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Rap mogul Marion Suge Knight gets 28 years in jail

Source: News Corp Australia Network:
October 4, 2018 at 17:51
Marion Hugh "Suge" Knight sits for a hearing in his murder case in Superior Court in Los Angeles. Picture: APSource:AP
Marion Hugh "Suge" Knight sits for a hearing in his murder case in Superior Court in Los Angeles. Picture: APSource:AP
MARION ‘Suge’ Knight, the rap mogul responsible for classic albums from Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur, has been sent to prison for 28 years for running over and killing a man.
 

A JUDGE has sentenced former rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight to 28 years in prison for the 2015 death of man he ran over outside a Compton burger stand.

Knight listened without reaction as members of the dead man’s family addressed the court, describing 55-year-old Terry Carter as a deeply devoted husband, father, grandfather and friend.

Marion "Suge" Knight during sentencing at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Centre. Picture: Getty
Marion "Suge" Knight during sentencing at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Centre. Picture: GettySource:Getty Images

Carter’s daughter Crystal called Knight “a disgusting, selfish disgrace to the human species.” Knight wore a large cross and orange jail attire during the sentencing, which draws to a close a nearly four year court saga over the fatal 2015 confrontation. He had been fighting with a longtime rival through the window of his pick-up truck outside the burger stand, struck that man with his truck before running over Carter.

Terry Carter was killed by Marion Suge Knight. Picture: Supplied
Terry Carter was killed by Marion Suge Knight. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

Knight’s numerous defence lawyers had contended he was acting in self defence, but the Death Row Records co-founder pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter last month, averting a trial on murder and attempted murder charges.

The prison sentence represents the low point of a long decline for Knight, one of the most important figures in the history of hip-hop. At his pinnacle in the mid-1990s, he was putting out wildly popular records that are now considered classics from Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur.

Death Row Records boss Suge Knight (left) and rapper Tupac Shakur. Picture: Supplied
Death Row Records boss Suge Knight (left) and rapper Tupac Shakur. Picture: SuppliedSource:News Limited

Knight was at the centre of the feud between East Coast and West Coast rappers that marked the middle of that decade. Shakur was in Knight’s car when he was killed in a drive-by attack in Las Vegas in 1996.

He answered procedural questions but did not address the court this morning.

Knight has felony convictions for armed robbery and assault.

He lost control of Death Row after it was forced into bankruptcy.

His previous convictions make him ineligible for probation, Los Angeles Superior Court Ronald Coen ruled.

USA rap singer Tupac Shakur (l) with Death Row Records executive Marion "Suge" Knight attending voter registration event in Los Angeles, California in 1996. Picture: Supplied
USA rap singer Tupac Shakur (l) with Death Row Records executive Marion "Suge" Knight attending voter registration event in Los Angeles, California in 1996. Picture: SuppliedSource:AP

In January 2015, he got into a fight with a longtime rival, Cle “Bone” Sloan, a consultant on the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton.

In a moment captured on surveillance video, Knight backed his truck into Sloan, who was injured, then drove it forward into businessman Terry Carter, who died from his injuries. Voluntary manslaughter would normally bring a sentence of 11 years in prison, but Knight’s conviction along with his previous felonies triggers California’s three strikes law.

Judge Ronald S. Coen. Picture: Getty
Judge Ronald S. Coen. Picture: GettySource:Getty Images

That doubles the manslaughter sentence and adds an extra six years.

The agreement also clears Knight in two other cases, both from 2014.

He was accused of stealing a camera from a woman and of sending threatening text messages to Straight Outta Compton director F. Gary Gray.

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