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Two years after rapper PnB Rock was fatally shot while eating lunch with his girlfriend at a Los Angeles restaurant, the father who instructed his then 17-year-old son to rob and kill the artist has been handed a sentence.
On Monday, Sept. 23, L.A. Superior Court Judge Connie Quinones sentenced Freddie Lee Trone, 42, to 31 years to life in prison, per a press release from the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office.
According a statement previously obtained by PEOPLE from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Trone was convicted on Aug. 7 after a jury found him guilty of murder, conspiracy to commit robbery and two counts of robbery. Trone's son, an unnamed juvenile defendant, was charged with murder and scheduled for "mental competency proceedings" in late August. He is now 19 and in a juvenile detention center.
Aside from Trone's conviction on Aug. 7, a second defendant, Tremont Jones, was convicted of two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison, the D.A.'s office announced.
A third defendant, Trone's wife Shauntel Trone, who pleaded no contest to accessory after the fact in July, is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 16.
"Today, justice has been served with the sentencing of two men for the tragic and senseless murder of Rakim Hasheem Allen, also known to many as the talented rap artist PnB Rock," District Attorney Gascón said in the release. "I want to extend my deepest condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Rakim Allen. His life was cut short by an act of violence that no family should have to endure. I also want to commend the tireless efforts of our Community Violence Reduction Division. Their dedication to this case demonstrates the importance of collaboration between law enforcement, prosecutors, and the community in reducing violence and bringing perpetrators to justice."
PnB Rock, born Rakim Hasheem Allen, died at age 30 on Sept. 12, 2022, after the robbery-murder at a Roscoe's House of Chicken 'N Waffles in South Los Angeles.
One month after the incident, his girlfriend, Stephanie Sibounheuang, said he saved her life. "My man saved my life, throwing me under that table," she wrote on Instagram. "I'm not supposed to be here but bc of him. I am."
"To witness what I saw and to keep seeing it in my head," she continued, "to being forced out the restaurant, to not be able to go in the ambulance or the hospital, car keys, purse and my phone taken from me, forced in the back of a police car, locked in an interrogation room all night, while all this is going on and to be the last person in this world to know my man didn't make it after having the faith and confidence that he was."
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"Today, justice has been served with the sentencing of two men for the tragic and senseless murder of Rakim Hasheem Allen, also known to many as the talented rap artist PnB Rock," district attorney George Gascón added in the Sept. 23 statement.
"I want to extend my deepest condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Rakim Allen. His life was cut short by an act of violence that no family should have to endure," Gascón added.
"I also want to commend the tireless efforts of our Community Violence Reduction Division. Their dedication to this case demonstrates the importance of collaboration between law enforcement, prosecutors, and the community in reducing violence and bringing perpetrators to justice," he concluded.