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First Posted: 8/7/2012 (AP) Former Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan's brother, who was convicted of assault and battery in connection with their father's death, wants to go back to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence.
Mark Kerrigan on July 27 was released early from prison, where he was serving 2 1/2 years following his May 2011 conviction.
Kerrigan, 47, is scheduled for a hearing in Middlesex Superior Court on Wednesday, when he is expected to ask a judge to return him to prison to serve out the remaining six months of his sentence, Probation Service spokeswoman Coria Holland said.
He is not accused of violating probation, she said, but by going back to prison he would be exempt from conditions of early release, including alcohol counseling, anger management classes and mental health counseling. While out of prison, he has to comply with those conditions or risk being sent back.
By asking to be sent back to prison, Kerrigan would have no supervision and wouldn't have to comply with any programs when his sentence is over and he's released.
Holland said Kerrigan "communicated his wish to complete his remaining six-month prison sentence."
Kerrigan's trial lawyer, Janice Bassil, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday. A Kerrigan family spokeswoman could not immediately be reached by phone.
The judge will decide if Kerrigan returns to jail, prosecutors said.
"We anticipate the judge will determine whether it is in the best interests of the community for the defendant to be returned to jail and then subsequently released without supervision or to be ordered to comply with the conditions of probation that the sentencing judge imposed," said Jessica Venezia Pastore, a spokeswoman for Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone.
Prosecutors said Kerrigan caused his father's death while in a drunken rage on Jan. 24, 2010. They said he put his hands around 70-year-old Daniel Kerrigan's neck with such force that he broke cartilage in his larynx and triggered his heart failure.
Mark Kerrigan was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter in the death at the family's home in Stoneham, just north of Boston. He received the maximum prison sentence despite tearful pleas for leniency from relatives including his younger sister, who won a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France, and a silver at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
Nancy Kerrigan, at the U.S. Championships in 1994, was clubbed on her right knee by an attacker during practice. An investigation revealed that rival Tonya Harding had knowledge of the planning of the attack, which left Kerrigan on the ground clutching her leg and crying "Why me?"
Harding's ex-husband and two other men served time for planning and carrying out the attack. Harding, who didn't win a medal, pleaded guilty to covering up the attack but didn't serve any time. She received a lifetime ban by the U.S. Figure Skating Association and apologized in person to Kerrigan.
The Boston Herald first reported Mark Kerrigan's request to go back to prison.
<a title="Associated Press" href="http://www.ap.org" class="url org fn">Associated Press</a>

Kerrigan brother wants to go back to Mass. prison