72-year-old Mutulu Shakur, the stepfather of late rapper 2Pac, has been released from prison after 37 years for medical reasons, per the New York Daily News.
The Bureau of Prisons has confirmed that Shakur, who was sentenced to 60 years in prison for his involvement in the 1981 robbery of an armored truck that resulted in two officers and a guard being murdered, was released on Sunday. He was previously denied bond in April this year, and in 2016 when he was being held at a Victorville, California federal prison.
“The commission finds that your medical condition has significantly deteriorated since your last hearing in April 2022 and, we now find your medical condition renders you so infirm of mind and body that you are no longer physically capable of committing any federal, state or local crime,” reads the decision, which was issued in October. Per the conditions of his release, he was ordered to have no contact with his sister Joanne Chesimard, better known as Assata Shakur.
"Mutulu is now with his family. This victory was secured by the steadfast support of his legal team, his family and his community comprised of all of you," reads a statement from his family on his website. "Family & Friends of Mutulu Shakur (FFMS) is greatly appreciative of everyone’s support over the course of Mutulu’s decades in prison. We ask that everyone respect Dr. Shakur’s privacy while he spends the holidays with his family and concentrates on his health and healing."
During his time behind bars, Shakur has been suffering from multiple health issues, including stage 3 multiple myeloma. He was being held at a federal medical center in Lexington, Kentucky prior to his release.
