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By MATT SEDENSKY and KYLE HIGHTOWER, Associated Press


      ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A judge sentenced Casey Anthony on Thursday
to four years for lying to investigators but says she can go free
in late July or early August because she has already served nearly
three years in jail and has had good behavior.


      While acquitted of killing and abusing her 2-year-old daughter
Caylee, Anthony was convicted of four counts of lying to detectives
trying to find her daughter in July 2008. She lied to them 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.


      At the time of the girl's disappearance in June 2008, Anthony, a
single mother, and Caylee were living with Anthony's parents,
George and Cindy Anthony, in suburban Orlando. No one has come
forward as the child's father.


      Prosecutors contended Anthony, then 22, suffocated Caylee with
duct tape because she was interfering with her desire to be with
her boyfriend and party with her friends.


      Defense attorneys countered that the toddler accidentally
drowned in the family swimming pool. They said that when Anthony
panicked, her father, a former police officer, decided to make the
death look like a murder. They said he put duct tape on the girl's
mouth and then dumped the body in woods about a quarter-mile away.


      The defense said Anthony's apparent carefree life hid emotional
distress caused by sexual abuse from her father. Her father firmly
denied both the cover-up and abuse claims. The prosecution called
those claims absurd, and said no one makes an accident look like a
murder.
      
      

Gallery

Anthony trial: Lack of evidence or good defense?

Crime, Law and Justice

A judge sentenced Casey Anthony on Thursday
to four years for lying to investigators but says she can go free
in late July or early August because she has already served nearly
three years in jail and has had good behavior.

Casey Anthony to be freed late July or early Aug.

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