Former NYPD Sgt. Erik Duran will be released from prison as he fights his manslaughter conviction for fatally flinging a picnic cooler at a fleeing drug suspect.

Duran, 38, was granted $300,000 bail by a state appeals court judge in a Friday ruling, leaving his family “ecstatic” at the prospect of having him home soon, said his former union head.

The married father of three has been behind bars since April 9, when Bronx Judge Guy Mitchell sentenced him to at least three years in state prison.

“He should have never been in there to begin with,” said Sergeants Benevolent Association President Vincent Vallelong.

The Bronx native, a 13-year veteran of the NYPD, was charged by the state Attorney General’s Office after he threw a full Igloo cooler at 30-year-old Eric Duprey during an undercover drug sting in August 2023. 

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Duprey was trying to flee arrest on a moped when he was hit by the red cooler, causing him to crash and leaving him with fatal head injuries, authorities have said. 

Mitchell found Duran guilty of manslaughter following a non-jury trial in February. The judge then hit him with a prison term of 3-to-9 years, calling it a “general deterrent” to other police officers — and stoking a firestorm among law enforcement supporters.

Duran’s lawyers immediately filed a Hail Mary bid to get the ex-cop, who the NYPD fired upon his conviction, freed from lockup as they attempt to get the conviction, and ensuing sentence, overturned.

“To be honest, I didn’t know which way this was gonna go because the thought of what the justice system did to him before, you didn’t know what was gonna happen,” Vallelong told The Post.

It’s unclear how long it will take for Duran to be freed from prison, but the court ruling said his bail will need to be posted within five days and one of his lawyers, Andrew Quinn, said he was unlikely to be released as early as Friday.

He will also need to give up his passport along with ponying up the bail in cash or bond, according to the decision from Judge Saliann Scarpulla, of New York’s First Judicial Department, Appellate Division.

Another of Duran’s lawyers, Arthur Aidala, said the “rare” ruling showed Scarpulla believed there were legitimate issues that could play in Duran’s favor in getting his conviction overturned.

“It was obvious to the court that he is not a flight risk nor a danger to the community and was entitled to be at home with his family during pendency of the appeal,” Aidala added.

Vallelong said he spoke to Duran’s wife and the ex-cop’s family can’t wait to get him home.

“There are no words to describe how happy they are and that’s what this is all about,” he said, adding Duran’s loved ones were “ecstatic.”

Duran has been locked up at Elmira Correctional Facility since Monday, according to jail records, after he spent a short stint in a Rikers Island jail cell following Mitchell’s controversial sentencing decision.

The former cop claimed during his trial that he threw the cooler at Duprey because other officers’ lives were in danger.

But Mitchell determined that Duran only wanted to take Duprey into custody during the chaotic scene on Aug. 23, 2023, and that he should not have used lethal force.

Mitchell also refused to allow Duran to remain out on bail pending his appeal after his sentence was handed down, and the former cop was hauled off to prison right away.

The AG’s Office declined to comment on the latest legal twist, but its prosecutors had argued against the baill request, the judge’s ruling shows.

A lawyer for the Duprey family said the father of two’s loved ones were “profoundly disappointed” by the court’s decision to let Duran out of prison.  

“Although we acknowledge and respect the legal process, this ruling brings renewed pain to a family already grappling with a significant loss,” said attorney Jon Roberts in an email. 

“Their priority remains holding those responsible accountable and ensuring the gravity of the situation is fully recognized. We will continue to support the Duprey family as the case moves forward, with confidence that the justice system will ultimately deliver a fair outcome.”

A spokesperson for the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said Friday it needed to receive certain paperwork pertaining to the ruling before moving forward with the release.

“Once the official order is received, the Department will review it and take any action required in accordance with the court’s directive,” the spokesperson said.

It’s unclear if Duran would need to appear in a Bronx court before he is released on bail pending his battle to convince a higher court to toss his conviction.

“Now the focus is on this appeal, getting this behind Erik,” said Vallelong. “I’m so glad that this turned out the way that it did as of right now. Now the next step is to make sure that the appeals process goes the right way and we win it on appeal.” 

The sergeants’ union has been working with the National Police Defense Foundation to raise money for his appeal, including from a fundraiser that was hosted by the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

Duran’s immigrant mother, who came to New York from Ecuador in 1981, told The Post in a statement this week that her son’s legal trouble turned her family’s American dream into a horrible nightmare.

Aidala said Duran’s legal team will argue in its appeal that testimony and video of the fatal encounter showed the ex-cop wasn’t acting recklessly and that Mitchell reached the wrong verdict.

“We will have a robust written appeal and a robust oral argument saying that under the circumstances Sgt. Duran did the right thing, was not reckless and the case should be thrown out,” Aidala told The Post.