Lil Wayne, Kodak Black and others pardoned by Trump

In late October, just days before the presidential election, and nearly a year after federal authorities seized a handgun from his private plane, rapper Lil Wayne spent nearly an hour with Donald J. Trump at the President’s Doral Golf Club in Miami.

The two discussed Lil Wayne’s education in New Orleans and his nascent interest in criminal justice reform, according to Bradford Cohen, a South Florida lawyer who was in attendance and arranged the meeting.

“I think they had a very strong connection,” said Mr. Cohen, who appeared on Mr. Trump’s TV show “The Apprentice” in 2004.

The encounter culminated in a smiling, positive photoshoot which the rapper then posted on Twitter – an endorsement that came as Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign strived to improve his standing with black voters, though ‘he often vilified black people. and frequently sought to divide the country along racial lines. The support of a largely apolitical artist was greeted by some fans.

Less than a month later, Lil Wayne was charged with possession of firearms and he quickly pleaded guilty. In a sentence originally scheduled for later this month, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

This condemnation will never come. Early Wednesday, Lil Wayne found himself among the 143 pardons and commutations announced by former President Trump during his final hours in office. He joined three other personalities of the hip-hop universe, including the Florida rapper Kodak Black, another client of Mr. Cohen; Desiree Perez, CEO of Roc Nation from Jay-Z; and Michael Harris, known as Harry-O, a founder of Death Row Records who has been in prison for 30 years.

The clemency decisions capped a complex, symbiotic and often controversial relationship between Mr. Trump and rap that dates back to the 1990s, when the businessman was a regular at clubs and a lyrical motif depicting wealth and flash.

“He’s in the entertainment business,” Cohen said of the former president in an interview Wednesday. “He has a similar style in the way he carries himself, and a lot of rappers and people in the industry would agree with that.”

Mr Cohen said the impending accusation of Lil Wayne, which had been under investigation for nearly a year, was not the reason for his pre-election summit or his support for Mr Trump. But he acknowledged that this may have ultimately been a factor in the pardon decision, as thousands of people lobbied for last-minute leniency.

“It never hurts for someone to fully understand an individual just by looking at a piece of paper,” he said. “Looking back, I guess it worked.”

Lil Wayne, 38, born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., is widely regarded as one of the most successful and influential hip-hop artists of his generation. But aside from a song criticizing George W. Bush for his handling of Hurricane Katrina, he had generally avoided politics altogether, distancing himself from partisanship and the Black Lives Matter movement. Asked about Mr. Trump ahead of the 2016 election, Lil Wayne laughed and replied, “Who is this?”

The firearm charge arose out of a search of his private plane as it landed in the Miami area on December 23, 2019, when authorities found a gold-plated .45 caliber Glock handgun and ammunition , as well as a drug cache (for which none was charged) and nearly $ 26,000 in cash. Lil Wayne was unable to legally carry a firearm, having pleaded guilty to possession of firearms in New York City in 2009; he had served eight months at Rikers Island.

Howard Srebnick, an attorney who represented Lil Wayne in the criminal case last year, said in a statement Wednesday: “A pardon for Mr. Carter is in line with the views of many legal scholars – including the Supreme Court justice. Amy Coney Barrett – that a nonviolent citizen for the simple possession of a gun violates the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. “

He added, “The gold-plated gun, which Mr. Carter has never used, is a collector’s item given to him as a Father’s Day gift.

Lil Wayne’s request for pardon was supported in letters by Deion Sanders, the NFL Hall of Famer, and Brett Berish, the general manager of a brand of sparkling wine, according to the White House, who also highlighted donations from rapper’s charity.

Mr Cohen said he began the pardon process right after Lil Wayne was indicted in November and that the rapper was “thrilled” with the president’s decision. Through representatives, Lil Wayne declined to comment.

Mr Cohen – whose connection to Trump’s orbit also included portraying former President Presidential Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski – also led the advocacy for Kodak Black. Black, whose legal name is Bill Kapri (born Dieuson Octave), got a commutation, which will forgive him the remainder of his 46-month sentence for lying about substantive papers while attempting to buy guns. He served nearly half that time and could be released from a federal prison outside of Chicago as early as Wednesday, Mr. Cohen said.

While many paid thousands of dollars to push for leniency, Mr Cohen said he relied instead on a months-long social media and letter-writing campaign, recruiting notable figures like Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens and former New York Police Department commissioner Bernie Kerik to vouch for Black’s character and philanthropy.

“Our route was less conventional. We had supporters like Gucci Mane and Lil Yachty and Vanilla Ice, ”Cohen said. “We did everything we could to see it.”

The names in bold may have also helped in cases of other switchings in the hip-hop world. Snoop Dogg is said to have lobbied on behalf of Mr. Harris, or Harry-O, one of the early backers of his old label, Death Row Records, which helped bring gangster rap to the mainstream. Mr Harris, 59, had his sentence for conspiracy to commit first degree murder commuted by the President after serving three decades of a 25-year life sentence.

Snoop Dogg has worked alongside reform lawyer Alice Johnson, who herself was pardoned by Trump last year, following a campaign led by Kim Kardashian West and others. “They did a good job while they were there and they did a good job of getting by,” Snoop Dogg, once a Trump critic, said of the administration upon hearing the news, according to the New York Post.

Longtime Jay-Z associate Desiree Perez, 52, woke up at 5 a.m. this morning to a phone full of text messages letting her know her pardon had been granted. Now managing director of Roc Nation, a management company and label with a social justice component, she was convicted in 1994 for conspiracy with the intention of distributing drugs. Ms Perez said she asked for pardon two days earlier, after seeing reports on Mr Trump’s plans for his last hours in office.

“I feel good, but a little numb,” Ms. Perez said in a telephone interview. “I haven’t forgiven myself and I’m not sure I will ever do so.

Ms. Perez works closely with the NFL in her partnership with Jay-Z, and the White House has called her “an advocate for criminal justice reform in her community.”

“There is so much judgment that goes with a condemnation without the time and the reflection of others on, ‘How did anyone end up in this place?’ My story has a reason, ”Ms. Perez said. “Everyone’s story has a reason. I’m just a girl from the Bronx, and to think about all the things I had to get through and how I persevered to get to where I am, well, now you make me cry.

But asked for her personal feelings about Mr. Trump, Ms. Perez deviated. “I would prefer not to answer that question today,” she said. “It’s not the best label.”

Katie Rosman contributed reporting.