He made the FBI’s most wanted list and was convicted of leading a revolutionary group responsible for a trail of bloodshed, including the slayings of an armed guard and two New York police officers. But after serving half his prison sentence, Mutulu Shakur might soon be a free man.
The 65-year-old, stepfather to the late rapper Tupac Shakur, is eligible for mandatory parole after serving 30 years of the 60-year sentence he was given in 1988 for masterminding a string of deadly armed robberies in New York and Connecticut committed by a militant political group known as “The Family.”
His parole hearing is to take place this week at the federal penitentiary in Victorville, where he is serving his sentence, according to U.S. Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr.
Although federal parole was abolished in 1987, it is still granted for inmates convicted before then. And under the rules in place at the time of his conviction, parole is mandatory for Shakur unless a commission finds he is likely to reoffend or has frequently violated prison rules.
The possibility that Shakur could walk free has outraged Michael Paige, whose father, a Brinks security guard, was killed in a $1.6 million holdup of an armored truck at a mall in suburban Rockland County, N.Y., on Oct. 20, 1981.
He called it “sickening.”
Rylance up for trophies
Academy Award-winner Mark Rylance is a best-actor favorite at Sunday’s Olivier Awards, a celebration of the London stage whose nominees include Benedict Cumberbatch, Judi Dench and Nicole Kidman.
Rylance, who won a supporting-actor Oscar this year for “Bridge of Spies,” is best-actor nominated for playing an 18th-century Spanish monarch in “Farinelli and the King.”
He’s up against Cumberbatch for a heralded “Hamlet,” Adrian Lester for the historical drama “Red Velvet,” Kenneth Branagh for Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” and Kenneth Cranham for a powerful family saga “The Father.”
‘Trailer Park’ actor arrested
An actor who stars on the television series “Trailer Park Boys” has been arrested in Los Angeles on suspicion of misdemeanor battery.
Police and jail records show Michael Smith, who plays Bubbles on the show, was arrested in Hollywood around 1:15 a.m. Friday. He was booked on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic battery and released hours later on $20,000 bail.
Smith denied any wrongdoing in a written statement.
Happy birthday
Actress Jamie Lynn Spears is 24. … Actor Eric Andre is 32. … Magician David Blaine is 42. … Actor Robert Downey Jr. is 50. … Comedian David Cross is 51.
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