Death Row Records Co-Founder Michael “Harry O” Harris Receives Presidential Clemency from Outgoing President Trump
Supporters Include Music Icon Snoop Dogg, Weldon Angelos, and Alice Johnson
Los Angeles, CA – January 19, 2020 – Weldon Angelos, a former music producer who was recently pardoned by President Donald Trump on December 22, 2020, announced today that he helped secure the release of Michael “Harry O” Harris, the co-founder of Death Row Records, via presidential commutation from President Trump.
Weldon Angelos launched a career in the music industry in the 90s and early 2000s. During his time in the music industry, Weldon produced songs and albums with Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur’s recording group, among many other Death Row Records artists, before he was prosecuted for marijuana and firearm charges and received a mandatory 55-year prison term. He was released 13 years later after a bipartisan coalition of celebrities and political figures, including the judge who sentenced him, launched a campaign to free him. After his release, he began working with that coalition to free others, including Michael Harris.
Earlier this year in coverage regarding a compassionate release request by Harris, the San Jose Mercury News had reported, “In his nearly 40 years of incarceration, Harris has received widespread praise — including support by law enforcement officials — for his work to combat crime and violence outside of prison walls.” It was also noted he had become infected with the COVID-19 virus in Lompoc.
Weldon and his criminal justice organization The Weldon Project worked with Snoop Dogg and Alice Johnson to get Harris’ sentence commuted by the outgoing President. After The Weldon Project’s co-founder Michael ‘Big Hollis’ Goldstein connected Mr. Angelos with Harris, Snoop Dogg reached out to Weldon on December 26, 2020 about Harris’ case. Weldon enlisted the help of Alice Johnson, who received clemency from President Trump in 2018 at the behest of Kim Kardashian. Both Weldon Angelos and Alice Johnson worked with the White House on identifying cases for the president, and Alice Johnson has been given the president’s ear and was asked to submit lists to the President, which included Harris.
“When Harry called me from prison and explained his case, I knew I needed to act fast because the President only had a few weeks left in office and literally thousands of people were sending applications directly to the White House. I spoke to Snoop Dogg late one night and told him that Alice Johnson and I needed to move on his case immediately. We all got on the phone and Snoop made his case to Alice. He told Alice to send the White House a message from him, thanking them for considering Harris and expressed appreciation for “giving brothers a chance to come home.” Alice and I both agreed Harris’ case warranted our support; he had an extraordinary prison record and had done some amazing things for the community from behind bars,” Weldon Angelos said.
Mr. Angelos and The Weldon Project had also secured the release of former Bad Boy Records rapper Loon in July 2020, among many others, and is currently working with Kim Kardashian and Jessica Jackson of Reform Alliance on Ty Dolla $ign’s brother’s case and hope to get him relief from his harsh sentence soon.
Other supporters of Mr. Harris include Van Jones, MC Hammer, Last Mile, journalist John Eagan, Alvin Girard, his family and amazing legal team, along with many others.
For More Information:
Weldon Angelos, President, The Weldon Project wangelos001@gmail.com
Heidi Minx, Public Relations, The Weldon Project heidi@minxlive.com
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