Although there’s only one day left in Donald Trump’s first and only term in the White House, that hasn’t stopped rumors from circulating that he would use his office’s power to pardon some of hip-hop’s most troubled artists, including Kodak Black and Lil Wayne. According to The Daily Beast, Snoop Dogg tried to add Michael “Harry-O” Harris, the co-founder of Death Row Records, to the list, lobbying the White House to commute Harris’ sentence for attempted murder and cocaine trafficking.
As it stands, Harris has a release date in late 2028, bringing attention to his case with his argument last year for compassionate release as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Due to an autoimmune disease, Harris maintained that he should qualify for release as he was more vulnerable to the virus’s ill effects. However, his request was denied. Meanwhile, criminal-justice reform advocate Alice Johnson said she was recently in contact with the Trump administration about potentially commuting Harris’ sentence.
“I’ve spoken with Ivanka [Trump] and I’ve spoken with Jared [Kushner], and I’ve been told that President Trump is aware of the case and has been reviewing it,” Johnson told The Daily Beast. “I’ve spoken to [White House chief of staff] Mark Meadows about it, and he said he’d take a look at it. The president knows how much this case means to me… In reviewing Michael Harris’ case, his story, and what he’s gone through, this is such an unfair case… He should have been home a decade ago. I really felt for this man. I am very hopeful that he will be home before the end of the Trump administration.”
It looks like, if Harris is released, he owes his freedom at least partially to Snoop, who activist Weldon Angelos says reached out due to Angelos’ own recent pardon from Trump. Trump had pardoned both Angelos and Johnson, so they did have contact with the administration, which is why Snoop reached out to them, despite his public distaste for Trump. According to The Daily Beast‘s Sunday deadline, Harris was still waiting to hear back.
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