Oscar Pistorius to be released on parole in August

South African Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius listens to the verdict in his trial at the high court in Pretoria,Friday, Sept. 12, 2014. Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide on Friday, escaping the more serious charge of murder for the killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, and will now battle to avoid going to prison. (Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko)

South African Olympic and Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius, center, is escorted to a police van after his sentencing at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014. Pistorius was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, ending a trial that has gripped South Africa and the world. (Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko)

Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius reacts as Judge Thokozile Masipa (unseen) delivers her verdict at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria September 12, 2014. Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide on Friday, escaping the more serious charge of murder for the killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, and will now battle to avoid going to prison. (REUTERS/Alon Skuy/Pool)

South African Olympic and Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius (C) leaves the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, September 11, 2014. A South African judge cleared Pistorius of all murder charges on Thursday, saying prosecutors had failed to prove the Olympic and Paralympic track star intended to kill his girlfriend or an imagined intruder on Valentine's Day last year. (REUTERS/Mike Hutchings)

Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius reacts as he listens to Judge Thokozile Masipa's judgement at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, September 11, 2014. A South African judge cleared Oscar Pistorius of all murder charges on Thursday, saying prosecutors had failed to prove the Olympic and Paralympic track star intended to kill his girlfriend or an imagined intruder on Valentine's Day last year. REUTERS/Kim Ludbrook/Pool

Oscar Pistorius reacts in the dock as Judge Thokozile Masipa delivers her verdict during his murder trial in Pretoria, South Africa, Thursday Sept. 11, 2014. Masipa ruled out a murder conviction for the double-amputee Olympian in the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, but said he was negligent, raising the possibility he'll be convicted of culpable homicide. (AP Photo/Kim Ludbrook, Pool)

Oscar Pistorius cries in the dock in Pretoria, South Africa, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014 as Judge Thokozile Masipa reads notes as she delivers her verdict in Pistorius' murder trial. The verdict is expected to take hours and possibly two days to present. She will decide with the help of two legal assessors if Pistorius is guilty of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. (AP Photo/Kim Ludbrook, Pool)

JOHANNESBURG — South African athlete Oscar Pistorius will be released on parole on Aug. 21 after serving 10 months of a five-year sentence for culpable homicide of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, authorities said.

The Olympic and Paralympic track star is behind bars in the capital, Pretoria, after being convicted in October after a seven-month trial.

The release of Pistorius, whose lower legs were amputated when he was a baby, had been largely expected under South African sentencing guidelines that say non-dangerous prisoners should spend only one-sixth of a custodial sentence behind bars.

A prison service statement said Pistorius would spend the remainder of his time under “correctional supervision”, a form of house arrest.

Steenkamp, a 29-year-old law graduate and model, died on Valentine’s Day in 2013 when Pistorius shot her through a locked toilet door at his luxury Pretoria home.

Prosecutors had pushed for a murder conviction, but the athlete maintained he fired in the mistaken belief an intruder was hiding behind the door, a defense that struck home with many in a country with one of the world’s highest rates of violent crime.

The state won its bid to appeal the culpable homicide conviction and will seek a murder conviction when the case is heard in November.

Pistorius could face a prison sentence of at least 15 years if convicted of murder.