Eric B. reportedly won’t face any jail time in the wake of his recent arrest.
According to the New York Times, the Hip Hop legend appeared in a Hackensack, New Jersey courtroom on Friday (November 22) where he was sentenced to one year probation in a 17-year-old case.
The famed producer/DJ said outside the courthouse that Superior Court Judge James Guida was “firm but fair.”
“I’m glad it’s over,” he told reporters.
Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Ron McCormick argued for Eric B. to do some time in prison, though he agreed the original 364-day sentence the 54-year-old was facing in 2002 “probably is not appropriate.”
However, McCormick explained sentencing Eric B. to probation would send the wrong message. He thinks it could lead defendants to assume they could skip sentencing, lead a fruitful life and land a better deal years later.
“I don’t think that’s justice,” he said. “I don’t think it’s fair, I don’t think it‘s a deterrent.”
Guida attached a condition to the New York native’s terms. If he doesn’t comply with rules of his probation over the next nine months, he will spend the last three months locked up.
Eric B. pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and resisting arrest/eluding in 2002 for an incident that happened in Ridgefield Park on September 27, 2001. He was picked up on the 17-year-old warrant last month and spent two weeks in Bergen County Jail.
Guida read the original police report, filed in 2001, during court proceedings.
As explained in the report, Eric B. was stopped in northern New Jersey in January 2001 when police noticed his Range Rover didn’t have front license plates or an inspection sticker. When they pulled him over, he briefly got out of his car but eventually drove away, leading several officers on a chase. Along the way, he hit several cars including police vehicles.
[This article has been updated. The following was published on November 22, 2019 at 11:14 a.m. PST.]
Eric Barrier — a.k.a. Eric B. of the legendary duo Eric B. & Rakim — was arrested at a Bergen County, New Jersey courthouse last month as he attempted to clear a 17-year-old warrant. Consequently, he spent two weeks at the Bergen County Jail.
According to the New York Times, the seasoned Hip Hop vet could spend more time behind bars as a result.
In 2002, he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and resisting arrest/eluding for an incident that happened in Ridgefield Park on September 27, 2001. He’d had a bench warrant ever since.
Unfortunately for Eric B., he didn’t figure that out until last month. His current lawyer Patrick Toscano said law enforcement officials notified him of the warrant as he crossed the Canadian border from Vermont.
Toscano blames the celebrated Hip Hop artist’s former attorney Paul Bergrin who allegedly gave him misleading information. Bergin told Eric B. at the time he’d made a deal with prosecutors for his client to enter a pretrial intervention program and assured him “there was no need to appear on the sentencing date.”
In a letter to Judge James J. Guida, Toscano made it clear Eric B. was a victim of poor legal counsel.
“It is evident that Mr. Bergrin’s counsel to Mr. Barrier was flawed, fraudulent, unethical and deceptive,” Toscano wrote.
Eric B. is expected in court on Friday (November 22) where Toscano will fight for his client to remain out of jail. The top count, eluding arrest, is a felony that carries a possible prison sentence of up to five years.
In 2011, Bergin was indicted on more than 30 counts, including witness tampering, murder, drug trafficking and racketeering. He was sentenced to life in prison.
As of Friday afternoon (November 22), Eric B. appears to be a free man. He recently shared an Instagram photo of himself with will.i.am.
They need to drop the whole case
Why drop the case. There are 100’s of people getting caught for past crimes everyday who actually have to serve time. He plead guilty for felony and still will get the right to travel the world. I served 30 days have a FBI file for crossing the border with somebody that was denied entry in the past. I didn’t know or do anything and I am white so the race card or the white privilege did nothing for me. For me to cross the border to see my family I had to pay a lawyer to help get a waiver it took a year and a half that cost me 600 usd every two years.
Why lol? If he broke the law, it doesn’t matter when he did it. Would you say Epstein shouldn’t have been arrested if the child human trafficking cases with Bill Clinton were from 2001, 18 years ago? Should they just have let him slide? No. I don’t understand why so many people want to live in a lawless society, with zero self accountability. Yes, some laws are stupid, and sometimes, the men or lady enforcing the law is not ethical…. Thing is though, your a jackass to argue or fight with an officer, as THEY DO NOT CHOOSE THE OUTCOME OF A CASE! Officers just arrest and give evidence. Judges choose what happens, and if you know you have been wrongfully charged, you’ll get away. Those who fight with cops or argue are just digging their own holes. Of course, if I was an officer, and I pulled someone over for speeding, and they argue with me, I’m going to stick it to em as hard as possible. If they are instead polite, understanding, and respectful, I’d likely let them go, and tell them to drive safe. I myself have actually had many run ins with the law, had Marijuana ounces and baggies taken, acid strips and ketamine taken… And a plethora of other potential charges over the years.
But guess what? I was always extremely relaxed and respectful, and where did that get me? Zero charges. One would have been a felony charge, but was dropped down to a mistemenor, which was then expunged from my record. Do the crime, do the time. I don’t like all the laws, but don’t blame cops. It’s congress and state legislators/governors who pass our laws. Take it up with them!
Drop the case? He already pled guilty dumbass. Go back to 4th grade, and learn some critical reading skills hahaha. Would you like to see Tupac and Biggies killers get fully caught, proven to have murdered them, and then say “well, that was over 20 years ago, so we see no need to charge them for the murder of Tupac”. Case closed! Crimes that aren’t recent no longer matter! Hahaha
All long as you’re black, you’ll always have a target on your back. If he was white, they would have dropped the case. This is crazy
What are you talking about. He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and resisting arrest/eluding in 2002 for an incident that happened in Ridgefield Park on September 27, 2001. He was picked up on the 17-year-old warrant last month and spent two weeks in Bergen County Jail. Aggravated assault is a felony. Commit the crime do the time. He got off with a slap on the wrist.
Exactly lol. I hate when people defend actual crimes, and act as if skin color is the reason for the charge. Newsflash, cities have higher population densities, and higher crime rates. This means more police presence than suburbs, for obvious reasons. Then, black people are very likely to live in these cities, meaning they have a lot higher odds of running into crime or police. Police go where population is, not just black people. Black people in lower populated areas aren’t just being targeted, especially considering most big city police departments are half “minorities” now. I put that on n quotations, because skin color is not really relevant, at least not like it used to be. Racism will always always exist, as everyone is racist to some varying degree. With that said, I may be prejudice, but I’m not racist, and nobody I know is truly racist. We don’t judge people for skin color these days, we judge people for how they carry themselves. If I’m walking home from the bars in the city at 3am, and there’s two different groups of youngins on each side of the street, there can be a group if black dudes wearing clean cut cloths/suits/button ups… And on the other side of the street, white men with hoods up on a summer night, with sagging pants. Guess who I will avoid? Now, those traits don’t equate to a bad human being, but humans lik us make pre judgments for our own safety. It’s animal instiict to avoid danger, and cmon, what are the odds the man in the button up will give u problems VS the man with sagging pants and a hood covering his face when hot outside? That’s where we are at as a society, and it makes sense. If you don’t want to be judged badly, then dress with common sense class!
Since when do people just drop cases on whites? Lol You’re living in the 1960’s
Of course he got away with it, he’s black after all.
True. If he was white he would have been locked up already.
I get tired of the racist junk associated with EVERYYY damn case. Every criminal case is different. Different crimes, different judges, different evidence. Justice is not always served, but overwhelmingly is. Sometimes, people get away with murder. It happens, as some cases get screwed up, or evidence is missing. With that said, don’t break the law if u don’t want to be charged with a crime. I’ve been arrested multiple times, charged once. I learned my lesson. Only losers are repeat offenders, because losers have nothing to lose in life. Winners, like most of us here, have built up too much in life, to lose it over some jackass shit lol. When you have something to lose, you want to stay low on anyone’s radar, and just live life happily. Stay outta trouble friends! Work hard, build your own business as an entrepreneur, find a woman to love, and raise a family. Black communities worst issue is the families where the fathers won’t raise the kids. If your a man, and you make a baby, do the right thing! Love that baby, and give that baby the great future it deserves!
Only in America that certain….. “people” would celebrate that a convicted CRIMINAL, who was found guilty of AGGRAVATED ASSAULT AND RESISTING ARREST, not have to have to serve any time for commiting criminal offenses……Neanderthals smfh.