Story highlights
- He was released early after time off for good behavior and work credit, jail official says
- Dharun Ravi is released after serving a jail sentence
- He was convicted in May on charges related to recording his gay roommate
- The roommate, Tyler Clementi, killed himself after learning of the recording
The former Rutgers University student convicted of spying on and intimidating his gay roommate was released from jail Tuesday after serving his sentence, a jail official said.
Dharun Ravi, 20, was found guilty in May of invasion of privacy, witness tampering, hindering apprehension and bias intimidation.
He left the Middlesex County Jail in North Brunswick, New Jersey, on Tuesday morning, according to Edmond Cicchi, warden of the Middlesex County Office of Adult Corrections.
Ravi was released early after jail officials applied five days of good behavior and five days of work credit to his term, Cicchi said.
Ravi's former roommate, 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, killed himself by jumping off a New York bridge after learning Ravi had secretly recorded Clementi and his partner with a webcam.
Dharun Ravi: I accept responsibility 01:56
Stunning sentence in Rutgers trial 04:57
McGreevey: Jail makes Ravi scapegoat 03:30
While Ravi could have been sentenced to 10 years in prison, New Jersey Superior Judge Glenn Berman instead gave him a 30-day jail sentence, three years of probation and ordered him to complete 300 hours of community service aimed at assisting victims of bias crimes.
The judge said he took Ravi's youth and his lack of a criminal record into consideration when handing down his sentence.
Ravi began serving his term on May 31, two days after apologizing in a written statement for spying on Clementi.
His lawyer filed a notice of appeal of his conviction earlier this month.
On Monday, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said it would not deport Ravi to his native India.
The agency is legally prohibited from deporting legal permanent residents unless they have been convicted of crimes such as an aggravated felony, domestic violence or drug or weapons offenses, a spokesman said.
