Rapper/producer John Forte, best known for his work with The Fugees, and who was jailed seven years ago after being caught with two briefcases filled with liquid cocaine at Newark International Airport in 2000, has had his sentence reduced, or 'commuted' to use the technical term, meaning he'll be out of jail in time for Christmas.
Forte was convicted for intent and conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to a mandatory minimum of 14 years in jail. However, that has been cut in half by officials (technically George W Bush's office, because only the President can commute a federal sentence). It's not clear why, though such sentence reduction is normally linked to good behaviour inside. He will remain on supervised probation for a further five years.
Among the vocal supporters who have called for the early release of Forte, who released two solo albums as well as co-writing two songs for The Fugee's 1996 long player 'The Score', was Carly Simon, who went to school with the producer.