Bay Area Legend Keak Da Sneak Faces Prison While in Wheelchair. Here’s How Incarceration Will Affect Him

“You have to be on your dying bed for them to give you some assistance.”

The artist, who survived a shooting and now uses a wheelchair, opens up about facing prison while living with disabilities.

Keak Da Sneak has been sentenced to prison.

On Monday (January 28), the artist was sentenced to 16 months in state prison for one count of possession of a firearm as a felon.

In 2017, the Bay area legend survived two shootings in an attempted robbery. Following the shooting, the artist now lives with severe disabilities that require him to uses a wheelchair full time, a colostomy bag, a catheter, and nurse care.

In a new interview with KQED, Sneak said the shootings prompted him to acquire a gun for protection because he could no longer afford security. (California law prohibits convicted felons from owning firearms). When speaking on his March 2017 firearm charges he said, “It was really racial profiling at an all-time high.”

The pioneer also opened up about his concerns that being behind bars with disabilities could jeopardize his ability to walk again.

“My health is not good. I know they’re not gonna give me the treatment I need in prison,” he said. “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.”

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The article outlined some possible factors that may affect his time in prison.

• California prisons are overcrowded and not all facilities have accommodations for wheelchair users.
• When the state assesses inmates’ physical, cognitive and security needs, those with disabilities can be held in reception centers with more restriction and for longer periods of time.
• California prisons have a reported track record of violating the civil rights of inmates with disabilities. In 2010, a federal class-action case found the state prison system’s medical care to be inadequate and unconstitutional. Prisoners with disabilities reportedly have also been fighting for ADA compliance with a class-action lawsuit that’s been ongoing since 1994.

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With a career spanning more than two decades, the 41-year-old Oakland artist, born Charles Kente Williams, is best known as the godfather of the Bay Area’s hyphy regional sound. In 2006, he released the hit song, “Tell Me When to Go” with E-40 and Lil Jon.

In the interview, he says he’s focused on making new music following the sentencing.

“It got me doing a lot of recording right now, so while I’m gone I can be dropping music to take care of my family.”

Read the full interview at KQED