Tupac's Stepdad Mutulu Shakur Released From Prison After 37 Years Behind Bars

After 37 years behind bars, Tupac Shakur's stepfather is a free man. Mutulu Shakur's release comes amid severe medical reasons, Complex notes. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison for his involvement in the 1981 robbery of an armored truck that resulted in two officers and a guard being murdered. Despite his recovery efforts in prison, the former member of the Black Liberation Army was previously denied bond twice: once in April 2022 and another in 2016 when he was being held at a California federal prison. The 72-year-old was diagnosed with stage-3 multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that can damage the immune system, bones, and kidneys.

"The commission finds that your medical condition has significantly deteriorated since your last hearing in April 2022 and, we now find your medical condition renders you so infirm of mind and body that you are no longer physically capable of committing any federal, state or local crime," the decision to release him this time reads. He e was ordered to have no contact with his sister Joanne Chesimard, better known as Assata Shakur, who reportedly lives in Cuba and remains wanted in the U.S. 

His family released a statement regarding his release. "Mutulu is now with his family. This victory was secured by the steadfast support of his legal team, his family and his community comprised of all of you," they noted on his website. "Family & Friends of Mutulu Shakur (FFMS) is greatly appreciative of everyone's support over the course of Mutulu's decades in prison. We ask that everyone respect Dr. Shakur's privacy while he spends the holidays with his family and concentrates on his health and healing." 

Mutulu shared a close bond with Tupac. The rapper died after a drive-by shooting in 1996. Before his death, he and Mutulu co-wrote the famous 'Code Of Thug Life,' a set of rules discouraging unprovoked violence between gangs.