The rapper who received 15 years to life in prison last week after confessing to a near 20-year-old unsolved murder says he doesn't regret coming forward.
G.Dep told The New York Post from Rikers, where he awaits transfer, that he felt he acted responsibly when he walked into a Harlem precinct two years ago and told police officers he shot a man in 1993. He said he wanted to clear his conscience.
"Maybe at the end of serving time or after looking back, someone might feel differently," G. Dep told the paper. "But now I feel what I did was right."
The 37-year-old rapper, who had a brush with fame in the late 1990s and early 2000s, received the minimum sentence at a hearing Tuesday. A judge, prosecutors and even the jury foreman said he deserved credit for coming forward when he'd never been suspected in the long-cold case.
G. Dep, whose real name is Trevell Coleman, told police that he tried to mug a stranger at gunpoint when he was 18 and looking for quick cash. He told police he and the stranger ended up fighting for his weapon and he fired three times before running off. Cops connected the confession to the 1993 unsolved murder of John Henkel, who was 32 when he died. Then they told G. Dep he was wanted for murder.
G. Dep, the father of an 11-year-old girl and twin 5-year-old boys, told the Post if he could've given his younger self some advice, it would be to stay away from guns. But he also said that if he hadn't been who he was as a teenager, some of the positive parts of his life may not have happened either.
The rapper says his wife, who initially discouraged him from confessing, is beginning to understand why he came clean. He also told the Post he believes his daughter understands his decision -- and his sons are as aware of his circumstances at they can be at just five years old.
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G. Dep told the Post he's still working to forgive himself for taking a man's life, and he plans to use his time in prison to work on an autobiography, some new music and to stay in shape.
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