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7 January 2011
Last updated at 10:09 ET
Two imprisoned sisters whose sentences were dropped on the condition that one donate her kidney to the other have been released from jail in Mississippi.
The pair, who had been in jail for 16 years, are moving to the US state of Florida, where their family lives.
Jamie Scott requires daily dialysis, which costs the state roughly $200,000 (£129,000) per year, officials said.
She and her sister Gladys Scott were convicted in 1994 of taking part in a robbery that netted a mere $11 (£7).
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour agreed to release the sisters, who were serving life sentences for leading two men into an ambush in Mississippi in 1993, on the condition that Gladys, 36, donates a kidney to her sister within one year.
Gladys, who came up with the idea for the transplant, volunteered to donate her kidney to 38-year-old Jaime in her petition for early release.
Planning the transplant The two walked out of the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in the town of Pearl at just after 0800 local time (1400GMT) on Friday morning and were greeted by their mother and grown children.
Mr Barbour has said prison officials no longer think the sisters, who are eligible for parole in 2014, are a threat to society.
The women's lawyer Chokwe Lumumba said the two hoped to apply for government-funded health insurance and begin planning for the transplant.
But the women's first task is to eat a good meal, Mr Lumumba said.
"And you know how women are - they want to get some clothes," he added.
Hundreds of protesters marched through the Mississippi capital of Jackson in September, calling for the women's release from prison - criticising their sentences as harsh.
There is currently no date set for the kidney transplant.
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The pair, who had been in jail for 16 years, are moving to the US state of Florida, where their family lives.
Jamie Scott requires daily dialysis, which costs the state roughly $200,000 (£129,000) per year, officials said.
She and her sister Gladys Scott were convicted in 1994 of taking part in a robbery that netted a mere $11 (£7).
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour agreed to release the sisters, who were serving life sentences for leading two men into an ambush in Mississippi in 1993, on the condition that Gladys, 36, donates a kidney to her sister within one year.
Gladys, who came up with the idea for the transplant, volunteered to donate her kidney to 38-year-old Jaime in her petition for early release.
Planning the transplant The two walked out of the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in the town of Pearl at just after 0800 local time (1400GMT) on Friday morning and were greeted by their mother and grown children.
Mr Barbour has said prison officials no longer think the sisters, who are eligible for parole in 2014, are a threat to society.
The women's lawyer Chokwe Lumumba said the two hoped to apply for government-funded health insurance and begin planning for the transplant.
But the women's first task is to eat a good meal, Mr Lumumba said.
"And you know how women are - they want to get some clothes," he added.
Hundreds of protesters marched through the Mississippi capital of Jackson in September, calling for the women's release from prison - criticising their sentences as harsh.
There is currently no date set for the kidney transplant.
Online Business Consulting | Internet Business Consulting