Though now defunct, in its heyday Death Row Records was one of Harris' most successful ventures, selling 18 million albums and earning more than $325 million in its first four years alone, launching to stardom west coast rap legends including Dr. Dre, NWA, Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur, and was widely credited with changing the face of 90s hip hop. Meanwhile, Denzel Washington is likely signing on for a role in another blockbuster and making space on his shelf for another award. At this point, Harris decided it was time to leave the drug business behind and pursue more legitimate goals. (@ThatNiggaSim) August 14, 2019 He joined the Bay Area News Group in 2014. Harris' desire to help the less fortunate may stem from his hard-knock childhood, growing up in South Central Los Angeles in the 'low bottoms' neighborhood and spending his school years shining shoes for 'high-rollers and players'. He had a musical upbringing classically trained by his next-door neighbor, Mrs Payne, as a pianist and joined his school band playing the Trombone and Drums. This milestone might have been more celebrated had it not been for his previous occupation. Trump commuted Johnson's multi-decade sentence after a meeting in the oval office with Kim Kardashian, who was pushing for justice reform and Johnson's release. In the late 1980s, Harris was convicted of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder in state court. Without your master tapes, you aint s. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". His attorneys wrote that the purported victim of Harris conspiracy to commit murder conviction has since admitted his testimony was perjured and that Harris was innocent of his state charges. We are all grateful for the hard work on this case by prison reform professionals Alice Johnson, Weldon Angeleno, and artist Snoop Dogg, as well as private investigator and sentencing expert John Brown.. Pardoned December 23, 2020, Veteran GOP dirty trickster and on-off adviser to Trump. Alongside his dealings with drug cartels, Harris ran a string of successful legitimate businesses, including a theatre company that gave actor Denzel Washington his first break. During the last three decades in prison he has participated in a number of self help and rehabilitation programs, some of which he co-founded and co-facilitated. He has made a career of roles that present positive and powerful images of black manhood (his Oscar-winning turn in Training Day being a rare exception to that rule). Michael Harry O Harris was born in December 1955 and passed away on April 16, 2019. and Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Contempt of court. Related: Did Lisa Left Eye Lopes Date Death Row Records Owner Suge Knight? He Gave Suge Knight $1.5 Million To Start Death Row Records. As a result Harris and ex-wife Lydia filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit and were awarded a $107million judgment against the record label and Knight. I knew the difference between having a record label and an organization, Knight would later say in his record labels historic 1996 VIBE feature. Download it here. Would love your thoughts, please comment. In 2021, in a surprise pardon by then-President Donald Trump, Harris was granted his freedom after spending 33 years behind bars. Harry O was awarded a $107million dollars by the Court. Tricky geometry baffles the internet - but can YOU train your brain to solve how many triangles are in this image? While in prison, he collaborated with Suge Knight to create Death Row Records in 1991, the label that launched the careers of Dr Dre, Tupac Shakur, and Snoop Dogg. of Denzel Washington . From what I understand it came out his mouth, said J. His organization, first founded in Hollywood, California, has helped cast-offs from the show business industry including Miguel Nunez Jr. from the movie Juwanna Mann, Jon Jon from the R&B group Troop, Jada Cacchilli from TV show The Bad Girls' Club and Ola Ray from Michael Jackson's Thriller music video. Harris was serving a prison sentence over drug trafficking and attempted murder charges at the Federal Correctional Institution Lompoc in California. It does not store any personal data. 'It's all about using resources to help people. Yet, almost simultaneously, it was hammered by Dr. Dres departure, Shakurs death, Snoop Dogg bolting to No Limit Records and Knights incarceration. Play it now! She had two jobs, leaving her with very little time to watch over her son. I am a man who came to prison a boy and who will emerge as a grown man.'. Harris says he tried to do right by his community by using the money to invest in local businesses. 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He is most known as the person who gave Suge Knight the seed money to start Death Row records. But I've strived and struggled so hard to go on to do great things. Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Of course, there was nothing there to find. While serving prison terms totaling more than 40 years, he financed the start of Death Row Records in 1990s. Harris confessed to the Daily Mail that he was reforming himself while behind bars, saying: Over 30 years ago, I was part of the problem. Harris is currently incarcerated in Federal Correctional Institution Lompoc, where his federal sentence is set to end in October 2028. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. The Daily Mail notes Harris had a musical upbringing and was classically trained by a next-door neighbor. In an exclusive interview and special edition of "LA Stories," Harris opens up to host Giselle Fernandez about his time in prison. The proliferation of the cocaine trade throughout the 1980s gave many enterprising hustlers a chance to finance their dreams. Late last week, the ACLU filed a class-action suit on behalf of Lompoc inmates, accusing the prison of deliberate indifference to stopping the spread of the virus. The businessman has a colorful past himself, including going on the run for more than two years from the FBI after being accused of being involved in a Nigerian bank fraud scheme. Michael Harris was born on September 20th, 1960, on West 46th Street in South Central Los Angeles. 'I know that from the moment I'm free I will work tiredly to help change lives. That lie needs [sic] to be cleaned up. In its response, the U.S. Attorneys office argues on technical legal terms that Harris should be ineligible for a judge-ordered compassionate release because he still has a pending administrative appeal for release. He is a freelance journalist who has done work for publications such as Don Diva Magazine and Hip-Hop Weekly. 41.6k Followers, 151 Following, 22 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Michael "Harry-O" Harris (@theofficialharryo) theofficialharryo. He began to invest in real estate and various businesses. Michaels father, who he described as a wealthy businessman with three families, left when the he was just five years old. Angelos addressed Harris pardon to AllHipHop and labeled it as a corrected injustice, saying: This is definitely an injustice they corrected today. The comments below have been moderated in advance. All Eyez on VIBE magazines 1996 Death Row cover, For Death Rows Suge Knight violent bully, music executive it seems the ride is over, The murder of Tupac Shakur is a tragedy but the why is not a complete mystery, On the 25th anniversary of Snoop Doggs Doggystyle a look back at his life and times. While the instincts that serve one well in the streets rarely work in the real world, some gangsters do have legitimate business savvy that can be applied in other areas. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Knight is currently serving 28 years in prison after he pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter after driving his truck into two men, killing one, Terry Carter, following a row in Compton, California. Sha Be Allah. He is a Fulbright scholar and a consultant to the History Channel's Gangland documentary series. He said his corporation aims to 'empower individuals who would otherwise rely on government assistance'. Charlamagne questioned where the rumor came from, and Prince explained that Harry-O told a fellow friend that same information as well as authorities back in the day which ended up bringing the feds to sniff around the Houston CEOs compound. Michael "Harry-O" Harris. 21:54 GMT 16 Aug 2019. Harris attorneys had asked for a compassionate release from the prison -- which is rampant in coronavirus cases -- as they argued that his autoimmune disease would put him at a high risk for contracting the virus. Mike Tyson doubts Tommy Fury will beat Jake Paul in Saudi Arabia this weekend - despite admitting he's never seen him fight before, Teacher's aide, 57, who was brutally beaten by 6'6" teen student is a 'humble' mom-of-two working two jobs whose son attends Florida high school where she was knocked out, What COULD aliens look like? to Harris' attorney Steve Goldberg, Harris has laid claim to a 50% stake in Rap-A-Lot . The president knows how much this case means to me, she said. Harris started selling crack cocaine aged 20, making close connections with both the infamous Bloods and Rolling 60s Crips gangs. Though Harris was not able to partake in any of the spoils, his wife won a $106 million lawsuit against the label in 2005, sending it into bankruptcy. 2023, Charter Communications, all rights reserved. Harris was recently pardoned and is a free man for the first time in over 30 years. 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He was convicted on the attempted murder charge (which has since been recanted) in 1987, and has since been serving a 28-year sentence in San Quinton maximum security prison. Fox News Pete Hegseth lobbied for their release, Trump campaign chairman (pictured) who admitted conspiracy against the U.S., and was convicted of tax and bank fraud as part of Mueller probe. AHH yes Ron Chepesiuk, wonderful human being, however his investigative methods leave a lot of the people e gets his info from angry. The fact that he was arrested as Checkmates premiered on Broadway certainly didnt help matters at all. The pardoned former drug lords right hand man, Al Brown, who has been friends with Harris for decades, said he had been waiting for Harris release 33 long years. Get hyperlocal forecasts, radar and weather alerts. In the black working class city of Oakland, The Black Panther Party for Self Defense was born. Harris was convicted in 1989 on conspiracy and murder charges, with an additional 19-years and 7 months for cocaine trafficking. The alleged victim until recanted his testimony in 2011 and Harris was to be released as a result. Donald Trump has pardoned Death Row Records co-founder and former drug kingpin Michael Harry O Harris after a secret campaign by rapper Snoop Dogg, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal. One of the most interesting of the 143 people who Trump granted freedom is Michael Harry O Harris, whose story is tied to a business institution revered for both its unparalleled success and unmatched infamy. Verified. If Mr. Harris were to become critically ill or die while in custody, it would be not only devastating from a human standpoint for Mr. Harris and his family, but would eliminate a person who, following his release, would in all probability serve as a great source of healing and mentoring in the disadvantaged community of South Central Los Angeles in which he was raised, Harris attorneys, Matthew Lombard and Bruce Zucker, wrote in a motion for compassionate release. Harris close pal and rapper Snoop Dogg reportedly advocated for his release to the president along with ex-convicts Weldon Angelos and Alice Marie Johnson, both who were also pardoned by Trump. South Central was ground zero for the crack explosion, and Michael Harris was in a position to capitalize. After 30 years, Harry O is now free, a survivor of both prison and a label whose name foretold its future. Prince. Look what it did to my family. ', He added: '2nd Chance helps those who have lost hope entirely and believe wholeheartedly that they will never find the help they so desperately desire.'. One nearly made it. Popularized by the disco scene, cocaine was seen as something of a lavish indulgence, relegated to the rich. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Nate Gartrell covers crime and corruption in Contra Costa County. Michael Harris' right hand man Al Brown with the former drug baron's friends and family wait for his imminent release in from prison in Lompoc, California onTuesday. His true crime books include "Drug Lords, Black Gangsters of Chicago, Gangsters of Harlem Gangsters of Miami" and Sergeant Smack: The Lives and Times of Ike Atkinson. He became editor-in-chief of the San Quentin News and is credited with bringing the award-winning newspaper back from the brink. One of the things that rap provides for communities of color, it provided an avenue to share our stories, he said. You dont even know how it feels right now, he told DailyMail.com. Wife Margaret - who informed on him in plea deal - was pardoned the following day, NICHOLAS SLATTEN, PAUL SLOUGH, EVAN LIBERTY, DUSTIN HEARD Pardoned December 22,2020, Four Blackwater contractors were convicted on charges including murder and manslaughter for killing 14 Iraqis in massacre in Nisour Square, Baghdad. So many ancillary figures never found happiness or success after their time on Death Row. Harris had a musical upbringing - he was classically trained by his next-door neighbor, Mrs Payne, as a pianist and joined his school band playing the Trombone and Drums. Harry O was the first African American to produce a Broadway play. Denzel Washington, of course, is now one of the most popular and respected actors in cinema history. 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