CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte's former mayor will go to prison in six days.
PAST COVERAGE: Former Mayor Cannon gets house arrest for voting as felon
Patrick Cannon was sentenced to 44 months in prison for accepting bribes as mayor, but he could serve much less than that.
Legal expert James Wyatt said Cannon could end spending only 24 months, not 44 at the federal prison in Morgantown, West Virginia.
"It won't be 44 months and it could be something substantially less," Wyatt said.
Cannon could get six months knocked off his sentence for good behavior.
Another year would get reduced if he enters an alcohol treatment program that has been recommended for him.
He could get a few more months shaved off toward the end of the sentence and go to a halfway house near Charlotte.
That 44-month sentence to prison could turn into 24-30 months.
"These are very standard programs in the prison system," Wyatt said. "This is not anything that's designed for Patrick Cannon."
The biggest wild card is the drug treatment program.
Cannon has been recommended for it to treat an alcohol problem, but because so many apply for it, he's not guaranteed to get in.
"If he gets into that, that's a big if, then he would have another 12 months reduced," Wyatt said.
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