S. Samuel
Incarcerated rapper Max B's ex-girlfriend is still stuck behind bars after losing a bid to have her 15-year jail sentence lowered in court this week.
Details of Gina Gonway‘s denial surfaced online Wednesday (July 3).
The ex-girlfriend of jailed rapper Max B has lost a bid to lower her 15-year sentence for her role in a 2006 armed robbery that turned deadly. Gina Conway, 36, was working on orders from the Harlem emcee (whose real name is Charly Wingate) when she and another man, Kelvin Leerdam, forced their way into a Fort Lee hotel room to commit the robbery in September 2006. She helped bind and gag two of the victims, and Leerdam eventually shot and killed another a third man, David Taylor. (Star-Ledger)
She will now have to wait six years before having another opportunity to appeal.
Conway’s testimony helped prosecutors convict both Wingate and Leerdam of felony murder, armed robbery and other offenses. In return, she received a 15-year prison term for armed robbery. In her appeal, which was denied this morning, she contended that the confession she provided police in the days after Taylor’s murder was involuntary, and should have been suppressed, and that her sentence was excessive. A state panel rejected both arguments. The state also rejected similar appeals last year by Leerdam and Wingate, who is serving a 75-year sentence. Conway will not be eligible for parole until June 2019, according to Department of Corrections records. (Star-Ledger)
Last fall, reports surfaced claiming four million signatures could help get Max out of the slammer.
Max B’s goal is to obtain four million signatures in his effort to be freed from prison. “We trying to get the petition on ‘Pardon The Wave’ signed,” Max B told AllHipHop.com. “We trying to go at the governor; we trying to go at the president. To the people that’s not signing the petition and screaming ‘Free Max B,’ that’s not wavy. Do the right thing; sign the petition.” After three years, Max B says he is in good spirits, and keeping his mind positive after having his first appeal denied. He said he looks at it like the ‘first battle in the war.’ “Right now, I’m on post convictions. I’m still early in my appeal stages,” Max B explained. “This next appeal could take anywhere from 18 months…it could drag out for 10 years if I’m not on my game. But if I got the support I need, and everyone [does] what they’re supposed to do, I’m trying to get right back to court in the next 18 months to two years. (All Hip Hop)
In late September, the former Dipset affiliate said he hoped to beat the system and win back his freedom.
“It’s been a little minute since I hollered at the people, I’m here, I’m still functioning,” Max said in an interview with Statik Selektah. “Everything’s good. I’ll be out soon. Y’all just hold on. It’s taking a little longer than expected but I mean, you know, I’ll be ready soon, just stick with me. I’m still dropping that wavy, PardonTheWave.com, one day at a time. The beginning of my joint got deferred, they denied me, but I’m about to go [back]. I’ve got another fight in me, I’ve got plenty more in me. I’ll keep y’all posted, I don’t really want to get into that but it is what it is. Like I say, one day at a time.” (ShowOff Radio)
