(NewsNation) — Anerae Brown, the rapper known as “X-Raided,” praises Lyle and Erik Menendez for the guidance they gave him behind bars and says the brothers are patiently waiting for their next day in court after their resentencing bid was delayed Thursday.
Brown is among friends and family members supporting efforts to have a judge consider the Menendez brothers for parole. They were sentenced to life in prison for the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home.
Brown said he met the brothers when he was a flashy celebrity inmate serving time for a murder conviction.
“It was Lyle who told me that he thought I could use my influence for positive means,” Brown told “Banfield” on Thursday. “I was at a stage of my life where I’d been thinking these things, but I didn’t necessarily have the fortitude at the time to start applying what I believed was necessary.”
Lyle Menendez, he said, pushed him to join self-help initiatives in prison. When Brown transferred to a facility where Erik Menendez was incarcerated, the mentoring continued, he said.
Both brothers counseled him about a change in California law that offered youthful offenders a chance for early release, he said. Brown was paroled in 2018.
He has kept in touch with the Menendez brothers, whose efforts to be resentenced hit a roadblock Thursday. The current Los Angeles County district attorney, Nathan Hochman, does not support resentencing, saying the brothers lied and have not expressed remorse. He sought a delay so that new information can be introduced in court; the next hearing is in May.
Brown said he participated in a video chat Thursday evening with members of the Menendez family and the brothers. He said the siblings are patiently waiting for their next day in court.
“They are very composed people,” Brown said. “They’ve seen a lot, they’ve been through a lot of these processes, and I believe that they’re handling everything with composure.”
Menendez attorney will try to bounce DA
Defense attorney Mark Geragos, who represents the Menendez brothers, has blasted Hochman for what he calls heavy-handed tactics in court. He said he will try to have the DA recused from the case.
“I’ve done this before, successfully, in LA County,” Geragos told “CUOMO” on Thursday.
The Menendez brothers have maintained they were abused by their father, Jose, and acted in self-defense.