Suge Knight's Legal Troubles: See His Rap Sheet

Suge Knight: See His Many Run-Ins with the Law

The rap mogul's alleged hit-and-run this week is far from his first legal trouble

Published on January 30, 2015 04:00PM EST

Marion "Suge" Knight‘s alleged involvement in a fatal hit-and-run in Los Angeles on Thursday is far from the rap mogul’s first run-in with the law.

The Death Row Records cofounder, 49, has a decades-long criminal record. Here’s a sampling of his various legal troubles.

1990s

Following two battery charges in 1990, Knight became embroiled in a long legal battle stemming from a 1992 incident when he allegedly beat two men at gunpoint at the Solar Records recording studio. Three years later he received a five-year suspended sentence and served one month in a halfway house.

In 1996, he was sentenced to nine years in jail after being caught on tape beating a man at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. He served five years.

In 1997, rapper Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace was shot to death while Knight was in prison. Knight was nonetheless considered a suspect – it has long been thought he might have wanted to avenge his friend Tupac Shakur‘s killing the year before – though he was never charged.

2000s

Knight served more two months in jail in 2002 for violating his parole, and 10 more months in 2003, for assault. That same year, though no criminal charges were filed against Knight himself and he denied involvement, Death Row and one of its rappers, Big Lurch (who was charged), were named in a wrongful-death lawsuit centering on the gruesome murder of a 21-year-old woman.

In November 2004, he was investigated by police for a Vibe Awards bust-up involving former Death Row label mate Dr. Dre, with whom Knight was specifically prohibited from associating, according to the terms of his parole.

In 2005, he became the victim of a crime himself, as he was shot in the leg at Kanye West’s party before the Video Music Awards.

In 2008, Knight was arrested for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, along with drug possession. Charges were dropped.

2010s

This past August, he was shot six times, again at a pre-VMAs party. Then, in October, he was arrested for allegedly stealing a camera from a photographer in Beverly Hills the month before.