Since her conviction on assault, illegal weapon possession and attempted coercion for shooting her one time friend, Makeda Barnes-Joseph last July, the support for rapper Remy Ma has grown at a steady clip. With her sentence date fast approaching, The Urban Daily reached out to one of her peers, Saigon (who served over four years in prison for assault), to shed some light on the seriousness of the charges against Remy and what she should prepare for when she serves her time.
Me and Remy are cool. I was cool with her before all that sh*t. She’s a homey, that’s why I wish her the best. I’m not worried about her being able to handle it. She’s a tough girl. The whole thing is the time away from your kids and from society. You made it out the hood only to be put in a situation that’s worse than being in the hood.
She really flipped out by taking it to trial, she should have copped out, but it’s too late for that. They always offer you a plea bargain. Even three, four years…the minimum on her shit is gonna be five. But now what she gotta do is go to the Appelate Courts and get a time cut. Fight your whole bid in that Law library, mind your business and stay out of trouble. Write your rhymes, exercise, read and try to make it home as soon as possible.
Because her crime is so violent and it looks bad cuz this girl was her friend. If she had gun possession like T.I [it would be different]. You can always say you did it to protect yourself. [But] when you shoot somebody that changes the whole ball game. Plus she fled the scene after that, it looks bad in the judge’s eyes. They’re gonna try and make an example out of her. Shyne shot somebody by accident and he went to trial and got 10 years. Shooting somebody in the stomach, they’re gonna take all that into consideration. Her defense was that it was an accident, but she fled the scene. If it was an accident and you shot your friend, you’re not gonna leave. You’re gonna freak out, but you’re not gonna try to get away. I feel for her because she’s very talented and she had a chance to make a mark in the game.
If you from the hood and you gotta chance to get out the hood, you don’t wait til you get to be this old do something like this over a few dollars. That was crazy on her part but I wish her the best.
Where Foxy and Kim went is nothing compared to where she’s going. She’s going to Bedford Hills or something. Foxy is in Rikers and Kim was in federal camp. Rikers doesn’t put celebrities in general population. I don’t know how it is with women, but at Clinton [Correctional Facility] they had a spot for high-profile celebrities, like where Tupac was and all that. She’s going to state prison where she’s either gonna have to stay in her cell for 23 hours a day [or be in population]. But Remy’s a tough girl, she could survive in population, I really believe that.
But it sucks. When I found out they found her guilty I was like, ‘Oh, they gonna rock her cuz she went to trial’. Shyne had a plea bargain for four years but he didn’t take it. You see Prodigy copped out. That ni**a smart. You gotta know when to fold ’em. They tell you, “If you say you did it, we’ll give you this. But if we gotta spend money on a trial we gonna lace you. You gonna wish you took the plea bargain.” They probably offered her five years and she rolled the dice.
I got charged with attempted murder but copped out and plea bargained to assault in the first-degree. I ended up doing four years and eight months. I could have been home sooner if I wasn’t a knucklehead. Back then they gave you indeterminate bids like two to six or three to nine. Now they give you a number and you gotta do 85% of that number. I hope she hold her head and do the right thing.
As told to Jerry L. Barrow
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