Former state probation officer Carlton Arnez Riley left federal court Wednesday still having to serve one of the longest sentences to result from the corruption case that erupted around the Henry County Sheriff's Office in 2006.

But his sentence was nine months shorter than when he'd walked into U.S. District Court in Roanoke.

Riley pleaded guilty last year to trying to buy and distribute a kilogram of cocaine, then appealed his 57-month sentence to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In a relatively rare decision, the appeals court sent it back to U.S. District Judge James Turk for resentencing, saying guidelines for Riley's sentence were not calculated correctly.

Riley had received a higher set of guidelines because he was found to have abused a position of authority. But the Fourth Circuit said prosecutors had not shown that Riley's role as a probation officer was necessarily part of his attempt to buy the cocaine.

Turk said Wednesday he was surprised by the appeals court decision and complimented Riley's attorney, Neil Horn. "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in awhile," Horn replied.

Wednesday's hearing revolved around two themes: Riley's association with the late Calvin Rayfield Moore, a well-known Henry County drug dealer, and his contrition since going to prison a year ago.

"I made a terrible choice. ... I'm extremely sorry for what I did," Riley, 43, told Turk.

As he had at Riley's first sentencing, Turk asked repeatedly what made the probation officer break the law.

"Greed. I was living a double kind of life," Riley eventually answered.

As he has at other points in the Henry County case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Bassford tried to tie Riley to Moore, who died in a car crash just after 20 people in and around the sheriff's office were indicted on charges ranging from racketeering to mishandling evidence. Moore was said to have paid Riley for information about law enforcement activities.

Virginia State Police Detective Aaron Valley testified Wednesday that after Moore was caught amid the seizure of 33 kilograms of cocaine, he offered to set up Riley. In a recorded call, Moore offered to sell cocaine to Riley to sell to others. When Riley came to get it, police were waiting.

Saying Moore was not available to be questioned, Horn urged Turk to disregard any link to his client beyond the attempted drug deal.

Turk said he did not think the 57-month sentence was necessarily too severe a penalty for that transaction. But he said certificates from classes taken in prison and letters from other prisoners showed Riley was using his time well, and that the several benches of friends and relatives in the courtroom showed he had support back home.

Turk dropped Riley's sentence to 48 months, to be followed by three years of supervision by the federal probation office.

"I'll ask the marshal to let you hug your wife and other family members before you go back," Turk said.