21 Sep 2018

Former rap mogul to be jailed for 28 years for manslaughter

1:06 pm on 21 September 2018

Former US rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight has pleaded no contest to a voluntary manslaughter charge over a hit-and-run incident in 2015.

Death Row Records co-founder, Marion "Suge" Knight.

Death Row co-founder Suge Knight was accused of intentionally running over two men with his pick-up. Photo: AFP

The Death Row Records co-founder made the plea to avoid charges of murdering one man and attempting to murder a second with his pick-up truck in Los Angeles.

He will be formally sentenced to 28 years in prison in October.

His record label helped launch the careers of artists including Dr Dre, Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg.

Under Californian state law, a no contest plea is the legal equivalent of a guilty plea.

As part of the agreement, the murder charges against Knight, 53, will be dismissed by prosecutors, along with separate criminal cases charging him with robbery and making criminal threats.

Had Knight been found guilty of murder as originally charged, he would have faced life in prison, prosecutors said.

The charge relates to an incident in 2015 in which Knight was accused of intentionally running over two men with his pick-up truck before fleeing the scene.

One of the victims, Terry Carter, died of his injuries while the other, Cle "Bone" Sloan, was seriously injured.