The doctor convicted of manslaughter in the death of pop icon Michael Jackson was sentenced to four years in prison on Tuesday.
Dr. Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in a highly publicized trial, but it is unlikely he will serve all of the four-year sentence due to overcrowding in California prisons.
“Michael Jackson died not because of an isolated one-off occurrence or incident,” Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor said, according to the L.A. Times. “He died because of a totality of circumstances which are directly attributable to Dr. Murray, not some mistake or some accident in the early morning hours of 2009.”
Pastor said Murray’s treatment was a “disgrace to the medical profession.”
Jackson’s family issued a statement read by attorney Brian Panish, who said heavy punishment is necessary in Murray’s case.
“We respectfully request that you impose a sentence that reminds physicians that they cannot sell their services to the highest bidder,” the statement said, according to KABC-TV.
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