Roger Hall was sentenced to 30 years in Harlan Circuit Court on Monday for his connection in the murder of sheriff candidate Paul L. Browning Jr. in 2002.

Hall was granted 359 days of time served toward the case by Special Judge James Bowling.

Commonwealth Attorney Henry Johnson said Hall will be parole eligible after he serves six years.

Hall, 41, was sentenced on an Alford Plea on two counts of criminal facilitation to murder and four counts of second-degree trafficking a controlled substance. The penalty for each count will be five years to run consecutively for a total of 30 years.

Bowling heard the case of Raymond Harris in Bell County last year when he was found guilty by a jury for the murder of Browning.

Hall is the fourth person investigated in the case by Kentucky State Police Det. Michael Cornett.

Browning, a former Harlan County sheriff in the 1980s, was campaigning for the sheriff’s seat when he was killed in 2002 in Bell County. Browning was shot in the head and his body was burned inside his truck at Balkan.

Hall was the narcotics detective under former Harlan County Sheriff Steve Duff. During the third day of the Bell County trial, Hall was named by Dewayne Harris as the man who put the plan into action to have Browning killed. Dewayne Harris is Raymond Harris’s nephew.

Dewayne Harris and Johnny Epperson pleaded guilty in Bell County Circuit Court to their involvement in the murder of Browning.

Dewayne Harris testified during the Bell County trial that Hall gave the order to have Browning killed and provided $1,000 for payment. Dewayne Harris also testified that he and Hall engaged in conversations planning the death of Browning, who was running for sheriff.