Cassidy has been found guilty of manslaughter and assault, following the trial of his first degree murder case yesterday.
The Philadelphia rapper was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault in what prosecutors have called a ‘premeditated ambush’ by the rapper and associates.
As reported in the Associated Press, Judge Jane Cutler Greenspan said that Cassidy, born Barry Reese, was negligent for supplying the guns that killed 22-year-old Desmond Hawkins and wounded two of his companions in the incident on April 15 last year.
After the sentence was announced, Cassidy“expressed a great deal of relief and remorse,” his attorney, Fortunato Perri said.
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“Obviously, he’s happy to know that he’s going to be released from prison soon and can get back to recording and spending time with his family. It’s been a difficult seven months for him.”
Cassidy has been incarcerated since turning himself in to Philadelphia police in June.
Reese was sentenced to 23 months in prison, but since the rapper has been incarcerated since June 2005, he will only need to serve a few more months in prison before he is released.
The prosecution accused Cassidy and his associated of stashing four guns, including an assault rifle, in an alley behind the rapper’s house to ambush another group of men that they had fought with just moments before.
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The trial had begun on Monday, but Cassidy waived his right to trial by jury, in the hope that the judge would find him not guilty of first degree murder, a charge Reese has always denied. Instead, he was found guilty of a lesser charge, a result that Reese and his record label, Swizz Beatz’Full Circle Records and J Records, will no doubt be delighted by.
Had Reese been convicted of murder in the first degree, the rapper could have faced life imprisonment, or worse – the death penalty.
Monday saw witnesses testify with different stories, with one witness changing the facts given to the police in his official statement, citing intimidation as the cause.
Source: Associated Press & Ballerstatus.net
