A Vicksburg native arrested in Ocean Springs Friday and suspected in a string of burglaries there has a Warren County criminal history dating to the 1980s and was serving his third prison sentence from here when released in February, records show.

Darrah Williams, 43, who formerly lived at 742 Dabney Ave., had been sentenced Aug. 21, 2007, by Circuit Judge Isadore Patrick to serve 12 years in prison, District Attorney Ricky Smith said today.

Smith said his office was informed that Williams was released Feb. 25. He had no information on why Williams was released early, but said any time Williams served in the county jail after his arrest on Feb. 3, 2006, would have counted toward the sentence.

Williams was arrested by Ocean Springs police after being spotted sitting in a car near one of two U.S. 90 businesses that had been reported burglarized, police there said. He was charged with both burglaries and is a suspect in 15 other commercial burglaries in the coast city, Pascagoula Police Lt. Davy Davis said.

Police said Williams forced his way in through a door and stole cash, which later was recovered. Pascagoula police said additional charges are possible.

Williams, reportedly a former contract worker for the BP oil-spill cleanup, remained jailed Tuesday.

Williams has a long record of arrests locally beginning in 1988, Smith said. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in August 1989 and to a nine-year term in June 1996.

Smith said some offenders are eligible for early release after serving about 25 percent of their sentence, but that generally is understood by prosecutors as applying to first- or second-time offenders.

“The person who has multiple prior felony convictions should not be getting early release,” Smith said. “I can understand possibly giving the first- or even the second-time offender a break on jail time, but giving these multiple offenders reduced sentences is really undermining the system.”

Williams’ indictments in the 1990s included a provision for charging him as a habitual offender, which carries a stronger sentence, but that designation was not included in sentencing, Smith said.

Over the past two decades, Williams has faced a total of 16 charges in Warren County Circuit Court. All but two, a 1989 aggravated assault and a weapon possessions charge from 2006, were burglaries.

Former police Chief Tommy Moffett said Williams had been “a prolific burglar” in the area. Targets included restaurants, dental and medical offices and a florist.

Smith said he plans to bring up the issue of early release at an upcoming conference of district attorneys. Many times even the parole officers supervising released prisoners are unsure how the decisions are made to grant early release, he said.

Recent cases of criminals with previous histories charged with other crimes after being given early release include 20-year-old Julius Lamont Reed Jr. of Jackson, who pleaded guilty in Warren County Circuit Court June 5, 2009, to auto theft and auto burglary, and was sentenced by Patrick to serve two years in prison. Reed served less than two months before being released. He was charged in July with capital murder in the death of Vicksburg resident Franklin Salas, who was run down by a vehicle in a Jackson parking lot.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.