Tupac Shakur’s stepfather, Mutulu Shakur, will finally be reunited with his loved ones just in time for the Christmas holiday. The news comes after the 72-year-old spent decades behind bars in connection with convictions dating back to the late 1980s. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison.

NBC News obtained court documents that showed the U.S. Parole Commission accepted Mutulu’s request for a compassionate release in October. On Thursday (Nov. 10), he was granted parole and given a release date of Dec. 16, 2022.

As previously reported by REVOLT, advocates pushed for Mutulu’s release in July. Throughout his incarceration, he appealed for release, but to no avail. Each time the courts decided his “crimes were too serious” and his health did not warrant a release.

In 2020, U.S. District Judge Charles S. Haight Jr. said: “Should it develop that Shakur’s condition deteriorates further, to the point of approaching death, he may apply again to the Court, for a release that in those circumstances could be justified as ‘compassionate.'”

The former Black Liberation Army member was diagnosed with stage-3 multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, in 2019. Since then, his health has steadily declined. His attorney, Brad Thomson, argued Mutulu’s weight loss and occasional need for a feeding tube were evidence that he was nearing the end of his life.

We’re looking at a matter of months at the most but, realistically, it could be a matter of days or weeks. At this point, the issue is getting him released so he can say goodbye to his loved ones, his family, his children, and grandchildren,” Thomson said at the time. Now, advocates say only tears of joy can be shed as Mutulu is given the opportunity to be surrounded by loved ones in his final days.

There’s still disbelief because we were steadying ourselves for another denial,” Jomo Muhammad, an organizer with the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, told NBC News. “Now folks are excited about being able to reunite Mutulu with his family. We were crying together. It’s a long time overdue.”