Rapper Tru Life, Robert Rosado, Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison

Tru Life, an up-and-coming rapper who once belonged to Jay-Z’s label, was sentenced to eight years behind bars in a New York City courtroom.

The promising rapper, whose real name is Robert Rosado, stood silently next to his brother Marcus, who admitted stabbing Christopher Guerrero to death and wounding another man in a June 2009 fight involving both brothers.

Marcus Rosado, 39, pleaded guilty last month to manslaughter and got a 10-year sentence. Tru Life, 34, who was sentenced on Wednesday, had pleaded guilty to gang assault.

Alana Abramson, Tru Life’s attorney, said the rapper feels remorse over the incident.

"Robert is extremely saddened by what happened. Mr. Guerrero did not deserve what happened to him," said Abramson.

Marcus Rosado offered his condolences to Guerrero's family.

The victim’s family members expressed how “the system failed” them.

"Christopher, who was unarmed and defenseless, was attacked," said Jason Ramírez, the victim's brother.

According to court documents, after a heated argument at a nightclub, the Rosados chased Guerrero and Jason Gray into an apartment building lobby, where Guerrero was stabbed in the abdomen and Gray suffered a cut that sliced an artery.

Once outside, they collapsed on the ground.

Raised on Manhattan's Lower East Side, Tru Life made a name for himself on mixtapes and eventually made his way into Jay-Z's stable of rappers.

Tru Life won over the rap titan in a scene chronicled in a 2005 New York Times article about Jay-Z, then head of Def Jam Records.

Tru Life was signed for a time and groomed to be a mainstay of Roc-La Familia, a Latin-oriented arm of Roc-A-Fella Records, a label Jay-Z co-founded.

But Tru Life also became known for feuding with other rappers, including duo Mobb Deep and Harlem-based rapper Jim Jones.

Based on reporting by The Associated Press. 

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