Rap Producer Marion 'Suge' Knight Facing 28 Years For Manslaughter

Former Rap Producer Marion 'Suge' Knight is facing up to 28 years in prison, after pleading no contest to a manslaughter charge. The rap mogul was to stand trial for the death of Terry Carter who was run over by a vehicle driven by Knight three years ago, after a feud over the widely acclaimed N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton.

Prosecutors say that Knight was angry over the fact that he had not received payment for the use of his likeness in the film, but his lawyers contested this, claiming that he was fleeing a gun attack at the time of the killing. The incident was captured on CCTV, however, and Knight can be seen ramming his pick-up truck into Carter and another man in a fast food restaurant car park. Knight was arrested shortly afterwards and charged with murder.

The 53 year old Knight was at the helm of the west coast rap scene in the early 1990's, and was executive producer on Dr. Dre's groundbreaking rap album The Chronic. That seminal album was released on Death Row Records, which Knight set up with Dre after the rapper's breakaway from Ruthless Records and N.W.A. The name of the label almost proved prescient. Marion 'Suge' Knight had been facing life in prison, but the plea deal arrived at with prosecutors means that he will more than likely spend 28 years behind bars. One of the more controversial figures in the history of Rap music, Marion 'Suge' Knight has had numerous brushes with the law. He was first arrested and convicted in 1987, separately for domestic violence; stealing a car; carrying a weapon; and attempted murder. He spent over four years in prison between February 1997 and October 2001 for parole violation. He served 10 months in prison in 2003, following a fight outside a Hollywood club.

He was arrested again in 2008 for violence against his girlfriend Melissa Isaac but in the ed she was unwilling to testify. In 2008, he was declared bankrupt, a case in which he claimed he was shot at a Kanye West pre-Music Video Awards party. He was shot at an identical party hosted by Chris Brown in 2014, but no one has ever been charged in relation to the incident. He has also been indicted on charges of threatening death or bodily injury against F. Gary Gray, the director of Straight Outta Compton, on August 8th, 2014.

Other than all of that, he is, as they say, a very nice fella.