LOMPOC — In the two weeks since he first asked a judge for a compassionate release from federal prison, citing his compromised immune system, Death Row Records co-founder Michael “Harry-O” Harris has contracted COVID-19.
Harris, who is serving a 19-year, seven-month term for federal convictions of cocaine trafficking, “suffered badly for around a week and remains in a fatigued and weakened condition,” according to court filings by his attorneys. A judge still has yet to rule on Harris’ compassionate release motion, which argued that he is at higher risk to be killed by the virus because he has an autoimmune disorder called Guillain-Barré Syndrome.
Guillain-Barré Syndrome is a disease where the body’s immune system attacks the nerves, which can lead to full-blown paralysis, which his attorneys say — combined with COVID-19 — could kill him.
If Harris’ compassionate release motion is denied, he will be released in October 2028. He is currently being housed in Lompoc FCI, a federal prison that has made national headlines — and been the subject of a federal lawsuit — for being one of the country’s hardest-hit prisons by COVID-19. Currently, roughly 80 percent of the inmate population has the virus, according to public records.
“Due to the outbreak, Mr. Harris and the rest of the inmate population were confined under complete 24-hour lockdown, without access to telephones, email, or any other means to contact their attorneys,” Harris’ attorneys wrote in court filings.
Harris has been incarcerated since the 1980s, first on state charges, then in federal prison. He was convicted in state court of conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder — crimes he’s proclaimed innocence of — and federal charges related to helping run an international cocaine trafficking empire, which he has apologized for.
“I will always wear the internal shame of hurting others for my own personal gain and greed,” Harris wrote in a letter to the court. “So I say, there is no punishment on earth that can match or equal the the pain I have caused throughout my years of drug peddling and I pray to our creator to forgive me for helping to bring harm to his precious creations.”
He later added that since COVID-19 hit Lompoc, he and others in the prison are “surrounded by the COVID-19 coronavirus disease in a dorm with 250 men … with at least half suffering from underlying medical conditions.”
In the early 1990s, Harris financed the start of Death Row Records with a $1.5 million investment to the label’s co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight. The label went on to produce some of the best-known records in rap history, including Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and the last 2pac album released during the late rapper’s life, All Eyez on Me.
Harris paroled from his state case in 2011, and was immediately picked up by the U.S. Marshals to serve his federal sentence. In his nearly 40 years of incarceration, Harris has received widespread praise — including support by law enforcement officials — for his work to combat crime and violence outside of prison walls.
He co-founded the nonprofit The Richmond Project, which community leaders have praised for helping reduce violence in Contra Costa County. The Richmond Office of Neighborhood Safety has also offered Harris employment, should he be released. While incarcerated at San Quentin, Harris became editor-in-chief of the San Quentin News and is credited for helping bring the newspaper back from the brink.
The U.S. Attorney’s office has opposed Harris’ release motion, arguing that he doesn’t qualify for a compassionate release under the law, and accusing Harris’ attorneys of downplaying his crimes to make him sound more sympathetic.
In the 1980s, Harris was known as one of Los Angeles’ biggest cocaine kingpins. Federal prosecutors say he was a high-ranking figure in an 11-state cocaine trafficking empire that dealt directly with the Colombia-based Cali Cartel and generated up to $2 million per day, at its peak.
Last year, the Daily Mail inaccurately reported that Harris was going to be released by the end of 2019, and numerous media organizations re-reported the rumor. In fact, a judge denied Harris’ release motion last year, which argued he qualified for legal relief under an Obama-era law aimed at reducing sentences for certain federal drug crimes.
