Casey Anthony will be released from jail July 13

ORLANDO, Fla (Reuters) - A Florida judge on Thursday sentenced Casey Anthony to four years in jail for lying to police after her daughter disappeared, but she will be released from custody next week after getting credit for time served and good behavior.

Court officials said Anthony, 25, will be let out of jail on July 13, having received credit for the 1,043 days she spent behind bars since her arrest.

Anthony was acquitted on Tuesday of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee in 2008 but on Thursday received the toughest possible punishment for providing false information to law enforcement during the investigation.

Each of the four misdemeanor counts Anthony was convicted of carried a maximum of one year in jail. Judge Belvin Perry ordered the one-year terms to run consecutively, and also imposed a $1,000 fine for each count.

Perry said as a result of Casey Anthony's lies, law enforcement spent "a great deal of time, energy and manpower looking for young Caylee Marie Anthony."

Anthony did not speak during the sentencing hearing. She wore her long hair loose rather than pulled tightly back as she had during the trial and smiled while she chatted with defense attorneys before the proceedings.

But her face tightened as the judge discussed her lies and handed down the punishment.

The hearing drew Anthony's fans, critics and a large police presence to the Orlando courthouse where her closely watched trial played out over more than six weeks this summer.

"Boycott any books, movies by Casey," one protester's sign read.

"Casey will you marry me," read a sign held by 20-year-old pizzeria worker Tim Allen.

Reaction to the sentence was mixed. Some people came hoping to witness Anthony walk out of the courthouse a free woman.

"I would like to put my eyes on her," said Darwin Outsey, a 33-year-old Orlando car detailer who agreed with the murder acquittal but thought Anthony was at least guilty of being an accessory to the killing.

Others criticized the sentence as too lenient.

"She doesn't deserve to walk free among civilians who care for their children," said Dobia Wright, 30, an unemployed tree trimmer from Orlando who brought along his 3-year-old son.

Where Anthony will go after her release is a mystery. Her parents, George and Cindy Anthony, left the courtroom after the verdict without speaking to their daughter but were back in the regular seats to hear the sentence on Thursday.

Afterward, their lawyer shook hands with defense attorney Jose Baez but would not comment to Reuters about the family's plans.

Anthony's punishment is a far cry from the death penalty prosecutors had planned to seek if jurors found her guilty of first-degree murder.

The prosecution said Anthony smothered Caylee with duct tape on June 16, 2008, drove around for several days with Caylee's body in her car trunk and then dumped the remains in woods near the Anthony family home.

The defense argued that Caylee died in an accidental drowning in the family's backyard pool.

Millions of Americans followed the trial and many were stunned, even angered, by the verdict reached by jurors on Tuesday.

The jury also found Anthony not guilty of aggravated child abuse or aggravated manslaughter of a child. Jurors who have spoken out since said they felt there wasn't enough evidence for a murder conviction, but their decision left them in tears and feeling sick.

(Writing by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Greg McCune)

20,635 comments

  • Kendermage
    Kendermage 9 hours ago
    Maybe we need to give Scott Peterson a weekend pass and let him take her fishing on Christmas.
  • Holly
    Holly 4 hours ago
    question...how if this 'so caring and loving mother' knew her child drowned why didn't she report it to have a proper burial? why did it take so long? why was she in the woods? why did she have duct tape over her mouth? why did this 'caring and loving mother' go out and party get a tattoo was angry when her parents uped the reward money to find caylee (which was the same amount as her bail money?....sick sick sick i hope those jurors can live with their decision
  • Robert Luxmore
    Robert Luxmore 2 hours ago
    if she writes a book and we the public buy it, then shame on us, that is like condoning what she did to her child!
  • TK's Rag
    TK's Rag 3 hours ago
    The female juror I saw interviewed last night seemed like she was in a different trial than the one I listened to. First and foremost is the most obvious question, if it were an accidental drowning, why wasn't 911 called? If it were an accidental drowning, what was the reasoning for duct tape around her mouth and nose, to hold the water in? I don't know if they picked a particular dumb group of people for this jury, but why were those questions not asked and not answered. The drowning makes no sense at all, it is illogical because people don't get convicted of murder whent they call in an accidental drowning in a backyard swimming pool. Also, nothing makes sense in Casey Anthony's answers as to why she waited 31 days to notify that her daughter was missing. I feel like I am on another planet with this jury, Anthony's lawyer and her. It just does not add up.
  • Jennifer
    Jennifer 2 hours ago
    I would like to slap that snooty smile right off her face!!
  • Angela Baumbarger
    Angela Baumbarger 2 hours ago
    i don't understand, if the defense says she "drowed" accidentally, isn't that still considered child neglect, abuse?? and then if so, how did her body end up wrapped and "dumped" like garbage one the side of the road?? who did that?? Wow , in Delaware, if your a mom and ANYthing happens to your child, even if you don't know anything about it, you get charged with felony child abuse and look at serving 15 years. I think the Feds should prosecute her for violating Kaylee's civil rights. This is again another devistating show of how people with money get whatever they want. If you are charged, get a fancy lawyer and get away, if your the victim's family, the prosecutors go out an make a case out of nothing... This is so sad, but Kaylee is at peace and she will not ever have pain or sadness. Casey and her parents, the is a special place in hell waiting for them.
  • foxy54495
    foxy54495 5 hours ago
    I really think she killed her 2 year old daughter.
  • timothy g
    timothy g 4 hours ago
    sad that this is the country we live in where killers are awarded but hard working folks are punished by the same goverment
  • joyce
    joyce 2 hours ago
    Casey Anthony is not allowed in Georgia- We have enough murders here.
    Come on America lets stick together and not buy anything of hers.
  • Tabatha
    Tabatha 9 hours ago
    One day she will get what she deserves..RIP baby girl.
  • Holly
    Holly 5 hours ago
    look at that smile...to me that says i just got away with killing my child...what a sick justice system we have in our broken country..lovely srry if this offends anyone just my opinion
  • Aliya
    Aliya 3 hours ago
    I'm so disgusted by the attorney's but worse the mother...how was your child murdered and you're able to smile...? How do people like this sleep at night smh it's a miscarriage of justice for this poor baby who never asked to be brought into this world and was senselessly taken out. The attorneys, mother, grandmother and everyone else backing this ridiculous woman's story need to be lined up and stoned (forgive me God) It makes me so angry!!!!!
  • Doug
    Doug 8 hours ago
    She better move out of the country and have plastic surgery, because someone is going to do to her what she did to her daughter if she is recognized.
  • Jane
    Jane 8 hours ago
    IF YOU FEEL THE JURY WAS WRONG,DO NOT BUY HER BOOK! DO NOT GO TO HER MOVIE, IF YOU ARE DISGUSTED WITH HER DO NOT PUT MONEY IN HER POCKET. TURN YOUR BACKS ON HER AND DO NOT LET HER PROFIT FROM ANY OF THIS. THIS IS OUR ONLY WAY TO TRY TO GET SOME JUSTICE FOR LITTLE CAYLEE .
  • Shayne
    Shayne about an hour ago
    To all those people who says she is innocent, Answer these questions am not gonna judge her but am just confused.

    1.Why did she wait 31 days to report her child missing?
    2. How did the body end up in the woods if she drowned in their pool?
  • Carmen
    Carmen 3 hours ago
    If the jury held the same standard for Scott Peterson that they did for Casey Anthony, Scott Peterson would now be free. Up until that time all the police had to go on was a missing women and a single strand of hair in his boat. With the exception of that one hair, the Scott Peterson case was all circumstantial. There was no proof, save one hair in his boat that linked him to her death, and even that one hair could be explained by transference.
    Sure the police eventually found Laci’s body, and the medical examiner found that she was murdered, but there was no link, other than circumstances, that tied him to the murder. There is so much more evidence, circumstantial and forensic, linking Casey Anthony to the death of her child than was ever linking Scott Peterson to the murder of Laci, yet one jury considered Scott guilty and another found Casey not. I suspect the latter jury’s acquittal of Casey Anthony had more to do with a personal attraction for her than actually following the facts of the case.
  • CoCo
    CoCo 9 hours ago
    Why didn't the jury find her guilty on the Child Abuse
    Charge? If they didn't feel they had enough to convict her of murder.
    If I didn't report my missing child for over a month, never searched for her, never cared...if that's not abuse....what is?
  • Pete in VA
    Pete in VA 10 hours ago
    How can Caylee be missing for 31 days before being reported as missing and this NOT be child abuse? Yes the jurors blew this charge.
  • jim s
    jim s 10 hours ago
    Let's see - Smell of decomposition in the trunk (human decompensation does not smell like rotting pizza, unless that was some bad pizza). Lying to her mother about the whereabouts of Caylee. Blaming a nonexistent nanny. Partying all the while her child was missing. Getting a tattoo. A mother who is worried about her child does not do these things. She calls the police and says her daughter is missing. These things say she is guilty.
  • Kelly
    Kelly 10 hours ago
    I've got to stop reading about this story, it fills me with rage. I want so slap the smile off of Casey and her attorney's faces.