After 36 years in prison, Mutulu Shakur, 2Pac’s stepfather gains freedom

Mutulu Shakur, the stepfather of rap legend 2Pac Shakur, reportedly received a compassionate release from prison due to his failing health.

The U.S. Parole Commission granted the 72-year-old permission to spend his last days outside of jail on Thursday, November 10, according to a report by the Intercept.

Shakur was recently identified as having bone marrow cancer, and in May, a doctor with the Bureau of Prisons estimated that he had less than six months to live.

Mutulu Shakur will spend his final years in Southern California after serving 36 years in prison.

Prior to a hearing in October, when the federal parole committee acknowledged that he had a flawless institutional record and was no longer a menace to society, he had previously been denied prison release ten times.

“We now find your medical condition renders you so infirm of mind and body that you are no longer physically capable of committing any Federal, State or local crime,” the parole commission said.

Despite being in critical condition and having terminal cancer at the time, the same parole committee rejected his request for release in September. Only now is he qualified for freedom, despite medical studies documenting his decrease in physical function, disorientation, and hallucinations.

In 1981, Shakur was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy charges for his part in the heist of a Brink’s armored truck, which resulted in the deaths of a guard and two police officers. Before being found guilty for aiding 2Pac’s activist godmother Assata Shakur in escaping from prison, he admitted guilt and expressed regret for his conduct.

The U.S. Parole Commission has been in charge of deciding on Mutulu Shakur’s release because he was imprisoned under “old law,” a set of federal sentencing rules that applied to offenses committed before 1987. This monitoring was supposed to be phased out decades ago.

A judge who rejected his request for compassionate release in 2020 told Shakur he could reapply at “the point of approaching death.” That same judge, now aged 90 years, was the same person who sentenced him over 30 years ago.

“We are relieved that the Parole Commission now recognizes what has long been true — that Dr. Shakur’s release poses no risk whatsoever,” said Brad Thomson, Mutulu Shakur’s attorney. “It is tragic that it took until he was on the verge of death for that truth to finally be realized.”

He added:

“Mutulu will now be able to live out his final days, surrounded by the love and care of his family and close friends.”

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