Tupac’s Stepfather Released on Parole After 40 Years for Connection in 1981 Truck Heist

Tupac’s stepfather, Mutulu Shakur, has been released on parole after serving almost 40 years in prison for his role in the 1981 Brinks armored truck heist. 

The elder Shakur, 72, was serving time for the 1981 robbery of a Brinks armored vehicle which resulted in the deaths of one guard and two police officers, reported lohud. 

Shakur’s request to be released by the U.S Parole Commission in October, after many denials from the Commission in the past, was approved according to NBC News.

Shakur was sentenced to 60 years for conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO Act), robbery of a bank, armed robbery of a bank, and robbery murder. According to the Associated Press, he was also found guilty of aiding JoAnne Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur, in escaping from a New Jersey prison in 1979.

Shakur was incarcerated for 60 years for conspiring to break the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO Act), robbery of a bank, armed robbery of a bank, and robbery murder. According to the Associated Press, he was also found guilty of aiding JoAnne Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur, in escaping from a New Jersey prison in 1979.

According to court documents obtained by lohud, the request was finally granted due to Shakur’s current health status. 

“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 Commission states in the documents. 

Shakur was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer in 2019 and has been on and off chemotherapy, according to mutulushakur.com, a site created and maintained by his supporters. 

The court documents state that during his parole he is not to have any contact with the families of the three victims from the robbery, any members of his former “radical group, The Family," and his sister, Joanne Chesimard. 

The 1981 crime that led to Shakur's imprisonment occurred when he and other members of “The Family” robbed a Brinks armored truck that resulted in the shooting and killing of Brinks security guard Peter Paige, and injured his partner, Joseph Trombino, according to the New York Post. 

The crew members stole $1.6 million from the vehicle and then fled, when they encountered their next two victims, Nyack police officers Sgt. Edward O’Grady and Officer Waverly Brown, reported the New York Post. 

Michael Paige, son of victim Peter Paige, called the possibility of release “incomprehensible” and “sickening," back in 2016 when Shakur first became eligible for release due to how much time he had served, according to Los Angeles Daily News.  

His supporters have been rallying for his release, stating “he has taken full responsibility for his actions, served as a force for good and anti-violence throughout his decades of incarceration, is an elder and has multiple health complications,” according to mutulushakur.com. 

“Family & Friends of Mutulu Shakur (FFMS) is greatly appreciative of everyone’s support over the course of Mutulu’s decades in prison,” mutulushakur.com said. “We ask that everyone respect Dr. Shakur’s privacy while he spends the holidays with his family and concentrates on his health and healing.”

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