Rapper Stanley Howse Sentenced to 11 Years for Gun Threat

Grammy Award-winning rapper Stanley “Flesh-N-Bone” Howse, was sentenced Friday to 11 years in state prison for threatening a man with an AK-47 semiautomatic assault rifle while on probation in another weapons case.

After sentencing by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp, Howse, 27, was returned to Los Angeles County Jail, where he has been held without bail for violating probation.

Howse could have faced 19 years in prison. Schempp, however, reduced the sentence to 11 years after taking into account beatings and other trauma that the musician suffered as a child.

In handing down the sentence, Schempp recommended that Howse be placed in a state prison with facilities to treat inmates with mental disorders.

Defense attorney Jonathan Kissel asked that Howse receive a 10-year sentence, saying that the trauma Howse suffered as a child has affected the way his client functions in society.

Even so, Deputy Dist. Atty. Shellie Samuels argued that Howse should have been sentenced to at least 12 years in state prison. “He loves guns, and every time he is not in custody he seems to have a gun,” Samuels said after the hearing. “I feel sorry that he had a bad childhood and has mental problems, but that doesn’t change our responsibility to protect the public from him.”

The rap artist allegedly displayed the weapon on Dec. 26 in the 5500 block of Owensmouth Avenue in Woodland Hills during an argument with an acquaintance, officials said.

When Tarrance Vickers, the acquaintance’s brother, tried to intervene in the dispute, Howse drew an AK-47 out of a baby crib, loaded it, pointed it at Vickers and then chased Vickers and his brother, officials said.

Howse has been in and out of court, collecting convictions for spousal abuse, firearm possession, assault and threatening a neighbor in Chatsworth who complained about hearing gunshots and reported him to police.

Howse’s chart-topping group, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, is known for its rapid-fire raps, distinctive vocal flows and rich production.