Kevin Gates was close to being released from jail earlier this year, until a separate weapons charge landed him in prison for another 30 months in a different state. But based on public records, it looks like he'll be up for parole much sooner than that sentence would indicate.
As you can see in this image provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections (via DJ Akademiks), Gates' parole date is in late-June 2018, which would have him out of prison—at least for this sentence—in just under 14 months:
There's no guarantees, of course, and we've seen things go south for Gates in the recent past. The prosecution for his 2015 assault case originally asked for a 60-day sentence (alongside probation and anger-management classes) only for a judge to triple the sentence. As the end of his stay in prison for kicking a woman neared, Gates had his release taken off the table when a separate, unrelated weapons charge was discovered in the state of Illinois. Upon discovery of the charge, Gates was transferred from Florida to the midwest and had his request for bail denied.
A 2018 return to the public would be nice to see for the Baton Rouge native, whose career and life has gone off track over the last couple years as he's dealt with these legal issues. His debut studio album Islah was a definite success, peaking as high as No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and eventually being certified platinum by the RIAA last August. Just as he appeared to be on the rise as an artist, Gates found himself on the wrong side of the law.
If he can keep his nose clean in prison—and assuming no more outstanding charges pop up on the radar—Gates could be returning to a speaker near you next summer.
