Legendary Bay Area artist Keak Da Sneak is being sentenced to 16 months in prison while being permanently reliant on a wheelchair, Okayplayer reports. On Monday (Jan. 28) he was sentenced for one count of possession of a fireman as a felon.
“My health is not good. I know they’re not gonna give me the treatment I need in prison,” he told KQED. “I’ve been to jail before, and once you get behind these walls, they have no compassion. You have to be on your dying bed for them to give you some assistance.”
Keak, born Charles Kente Williams, survived two shootings in 2017, which left him in a wheelchair with required use of a colostomy bag and a catheter. Additionally, his condition calls for nurse assistance. Because he reportedly can no longer pay for security, he decided to purchase a fireman as a form of protection, but California law stipulates that if one has been convicted of a crime, it’s illegal to have possession of a gun.
Williams is expected to turn himself in on Feb. 7. Amador County Superior Court Judge J.S. Hermanson gave him up until that date in order to get a comprehensive medical exam before reporting to prison. Still, Keak’s main concern is his well being while incarcerated. He said prison authorities normally refrain from accommodating those with disabilities.
“Am I gonna get the treatment I’m getting out here? I don’t think so,” he explained. “I’ve been to jail with people who were sick and really doing bad, and the guards and deputies didn’t care about them at all. They came and beat on them because they were pushing the button like, ‘I need help, I need help.’ ”
Despite his upcoming reality, Keak promises to still make more music but enforces that he’s being treated this way because of his race. “I have a lot of people in my corner, on my side,” he said. “They feel like it’s biased, the way they’re treating me. If I was another race, they wouldn’t be doing me like this.”
