UPDATE [20/01/21]: Just hours before US President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in, Lil Wayne has officially been granted a pardon by current President Donald Trump (along with fellow rapper Kodak Black).
As his last full day of being Commander-in-Chief approaches, US President Donald Trump is preparing to issue anywhere between 60 to over 100 pardons and commutations at the White House – which may include the one and only Lil Wayne, according to The New York Times.
Weezy – real name: Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. – pleaded guilty to felony gun possession last month after he was caught packing some gold-plated heat with ammunition on a private flight to Miami, Florida. Due to the rapper’s prior felony conviction, carrying a .45-calibre Glock in his luggage constituted a serious crime. Lil Wayne faces a sentence of up to ten years in prison.
President Trump famously met with Lil Wayne last October in the lead-up to the most recent US election to discuss a “Platinum Plan” to help African-Americans. Naturally, Twitter had a field day with this one, and the latter faced considerable backlash for ostensibly endorsing the former. Regardless, it would appear that both parties are on rather friendly terms, meaning asking for a bit of presidential clemency wouldn’t exactly be out of the question.
What’s even more fascinating are the key individuals who apparently won’t be receiving a pardon. Among those being snubbed, there’s former chief strategist to the president Stephen K. Bannon, who was indicted on fraud charges last year related to the now-famous wall between the southern US border and Mexico (NOTE [20/01/21]: Steve Bannon has also been granted clemency); WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been evading espionage charges all around the world; and despite earlier rumblings, it appears as though President Trump won’t be exercising this specific power on himself or his adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump (neither of whom have been charged for their wrongdoings).
At this current stage, however, the official pardon list is still being assembled. So while we can speculate and fire off punchlines in the meantime, nothing has been written in stone.
Lil Wayne is scheduled to be formally sentenced on January 28th.
