Popular Baton rouge rapper, Lil Boosie who had been serving prison time at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola since 2009 finally gets to go home today. The Advocate reports" Until Wednesday, Hatch’s projected release date was in May. But when Hatch completed a “self-help” program Wednesday afternoon, the credit he earned from the program made him immediately eligible for release"
"Baton Rouge rapper Torence “Lil’ Boosie” Hatch was released from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola Wednesday night — and not even the rapper knew about the release until about an hour before he got out.
Hatch, who was serving an eight-year sentence on various drug charges, left Angola Wednesday night just after 7 p.m. in a prison van, said Warden Burl Cain.
“He is free,” Cain said, noting that Hatch, 31, remains on supervised parole until 2018.
Cain said a prison van took Hatch to a West Feliciana Parish Sheriff’s Office substation Wednesday night, where the rapper was met by some friends and family who picked him up and took him to New Orleans. Tomorrow, Hatch must report to a parole officer in Orleans Parish, Cain said.
Until Wednesday, Hatch’s projected release date was in May. But when Hatch completed a “self-help” program Wednesday afternoon, the credit he earned from the program made him immediately eligible for release, Cain said.
Hatch first arrived at “The Farm” in 2009 after pleading guilty to a third-offense marijuana possession charge. Since then, he’s faced numerous accusations, including the highly publicized murder trial in the 2009 killing of Terry Boyd. Hatch was acquitted of first-degree murder in Boyd’s death in May of 2012.
But he remained there after the murder acquittal because he pleaded guilty in 2011 to a number of drug-related charges that accused him of conspiring to smuggle codeine, marijuana, ecstasy and other illegal contraband into Dixon Correctional Institute and the Louisiana State Penitentiary.
During the plea hearing, Hatch asked State Judge Mike Erwin, “Can I somehow get some rehab in there?’’
Although Hatch violated some prison rules shortly after his arrival in 2009, the rapper eventually came around, entering every rehabilitation program he was eligible for, Cain said.
“I’m hoping that he’s going to be a better person when he gets out than when he got there.”
Cain said Hatch would have been released earlier than Wednesday had he not violated various prison rules, including some telephone use rules.“When he first came here he didn’t understand that he had to do what we say,” Cain said, adding that Hatch lost “good time” three times.
The warden said Hatch’s release wasn’t made public “just to keep everything calm.”
While at Angola, Hatch completed at least one substance abuse program and at least one religion-based program, Cain said.
“He needed all of that. He needed the treatment programs,” Cain said.
The rapper also earned his GED. Hatch told Cain, “He wished his grandmother could’ve been there,” Cain said.
East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III said Hatch deserves to be treated just like any other paroled inmate.
“He’s kind of a unique situation where he can deliver a lot of messages, and I really hope it’s the right messages,” Moore said. He added later, “I sure hope he gets that message out of put the guns down, don’t shoot, don’t kill each other.”
Moore said prosecutors don’t have any active cases involving Hatch, and that the rapper is due in court in front of State District Judge Richard “Chip” Moore on March 14.
Moore said prosecutors still disagree with the jury’s verdict in Hatch’s murder trail, but they’ve since moved on.
“I hope that he becomes a productive citizen,” Moore said"
Source: The Advocate
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