Rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black, Death Row Records co-founder Harry-O, and former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick were among the more than 100 people granted pardons or commutations by former President Donald Trump in the hours before he left office.
Lil Wayne received a full presidential pardon and Kodak Black received a commutation. Last month Lil Wayne pleaded guilty to felony gun possession and faced up to 10 years in prison. The singer/songwriter/producer, whose real name is Wayne Michael Carter Jr., was found carrying a gold-plated handgun in his luggage on a private flight to South Florida. Some pardons allegedly come with a price tag of $2 million, The New York Times reported.
Trump commuted the sentence of Michael “Harry-O” Harris, the man who funded the start of Death Row Records despite serving a life sentence in California state prison at the time. In 1988, he was arrested and charged with running a cocaine trafficking empire out of Los Angeles, alongside members of the Cali Cartel. Federal authorities say the drug business raked in hundreds of millions in profits and operated from coast to coast.
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who has served more than seven years of a 28-year prison sentence for corruption crimes, was released from federal prison Jan. 20 after President Donald Trump commuted his sentence, a Bureau of Prisons spokesman told The Associated Press. The White House said prominent members of the Detroit community had supported the 50-year-old Democrat’s commutation and noted: “During his incarceration, Mr. Kilpatrick has taught public speaking classes and has led Bible Study groups with his fellow inmates.” Kilpatrick’s sentence was reduced but his 24 felony convictions still stand. He is still on the hook for $195,000 owed to the Internal Revenue Service and $1.5 million to Detroit.
