Casey Anthony to be freed next week after jail term for lying

(AP)

Casey Anthony, acquitted of killing her two-year-old daughter earlier this week, will be released from prison next Wednesday after being sentenced in Florida on charges she lied to investigators.

Anthony, 25, was sentenced to four years in total for the four counts of lying to police, but she has already served nearly three years in jail and was given credit for good behaviour. A court official said she would be released on Wednesday. Judge Belvin Perry also fined her $1,000 (£625) on each count. Anthony's defence attorneys, who had been pressing for her to be released at the end of yesterday's hearing, argued before sentencing that her convictions should be combined into one, but the judge disagreed.

Anthony was convicted of lying to investigators about working at the Universal Studios theme park; about leaving her daughter with a non-existent nanny named Zanny; about leaving the girl with friends, and about receiving a phone call from her.

The verdict in her trial – which generated an outpouring of anger among many Americans – continued to be the talk of cable and network news after she was acquitted of first-degree murder on Tuesday.