Almost four years after Safaree Samuels was robbed at gunpoint in his Fort Lee, New Jersey apartment complex’s parking garage, one of the men responsible is set to serve a hefty sentence.
In April 2018, three men reportedly staked out the “Paradise” rapper’s house and reaped over $180,000 worth of jewelry. The robbers, who police say carefully planned the robbery, had bugged Safaree Samuels‘ car with a Global Positioning System (GPS). In their efforts to flee with the rapper’s valuables, the men were chased by local authorities from New Jersey to New York.
According to NorthJersey.com, one of the alleged robbers, 43-year-old Tacuma Ashman, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. A Bergen County judge on Friday ruled that Ashman will serve at least 25 years before he’s eligible for parole.
While he was acquitted on conspiracy and violating weapons permit charges, Ashman was ultimately convicted on two counts of first-degree robbery and charged with weapons possession and resisting arrest.
Judge Christopher Kazlau told the court that the hefty sentence was because the heist was deliberate, and the evidence against him was “overwhelming.”
“This was as a carefully planned armed robbery over the course of weeks and months, with specific steps taken to execute it,” he said.
Safaree did not attend the sentencing on Friday morning, and he is yet to comment on the latest update.
While the “Love and Hip Hop” star appears to have recovered from the incident, the 40-year-old was seriously traumatized by the robbery in 2018.
He had disclosed the news during an interview on The Angie Martinez Show on Power 1051 a few hours after the incident.
“I just got robbed…just a couple hours ago. Two dudes with guns just ran up on me,” he said while trying not to break down. “Had me face down on the floor with a gun to my head. They just took everything,” he admitted.
A surveillance camera in the parking garage captured the entire incident on video, confirming his story.
Prosecutors say the heist was masterminded by a childhood friend of Nicki Minaj’s ex-boyfriend, Shawn Harewood. Prosecutors believe Harewood, who was granted a mistrial after his attorney withdrew from the case, had recruited Ashman and Carl Harry to be the henchmen in the robbery, as he knew Safaree would recognize him.
Ashman had declined several plea deals, including one with a seven-year sentence, and risked taking his case to trial. Needless to say, it did not pan out the way he had hoped.
