"Gary ballen:" "Suge knight stands in front of me with a gun in his waistband." "The d.O.C:" "He just pulls out a big ol' .45 and just starts shooting out my window." "Vanilla ice:" "Suge's already in the room, did i see guns?" "Yes." "Danny boy:" "Everybody on death row was walkin' around with a bulletproof vest on." "It was a part of gangsta rap." "Virgil Roberts:" "I said, "suge they're afraid to do business with you," and he laughed, he said" ""yeah man, isn't that great?" "Ha-ha-ha-ha."" "* [Theme music playing]. *" "*" "Thomas mesereau:" "I was contacted on two occasions by friends of suge knight, and i was asked if i would be willing to defend him, and i refused." "He was firing lawyers left and right, uh he looked unstable, and i said to myself, "why do i need this?"" "And i realized that i was not doing what my values told me i should do." "You can't judge a book by its cover." "So i was approached a third time, and i agreed to meet with him." "Brian Williams:" "Music mogul suge knight is being held tonight on $2 million bail, accused of a fatal hit and run." "Police say he ran over two men, following an argument on a film set in Compton, California." "One of the victims died." "Knight's attorney says he was attacked and he was trying to escape in his truck when the incident took place." "Knight, the co-founder of death row records, previously served multiple years in prison for assault." "Thomas mesereau:" "I met suge knight in Los Angeles county jail, which may be the worst jail in America." "Four sheriffs follow him into the cubicle where i meet with him." "They videotape every move he makes." "He was handcuffed to the table, he's behind glass." "We talked and i found out that he is not at all the suge knight that is portrayed in the media." "That he is a person who's complicated, very bright, did very well in school, was a star athlete, he's a very talented, genius of a person." "Virgil Roberts:" "Suge's greatest skill was his ability to see talent in the rough." "That ability to see what talent can become as opposed to what it is right now, that's a rare talent." "In the music industry, there are very few people who have that talent." "He was the smart kid on the block, and that's part of how he was able to attract some talent." "Because, you know, here's a kid who's from Compton but he went to college." "I think the first time i met suge knight was in the solar offices." "Solar records was the most successful black label of the '80s." "I actually thought of him as a big Teddy bear, i used to call him baby huey." "Tried to help him understand a lot about how the business worked, what some of the legal deals were." "He was like a sponge." "The d.O.C:" "I was writing these records, and it was blowing up in California." "I met suge soon as i got here, he'd been bodyguarding for Bobby brown for some time." "And when we would go places, he would play the role of bodyguard, and i would play the role of star, and we'd get in, and have fun." "We got banned, bro, from every club." "'Cause suge was, he was a deviant." "Suge always had guns at my house." "Y'know big street sweepers with the Tommy gun thing on it, and cool little desert eagles and .45 magnums." "And so i just rolled like that." "Gary ballen:" "The first time i met suge knight, he came in as the d.O.C's bodyguard." "His arm was in a cast, y'know, from some fight that he got into." "I think suge was just kinda biding his time, and waiting for the right opportunity." "And he saw, y'know, the big money wasn't in bodyguarding." "It was in management;" "It was in owning a record label." "Virgil Roberts:" "Suge had started managing acts." "He'd brought Mario Johnson." "Well "ice ice baby" was all over the radio and stuff." "And he said he wrote those songs and," ""can you help us get paid?"" "Vanilla ice:" "I wrote "ice ice baby,"" "when i was 16 years old." "I never could imagine the, the type of success i was gonna have." "I sold 160 million records." "We were selling a million records a day." "When it blew up i was 19, and at that point everybody realized, "he's white, what?"" "And they're already jamming to "ice ice baby,"" "it's all over the radio." "Number one everywhere." "I think my record had sold like 4 million, 5 million copies or something like that, at that point, which is only like a week into it, crazy." "Hey I'm doing good, man." "So I'm going to benihana's for dinner, and i sit down, i order, and then uh before the food gets there, we had our appetizers there, this big guy walks up." "He says "hey, I'm suge knight."" "He says, "lemme talk to you for a minute, ice, if you got a second, lemme just talk to you."" "I says, "okay, yeah."" "Then he starts eating some of my fries, or whatever I'm eating there." "Yeah, okay, alright, i can order more, no big deal." "He didn't give me an explanation or anything at that point, he just says, "hi I'm suge knight,"" "and I'm just, "nice to know ya."" "I didn't even think much from other than that was, y'know, why would they, somebody come in and sit down and say hello to me just to introduce themselves?" "A little time had passed, maybe 3 weeks to a month." "I go back, i check in to a hotel in la, somewhere close to the Beverly center there." "I'm with my dj, earthquake, and two bodyguards." "I walk in the room, pull the key out, and i look in there and suge's already in the room with about 5 other guys." "And I'm like, "whoa," and he goes" ""hey, don't be alarmed, come on in."" "Suge did tell my bodyguards to shut the hhhh-eff up and to stand over in the back." "Did i see guns?" "Yes, many of them." "Suge just says, y'know, "rob, me and you, let's go to the balcony and talk,"" "and he brings a stack of papers about 300 papers thick." "The story that has been told is that i was hung over a balcony, which has never happened." "He didn't hang me over the balcony, he took me to the balcony and talked to me." "I got it, you don't have to hang me over." "I didn't wanna question that, or test that water so to speak." "It looked like it was freezing, uh, and there was ice crystals floating across of it, so i didn't wanna jump right in, you see what I'm sayin'?" "It's not, it didn't look like a hot tub to me." "So i sign the pieces of paper there, and it allowed him to have uh, a few points on the record," ""to the extreme," which turned out to be worth millions of dollars." "I didn't know, I'm young, I'm 19 y'know." "Then i started thinking back on things, and going," ""hm, so that was all about the money for suge, okay."" "And then i saw all the chronic record pop up, and Tupac and all this, and i knew the funding came from my record." "So I'm happy to invest in that." "Even with no return on my money, i have a story to tell:" "That I've invested in some of the greatest hip-hop of all time." "And i figured it's the price i gotta pay, to just be a part of something that's elite in the rap industry." "Virgil Roberts:" "We gave Mario Johnson a $400,000 advance." "Suge's deal is he got a 25% management fee." "So he made $100,000 off that advance." "It was the most money he had ever made." "He came back, must have been a couple weeks later, and says, "i got another client."" "He brought in, uh, d.O.C. And dre." "The d.O.C.: "No one can do it better," came out." "It made a huge splash." "Like, oh my god, this is the next guy." "You know, i, i had made it to that position." "Gary ballen:" "D.O.C was the greatest solo rapper we ever heard or saw, and writer." "I mean he was really amazing." "And he was like a ghost writer for, for n.W.A." "The d.O.C.:" "I put a lot of work in, a lot of energy on those records." "But i wasn't getting anything, y'know." "So suge kept beefing about, "you're publishing and they doing this and they doing that."" "He said, "get your contracts," "I'm going to take a look at them."" "Saw all the holes, saw all the, the dirtiness that was going on." "And so i took that to dre and said uh," ""look, if they're doing me like this, they could be doing you like this."" "Well, that got dre interested." "And we started talking about making a, a record label, y'know together." "And dre and i could finally benefit from our hard work." "Gary ballen:" "Suge walks into my office, closes the door behind him, stands in front of me with a gun in his waistband, y'know, which is right about eye level to me 'case I'm sitting here." "He says, "Gary you've been disrespecting" "Dr. dre and the d.O.C."" "I said, "hey suge, i do everything for them!"" ""I don't wanna hear that." "I want you to sign a letter saying you're never gonna disrespect them again." "You know what I'm gonna do if you don't do that!"" "And the way he said that, i didn't even want to take a chance." "So i write on a piece of ruthless stationary:" ""I will never disrespect Dr. dre and the d.O.C."" "I was in front of suge knight and really in, in, in serious fear." "The d.O.C.:" "Suge was like a friend, right?" "Someone that i could trust and depend on to help me make proper moves." "So i focused on building, uh, something with him." "Suge knight:" "We can make something bigger than ruthless, hopefully make something bigger than motown and whatever else out there together." "Let's just start fresh." "Dr. dre:" "Yo what's up, what's up, what's up?" "The name's Dr. dre." "Gary ballen:" "Suge convinced Dr. dre that he'd be better off leaving ruthless and starting a company with suge." "Y'know and suge basically said," ""you take care of the music," "I'll take care of the business, and y'know," "I'll take care of it my way."" "Y'know, which he did." "He did it his way." "Mc:" "Let me see somebody get dre, suge, the d.O.C. A round of applause." "Death row records is gonna be the record company of the 2000s!" "The d.O.C:" "Death row is annihilating any other label in this music business." "Suge knight:" "We givin' all the youngsters a opportunity, from all the neighborhoods where, especially we haven't forgotten where we came from." "Danny boy:" "The first time that i met suge knight, this big ol' dude walks in the door." "He looked like a giant, chest all pumped out, earrings in his ears, big ol' cigar." "And suge was like, "bust something,"" "he thought that i was a rapper." "And i began to sing." "* ahh-hh-ooo, * ama-zing, zing, grace." "And he was like, "man i want him, right now!" "Right now, signing him, 200 and..."" "I think he said $250,000, $275,000, he made an offer immediately." "And, uh, from that day on it was," ""Danny boy, a part of death row."" "Which was really amazing and crazy, because i was only 15 years old." "Suge put me in the peninsula hotel, and he put me in this plushed-out room, and gave me a credit card." "I had access to this rolls Royce limousine." "It was incredible for sure." "At that time no other ceo's of big record labels was really close to their artists such as suge was:" "Making sure that they were living okay, and making sure that y'know we look like stars, was his thing." "You gotta look like a star." "Interviewer:" "Danny boy gonna be the first, uh," "RB act on your label?" "Suge knight:" "Yeah, you know he, i will say this, he's 16 but he had a birthday a couple days ago so he's 17." "Danny boy:" "I was like the, the soul child, and y'know he was, he was really ready to put a lot into me." "In order for me to work here, work in Los Angeles, being a minor i had to have a guardian." "He kinda sat down and he's like," ""man, you know, you like my son anyway y'know." "So we might as well go ahead and y'know make this happen."" "He spoke, he spoke with my grandmother and my, my, my dad." "And uh, he became my legal guardian uh at that point." "* i swear you get me so high, yea, yea. *" "Virgil Roberts:" "You think about the roster of death row artists." "Suge really helped popularize another sound." "The death row sound was different than the, than the east coast sound of rap music." "And they sold tens of millions of records so that had the effect of really legitimizing that art form." "Greg kading:" "I became involved in the investigation of death row records as a result of a large federal racketeering case that the FBI and the atf had initiated back in the uh mid-1990s." "After they had received reports that the initial investment money for death row records had come from an individual named Michael Harris, and the seed money was essentially narcotics proceeds." "Virgil Roberts:" "Michael was like a real godfather." "You know, he was reputed to have run one of the largest drug distribution rings in the country." "He was a legend on the streets, and someone that suge wanted to be like." "Vanilla ice:" "First of all, rap music's always kinda been gangster, okay, let's just call it like it is." "There's a lot of people behind the scenes that are pushing things, that are making things happen." "And it travels through a lot of gangster-ish type of personalities, to say the least." "We all know that." "Suge knight:" "I'm gonna beat the dog (Bleep) Out of you, and i swear to y'all it's like this:" "I'm the first (Bleep) Had the bald head and the beard from bompton." "Vanilla ice:" "Suge knight was a very powerful guy in many ways." "Powerful in a business venture-type way, and powerful in a gangster type way." "So uh, he's somebody you didn't wanna mess with, i knew that." "Virgil Roberts:" "He was hiring real gang members and he could be the boss of that gang." "And i said, "suge, you know, i have a friend at Sony, and they say that when people you know, talk to you, y'know you're scaring them and they're afraid to do business with you."" "And he sat back, and he laughs." "He says "yeah, man, isn't that great?" "Ha-ha-ha-ha."" "Danny boy:" "The more people thought that he was gangster, the more he started believing it himself." "And i mean we'd sit up and watch, watch all 'em," ""the godfather" movies and, oh my god." "It's like after he seen them movies, he's really like," ""I'm the man, huh," like that." "I think that kinda really pumped him up, so to say." "So he started living that image, man." "Gary ballen:" "It was like the wild, wild west." "Our secretaries had guns." "We had shotguns in the corner, we had Uzis." "Hey, you know, it was, it was insane." "Reggie Wright Jr:" "Right now we at the house where suge grew up in the city of Compton." "This is the house where he had most of his uh childhood at." "I was in the 2nd grade, he was in the 3rd grade." "Suge and i later went to high school together." "We was on the football team as well." "He was a big guy, but this is a guy that could do a backflip standing up." "I always tell people that suge was the same, he always was a bully, he was a mama's boy." "You didn't mess with suge." "Sharitha golden:" "When i met suge, i was really young and we was at a house party." "And this guy kept interfering with everything i did, no matter who i danced with, no matter who i talk with, he was in the middle of it." "Like he was my boyfriend." "He was owning this piece of property." "I get to asking him his name." "And he said suge." "I said, "no, son, that is not your name." "What is your real name?"" "He said, "myron," at first, so i was believing it was myron until i really looked into it, and it's, "Marion."" "Not "myron," no 'y', it's "Marion."" "Parents loved him, my mother loved him." "He was like my knight in shining armor." "We knew we were gonna get married." "He had a lot of offers to different universities to play football." "All i knew was that suge was gonna be a professional football player." "He did get an offer with the 49ers, and he did play for the rams when they went on strike." "All of a sudden, i get this phone call, and he tells me that he's in trouble, and I'm like," ""well, what happened?"" "He says, "well, i shot my friend."" "The football thing was not there anymore." "It was all about bodyguarding and being a manager, and to being ceo of death row records." "Greg kading:" "I began working on the streets in south central in 1989." "I became a member of an elite gang-fighting unit called "crash."" "Gang violence on the street was very prevalent, murders were an everyday occasion." "It was always about neighborhoods, and from the gang's perspective they thought that they were protecting their neighborhoods." "In Los Angeles, there's criteria that we use to qualify somebody as a gang member." "Style of dress, tattoos, other gang members identifying you." "Many of those components suge knight, uh, fulfilled." "He would dress in all red, he surrounded himself with known gang members." "You would qualify him as a gang member." "Gary ballen:" "Suge grew up in a blood neighborhood." "He was a blood." "Everybody knows who's a blood and who's a crip." "Suge knight:" "I care about the ghetto, i love the ghetto." "That's where I'm from." "That's who need the help." "I mean, I'm not part of the letting the rich get richer and the poor get poorer." "So I'm definitely going to go back to those ghettos, and I'm definitely going to give back." "The d.O.C:" "Sharitha was pregnant." "Suge and i are going to see her at a doctor's appointment, and we're at a stop sign, and suge leans over and tells me to lay my seat back and lean back, and he just pulls out a big ol' .45 and" "just starts shooting out my window." "Hot shells popping on me, and I'm like," ""what the f-f," y'know." "It was pretty shocking." "Not even a mile up the street we're at her doctor's thing." "We park and he getting' outta the car like it was nothing." "But i was starting to develop in my mind that this guy is really bad news, like is bad Karma." "Like, this has nothing to do with what we're supposed to be doing." "Sharitha golden:" "He just changed." "His ego, his temper." "The women started flocking, the money, and that was basically the demise of our marriage." "Suge got out of control." "Gary ballen:" "It was like the wild, wild west." "Everybody had guns." "Uh, they had guns, we had guns, our secretaries had guns." "We had shotguns in the corner, we had Uzis, hey y'know, it was, it was insane." "The d.O.C:" "As time went on, you start seeing new faces." "It was taking on sort of a..." "Harder edge, y'know?" "Security, y'know, and security would be blood dudes." "Danny boy:" "It was no secret that he hired most of the guys from his neighborhood that probably had done 10, 15 years in jail." "Y'know we doing records but these are some crazy-ass dudes around here." "Yeah, you kinda knew that." "You felt it." "Reggie Wright Jr:" "I mean suge initially started off as being a bruiser." "I'm not gonna put a halo over his head, to say that he never have slapped someone or lost his temper and stuff like that because that has happened, and that has happened frequently." "Once he became ceo, he did have a crew that would have you taken care of as needed." "The d.O.C:" "They came into my office with this guy, and gave him the business like you would not believe, y'know." "And the guy was screaming my name, begging me to make them stop, as if i had the power to do that." "I sat there and watched them um, beat this guy nuts y'know." "We were death row not only just in name, but in the energy around that place." "Suge and i had a real heart-to-heart conversation." "It was just suge and i that night, and he was sitting there cleaning his little" ".380, silver .380, it was a nice, great looking gun." "And in so many words, he let me know, "I'm going this way." "I'm building this thing, and this is what's going on, and don't rock the boat, bro." "You don't want to do that."" "He never said anything directly menacing to me, but i got it." "And as he was leaving, he gave me the, the .380." "Said, "it's dangerous out here, take care of yourself."" "It was easy for me to see i had been written out of history." "Man:" "The source award for producer of the year goes to Dr. dre!" "Dr. dre:" "I gotta give a shout out to my homie big suge, for paving the way so i can make my music." "Snoop dogg:" "Wait, wait, wait." "The east coast don't love Dr. dre and snoop dogg?" "The east coast ain't got no love for Dr. dre and snoop dogg, and death row?" "We know y'all east coast, we know where we at." "[Crowd commotion]." "Danny boy:" "It wasn't an east coast/west coast thing." "It was a puffy and suge problem, that's what it was." "Suge knight:" "And one other thing I'd like to say:" "Any artist out there wanna be an artist, and wanna stay a star, and don't wanna, and won't have to worry about the executive producers tryin' to be all in the videos, all on the records, dancing, come to death row!" "[Crowd commotion]." "Greg kading:" "It's an affront to puffy right there who's sitting in the audience." "You know it's obviously this very confrontational and disrespectful thing to do." "And that just fuels the fire that's already brewing between these crews." "[Crowd commotion]." "Greg kading:" "In 1995, a close friend of suge knight's, who was his bodyguard, was at a night club where" "Sean "puffy" combs and members of his entourage were." "There was little bit of a beef inside of the night club, and one of the people in Sean combs' entourage pulled out a gun and shot and killed suge's friend." "Well now, there's blood on the ground, and a person very close to suge knight has been murdered, and he's holding puffy responsible for it." "Reporter:" "Tupac shakur was shot 5 times the day before he was convicted of sex abuse in New York." "The crime was officially classified as a robbery, and the police dropped their investigation when" "Tupac failed to cooperate." "Danny boy: 'Pac just felt like puffy had a lot to do with him being shot." "That was something he felt strong about." "You from the streets, you kinda know things, and you hear things." "And everybody was just ridin' with him on that, we rode with him on that." "Suge knight:" "I heard 'pac got shot up in New York." "I shot him a bulletproof vest with the death row logo on it, talking about, "yeah, you know, you know, lick your wounds." "Suck it up, tighten up your boots."" "You know what i mean?" "Greg kading:" "For suge knight, he's already got his y'know pre-standing issues with puffy combs." "So now having Tupac shakur who feels the same way, you've got these individuals who are now supporting each other in this conflict." "Virgil Roberts:" "Tupac was signed to interscope." "They had this rap artist they didn't know what to do with." "They said, "suge can you do something, we'll be willing to give up our rights, let you take him."" "Danny boy:" "I seen suge planning the great things that he what to do with 'pac." ""Man this gonna be one of the greatest rappers of all time."" "Monica Gayle:" "Tupac shakur has been sentenced to a maximum of four and a half years in prison for sexually abusing a fan." "Shakur has been arrested six times since 1993 on charges ranging from assault to gun possession." "Virgil Roberts:" "He was sitting in jail, and it was suge who said, "I'll go get him outta jail 'cause i know what he can be."" "Greg kading:" "Suge knight makes a deal to him." ""If we can arrange for you to get released from prison, if we put up the money for bail, and you sign a recording contract with us." "We'll get you out, you come out to death row." "Y'know, we'll make music together."" "Danny boy:" "You know we would go to New York and we would drive two, three hours down, to this prison." "I would be out there for hours at a time, sitting in that restaurant while suge was in the jail." "And i went about four or five times, and that last time was when we brought him home." "Sharitha golden:" "Suge went and got him with a private jet, private car, paid for him, that was it." "Danny boy:" "Craziest party in the air." "'Bout ten strippers, 'bout two, three ounces of kush, weed." "Nice lil' trip." "We pulled up to can am studios." "'Pac got out of his car, and he walked about five feet, [claps]." "Flat face hit the ground." "I remember them putting water on him." "He like, "I'm straight."" "He's ready to go to the, go into the studio, and from that day on, 'pac never left the studio." "Tupac shakur:" "We put it together." "Woman:" "Okay." "Man:" "Who producing that, 'pac?" "Tupac shakur:" "You know it's me and Jose puentez." "[Laughter]." "Sharitha golden:" "And i remember the day i met Tupac." "I went to his house and i said, "Tupac, i just have to ask you:" "You know you sold yourself to the, to the devil right?"" "He said, "this man, i don't care what nobody say about him, he's the only one that came to prison to get me out of prison." "He's done everything he said in that jail cell and told me he was gonna do for me and what i wanted, he has done it."" "Suge knight: 'Pac was on a whole 'nother level." "We went to go do work, we did work." "We played, we played hard." "And we fought, we fought hard." "Everything we did we did it to the fullest." "Sharitha golden:" "Tupac elevated the havoc." "Tupac hated people, and we was supposed to hate people 'cause Tupac hated them." "Tupac shakur:" "That all these people talkin' about an east coast/west coast war, they like the Judas was to Jesus." "They only here to cause confusion." "All these suckers, they battling over east and west like this is a game." "This ain't no game." "If this was chess, we'd be yelling "checkmate"" "three (Bleep) Years ago." "Sharitha golden:" "When Tupac came in the picture of death row, it all just crumbled." "Greg kading:" "During my investigation, i became aware of another event that had taken place in December of 1995." "Death row had hosted a Christmas party up in the" "Hollywood hills." "And during this party, an associate of puffy combs had essentially been kidnapped into one of the rooms, where suge knight, Tupac shakur, and several members of suge's gang entourage, literally beat the hell out if this guy." "He almost lost one of his eyes." "It was events like this that caused puffy combs to realize that when he comes out to the west coast to promote music or conduct business, he was going to need street-level protection." "He connected with a south side crip gang crew that began to do homeboy security for bad bay records when they were out in Los Angeles." "Danny boy:" "It was serious, that whole y'know suge not liking puffy at the time, and just about everybody on death row was walking around with a bulletproof vest on every day." "A bulletproof vest was a part of my makeup." "It was a part of gangsta rap." "We always had security around us, but in Vegas you could be a little more relaxed." "During that time, suge, 'pac and myself was together all the time." "And if i wasn't with them, they'll call me and tell me to meet 'em where they at." "'Pac missed the whole fight because Tyson did, knocked the dude out so fast." "I called suge." "He like, "man, Tyson did knocked him out already." "Meet us, we gonna meet you at the club."" "Greg kading:" "And there was a little scuffle that took place, between members of the south side crips and death row." "And there was a back and forth challenge, where suge knight says that, "we're untouchable,"" "and uh the crip response:" ""You can be touched."" "And Tupac takes it upon himself to rush over and sucker punch the guy, and then the rest of the death row entourage join in." "Reggie Wright Jr:" "I still remember like it just happened yesterday." "I was in the club, waiting for suge and Tupac arrival, when two guys from the entourage, the homeboy security, came up to me and said," ""hey, suge's just been shot, and Tupac has just been shot down the street."" "Sharitha golden:" "I got a phone call in the middle of the night, saying suge and Tupac got shot up." "To tell a kid, "your dad died," is, is not something i was looking forward to." "I got on the first flight that took us out to Vegas." "I went straight to the hospital, and i went in suge room." "Suge had a little blood on him where he had got fragments of bullets that pierced his skull, and, and parts of his body." "And then i went to go see Tupac and it was horrifying." "He was laying on the table and it was, it was horrible." "Horrible." "Reggie Wright Jr:" "Well yeah, a lot of emotions was running through me at the time." "Two guys that, I'm really in charge of their protection, was laying in the hospital fighting for their life." "Danny boy:" "About four days after 'pac was shot, suge and i was at the Luxor hotel." "He had a cigar in his mouth." "His tears was just running down his face." "That was one of those times that stood out where i was able to see suge for his heart, see the, the," "the, the, the emotional suge." "Suge went into a shell, like you know, when you think you got money, you think money almost can fix anything." "And, uh, me being a little naïve that, this is something that suge can't fix." "It was a dark cloud because everybody hated to see 'pac going through such a thing." "And suge and 'pac was like brothers." "Nbc anchor:" "Rapper Tupac shakur has died in las Vegas." "Reporter:" "Hours before that fatal drive-by, a security camera caught knight taking part in an assault at a las Vegas casino." "That incident constituted a parole violation, stemming from a 1994 assault conviction, and sent knight to jail." "Greg kading:" "Reviewing the video, i notice that suge knight actively participates in the beat-down." "He participates in the assault, so clearly that a violation of his probation, it's a crime in and of itself." "However, the, um, the sentence probably didn't fit the crime in that particular incident y'know." "He's sent away for eight years for a couple of kicks." "Judge:" "I'm looking at a long list of failures to follow court orders." "Reggie Wright Jr:" "I mean I'm, i don't have any problem with the system." "But, we're not supposed to put people in jail for that in America, i don't think." "Greg kading:" "On the night of march 9, 1997, biggie smalls had returned to Los Angeles to promote his newest album, along with Sean combs and his junior m.A.F.I.A. Entourage." "They attend an after-awards show at the Peterson auto museum, and as biggie smalls and the rest of the entourage are leaving, a vehicle pulls up alongside the suburban that biggie's in, and a lone occupant of that car leans out" "the window and opens fire." "Reporter:" "Notorious b.I.G., also known as biggie smalls." "His murder early Sunday morning in Los Angeles ignited speculation that it was a result of a long-standing east coast/west coast feud among rap artists." "Greg kading:" "Through a process of elimination, we were able to disprove several theories about who had killed biggie smalls." "And so that really only left us with the one plausible explanation." "So we began to look very hard at suge knight, and who his circle of friends might be that had retaliated for the murder of Tupac shakur earlier." "It's important to understand the gang mentality of suge knight." "He doesn't trust that the cops are gonna go out there and solve a crime." "Gang members, they want immediate justice, and they want justice that they can see." "And essentially it's an eye-for-an-eye system." "And so to answer for the murder of Tupac shakur, somebody's gonna have to die." "Suge knight:" "If anybody do anything, you gotta realize one thing:" "It's up to god to make those decisions." "So it's not up to me, it's not up to you." "We're not supposed to take the law into our own hands, right?" "Sharitha golden:" "I think suge did what suge thought suge had to do." "Danny boy:" "Now suge's locked up, my checks started not coming on time." "Then it went from not coming on time, to not coming at all." "They took the car, i never seen the car again." "And they send me account ledgers!" ""Hamburgers, Christmas gift," "Danny boy car for his birthday."" "And i went to the third page, and my mother's funeral expense was on there, highlighted." "You sending me these papers telling me i owe you for my mother's service?" "I finally got a chance to go to the prison and see him." "San Louis obispo, we went and walked the yard, and he was telling me, y'know, that different people was telling him i said y'know, "(Bleep), suge and (Bleep) Death row."" "Like, "really, you listened?"" "Y'know and he laughed, and all, "yeah, i know,"" "and he tried to point the finger at everybody else, but i knew it was him because when i left everything remained the same." "And now I'm at a point [Crying]." "I have to think of good things to say." "To cover up the (Bleep) That he did." "I looked at him as a father, as a brother." "How can you be sad for somebody that's" "(bleep) You over?" "And (Bleep) Such a good thing up?" "Suge knight:" "Dammit, haven't have a (Bleep)" "Drink in six years." "I'ma have drink for everybody today." "Shariitha golden:" "Suge wasn't there." "You talking about five years of suge not running death row." "The picture of death row, it all just crumbled." "Everybody was leaving." "So dre called me and he was like," ""I'm not doing anything for suge anymore." "I'm tired, I'm tired of the mess going on over here." "Dr. dre:" "I made quite a few mistakes actually, picking the people i wanted to do business with." "I've just been trying to put together a new family, and um, basically just start all over." "Sharitha golden:" "Suge lost everything he worked so hard to have." "He lost it over just being selfish and stupid." "Vanilla ice:" "You can only Blaze a dusty road for so long, before you have to turn around and go back down it, and go, "i can't see anything!"" "It catches up to you, doesn't it?" "You're going down a dusty road in a car and you stop, what happens?" "The dust comes over and goes whoosh right over the car." "It's kinda what happened with suge." "Danny boy:" "Everything changed, and i think he was stuck back in the '90's." "People took 'pac and biggie dying really serious in the industry." ""Hey, whoa, let's not do no more shoot-em-up bang bang."" "Greg kading:" "I conducted hours of physical surveillance on suge knight." "And to see that big, hulking, intimidating man walking with so much arrogance and confidence, and they're completely oblivious to the fact that" "10 feet from them is an investigator who knows every, all their moves." "It kinda gives you a feeling of superiority." "Reporter:" "Some 175 heavily armed members of the" "Los Angeles county sherriff's department served 15 search warrants." "Knight's lawyer told CNN that knight is mystified by the events." "Greg kading:" "Law enforcement was desperate to get suge off the streets." "There was so much violence going on surrounding death row, so many assaults, so many reports of extortion." "Reggie Wright Jr:" "We always knew the FBI was following us, or trying to get us for something." "But we figured, hey, we wasn't doing anything." "So we didn't, we really didn't care." "Sharitha golden:" "Suge had more lawsuits on the table than anybody i know." "Somebody did not pay his, i think it was $11 million in taxes?" "So from the lawsuits, the taxes, the only choice he had was to file bankruptcy." "Greg kading:" "So much of his former self no longer exists." "He's lost the type of influence that he once had on the street, that money brings." "He's a shell of a man." "Reggie Wright Jr:" "This a guy that was broken down by the government." "Had probably a million dollars a month, to scraping up four, five thousand dollars a month just to survive." "Virgil Roberts:" "He's taken a mighty fall." "There was a point in time when he was making a lot of money i mean, y'know, literally tens of millions of dollars a year." "And he needed some money and i talked to him, i said" ""well, you know, i don't have any money."" "He goes to a film site, where they're shooting the n.W.A. Movie." "I think he may have gone there to, you know, to try to get some money out of dre." "He feels, "hey dre, if it wasn't for me, you never would have been free, never would have gotten to the place you are now." "You're, you're a billionaire:" "I'm struggling, you should give me some money."" "He shows up, and apparently one of the guys started to fight with him." "I think he was really fearing for his life:" "That's the suge i know." "And so he backs his truck out, and in getting away, he ran over one of his best friends." "I think if you were a white music executive, and you happen to go out to the site to see this movie, some guy comes up and starts to beat up on you, and you happen to run over somebody," "your defense would be self-defense, and people would believe it, and you wouldn't go to jail." "If you're suge, it's gonna be first-degree murder." "The d.O.C:" "Think of the, the person in the mirror that guy has to look at." "How do you go from hundreds of millions of dollars, to prison?" "And it's just your fault, because you chose to be something you, you didn't have to be." "And right now, he's gotta be in a place where he understands that all those things led him there." "Danny boy:" "I forgive him, for the hurt that he's caused me." "Even though he's never asked for forgiveness, even though he's never talked about it." "Because i know that he's not man enough to talk about it." "Sometimes when you hurt people, you not man enough to talk about it." "It's kinda hard to say, "i done you wrong."" "So i forgive him in advance." "The d.O.C.:" "I wouldn't give a damn what, what gangsta you name, y'know." "It all ends in the, at the same place." "Your light is bright, your glory was a flash, and now you're just in a world of (Bleep)." "It's suge that's gotta face suge." "* Danny boy:" "I once was lost, * * but now i am found." "* was-as-as, blind," "* but now i see."