Livin' large? Livin' a charmed life? Well, at least he's
livin' free for the moment. Tupac Shakur's 120-day jail term (for a violation
of his probation on a 1994 misdemeanor battery conviction by being convicted in
New York on sex abuse charges) has been put on hold until there is a ruling on
Shakur's appeal of both the sex abuse conviction and the probation violation,
Reuters reported today. The hit rapper is currently working on a movie,
"Gridlock"; Judge Abraham Khan ruled yesterday (Friday, June 7) that it would
be unfair to send him to jail while the appeals are pending. Shakur told
reporters after the hearing that he's being hounded by the authorities. "Sure I
did some bad things years ago but I've changed," he said. "I just want to get
on with my life and they don't want to let me."
The 1994 misdemeanor
battery conviction resulted from a March, 1993 assault on a Hollywood video
producer. Then there were those illegal weapons charges that Shakur pleaded
guilty to last month; police had found a loaded pistol in the rapper's car in
April, 1994 after stopping him for speeding. Shakur pleaded guilty to that one.
Sentencing was postponed until September 12 and the case is expected to be
dropped if he fulfills his promise to organize a concert to benefit
underprivileged inner-city children. No word on when the concert will take
place, and who is performing.