LOS ANGELES — Disgraced doctor Conrad Murray was sentenced Tuesday to four years behind bars for the “money-for-medicine madness” that killed Michael Jackson.
Judge Michael Pastor imposed the maximum sentence on Murray, and branded him a callous, reckless liar who violated his oath as a physician — and left the King of Pop to die alone in his bed.
The shamed cardiologist’s involuntary manslaughter conviction on Nov. 7 led to a state sentence that will — due to a new California law — be served in a county jail, meaning Murray will likely get off easy because of jail overcrowding.
“He’s expected to serve less than two years. He’ll probably be released in winter 2013,” Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said, noting Murray will be in a one-inmate cell. “He’ll be a keep-away inmate, who’s escorted everywhere he goes. He will not mingle with the jail population.”
But, the jail population aside, Pastor showed Murray no mercy. He sent him away to his sure-to-be-lonely confinement with a first-rate tongue-lashing, saying he gave Jackson an “experimental” treatment to make a buck.
“He has absolutely no sense of remorse, absolutely no sense of fault, and is, and remains, dangerous,” Pastor said as Murray looked on, stone-faced. “Experimental medicine is not going to be tolerated. And Mr. Jackson was an experiment.”
Pastor said Murray was not a victim, as his defense team argued at trial. The judge said Murray, 58, should have walked away when the sleep-deprived music legend offered to pay him $150,000 a month for nightly infusions of the surgery-strength anesthetic propofol.
The “Thriller” singer died from an overdose of propofol and other drugs in June 2009 on the cusp of his “This Is It” comeback tour.
“Dr. Murray was intrigued by the prospect. And he engaged in this money-for-medicine madness that is simply not going to be tolerated by me,” Pastor said.
Pastor took particular offense to the slurred recording Murray made of Jackson in the weeks before the singer’s June 2009 death. He said the only reasonable conclusion is that Murray violated Jackson's trust with evil intentions.
"That tape recording was Dr. Murray's insurance policy," he said. "I can't help but wonder, if there had been some conflict (between them) at a later time in the relationship, what value would have been placed on that recording?"
Jackson’s mother and siblings attended the sentencing, during which a family friend read a so-called victim-impact statement that showed the famous clan is still reeling from The Gloved One’s death.
“We still look at each other in disbelief. Is it really possible that he is gone? As Michael’s parents, we could never have imagined that we would live to witness his passing. It is simply against the natural order of things,” the statement<NO1>read by Brian Panish<NO> said, touching on the feelings of Jackson’s three kids. “As his children, we will grow up without a father, our best friend, our playmate and our dad.”
Murray’s lawyer made a futile attempt to paint him as an altruistic doctor who overcame a childhood of crushing poverty, put himself through medical school and opened a charitable clinic in a poor Houston neighborhood.
Murray was found in a Sherriff’s Department report to be “suicidal” while awaiting sentence. His lawyer, Ed Chernoff, said that no matter how much time he spends in a 5-foot-by-8½-foot cell, his medical career is over, and he will live the rest of his life in a prison of shame and self-punishment.
“Dr. Murray, whether he’s a barista for the rest of his life, whether he’s a greeter at Wal-Mart, he’s still going to be the man who killed Michael Jackson. That’s what he is,” Chernoff concluded.
Judge Michael Pastor imposed the maximum sentence on Murray, and branded him a callous, reckless liar who violated his oath as a physician — and left the King of Pop to die alone in his bed.
The shamed cardiologist’s involuntary manslaughter conviction on Nov. 7 led to a state sentence that will — due to a new California law — be served in a county jail, meaning Murray will likely get off easy because of jail overcrowding.
“He’s expected to serve less than two years. He’ll probably be released in winter 2013,” Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said, noting Murray will be in a one-inmate cell. “He’ll be a keep-away inmate, who’s escorted everywhere he goes. He will not mingle with the jail population.”
But, the jail population aside, Pastor showed Murray no mercy. He sent him away to his sure-to-be-lonely confinement with a first-rate tongue-lashing, saying he gave Jackson an “experimental” treatment to make a buck.
“He has absolutely no sense of remorse, absolutely no sense of fault, and is, and remains, dangerous,” Pastor said as Murray looked on, stone-faced. “Experimental medicine is not going to be tolerated. And Mr. Jackson was an experiment.”
Pastor said Murray was not a victim, as his defense team argued at trial. The judge said Murray, 58, should have walked away when the sleep-deprived music legend offered to pay him $150,000 a month for nightly infusions of the surgery-strength anesthetic propofol.
The “Thriller” singer died from an overdose of propofol and other drugs in June 2009 on the cusp of his “This Is It” comeback tour.
“Dr. Murray was intrigued by the prospect. And he engaged in this money-for-medicine madness that is simply not going to be tolerated by me,” Pastor said.
Pastor took particular offense to the slurred recording Murray made of Jackson in the weeks before the singer’s June 2009 death. He said the only reasonable conclusion is that Murray violated Jackson's trust with evil intentions.
"That tape recording was Dr. Murray's insurance policy," he said. "I can't help but wonder, if there had been some conflict (between them) at a later time in the relationship, what value would have been placed on that recording?"
Jackson’s mother and siblings attended the sentencing, during which a family friend read a so-called victim-impact statement that showed the famous clan is still reeling from The Gloved One’s death.
“We still look at each other in disbelief. Is it really possible that he is gone? As Michael’s parents, we could never have imagined that we would live to witness his passing. It is simply against the natural order of things,” the statement<NO1>read by Brian Panish<NO> said, touching on the feelings of Jackson’s three kids. “As his children, we will grow up without a father, our best friend, our playmate and our dad.”
Murray’s lawyer made a futile attempt to paint him as an altruistic doctor who overcame a childhood of crushing poverty, put himself through medical school and opened a charitable clinic in a poor Houston neighborhood.
Murray was found in a Sherriff’s Department report to be “suicidal” while awaiting sentence. His lawyer, Ed Chernoff, said that no matter how much time he spends in a 5-foot-by-8½-foot cell, his medical career is over, and he will live the rest of his life in a prison of shame and self-punishment.
“Dr. Murray, whether he’s a barista for the rest of his life, whether he’s a greeter at Wal-Mart, he’s still going to be the man who killed Michael Jackson. That’s what he is,” Chernoff concluded.
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