Suge Knight’s Attorney Takes Plea Deal, Accused of Bribery

Suge Knight‘s attorney is facing the consequences for his shady practices.

According to a report from KTLA on Wednesday (Feb. 16), Matthew Fletcher, lawyer for the former Death Row Records owner, pleaded guilty in court yesterday on charges of conspiracy and perjury after prosecutors accused him of bribing witnesses so they could provide mistruths for Suge Knight in his murder charges back in 2016. This has resulted in Fletcher’s permanent disbarment from practicing law.

The 57-year-old attorney was initially accused of conspiracy to suborn perjury, obstruct justice and bribing witnesses after prosecutors obtained a warrant to listen in on jail calls between Suge Knight and his attorney in 2015.

Prosecutors spoke on one particular conversation in which Fletcher found a man who would say weapons were found at the scene on the set of the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton, but the witness would need to be compensated. Fletcher allegedly told Suge that $25,000 was a “fair investment to secure his freedom.”

Additionally, Fletcher was charged as an accessory after the fact in Suge’s case and could be on the hook for a separate bribery charge in connection to a testimony he gave at a disciplinary hearing with the State Bar of California in 2016.

After a two-month trial, jurors began to weigh in on Fletcher’s charges earlier this week. However, a plea deal was put on the table where the soon-to-be former attorney would plead no contest to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and one count of perjury.

He will be on probation for five years and must resign from the state bar for life. Failure to do so within 90 days could land him time behind bars.

Suge’s other attorney, Thaddeus Culpepper, was hit with identical charges, with two additional conspiracy charges.

According to the Los Angeles Times, both men have an arraignment set for March 16 and if convicted, they face up to three years and eight months in prison.

Suge Knight’s attorney’s charges stem from Suge’s fatal hit-and-run in the parking lot of Tam’s burgers on the set of the N.W.A biopic film back in 2015. Authorities say Suge killed Terry Carter, a California businessman, and injured Cle Sloan, a security consultant, after running over both men with his massive Ford F-150 Raptor pickup truck.

In September of 2018, Suge was sentenced to 28 years behind bars after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter via a plea deal.

He initially pleaded not guilty, claiming self-defense.

XXL has reached out to a rep for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.

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