Kodak Black Was Released From Prison in Early 2021
Updated April 30 2021, 8:41 p.m. ET
Rapper Kodak Black (Bill Kahan Kapri) was sentenced to a 46-month-long concurrent prison sentence for attempted second-degree criminal possession of a weapon — but this hasn't stopped him from making music.
Black released his latest album, "Bill Israel," on Nov. 11, 2020, with the list of contributors including Gucci Mane, Jackboy, and Tory Lanez. There were rumors, though, that he could be released early, thanks to former President Donald Trump's pardons on his last day. What's Black's release date?
Why was Kodak Black in prison?
Black's original release date from prison was set for Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022, according to an article published by TMZ on Jan. 23, 2020.
The rapper was sentenced to 12 months in jail for attempted second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in March 2020, after driving across the Lewiston-Queenston International Bridge on the Canada–United States border in the company of three other men with four handguns, a loaded magazine cartridge, and a personal use amount of marijuana in his Cadillac Escalade in April 2019.
He pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in Niagara County Court on Thursday, March 12, 2020. He was also sentenced to 46 months in November 2019, for two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in Miami, Fla. He reportedly deliberately misconstrued information about his criminal history on the paperwork required to obtain a gun.
In what many fans would likely describe as a landmark decision, the federal weapon charges brought against Black in Miami were dismissed on Friday, June 5, 2020. The news sparked a wave of fan speculations concerning his potential release date from prison, with many taking to Twitter to weigh in on whether Black could leave jail by late 2021.
"Just heard Kodak Black will be out of prison next summer 2021 lmao yaaaaaa," wrote one fan.
"Federal Judge Moreno has granted my motion on @kodakblack and states that the criminal history category three was overstated," reads the update Bradford Cohen, Kodak Black's lawyer, posted on Instagram on Tuesday, June 9, 2020.
"This coupled with the dismissal of the Miami case should allow #kodakblack to be moved to an appropriate prison where he can get treatment and not be 1100 miles away from his family. #prisonreform #MOVEKODAK #justicereform #fairtreatment #greatjudge ... keep up the #movekodak and make sure you let @drrandpaul @senatorrandpaul know there is a 22-year-old convicted of a paperwork crime in a federal max custody in his state," Cohen added.
Reportedly, Black was relocated to the United States Penitentiary Big Sandy, a high-security prison in Kentucky, after he got involved in an altercation with another inmate. He was then transferred to USP Thomson, a high-security prison in Illinois, in October 2020.
Former President Trump pardoned Black, and he was released in January 2021.
On former President Trump's last day in office, he issued more than 100 pardons, one of them being for Black.
“Before his conviction and after reaching success as a recording artist, Kodak Black became deeply involved in numerous philanthropic efforts,” the White House’s official statement read. “In fact, he has committed to supporting a variety of charitable efforts, such as providing educational resources to students and families of fallen law enforcement officers and the underprivileged.”
The rapper was reportedly released on January 20. That being said, he is still facing sexual assault charges in South Carolina, which were not pardoned by the former president, and for which Black entered a plea deal. He pleaded guilty to a lesser sentence of first-degree assault and battery, though the initial charge was for first-degree sexual misconduct.
The charges stemmed from a 2016 case in which he was accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl. Though he was looking at 10 more years in prison, the plea deal allowed him to face 18 months of probation instead.
If you need support, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or visit RAINN.org to chat online one-on-one with a support specialist at any time.
