Death Row Records co-founder Michael “Harry O” Harris is reportedly set to be released from prison after 31 years.
The 57-year-old is currently being held at a Federal Correctional Facility in Lompoc, California but is expected to be released in mid August before being transferred to a half-way house in San Antonio, Texas, reports The Daily Mail.
Harris was convicted of attempted murder and kidnapping in 1988.
Though now defunct, in its heyday Death Row Records, the label behind Dr. Dre, 2Pac and Snoop Dogg, which he founded with Suge Knight in 1991, was one of Harris’ most successful ventures, selling 18 million albums and earning more than $325 million (£267 million) in its first four years alone.
King Of The L.A. Coke Game In ‘80s, Harry O, To Be Released From Prison: August 14, 2019 — After three decades behind bars, Michael (Harry O) Harris, one of the most infamous west coast crime bosses of all time and the co-founder of the iconic Death Row… https://t.co/vEx7YDwfFT pic.twitter.com/rpsV3U3uSm
— Futurematic SoundF. (@LabelFuture) August 15, 2019
He came up with the record label’s name while temporarily housed on Death Row in San Quentin State Prison.
Speaking to the Mail now, he said: “Over 30 years ago I was part of the problem. However, over the years I have repeatedly proven myself to be part of the solution. It’s about returning to society with my new found vision, talents and insights. Giving back to the communities where my help is so desperately needed.”
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Suge Knight/Getty
He added: ‘I am a man who has experienced incredible highs and incredible lows. I am a man who came to prison a boy and who will emerge as a grown man.
“I know that from the moment I’m free I will work tiredly to help change lives.”
Knight meanwhile, is currently serving a 28 year sentence after he pleaded no contest to a manslaughter charge, following the death of a man who died in a hit-and-run incident involving the music mogul in 2015.
Earlier this month, Snoop Dogg paid tribute to Knight on new song ‘Let Bygones Be Bygones’, taken from his forthcoming album ‘I Wanna Thank Me’.