Former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth, who in 2001 was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder of his pregnant girlfriend, was released just after 8 a.m. ET on Monday from the Sampson Correctional Institution in Clinton, North Carolina.
Carruth, 44, masterminded a plot to kill Cherica Adams during a November 1999 shooting. Adams died about a month later.
Carolina's first pick of the 1997 draft (No. 27 overall) was the first active NFL player at the time to be charged and convicted with such a crime.
Adams was shot four times by Van Brett Watkins, who was hired by Carruth.