Long Beach, California- Michael Galardi, the former strip club owner at the heart of the biggest political corruption probe here in two decades, is one step closer to freedom.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Galardi is serving the final months of a 30-month sentence at a halfway house in Long Beach, Calif. He’s scheduled to be released by Jan. 5.

Galardi, 46, apparently has gotten plenty of time chopped off his sentence for good behavior and other reasons. He didn’t begin serving his term at a federal prison camp outside Denver until July 2007.

Life at a dormitory-style halfway house is much easier on federal inmates. They can work, for example, outside the facility and receive passes to spend additional time away.

Rick Rizzolo, a longtime topless club rival of Galardi, spent the last month of his 366-day federal sentence for tax evasion at a Las Vegas halfway house this year.

Galardi’s cooperation with the government led to the bribery convictions of three former county commissioners, Dario Herrera, Lance Malone and Mary Kincaid-Chauncey. All three are still behind bars. Erin Kenny, a fourth former commissioner who took money from Galardi, also is serving prison time as part of a deal she struck with the government.