According to reports from Fox News and TMZ, sitting President Donald J. Trump is expected to pardon rapper Lil Wayne sometime between Tuesday and Wednesday before Joe Biden’s inauguration. Fox News speculates Trump will announce a list of 50 to 100 people to be pardoned.
The rapper plead guilty in 2020 in federal district court to illegally possessing a loaded, gold-plated .45-caliber handgun while traveling to Florida on a private jet in 2019. The contents of the rapper’s bag also included small amounts of cocaine, ecstasy and Oxycodone, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office . The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida charged Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Carter, with one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon in December. Originally, the Hollygrove native was convicted of a felony gun charge in New York in 2009.
During the 2020 Presidential Election, Wayne posed with the president and shared with his 34.8 million followers: “Just had a great meeting with @realdonaldtrump @potus besides what he’s done so far with criminal reform, the platinum plan is going to give the community real ownership. He listened to what we had to say today and assured he will and can get it done.” Wayne was referring to Trump’s Platinum Plan that promises to “increase access to capital in Black communities by almost $500 billion” over the next four years.
Trump also expressed support for the Louisiana rapper, calling him a “really nice guy.”
Due to his status as a convicted felon, Lil Wayne would face up to 10 years in prison at sentencing but if he agrees to the guilty plea he may get a far lighter sentence. Trump’s pardon would remove the entire charge for the rapper.