Carlos Fierro might be released from prison as early as April or as late as August, the state Corrections Department said Tuesday.

The former Santa Fe attorney and lobbyist was sentenced to seven years in prison for vehicular manslaughter after a November 2008 drunken-driving incident in which he hit and killed 46-year-old pedestrian William Tenorio.

Because of good-time credit earned in prison, Fierro could be released early. The exact date, however, depends on the outcome of a department audit of educational programs in which Fierro participated.

Fierro's attorney, Ray Twohig, has said his client has been unfairly targeted. "He had the April release date already earned, and they have revoked good time in order to keep him in prison longer," Twohig said.

Corrections Department officials, who held a news conference Tuesday with members of the Tenorio family, said an internal audit is under way because of the family's concerns that Fierro was being released on parole too soon. They denied Fierro is being unfairly targeted.

Dianna Tenorio, William's daughter, told reporters: "We ask only that he remember that he is not the victim. We are emotionally frustrated with Mr. Fierro reaching out to the media, but we are not surprised to hear he feels he is being treated unfairly. We have altered our lives around the absence of our father. We hope that Mr. Fierro appreciates and is grateful for the second chance of life he has been given."

Francine Garcia, the victims service coordinator for the Corrections Department, said the family's call began a long process of investigating the good time awarded to Fierro and his eventual release date.

"I had questions about his release date," Garcia said. "I took my concerns to our department's Records Bureau, and they verified some inconsistencies."

Corrections Secretary Gregg Marcantel said the audit that began after the Tenorio family's call was not started because of the high-profile nature of Fierro's case.

"If there is any inmate alleging at any level that they are a target of our department, that's just not the case," Marcantel said.

Marcantel commended his staff for taking the request and turning it into a departmental audit that has shown that 40 to 60 inmates at the Central New Mexico Corrections facility in Los Lunas have been enrolled in programs that didn't receive proper approval.

These programs can trim 30 days off inmates' sentences for each class completed. They are aimed at reintroducing inmates into society with job skills.

Fierro completed a cable technician class as well as a culinary arts program and a moral recognition treatment course, according to Jerry Roark, director of the Adult Prisons Division.

According to Marcantel, at least two of these classes didn't receive the required approval from a Corrections Department classification committee.

When such an "administrative breakdown" happens, Marcantel said, inmates can "shop to reduce a sentence."

"It was not designed for the well-being of these inmates to prop them up for success," Marcantel said of the system for enrolling inmates in programs. "We've got to be more purposeful and more organized in the way that we do this."

The audit has resulted in the suspension of two programs until a committee can establish a curriculum to maximize the benefit for inmates who enroll in them, the department said.

Marcantel said any inmate enrolled in the courses or who has completed them will not be penalized with a lump-sum deduction of good-time credit.

"There is no way we are going to take a set of administrative errors on our part and penalize the inmates for it," Marcantel said. "We are going to correct it and we are going to move forward."

Marcantel said all of the lump-sum credits taken from Fierro and other inmates may be rewarded, depending the audit's final findings.

Twohig said he thinks more time should be handed back than is being hinted at now. "It sounds like if they corrected it to August, they need to finish correcting it," Twohig said. "They created the problem; they're the ones that have to straighten it out."

Twohig said there is no lawsuit pending against the Corrections Department regarding his client. But there is a pending habeas corpus petition asking the state District Court to allow Fierro to vacate his no-contest plea to leaving the scene of an accident, vacate his convictions and set a new trial. Among the reasons Fierro wants a new trial are claims of inadequate defense representation in his 2009 trial and unfair influence from media coverage.

Fierro also may be called to testify in court in the case of Alfred Lovato, who has been charged with vehicular homicide as the passenger in Fierro's car.

Contact Nico Roesler at 986-3089 or nroesler@sfnewmexican.com.