The gang leader who ordered Tupac's murder is in fact sentenced to life imprisonment... Condemnation after 30 years

(San Francisco = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kwon Young-jeon = The leader of a gang who ordered and conspired to murder legendary American hip-hop rapper 2Pac (Tupac Shakur) was sentenced to life imprisonment, 30 years after the crime.

The Associated Press reported on the 13th (local time) that the Clark County, Nevada, trial court sentenced Duane 'Keffi D' Davis (63), who was charged with first-degree murder, to a minimum of 40 years in prison.

Accordingly, Davis must first serve 40 years in prison, and if parole is not granted after that, he will have to remain in prison. Considering his age in his 60s, it is practically a life sentence.

Davis was found guilty by a jury last August on charges of ordering and providing a firearm to fatally shoot Tupac, then 25, on a Las Vegas street on September 7, 1996.

At the trial on this day, the prosecutor requested a heavy sentence, saying, "No matter what sentence the court imposes, Davis will end his life in prison. He tried to make money by using the murders he committed, so he deserves the maximum sentence."

Davis, the defendant, only asked for the return of the photos and other belongings confiscated by the police and did not make any specific excuses.

When the judge asked if he had anything more to say, he briefly replied, "No, I'm good."

However, his lawyer announced that he would appeal, saying that he was indicted too long after the incident occurred.

Tupac's surviving family members, including his siblings Maurice and Sekiwa, also attended the trial.

On September 7, 1996, Tupac was riding in the passenger seat of a BMW driven by a record producer when he was hit by a bullet from a Cadillac vehicle that approached him while waiting at a traffic light, and died six days later.

This case remained unsolved for a long time, but the full story was revealed when Davis, who was the leader of the Los Angeles (LA) gang 'Southside Compton Crips', confessed the crime in his autobiography published in 2019.

It was confirmed that he was in a Cadillac vehicle at the time and handed a firearm to a passenger in the back seat, ordering him to shoot.

Nevada law stipulates that even if a person does not directly shoot someone, he or she can be punished for murder if he or she orders or participates in the crime.

However, the three passengers in the Cadillac have already died, and Davis is the only person indicted in this case.

In his autobiography, Davis stated that he committed the crime in retaliation for Tupac's group assaulting his nephew, and that hip-hop mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs, known as Puff Daddy, offered to pay him to kill Tupac.

However, the Clark County District Attorney stated that there is currently insufficient evidence to further indict Combs and other people in this case.