LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) Suge Knight pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter today, which marks the beginning of the end to a long legal battle but could also spell the beginning of up to 28 years in state prison.
Knight, 53, reached a plea agreement in Los Angeles district court in connection to the 2015 hit-and-run death of Terry Carter outside a Compton restaurant. Knight agreed to pleading no contest to Voluntary manslaughter, which carries an 11-year prison sentence, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The sentence is doubled, however, because of a prior felony conviction, according to a statement released by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. Another six years could be tacked on because Knight was charged with using a deadly weapon to commit a violent felony, according to prosecutors.
Negotiations broke down at one point because Knight did not want to make the plea in the presence of the media that was in the courtroom, an anonymous source told the Times.
Knight has been in jail since the 2015 incident; he will be sentenced Oct. 4 and prosecutors agreed to dismiss other pending criminal matters – namely, threatening “Straight Outta Compton director F. Gary Gray and robbing a photographer – as part of the deal.
