CANAAN TOWNSHIP, Penn. (WIVB) — Former Buffalo Sabres owner and founder of Adelphia Communications Corp. John Rigas, 91, achieved an early release from his 12-year prison sentence Monday afternoon.

Rigas, who is fighting a cancer diagnosis, was serving time for a $1.9 billion looting and debt-hiding scandal.

His original jail sentence would have kept him behind bars through January 2018. Rigas’ sentence was being served at Canaan Correctional Facility in northeastern Pennsylvania.

He was granted a “compassionate release” due to the sickness that has made it unlikely he will live until the end of 2016.

The order saying he could be released early was signed by Judge Kimba Wood on Friday.