Belmopan, Belize 10 October (Belizean.com) Rapper Jamal "Shyne" Barrow's father, Dean Barrow, Prime Minister of Belize, told Belize media that he has written to New York Governor David Paterson asking him to pardon his son so that he is not deported back to the Belize – the country of his birth. Shyne was released from prison on Tuesday after serving eight years for his role in a New York nightclub shooting incident in 1999 involving rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs and Jennifer Lopez. Shyne is currently in the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities (I.C.E.)  in New York.

Questioned by reporters as he was leaving the house of parliament in Belmopan Friday, Prime Minister Barrow said the Barrow family sought help from Charles Ogletree – Harvard law professor and a member of President Barrack Obama's inner circle to assist Shyne in resisting deportation to Belize. Mr. Barrow told reporters he wrote the letter to the New York governor at the request of Professor Ogletree.

The Belize Prime Minister told reporters that "I have not had a response. I have spoken to people close to the governor and I have been assured that the letter has been received and that it is under active consideration. But I can't say that I am able to call in any favors such that would guarantee that he is able to remain in the states."

A spokesman for the Barrow family said today that Shyne's lawyer Oscar Michelen has advised them that I.C.E. will make a determination next week on whether Shyne will be deported to Belize.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Barrow revealed for the first time that shortly after his son Jamal "Shyne" Barrow was sentenced to prison in the U.S.A., he had written a letter to the then governor of New York. In that letter Mr. Barrow said he asked that his son be repatriated to Belize to serve his sentence as that was what Shyne wanted at the time. "That never went anywhere. Just as well as it is now clear that he wants to remain in the U.S.A. to continue his career," stated the Prime Minister.

Shyne is the son of Dean Barrow, an accomplished Belize attorney and politician (and currently Prime Minister) and a Belizean Garifuna woman Ms. Imeon Myvette. Shyne was raised in Belize by his uncle's familiy after his mother emigrated to the U.S.A.  (Copyright 2009 Belize.com Ltd.)