Lil Boosie Released From Prison

After months of speculation, Lil Boosie is finally a free man. The Baton Rouge, La., rapper has been released from the Angola State Penitentiary.

The Advocate reports that Boosie, whose real name is Torrence Hatch, left Angola via prison van just after 7PM CST Wednesday (March 5).

Lil Boosie began serving time in 2009, when he pleaded guilty to third-offense marijuana possession. During his incarceration, he has faced a variety of additional charges, most notably a murder charge for the 2009 killing of Terry Boyd. He was accused of paying Mike "Marlo Mike" Louding to kill Boyd, though he was eventually acquitted of this murder charge in 2012. The 31-year-old also remained imprisoned after pleading guilty to 2011 charges of smuggling drugs into the Dixon Correctional Institute and Angola.

In December 2013, Lil Boosie's brother and business manager, Taquari Hatch, caused a stir when he stated that the 'Incarcerated' creator could be released in February following his participation in a variety of programs to facilitate an early release. This was eventually debunked and up until yesterday, the rhymer was scheduled to be released in May. Angola warden Burl Cain stated that his release date was kept quiet "just to keep everything calm." Boosie will remain under supervised parole until 2018.

The Advocate also reports that during his sentence, Boosie completed at least one substance abuse program and earned his GED certificate.

The artist, in conjunction with Trill Entertainment and Atlantic Records, is currently scheduled to hold a press conference in New Orleans Monday (March 10) to discuss his release and future plans. He'll surely be hitting the booth soon as he told Spin that he wrote over 500 songs during his time in prison. Boosie's last official studio album, 'Incarcerated', was released in 2010.