Rapper Slick Rick, whose real name is Ricky Walters, was finally released from a Bradenton, Florida, INS detention center on Friday (November 7) after 17 months of incarceration. Slick Rick was granted his freedom by Judge Kimba Wood of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York on Friday, October 31. Wood ruled that the Board of Immigration Appeals should never have reversed its earlier decision that the British-born rapper is a legal U.S. resident.
Slick Rick won an initial bout with the INS in 1995, which allowed him to stay in the country upon his release from prison. However, the INS overturned that decision in 1997. According to the rapper´s lawyer, he was never notified of the decision.
The rapper was found guilty of second-degree attempted murder in 1991 for shooting his cousin, and he served five years and 12 days in prison. U.S. Federal law states that any non-citizen who serves more than five years in prison must be deported. This law, which hit the books in 1996, was applied retroactively in Slick Rick´s case.
Slick Rick, who was born in London, was arrested on June 1, 2002, after attempting to return to the United States following a performance on a cruise hosted by popular radio host Tom Joyner.
For Slick Rick it was a long week waiting for his release following the judge´s decision. The rapper told MTV.com, "There was a lot of anxiety. You don´t know if it´s going to be this day, this hour. It´s been a week since the judge granted me permission, so there´s been a lot of butterflies in my stomach, you might say."
Upon his release, the rapper drove to Fort Lauderdale with his attorney to catch a flight to his Bronx, New York home.
Slick Rick´s last release was 1999´s gold-certified the Art Of Storytelling. The rapper´s best-seller to date was 1988´s platinum-certified the Great Adventures Of Slick Rick.
:-]
