Despite the fact he is still serving a 10-year prison sentence as well as being convicted last year of two counts of assault, reckless endangerment and gun possession stemming from the New York nightclub melee, Shyne is wanted by Murder Inc. CEO Irv Gotti.
"Next Monday, I'm going to Rikers [Island] to have a sit-down with Shyne," Gotti said. "If there's any way that the guy can get an appeal, if he wants me involved, I would love to help him. I would love to get him out, and I would love to have him on Murder Inc."
When he goes to meet the imprisoned rapper, Gotti won't be alone — he'll be bringing Ja Rule and Nas.
"Nas actually has pioneered this, because he was like, 'We need to get some "Free Shyne" T-shirts.' Nas just got it in my mind hard. Nas is a boss, and if he is like, 'Shyne would make a great addition,' I'm gonna try to make it happen. I'm hearing his appeal looks real good," he said. "I'm gonna speak to his lawyer Murray Richman, and I'm gonna see if it's real. If he wins his appeal, he'll get an appeal bond. Whatever that is, we'll put it up. And we'll smash [records]."
"The appeal hasn't been filed as of yet," Richman said Wednesday. "We're in ... a motion stage to set aside the verdict somehow. It's not going to be granted. We have to explore every avenue before we can go to the next level. We have to go through A, B and C before we can get to D, E and F. An appeal, it's gonna be time-consuming no matter how you do it. The kid is a good kid, and it's a rough situation he's under. The best-case scenario [if he wins his appeal] would be the opportunity for a retrial. It's not just going to be dismissed."
If Shyne does beat the odds and gets a bond, his lawyer said his release would still be "a long way off, not even this year, maybe next year if he's lucky."
And even then, if Shyne is released, he is still actually signed to Bad Boy records. Although it is unlikely Shyne would ever want to work with Diddy again, especially as he feels Diddy is responsible for his current predicament.
"Next Monday, I'm going to Rikers [Island] to have a sit-down with Shyne," Gotti said. "If there's any way that the guy can get an appeal, if he wants me involved, I would love to help him. I would love to get him out, and I would love to have him on Murder Inc."
When he goes to meet the imprisoned rapper, Gotti won't be alone — he'll be bringing Ja Rule and Nas.
"Nas actually has pioneered this, because he was like, 'We need to get some "Free Shyne" T-shirts.' Nas just got it in my mind hard. Nas is a boss, and if he is like, 'Shyne would make a great addition,' I'm gonna try to make it happen. I'm hearing his appeal looks real good," he said. "I'm gonna speak to his lawyer Murray Richman, and I'm gonna see if it's real. If he wins his appeal, he'll get an appeal bond. Whatever that is, we'll put it up. And we'll smash [records]."
"The appeal hasn't been filed as of yet," Richman said Wednesday. "We're in ... a motion stage to set aside the verdict somehow. It's not going to be granted. We have to explore every avenue before we can go to the next level. We have to go through A, B and C before we can get to D, E and F. An appeal, it's gonna be time-consuming no matter how you do it. The kid is a good kid, and it's a rough situation he's under. The best-case scenario [if he wins his appeal] would be the opportunity for a retrial. It's not just going to be dismissed."
If Shyne does beat the odds and gets a bond, his lawyer said his release would still be "a long way off, not even this year, maybe next year if he's lucky."
And even then, if Shyne is released, he is still actually signed to Bad Boy records. Although it is unlikely Shyne would ever want to work with Diddy again, especially as he feels Diddy is responsible for his current predicament.