Tupac’s stepfather Mutulu Shakur has reportedly been granted compassionate release from prison due to his declining health.
Mutulu Shakur was recently diagnosed with bone marrow cancer, with a Bureau of Prisons doctor claiming in May he had less than six months to live. According to The Intercept, the 72-year-old was permitted to spend his final days outside of prison by the U.S. Parole Commission on Thursday.
Mutulu Shakur is scheduled to spend his remaining years in Southern California after spending 36 years in prison. Prior to a hearing in October, when the federal parole committee acknowledged he had a flawless institutional record and was no longer a risk 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.
Even though he was suffering from terminal cancer at the time, the same parole board rejected his request for release in September. The only time he is now eligible for freedom is because of medical studies that confirmed his decline in physical function, disorientation, and hallucinations.
For his part in the heist of a Brink’s armored truck, where a guard and two police officers were killed, Mutulu Shakur was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy charges in 1981. He admitted guilt and showed regret before being found guilty of aiding Assata Shakur, the activist godmother of 2Pac, in escaping from prison.
Mutulu Shakur under Old Law
Mutulu Shakur was incarcerated under “old law,” a set of federal sentencing guidelines in place for crimes before 1987, meaning his parole decisions have been under the oversight of the U.S. Parole Commission that was intended 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 90 years old, 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, one of Mutulu Shakur’s attorneys. “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.”
