Ex-NBA star Jayson Williams is a free man again after he was released on Friday from New York City’s Rikers Island jail due to a drunken driving charge.

According to reports, 44-year-old Williams served eight months behind bars at the Rikers Island jail after he pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence and slammed his car into a tree in Manhattan back in January 2010. Jayson Williams had been given a one-year sentence for the misdemeanor offense.

As previous reports have stated, the blood alcohol level of Williams at the time of his arrest was .24 – three times the legal limit. Police officers also said that he swerved across four lanes of traffic before striking a tree in New York.

The release of Jayson Williams from Rikers Island jail was confirmed by Sharman Stein, deputy commissioner for public information at NYC Department of Correction.

The former all-star center of the New Jersey Nets previously served 18 months of a five-year sentence for the 2002 accidental shooting death of limousine driver Costas Christofi with a 12-gauge shotgun at Jayson Williams’ New Jersey mansion. The former NBA player had been showing the gun to friends without having secured its safety. He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in 2010.

The former standout at St. John’s University played for nine years in the NBA: two years with the Philadelphia 76ers and seven years with the New Jersey Nets. Jayson Williams was selected by the Phoenix Suns in the first round, 21st pick overall, of the 1990 draft and his draft rights were traded to the 76ers.