You may have noticed all the “Free Khujo” tweets and facebook postings over the past few weeks but fear not fellow ATLiens… Khujo Goodie is finally out of the clink!
After originally being sentenced to serve two years of a five year sentence, Willie Knighton Jr., aka Khujo Goodie, walked out of the Henry County jail Tuesday (7/20) after a judge ruled that one of his indictments was legally void.
[Sidebar: Is it me or is Henry County the HOTSPOT for rapper lock ups? SouljaBoy, Andre’3000, Gucci Mane, producer Shawty Redd, and even NaS all have Henry County connections]
My boo Antwan “Big Boi” Patton and Goodie Mob members Cee-Lo and Big Gipp were all in attendance at Khujo’s hearing, and Big Boi even testified on his behalf.
Khujo Goodie Will be FREE Today thanks to Daniel Cane, the D.F. And Jesus !!! ~ TheRealBigBoi
According to Creative Loafing, Knighton had been serving time in a Henry County jail (located in the southeastern suburbs of metro Atlanta) since June 9, after being convicted of three counts of felony possession of a firearm and one count of violation of the Ga. Controlled Substance Act for having marijuana in his possession ? charges he’d received in 2009 and 2010.
Khujo was originally sentenced to two years because Henry County had determined that he was already a convicted felon, due to a firearms violation dating back to 1990.
Several affiliated Dungeon Family members voiced their complaints against the emcee’s sentence over the past few weeks. Big Rube spoke out, saying “I wanna send out nothin but love to my folk Khujo. He didn’t deserve no damn 2 years. To Khujo the realest G I’ve ever met.” and Cee-Lo proclaimed he wouldn’t rap again until Khujo was free.
The music will now continue because Attorney Daniel Kane proved that Khujo’s previous charge was legally void.
“He had a case in 1990 when he was a teenager that was disposed of under the First Offender Act,” Kane explained. “If you enter a plea under the First Offender Act you are not formally adjudicated guilty.
“The mistake was that they thought he was a convicted felon because they thought he was convicted in 1990,” he continued. “So I went back into the archives and got the 1990 case, researched it, pulled the records and presented them to the district attorney and the judge in Henry County and said he could never be a felon in possession of a firearm ? there were three counts ? because he was never a convicted felon. It was a first offender case, and the court agreed.”
Of course, a two-year sentence would have put a serious dent in the reunited Goodie Mob’s plans for a new album. But the case isn’t totally behind him ? a new sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 3.
When asked to speculate on the final outcome, Khujo’s lawyer preferred not to comment on the ongoing case. He did, however, comment on Khujo’s disposition after being freed, stating:
“Well, there’s great joy, great joy and happiness. And also his friends from the music industry, they were very, very happy. Big Boi and Cee-Lo, Big Gipp, they were very happy, as well as [Khujo]’s wife, and his cousin.
In the meantime, it’s back to business for Khujo, who is featured on the hook he penned for the song “Tangerine,” (featuring T.I.), which, according to Kane, will be the next single from Big Boi’s new album Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Return of Chico Dusty.
Props: MauriceGarland + Rodney Carmichael