Suge Knight Pleads No Contest, Will Serve 28 Years In Prison

Source: (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) / Getty

Former Death Row Records mogul Marion “Suge” Knight pleaded no contest Thursday to voluntary manslaughter for running over and killing a Compton businessman nearly four years ago during the filming of the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton. Knight, 53, has agreed to serve 28 years in prison.

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The plea came days before jury selection was scheduled to begin in the oft-delayed case.

Knight was charged with murder, attempted murder and hit-and-run after fleeing the scene of an altercation in January 2015. Knight and Cle “Bone” Sloan, a consultant on the film, were involved in a fight that ended with Knight clipping the man with his pickup truck and running over Compton businessman Terry Carter. Carter died from his injuries.

In years past, Knight found ways to delay the trial from collapsing during one court hearing, two of his former attorneys were indicted on witness-tampering charges, and his fiancee pleaded no contest to selling video of Knight hitting the two men with his truck.

Knight has to serve 22 years on the voluntary manslaughter charge and an additional six years because it is his third strike.