FERRARO SON WILL GO FREE A MONTH EARLY

Former Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro's son will be freed a month early from his jail term, a sentence that created an uproar because the convicted cocaine dealer spent it in a luxury apartment.

John Zaccaro Jr. completed three months of a four-month sentence imposed for his April conviction. His term was shortened because of good behavior, and he was scheduled to be released Wednesday, authorities said."I can tell you that his sentence is up tomorrow," Corrections Department director John Perry said Tuesday. He said the exact time of Zaccaro's release was confidential.

Zaccaro would be free to go after a meeting Wednesday with his probation officer, said Deputy Corrections Commissioner Tom Perras.

Zaccaro, 24, started serving the sentence in July. Soon after, it became known he was living in a $1,500-a-month apartment in Burlington under the state's house arrest program.

The revelation prompted Gov. Madeleine Kunin to change the program so that no drug dealer could participate in it in the future.

Under house arrest, defendants pay for their own housing while living under close state supervision. Zaccaro spent less than 30 minutes in a Vermont correctional center - the time it took to process his application for house arrest, authorities said.

Perry said Tuesday that all of the necessary paperwork was completed for Zaccaro's departure.