Rap mogul, Suge Knight has been sentenced to 28 years in prison after pleading no contest to manslaughter.
In January 2015, the former Death Row Records CEO was arrested and charged with murder after he was involved in a hit-and-run at a Los Angeles restaurant parking lot. Knight allegedly got into a confrontation with two men while on the set of the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton.
According to prosecutors, Knight proceeded to follow the men to a nearby burger restaurant, where he ran over them with his car. One of the men struck, Terry Carter, died from his injuries. The other, Cle Sloan,, suffered injuries to his head and foot. Knight fled the scene of the incident before authorities arrived.
Knight, who turned 53 in April, had been facing the possibility of life in prison. His no contest plea came days before his trial was scheduled to begin on Monday (September 24). Knight will get credit for the three-and-a-half years he already served while awaiting the trial.
The Death Row Records founder made the plea to avoid charges of murdering one man and attempting to murder a second with his pick-up truck in Los Angeles.
He will be formally sentenced to 28 years in prison in October.
His record label helped launch the careers of artists including Dr Dre, Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg.
Under Californian state law, a no contest plea is the legal equivalent of a guilty plea.
Knight was previously sentenced to nine years in prison in 1997 after violating his probation stemming from an earlier assault charge. After being granted early release in 2001, he was sent back to prison in 2003 after assaulting a parking attendant.
