A former gang member who killed a man in 1992 in Springfield over a “perceived” insult directed toward the assailant and his associates has been granted parole from a life term, records show.

The state Parole Board granted release to Hector Arriaga, 52, to a halfway house after four months in lower security, according to a ruling dated Sept. 23.

The ruling said Arriaga was convicted of first-degree murder in September 1993 for the slaying one year earlier of Arnaldo Esteras.

First-degree murder carries a sentence upon conviction of life without the possibility of parole. But Arriaga became parole-eligible after the state’s highest court last year struck down life terms without the possibility of parole for defendants aged 18 to 20 at the time of their crimes, the ruling said.

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