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Jamal “Shyne” Barrow, Belizean rapper, arrives home after US deportation

InternationalJamal “Shyne” Barrow, Belizean rapper, arrives home after US deportation
He was born in Belize as Jamal Barrow, the son of Imeon Myvett and Dean Barrow. But when he began making the rounds in New York’s big rappers circles, he became known as “Shyne.”
  
Just as his immense talent was about to catapult him into the top echelons of the music world, however, he was sentenced in 2001 to ten years in prison for his role in a nightclub shooting incident in Manhattan.
  
The incident, which occurred on December 27, 1999, had left three persons injured. The shootings at the club occurred after someone insulted Sean “Diddy” Combs, the CEO of the Bad Boy record label, who was at the club, along with his then girlfriend Jennifer Lopez.
  
The young Jamal Barrow had recently signed onto Combs’ record label. Combs and one of his body guards were acquitted of charges relating to the incident. Barrow, however, was found guilty.
  
But all that appears to be long ago and far away. This afternoon, Belize’s entire media corps was at the Philip Goldson International Airport for the arrival of Shyne, who was released earlier this month from a New York prison, after serving nine years of his ten-year sentence. Following his release from prison, he was deported to his native Belize.
  
In 2006, while in prison, Barrow legally changed his name and became Moses Michael Levi, after he converted to Judaism.
  
When he arrived in Belize this afternoon, he had his own entourage that had accompanied him from New York. Among the personalities who were at the airport with Shyne were his manager and one of his attorneys, Oscar Michelin. 
  
Another of his attorneys, Charles Ogletree, is scheduled to arrive in Belize over the weekend and it is expected that he will brief the media on the efforts that are being made to secure a pardon for Shyne.
  
Prime Minister Dean Barrow had written New York Governor David Paterson and asked him to pardon his son, who, before his deportation, held a US Permanent Resident status (Green Card).
  
Hon. Michael Finnegan, the Minister of Housing, an uncle of Shyne, spoke to the media and said that his nephew was in good spirits. This was after the necessary check-in with Belize police, who were at the airport when Shyne arrived. (The requirement that a deportee check in with the Police Department on a regular basis may not be mandatory.)  
  
Finnegan said that his nephew was advised by his attorneys not to make any comments in the media, because that could prejudice the legal efforts that are being made in the States on his behalf.
  
Having been locked away for so many years, Finnegan said, Shyne, at this point, just wants some peace and solitude so that he could contemplate his life and what he wants to do with his future.
  
To make sure that he gets the necessary peace and solitude, Shyne has rented an entire floor at the Radisson Fort George Hotel. But before he settled into one of his rooms, he was whisked away from the airport and taken to the Youth Hostel at Mile 21 on the Western Highway, where he went to speak to the young residents of the hostel.
  
It is expected that, with his international contacts, he will energize Belize’s fledging music recording industry.

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