Oakland Icon Keak da Sneak Released From Prison After Serving Five Months

Keak da Sneak performed at Rolling Loud: Oakland recently after serving a five-month sentence on gun possession charges.

After two tumultuous — to say the least — years, Oakland legend Keak da Sneak has a new lease on life.

In 2017, Keak (born Charles Kente Williams) survived two separate shootings in attempted robberies. The resulting nerve damage from one forced him to use a wheelchair. Shortly after, he was sentenced to 16 months in prison on gun possession charges. After he posted a change.org petition for alternative sentencing, which was signed by over 70,000 people, officials gave him extra time for medical procedures and opted to place him in a facility that could provide him with quality medical care. Fortunately, Keak was released after serving five months.

Upon his release, Keak hit the stage for the first time, at the Rolling Loud Festival in Oakland this past weekend as a guest of G-Eazy's set. The rapper, best known for his verse on E-40's hyphy hit "Tell Me When To Go," says the performance was needed after a long two years.

“I’m just so blessed, I’m happy, I’m free,” he told CBS' San Francisco affiliate. “God works in mysterious ways, I think He just wanted me to see how fast you can throw your life away, or throw your freedom away. It’s a natural body high like, ‘Wow, they love me still,’ you know what I mean? I really needed to see that.”

After expressing concerns he wouldn't receive proper treatment during his incarceration, Keak's comments show that conditions during his sentence were adequate, though not ideal.

“I had my own cell, as far as on the medical level, they did,” he said. “They was there for me. As far as my pain medication…they wasn’t really giving me no meds for pain.”

All in all, Keak is happy to be a free man again. He still suffers from nerve damage, but hopes to walk again in the future. In the short term, he plans to release a video for his latest track with The Mekanix, "I Mean."

SOURCE: CBS - Oakland/San Francisco