Thanks to President Bush, rapper and producer John Forte will be out the pen by Christmas.
In 2000, Forte was sentenced to 14-years in prison after he was found with 31 pounds of liquid cocaine at the New Jersey International Airport. Two female couriers set him up. He has served seven years, and faces five additional years of supervised probation. According to the Washington Post, Forte has been chosen as one of 16 people to receive clemency from Bush.
One person who lobbied for Forte’s early release is singer Carly Simon, who along with her son (a former prep school pal of Forte), held the Grammy-winning artist down since his arrest. Simon reportedly sent messages to Senators Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch on his behalf.
When Forte was first arrested, Simon put up $250,000 towards his $650,000 bail.
Besides being a solo artist and producer for The Fugees, Forte has worked with everyone from Tricky to Herbie Hancock. His friends range from Mark Ronson, to regulars at Martha’s Vineyard, where Forte was known to charm women, guzzle Guinness, and dress sharp.
In a 2002 interview with Rolling Stone, Forte said that the company he kept caught up with him.
"I allowed elements to be near me -- not drugs but people," he said. "That's what caught me up. I was too accessible. I was too here, I was too there. The price the government wants me to pay for that is fourteen years."
Forte will be released Dec. 22.
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