metro
Published December 24, 2023, 12:11 PM ET
A former aspiring rapper who signed with Sean “Diddy” Combs and then was sentenced to life in prison for a Manhattan murder is one of 16 convicts who just received clemency from Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Travell “G Dep” Coleman, 49, served 15 years in prison for the 1993 shooting death of a robbery victim in East Harlem – a murder that remained unsolved until 2010, when the once-promising rapper turned himself in to police at the 25th Street Station building. district.
The rapper's lawyer told reporters after Coleman's surrender that his client had been plagued by guilt since he committed the fatal armed robbery as a teenager.
Hochul commuted Coleman's sentence Friday as part of her office's traditional year-end clemency list. She also commuted the sentences of three other convicts and issued 12 pardons, eight of them related to drug cases.
A pardon wipes out a conviction, while a commutation shortens a prison sentence.
Travell “G Dep” Coleman had a promising rap career that was interrupted by drugs and crime — and then a murder conviction. WireImage Coleman is eligible for parole in 2025. Steven Hirsch
In Coleman's case, that means his sentence was reduced by two years from 15 years to life to 13 years, making him eligible for early parole in 2025.
Coleman was an up-and-coming New York hip-hopper who signed with Combs' Bad Boy label in 1999 and scored tracks like “Special Delivery” and “Let's Get It” before falling into drugs and crime.
He had more than 25 arrests for drugs, burglary and theft.
He confessed to police that on October 19, 1993, he was riding a bicycle when he ran over the victim, John Henkel, at Park Avenue and East 114th Street in an attempt to rob Henkle.
John Henkel was shot and killed by Travell “G Dep” Coleman during a robbery in East Harlem in 1993.
The pair got into a scuffle, and Colemen said he pulled out a .40-caliber gun, shot the victim three times in the chest and then threw the murder weapon into the East River.
A prosecutor in District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office in Manhattan urged Hochul last year to grant Coleman clemency, citing his record behind bars and his surrender to police.
State officials said Coleman earned an associate's degree and worked behind bars on violence prevention and sobriety counseling programs, as well as other rehabilitation programs.
Henkel's brother, Robert Henkel, declined to comment when The Post reached him by phone Sunday.
But in an interview with the Post last year, he called Coleman's clemency request “a farce” and criticized Bragg's office for trying to get the killer out of prison early.
Gov. Kathy Hochul granted clemency to 16 New York convicts on Friday. James Keivom
“It’s one thing to strive for it [clemency] for drug offenses, but not for murder,” Henke said last December. “Let [Coleman] rot in prison. Let him serve his 15 years and then he can try for parole.”
“As part of the clemency process, it is my solemn duty as governor to recognize the efforts of individuals to improve their lives and show that redress is possible,” Hochul said in a statement.
With post wires
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