G. Dep sentenced to 15 years in prison for two-decade old shooting

[The_Ripper]

Former Bad Boy rapper G. Dep was sentenced this morning to 15 years prison for a two-decade old fatal gunpoint mugging -- a cold-case murder that was only solved when he walked into a Harlem precinct two years ago, turning himself in so he could square himself, he has explained, with God.
 
"The circumstance of your being before the court now suggests to me a maturity and decency that wouldn't have been evident at the time," Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus said of the sentence, the lowest allowed by law.
 
"It was the right thing to do, even though it landed you in the position you find yourself in now," the judge added, calling the rapper by his given name, Trevell Coleman.

When he walked into a Harlem precinct two years ago, Coleman -- who had had success as a protege of Sean "Puffy" Combs in the late '90s -- was a married dad of three and in treatment for an addiction to PCP. As part of turning his life around, he was determined to take responsibility for a crime that had continued to gnaw at him, his lawyer, Anthony Ricco, has explained. And he has never backed down.
 
"My hope is that Trevell never wavers from his decision," Ricco said at the poignant sentencing. "Fifteen years is a long time. Fifteen years in the penitentiary for putting yourself there is an even longer time."

Coleman, 37, has suffered the mockery and insults of his fellow prisoners, the lawyer noted, and in the press as well, for confessing to a shooting that he had essentially gotten away with, only to find out that his victim had died and that he had turned himself in for murder.
 
"He's gotten the scorn of other inmates, who called him stupid -- 'Look what happened when you open your mouth,'" the lawyer said. "His wife questioned him -- 'Trevell, what about us?'"
 
Coleman and his wife were raising twin sons of kindergarten age. On the day of his April verdict, the wife -- who had urged Coleman not to confess -- had wondered to the lawyer about how the boys will manage now, without their father.
 
"My hope is that their sons will grow up to be as proud of their father as boys can ever be, for fixing what he did," Ricco said.
 
"They will have a father who has honor."
 
In confessing, the rapper had told cops that when he was 17, or 18, or maybe 19, he had shot a man three times during a botched mugging at Park Avenue and 114th Street. He didn't know if the man lived or died.
 
Authorities scoured old records, much of it on microfilm, and matched the confession to the cold-case fatal shooting of John Henkel, gunned down on Oct. 19, 1993 at the same address. Coleman was

Hard-ball-playing prosecutors refused to offer Coleman a plea to a lesser charge, for which less prison -- even a few years less -- would be mandated.
 
The outcome is fair, said prosecutor David Drucker, who did argue in favor of the minimum sentence today.
 
There was "A totally innocent victim," Drucker said. "The defendant shot him three times in the torso, killing him, and then he biked off leaving the victim to die."
 
Coleman has lived a non-violent life, turned himself in for all the right reasons, and solved a murder that would never have been off the books otherwise, he noted.
 
Still, "He should be convicted of the crime he committed, murder in the second degree," the prosecutor said.

"I'm just trying to get right with God," Coleman had told The Post in an exclusive jailhouse interview back in December 2010. He made no statement at his sentencing today, and nodded somberly to his family members as he was led out of court in handcuffs.

[Sccit]

dumb muthafucka

[Sami]

I have to say part of me agrees this was really really dumb, but it says more to me about how foolish our legal system is. Statutes of limitations ought to exist and be enforced because if officers don't solve a case quickly after it happens, is it really fair to punish anyone 15 years after when the victims already moved on? He has young children. It seems petty and corrupt to me.

At the same time, admitting it and accepting the punishment is honorable and dignified. I applaud his willingness to make things right.

[Black Excellence]

dumb muthafucka

i agree. but dude was underrated. his debut was a classic imo.

[MUHFUKKA]

I have to say part of me agrees this was really really dumb, but it says more to me about how foolish our legal system is. Statutes of limitations ought to exist and be enforced because if officers don't solve a case quickly after it happens, is it really fair to punish anyone 15 years after when the victims already moved on? He has young children. It seems petty and corrupt to me.

At the same time, admitting it and accepting the punishment is honorable and dignified. I applaud his willingness to make things right.

are you fuckin kidding me? a guy walks into a police station, confesses to a murder he committed, has information that only the killer would know, and you think y him going to prison shows how foolish the legal system is? what the fuck did he confess for if he wasnt planning on doing time? its murder theres no statute of limitations on that shit. i guarantee the pcp had a big part in his confession, that shit makes people think they can talk to god and shit

[Sccit]

i guarantee the pcp had a big part in his confession

realest shit u ever said

[virtuoso]

I have to respect him for what he has done, it wasn't dumb, obviously the only way he could make peace with himself is to do this. Clearly he has been haunted by the evil that he committed.

[Sccit]

I have to respect him for what he has done, it wasn't dumb, obviously the only way he could make peace with himself is to do this. Clearly he has been haunted by the evil that he committed.

Confessing to the law doesn't make the act any less evil.... The governmental system ain't God.

[Hack Wilson - real]

I have to respect him for what he has done, it wasn't dumb, obviously the only way he could make peace with himself is to do this. Clearly he has been haunted by the evil that he committed.

Confessing to the law doesn't make the act any less evil.... The governmental system ain't God.

the government system is more like the devil

[Black Excellence]

I have to respect him for what he has done, it wasn't dumb, obviously the only way he could make peace with himself is to do this. Clearly he has been haunted by the evil that he committed.

Confessing to the law doesn't make the act any less evil.... The governmental system ain't God.

the government system is more like the devil

LOL

[7even]

I have to say part of me agrees this was really really dumb, but it says more to me about how foolish our legal system is. Statutes of limitations ought to exist and be enforced because if officers don't solve a case quickly after it happens, is it really fair to punish anyone 15 years after when the victims already moved on? He has young children. It seems petty and corrupt to me.

At the same time, admitting it and accepting the punishment is honorable and dignified. I applaud his willingness to make things right.

Punishing murderers on their own request is pretty petty and corrupt, no doubt.

[DJ SUGAFREE QUIK]

Well i'm glad g. dep had remorse.  I stopped listening to his songs when I read that story.  Main songs I liiked were everyday & child of the ghetto.  Sick & tired of loser criminals robbing someone & still shooting them dead    Wish other losers gave themselves up after doing such heinous crimes, well mainly wish they never did crimes at all.

[KURUPTION-81]

Well i'm glad g. dep had remorse.  I stopped listening to his songs when I read that story.  Main songs I liiked were everyday & child of the ghetto.  Sick & tired of loser criminals robbing someone & still shooting them dead    Wish other losers gave themselves up after doing such heinous crimes, well mainly wish they never did crimes at all.

Dep didn't even know he had killed the guy. 

He walked into confess he had shot someone and then was told the guy had died after the confession.

[Hack Wilson - real]

Well i'm glad g. dep had remorse.  I stopped listening to his songs when I read that story.  Main songs I liiked were everyday & child of the ghetto.  Sick & tired of loser criminals robbing someone & still shooting them dead    Wish other losers gave themselves up after doing such heinous crimes, well mainly wish they never did crimes at all.

Dep didn't even know he had killed the guy. 

He walked into confess he had shot someone and then was told the guy had died after the confession.

doesn't excuse the act one bit


granted i still listen to Proof of D12 even though he would've gone to prison for murder if he didn't die himself

[virtuoso]

Regardless of your feelings towards the police, you do the crime, you do the time, you take away a person's life, especially in cold blood, then you get punished. He was never punished, therefore he has not been able to make peace with himself. This punishment could either come in the form of a death sentence (which I am not a fan of) or jail. So no, it aint dumb, clearly this is not a decision he has taken lightly and like I said it is obviously something which has haunted him so the only way of making things right was confess. I say that I can respect and any one that can't respect that is a complete idiot and anyone who suggests it's petty to jail someone for murder is just...well not worth addressing.