By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – A 44-year-old Alabaster man now has an additional 10 years in the Alabama Penitentiary, after he pleaded guilty to distributing cocaine in Alabaster while he was on work release for a previous drug charge.

Kevin Shawn Hale, who lists an address on Old Highway 31 in Alabaster, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance during a May 23 hearing in front of Shelby County District Court Judge Daniel Crowson. Through an agreement with prosecutors, an additional distribution of a controlled substance charge against him was dropped.

Because Hale had five previous felony convictions, he was sentenced to 10 years in the Alabama Penitentiary, and was ordered to complete and pay for a substance abuse education and treatment program and surrender his driver’s license for suspension.

Hale’s most recent sentencing was tied to an Oct. 27, 2017, incident, during which he distributed cocaine on Hill Top Drive in Alabaster.

When he was arrested in 2017, Hale was serving a seven-year prison sentence imposed on him in 2016 for distributing cocaine in Alabaster in 2015. Records indicate he was in the work release program at the time of his 2017 arrest.

He currently is being held at the Ventress Correctional Center in Barbour County.