Trump pardons Lil Wayne and Kodak Black during final hours in office

Trump Lil Wayne

The artists were just two of over 140 individuals who received pardons or commutations during the outgoing president’s last minute clemency spree.

President Donald Trump has issued a batch of pardons and commutations during the final hours of his presidency. Among the 143 who received a pardon or commutation to their prison sentence were rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black.

The flurry of pardons, of which there were 73, and commutations – of which there were 70 – had previously been talked about. Earlier this month (7 January) Bloomberg reported that Trump had prepared a “sweeping list” of individuals he had hoped to pardon in the last days of his administration.

Lil Wayne was charged back in November with one count of possessing a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. The Young Money Entertainment founder was charged for an incident that took place in December 2019, in which he was arrested after boarding a flight on his private jet with a loaded handgun in his luggage. Wayne, real name Dwayne Carter, pleaded guilty to the charge in December last year and was set to appear in court on 28 January. The charge would have seen him facing up to 10 years in prison.

During the final days of Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign he and Wayne posed for a controversial photo which Wayne shared to his social media accounts.

“Just had a great meeting with [Donald Trump],” Wayne tweeted. “Besides what he’s done so far with criminal reform, the platinum plan is going to give the community real ownership. He listened to what we had to say today and assured he will and can get it done.”

Kodak Black is serving time for falsifying paperwork to obtain a firearm. He’s now had his prison sentence commuted. Other names on the pardons list include Death Row Records co-founder Michael “Harry-O” Harris, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez and former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Later today (20 January) President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris will be sworn into office. The likes of Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, New Radicals and more will be performing at the inauguration.