Suge Knight Is A Free Man

02/26/2003 4:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Yves Erwin Salomon

(2/26/03, 4 p.m. ET) -- Marion "Suge" Knight, CEO of Tha Row Records, won his release from prison on Tuesday (February 25) when the California state prison board ordered his release. Knight had been in Los Angeles county jail since December 23 for violating the terms of his parole by associating with gang members.

The state prison board dropped four of the five accusations against Knight, and instead of ordering him back to jail for a year the board credited him for the 61 days in custody and ordered Knight to perform 200 hours of anti-gang community service.

The board, which met at Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles, found Knight guilty of violating his parole by failing to notify them that he moved to Malibu, and by hiring drivers and bodyguards who were not properly screened. Knight was allowed to testify during the hearing.

Knight's attorney David Chesnoff told Reuters, "Knight and I are both very pleased with the result. We appreciate the fairness of the proceedings. I'm just sorry he had to be in custody for two months, but happy he's going back to work."

Knight was placed on state probation in 1995 when he pleaded no contest to two counts of assault, and he was placed on federal probation in 1995 when he pleaded guilty to federal charges of trying to commit a drug-related offense and conspiracy.

Knight was released from prison in August of 2001 after serving four-and-a-half years of a nine-year sentence for violating federal and state probation on the night of September 7, 1996, when Knight, Tupac Shakur, and members of their entourage were caught on videotape beating up a man in a Las Vegas casino. Later that same night, Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting.

The next slated release from Tha Row Records is the DysFunKtional Family soundtrack, which is due March 25. The set includes appearances by Jay-Z, Ja Rule, Ashanti, Crooked I, Juvenile, Danny Boy, Kurupt, Michel'le, Eastwood, and N.I.N.A. (the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes).

The first single from the set is "Still Tha Row" featuring Crooked I and Virginya Slim.

-- Yves Erwin Salomon, New York

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