Rapper Lil Boosie is a free man after he was released from prison on Wednesday night (05Mar14).

The hip-hop star, real name Torrence Hatch, left the Louisiana State Penitentiary after nearly five years behind bars.

Angola State Penitentiary Warden Burl Cain confirmed to local news station Wafb that Hatch was released from custody and transferred to a nearby sheriff's department facility, where family members were waiting for his arrival.

Representatives from his label Atlantic Records have announced the 31 year old will speak at a media event in New Orleans on Monday (10Mar14).

The Baton Rouge native has been incarcerated since 2009 following a drug and gun possession conviction, but he was handed an additional eight-year sentence for attempting to smuggle codeine syrup into jail on three separate occasions.

Hatch went on to beat a first-degree murder charge in 2012 after he was found not guilty of hiring a hitman to kill a fellow rap rival.

His release date has changed a number of times over the past few months, after his brother and manager, Taquari Hatch, revealed the star would be out in August (14). The date was consequently moved up to 13 February (14) after he successfully completed a substance abuse course behind bars.

Hatch, who also obtained his high school diploma while behind bars last year (13), will remain on parole until 2018.