• View Comments
• Share with Shortlink:

(AllHipHop News) Two executives associated with Trill Entertainment have pleaded guilty to lesser charges, in relation to the shooting of local artist Bruce “Beelow” Moore.

Melvin Vernell Jr. and Marcus Roach appeared in court late last week, where they pleaded guilty to battery charges.

The two men were accused of shooting Beelow in the face on July 4, 2005, after they accused the rapper of bootlegging records released by Trill Entertainment.

Last week, a judge sentenced both men to two years of probation for their role in the shooting, which occurred in front of Beelow’s record store, Shop Smart Music and Fashions.

Vernell and Roach were originally charged with attempted murder, but those charges were dismissed, because the East Baton Rouge Sheriff Department failed to prosecute the pair in a reasonable amount of time.

Prosecutors ultimately dismissed the attempted murder charges against the men in March of 2010.

The good news for Melvin Vernell Jr. and Marcus Roach come just weeks after the pair inked a deal with Fontana Distribution, to distribute Webbie’s new album Savage Life 3.

The label’s other marquee artists, Lil Boosie, is currently being held in Angola State Prison on a charge of first-degree murder, for the October 2009 shooting of a rival, also in Baton Rogue.

If Boosie is convicted he faces up to life in prison or possibly, the death penalty.