MTV News Online

Singer Bobby Brown was released from the North Broward Detention Center in Pompano Beach, Fla., on Friday (July 7), 11 days earlier than the original sentence he was given at a hearing in June.

Brown had been given 75 days for several parole violations stemming from

a 1998 DUI conviction that followed his arrest in Hollywood, Fla., back

in 1996, and wasn't officially scheduled for release until July 18.

Brown had the 11 days shaved off his sentence for good behavior and was formally released from custody right after midnight on Friday, according to a report by the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. His wife, Whitney Houston, and comedian Chris Rock, who was taping a mock-vigil segment for his HBO show, met Brown outside the jail upon his release.

Brown addressed reporters gathered outside the North Broward Detention Center and told them he was looking forward to going home and spending time with his family.

"I just want to be with my family and my friends," Brown said. "I'm going home to spend the summer with my kids and work on my life."

As he was leaving, Brown offered a warning to the amassed crowd, some of whom were there to participate in the Rock sketch. "Don't mess up in Broward County," he said before he and Houston departed the scene in a white stretch limousine.

— David Basham