Tupac murder mastermind gets 40 years to life, prosecutors say he discussed making a show about his life on jail calls

Prosecutors told the court that recorded jail calls captured Davis discussing a television show about his life.

Davis’s lawyer says he will appeal the conviction.

Duane "Keffe D" Davis, convicted of orchestrating the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison. During the hearing, prosecutors said he was recorded discussing plans for a television show about his life after his arrest.

Judge Carli Kierny imposed the sentence in a Las Vegas court on Tuesday, giving Davis 20 years to life for murder and a consecutive 20 years to life for a deadly-weapon enhancement. Davis, 63, had faced a maximum of life without parole. A jury convicted him of first-degree murder in late August.

Prosecutors said jail calls recorded after Davis was arrested and indicted caught him talking about producing a television show based on his life story. Prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo told the court that after so many years, the calls showed Davis had not grown up.

Shakur was shot on the Las Vegas Strip on 7 September 1996 and died six days later. Prosecutors said Davis orchestrated the drive-by to avenge a beating his nephew took from Shakur and his associates at the MGM Grand casino earlier that night.

He was not accused of firing the shots, but prosecutors argued he supplied the gun. They have never named a gunman. Davis is the only person charged and convicted in the case.

Much of the trial rested on Davis’s own accounts of the killing, in media interviews and in a memoir. His lawyer argued that those statements were the only evidence linking him to the crime.

Davis declined to address the court, including Shakur’s family. Shakur’s sister spoke at the hearing, remembering him as a protector and father figure. DiGiacomo said Davis is "guaranteed to die" behind bars. Davis’s attorney, Michael Sanft, said they will appeal.