Michelle Rodriguez has been released from prison after serving just 17 days of her 180-day sentence.

The former "Lost" actress - who received the jail term for violating the terms of her probation after she was found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol - was released from California's Lynwood County Jail at 7.50pm on Wednesday night due to prison overcrowding.

The problem with the excessive number of inmates means it is standard for prisoners to be freed after they have served only 10 per cent of their sentence.

Superior Court Judge Daviann L. Mitchell had ruled the 29-year-old actress should not be given early release, but the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department had no other option but to free her.

It is not the first time Michelle has been behind bars.

In May 2006, the 29-year-old actress served just four hours and 20 minutes of a two-month sentence at Lynwood for violating probation terms of a DUI arrest in Hawaii dating back to December 2005.

Again she was released early due to prison overcrowding, and served just over two days in a Honolulu jail for the same offense.

In June 2004, Rodriguez was placed on three years probation after pleading no contest to DUI and driving with a suspended license following two separate incidents in Hollywood dating back to 2003.