[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n November 1993, Shakur and others were charged with sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room. Shakur denied the charges. According to Shakur, he had prior relations days earlier with the woman that were consensual (the woman admitted she performed oral sex on Shakur). The complainant claimed sexual assault after her second visit to Shakur’s hotel room; she alleged that Shakur and his entourage raped her. As a result of the trial, Shakur was convicted of first-degree sexual abuse, and acquitted of the weapons and sodomy charges.
The judge described the crimes during the sentencing of Shakur to 1½–4½ years in prison, as “an act of brutal violence against a helpless woman.” While appearing on the Arsenio Hall Show, Shakur stated he was innocent of all charges and he was hurt that “a woman would accuse me of taking something from her” when he was raised by and was surrounded by females. In October 1995, Shakur’s case was on appeal but because of his considerable legal fees, he could not raise the $1.4 million bail.
After serving nine months of his sentence, Shakur was released from the Clinton Correctional Facility on October 12, 1995, due in large part to the help and influence of Suge Knight, the CEO of Death Row Records, who posted a $1.4 million bail pending appeal of the conviction, in exchange for Shakur releasing three albums under the Death Row label. On April 5, 1996, a judge sentenced him to serve 120 days in jail for violating terms of his release on bail.
