Conrad Murray Released From Jail After Serving Half Of His Prison Sentence

Dr. Conrad Murray, who was sentenced to four years in jail for administering the fatal dose of the drug that killed pop icon Michael Jackson, was released from jail today.

The news was first reported by NBCLA's Twitter feed:

Murray, 60, who served as Jackson's personal physician, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2009.

The coroner determined Jackson died of acute propofol intoxication; propofol is a powerful surgical anesthetic that Conrad was using to treat the singer's insomnia. Jackson also had Valium, Ativan and Versed in his system, The Associated Press reported.

During the sentencing phase of the trial, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor described the doctor's treatment of Jackson as "medicine madness."

"Some may feel this was a medical malpractice case. It wasn't. It was and is a criminal homicide case," Pastor said. "Michael Jackson died not because of an isolated, one-off occurrence or incident. He died because of a totality of circumstances which are directly attributable to Dr. Murray."

Although Murray was sentenced in 2011 to four years in prison, he was released two years early for good behavior.

In an interview with the "Today" show, Murray described his plans after leaving jail.

"I will restart my life and, God willing, I will be a model to show the world that despite adversity, and when bad things happen to good people, they can restart their life and succeed," Murray said.

Murray's medical license was suspended; however, his attorneys have already filed petitions in Texas to have it reinstated, ABC News reported.

The news prompted Brian Panish, the attorney for Jackson's mother Katherine, to release a statement to ABC News, saying, "We hope he can never practice medicine again and will not violate his Hippocratic oath and hurt another patient."