Rapper Bobby Shmurda eligible for early release from prison in February… after serving six years

Rapper Bobby Shmurda, who’s meteoric rise into the music charts in 2014 was quickly derailed later that year with his arrest on gang conspiracy charges, will be eligible for release from prison next month.

The 26-year-old (born Ackquille Pollard) was sentenced to a maximum of seven years in prison and was tentatively scheduled for release on December 11, 2021.  

But the New York State Department of Corrections has updated his conditional release date to February 23, 2021, which is 10 month earlier than expected, if he can stay out of trouble, according to The New York Times.   

Early release possible: Rapper Bobby Shmurda, 26, is now eligible for release from a New York prison on February 23, 2021, which is 10 month earlier than expected

Shmurda was denied parole in September due to multiple disciplinary violations taken against him while incarcerated at New York’s Clinton Correctional Facility that allegedly included fighting and drug possession.  

But after a recent review by the Department of Corrections, Shmurda’s credit for good institutional behavior was restored and could now serve out the last 10 months of the sentence on parole, barring any further incidents.   

Law enforcement sources told TMZ the decision was made by the Time Allowance Committee, which consists of prison staff, but not the parole board.  

On good behavior: Shmurda (born Ackquille Pollard), who was denied parole in September due to multiple disciplinary violations, had his good institutional behavior restored after a recent review by the Department of Corrections

The Brooklyn-based rapper burst out onto the hip-hop scene with his hit single called Hot Boy in the edited version, which subsequently went as high as number six on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2014.

The then 19-year-old followed that up by signing a seven-figure, multi-album deal with Epic Records.

But he would see his newfound opportunities fall to the wayside when he was arrested at a Manhattan recording studio just months later after being implicated as having a leading role in the GS9 gang, an offshoot of the Crips, in Brooklyn.

The rapper, who had a hit song at 19, was arrested months later on gang conspiracy charges in December 2014, and was eventually sentenced to seven years in prison after copping a plea deal; he’s pictured in New York City just days before being busted

He eventually copped a deal and pled guilty to conspiracy and weapon
s possession in September 2016. 

In 2018, Shmurda was featured on the 6ix9ine song Stoopid, which peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

Shmurda and fellow rapper and collaborator Rowdy Rebel (born Chad Marshall) are widely considered the pioneers of Brooklyn drill music.