LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The doctor convicted of killing Michael Jackson has been sentenced to the maximum term of four years behind bars.

Dr. Conrad Murray was sentenced Tuesday, three weeks after a jury convicted the cardiologist of involuntary manslaughter. The judge chastised him for a "horrific violation of trust" in caring for Jackson.

Prosecutors had urged the judge to sentence the doctor to the maximum, arguing his treatment of Jackson with a powerful anaesthetic ended the life of the King of Pop and left his three children without a father.

Attorneys for the 58-year-old Murray argued that probation was a more appropriate sentence, given his lack of a criminal history and the fact he will lose his medical license.

Murray could serve half of the four years because of overcrowding in California jails.