Singer Lauryn Hill Released From Federal Prison In Danbury

Hill, who entered the prison on July 8, served nearly three months for failing to pay about $1 million in federal taxes and penalties. She will now three months house arrest as well have as a year of supervised probation.

In her time in the Danbury lockup, it became famous as the setting of the Netflix series, "Orange Is The New Black," which is based on a memoir of the same name. 

The 38-year-old star released a new song, called "Consumerism," the day before her prison release.

"She wanted to get this music out while she was incarcerated, as it is a product of the space she was in while she was going through some of the challenges she has been faced with recently," according to a note posted on Hill's Tumblr page, where the song can be heard, The song will be part of Hill’s upcoming project, “Letters From Exile,” her first album in 15 years. 

"'Consumerism' is part of some material I was trying to finish before I had to come in," the post said in part. "We did our best to eek out a mix via verbal and emailed direction, thanks to the crew of surrogate ears on the other side. 'Letters From Exile' is material written from a certain space, in a certain place. I felt the need to discuss the underlying socio-political, cultural paradigm as I saw it. ... Messages like these I imagine find their audience, or their audience finds them, like water seeking it’s level."

Hill is a singer-songwriter, rapper, producer and actress, most known for being a member of The Fugees and for her solo album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill."

In June 2012, she pleaded guilty to tax evasion in federal court in New Jersey for failure to pay federal income taxes.

By April 2013, Hill had paid back only $50,000 of the $554,000 she owed. On May 6, U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo sentenced her to prison even after Hill paid the rest of the amount she owed, according to Wikipedia.

You can read the full story here in People and hear Hill's new song here on her Tumblr page.  

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