butler County Court on Tuesday.

Leighton Ellis-Kerr, 33, of Decatur, Ga., was paroled by county Judge William Shaffer after his court-appointed attorney, Joel Hills, filed a motion on his behalf. Shaffer ordered Ellis-Kerr's release pending the completion of a parole plan.

Parole was granted after Hills advised the court that his client has remained free of misconduct at the prison and had reached his minimum incarceration date.

On June 27, Shaffer had sentenced Ellis-Kerr in two cases to a total of 15 months to three years in the Butler County Prison. At that time, he already had served 323 days behind bars — time that was credited toward his sentence.

In one of the cases, Ellis-Kerr pleaded guilty to a felony for possession of a firearm without a carry license.

The charge was the result of a multihour stakeout by city police on May 8, 2018, according to police testimony in earlier court appearances.

In the other case, Ellis-Kerr pleaded guilty to a felony charge of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance. City police arrested Ellis-Kerr on Aug. 9, 2018, while he was in a car on Whitmire Avenue with a woman.

Police said that along with the defendant and woman, they saw what appeared to be three plastic bags containing crack. The drugs were reportedly on the passenger-side floor where Ellis-Kerr was seated.

A search at the scene also turned up a coffee filter with suspected crack in it, and a small bag of suspected marijuana that police said belonged to the defendant.

Ellis-Kerr has been in the Butler County Prison since he was booked following his arrest in the drug case. He was given $75,000 bail.

At Tuesday's court hearing, county Assistant District Attorney Mark Lope said he did not oppose the early release on parole. “It looks like Mr. Ellis-Kerr has his time in,” Lope said.

At the hearing, Hills also asked that his client's two cellphones, seized by police in the drug case, be returned to him. Lope said he believed the Butler County Drug Task Force had the property.

Shaffer ordered that the phones “be returned to the defendant, unless the commonwealth on behalf of the drug task force files an objection.”