Michael Jackson's Doctor Headed To Prison, Sentenced Over Involuntary Manslaughter

Late pop icon Michael Jackson's personal doctor, Conrad Murrary, is headed to prison after a federal judge sentenced him to four years behind bars for involuntary manslaughter this week.

Murray's fate was read to him in a Los Angeles court Tuesday (November 29).

The trial of Dr. Conrad Murray in the drug overdose death ofMichael Jackson ended with a resounding rebuke from the trial judge, who lambasted his treatment as "money for medicine madness." Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, in sentencing Murray to the maximum of four years on Tuesday, expressed shock over the doctor's lack of remorse and criticized him for recently televised comments suggesting that the singer had "entrapped" him. "Yipes! Talk about blaming the victim," Pastor declared before sentencing Murray after the seven-week trial. "Not only isn't there any remorse, there is umbrage and outrage on the part of Dr. Murray against the decedent." (Los Angeles Times)

In early November, Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor handed the case to the seven-man, five-woman jury Thursday after closing arguments by prosecutor David Walgren and lead defense lawyer Ed Chernoff. Over nearly six weeks of testimony, jurors heard from 33 prosecution witnesses and 16 defense witnesses. More than 340 exhibits were available in the jury room as the panel mulled a verdict. (USA Today)

The jury felt he allowed Jackson to meet his demise two years ago.

Jackson died in June 2009 from a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol, which Murray acknowledged giving Jackson to help him sleep. Prosecutors contended Murray gave Jackson the fatal dose of the powerful anesthetic in the bedroom of the singer's Southern California mansion. Defense attorneys claimed Jackson gave himself the lethal dose when Murray left the room. (CBS News)

Earlier this month, the 58 year-old doctor spoke out on the trial.

"I would hate to put blame on Michael as an individual," Dr. Murray told interviewer Savannah Guthrie. "I only wish maybe in our dealings with each other he would have been more forthcoming and honest, to tell me these things about himself." He went on to claim Jackson was "deceptive" about his medical history and his potential treatments by other doctors. "[I] did not have a clue," he claimed of Jackson's dependence on the anesthetic propofol, the drug that ultimately was the singer's cause of death. "I met Michael with propofol. This was not something I introduced to Michael," he added. (Billboard)