Brooklyn rapper Bobby Shmurda will be eligible for release from prison next month, the New York State Department of Corrections said on Monday.
What We Know:
- Shmurda, whose government name is Ackquille Pollard, was convicted to seven years after declaring guilty to conspiracy and weapons possession charges related to what prosecutors state was a principal role in the GS9 gang, The New York Times reported. GS9 is a branch of the Crips in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn.
- Authorities detained Shmurda in late 2014 after leaving a recording studio near Radio City Music Hall, only days after he played Hot Boy for a national television audience on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Investigators recovered two handguns and a small amount of crack cocaine in a car he was riding in, authorities state.
- Shmurda was refused parole in September, in part for disciplinary actions taken against him while incarcerated, and finally ordered to his maximum sentence until December 21, 2021. According to the Department of Corrections prisoner database, he is currently detained at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York.
- The Department of Corrections review recently reestablished Shmurda’s “good time,” making him newly qualified for conditional release. If Pollard does end up leaving lockup next month, he will serve the rest of his term under community supervision or parole until December 11, 2021.
Now we waiting on Bobby pic.twitter.com/9bYSwMzh0J https://t.co/ot9lHAWxl9
— Jaidan (@jaidvn) December 15, 2020
- News of Shmurda’s possible early release comes less than a month after his partner Rowdy Rebel was freed from state prison. The fellow Brooklyn rapper, whose legal name is Chad Marshall, declared guilty, together with Pollard and Nicholas “Flea Montana” McCoy, in September 2016 to fourth-degree conspiracy and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
- “I’m glad he’s coming home,” stated Alex Spiro, a lawyer who represented Shmurda in the criminal trial. In the years after his arrest, Shmurda has become something similar to a folk hero in hip-hop; fans and other artists have highly awaited his release.
ROWDY REBEL HOME NOW. FREE THAT NIGGA BOBBY SHMURDA NEXT.
— REVENXNT (@REVENXNT96) December 15, 2020
Shmurda is qualified for conditional release as of February 23, with the remainder of his sentence to be served on parole.
