Attorney says Michael Fortier released from prison

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The prosecution's star witness in the Oklahoma City bombing trials was released from a federal prison at noon Friday.<br/><br/>The attorney for Michael Fortier says Fortier was

Friday, January 20th 2006, 1:09 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The prosecution's star witness in the Oklahoma City bombing trials was released from a federal prison at noon Friday.

The attorney for Michael Fortier says Fortier was set free from an undisclosed prison.

Attorney Michael McGuire says Fortier just wants to be with his wife and children and recover some of their lost time.

Fortier has served more than ten years of a 12-year sentence in which he admitted he knew of the bombing plot but didn't tell authorities. He also testified in the trials of bombing conspirators Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.

McVeigh was executed in 2001. Nichols is serving life in prison on state and federal convictions for his role in the April 1995 bombing that killed 168 people.

Neither McGuire nor a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Prisons would comment on where Fortier is being released or where he will live once freed leading to speculation that he's entering the federal witness protection program.