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Suge Knight pleads no contest to manslaughter, faces 28 years in prison for 2015 hit-and-run

Posted at 6:48 PM, Sep 20, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-20 18:48:40-04

LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 26: Marion “Suge” Knight (R) and his attorney Thaddeus Culpepper appear in court for a pretrial hearing at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on February 26, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. Knight is charged with murder and attempted murder after a hit-and-run incident following an argument in a Compton parking lot January 29, 2015. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Former rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight pleaded no contest Thursday to manslaughter in connection with the death of a man during a hit-and-run incident after a confrontation on the set of the movie biopic “Straight Outta Compton.”

Knight is scheduled to be sentenced October 4 and in exchange for his plea, prosecutors are calling for a sentence of 28 years in prison.

Two other criminal cases against Knight will be dismissed at sentencing.

Knight was accused in January 2015 of running over two men, killing one of them, during an argument.

He had faced one count of murder for the death of Terry Carter and one count of attempted murder in the case of Cle “Bone” Sloan, who was maimed after Knight allegedly struck the pair with his truck.

The 53-year-old had also been charged one count of hit-and-run. He had faced life in prison.

There was video of the incident that shows a truck driven by Knight. It pulls into the entrance of a Compton restaurant near the site where the movie was filmed, and the driver is approached by Sloan, a security guard.

The two men appear to talk for a few moments, with Knight still in his vehicle. Suddenly, the vehicle backs up, knocking Sloan to the ground. While still in reverse, the truck moves out of range of the security camera.

The vehicle is then seen zooming forward, back into camera range, running over Sloan a second time, and then running over a second man, Carter, a former rap music label owner.

Carter later died.

The defense previously argued Knight was defending himself because Sloan had a gun.

The maximum penalty for voluntary manslaughter in California is 11 years in prison, but that would double because of prior convictions under the state’s three-strikes law, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said.

Knight faces another five years because the conviction is for a serious and violent felony and one year for a deadly weapon allegation involving the truck he used.

“Straight Outta Compton” tells the story of the rap group N.W.A.

Knight and N.W.A. member Andre “Dr. Dre” Young founded the wildly popular Death Row Records label together in 1991.