No Limit rapper Mac will be home from prison much sooner than expected. This is because Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards granted him clemency after the rapper spent 21 years in prison for a 2001 manslaughter conviction. Unfortunately, the clemency does not spark an immediate release, though, as Mac will have to wait until his June 22 parole hearing to learn when he will be released from prison.
“We are approaching the finish line to securing Mac’s freedom,” Mac’s wife Angelique Phipps said in a statement. “We are grateful to Governor John Bel Edwards for granting his clemency and to those who have supported him along the way.”
XXL reached out to Mac’s team and the Louisiana governor’s office to confirm the news, which was reported by NOLA.com, but no comment from either party has been made yet. Mac was arrested back in 2000 and charged with second degree murder in connection with a shooting that resulted in the death of 19-year-old Barron C. Victor Jr. The rapper maintained his innocence in the incident and claimed he only separated a fight that led to the shooting. Despite this, he was convicted of manslaughter in 2001 and sentenced to 30 years to life in prison.
A 2014 investigation revealed that the rapper may have in fact been innocent in the shooting as his defense team presented new evidence, which included another man confessing to the crime. Mac’s team also said a witness revealed they were coaxed into naming the No Limit member as the shooter. Two years later, the prosectors were accused of hiding evidence and the rapper filed for clemency, but was denied. Things changed this past February when the Louisiana Board Of Pardons And Committee On Parole agreed that the rapper should be immmediately eligible for parole.