Mario Etheridge will walk free in Detroit this week after being handed a $2000 fine and sentenced to time served (i.e., the time he's spent in jail waiting to be sentenced) for shooting rapper Proof in April this year.
The 28 year old defendant's jail time was for having an unlicensed weapon, and the $2000 fine was for discharging the weapon in a "dwelling or occupied structure" (i.e. a building).The light sentence was handed out after the court heard Etheridge shot Proof in retaliation for Proof shooting (and killing) Keith Bender Jr, Etheridge's cousin at the C.C.C. Club on Detroit's 8 Mile Road.
In the state of Michigan, carrying a concealed weapon carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, while firing a weapon in a dwelling or occupied structure carries a maximum 4 years.
Proof, whose real name was Deshaun Holton, was part of the hugely successful hip hop group D-12, which was championed by Eminem.
