Casey Anthony’s release date from jail after being sentenced to four years for lying to law enforcement officers is now Sunday, July 17. On Thursday, Chief Judge Belvin Perry handed down the maximum sentence on Anthony, following an acquittal on Tuesday by a 12-member jury, of murder charges in connection with the death of her 2-year-old daughter.
Although Casey’s defense team argued that the four counts of lying to law enforcement should be treated as a single charge, Perry ruled they were separate and distinct lies which caused a great deal of financial resources, included time and energy to be expended.
Perry sentenced Anthony to one year for each of the four counts, imposing a $1,000 fine for each count of lying to authorities totaling $4,618 after court cost.
Earlier on Thursday, public information officer Karen Levy of the Orange County court announced that Casey would be given credit for 1,043 days she has already served in jail since she was arrested and charged with the murder of her daughter Caylee Marie Anthony in July 2008 and that her release date would be July 13.
But a recalculation of the release date by Orange County Corrections has determined that is now Sunday, July 17, 2011. Anthony has been given credit for “good” time and “gain” time during her stay in the Orange County Jail.
On July 16, 2008, Casey had told four separate lies which sent law enforcement on a wild goose chase in search of her “missing” daughter, knowing that the toddler was already dead one month before on June 16, 2008. During three separate interviews with lead detective Yuri Melich Casey had said she was:
- employed by Universal Studios
- left her child at the Sawgrass apartments with a baby sitter named Zenaida Gonzales
- informed two employees at Universal Studios of the disappearance of Caylee
- spoke to her 2-year-old daughter by telephone around noon on July 15, 2008.
The state is also seeking restitution from Casey Anthony for the cost of prosecution and investigation undertaken to find her “missing” child and a special hearing on this matter is set for August 25, 2011. Casey’s defense attorneys have waived her right to appear in court next month.
Meanwhile, given the controversial nature of Anthony’s verdict in connection with her acquittal of murder charges, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings appealed to citizens in a statement to “respect the findings and to maintain a peaceful resolve.”
“For three long years, the citizens of Orange County, Florida sought justice in the murder of Caylee Marie Anthony,” Demings said. “While the outcome of the murder trial was not what the Orange County Sheriff’s Office hoped for, we respect the findings of the jury because that is part of the criminal justice process.”
Demings added that the time had come for all of us to “move on with our lives and our commitment to making the world a better place.”
Caylee Marie Anthony’s skeletal remains were found in December 2008, six months after the child was likely murdered, in a wooded area near the Anthony family home off Suburban Drive in Orlando.
