(Removes reference to Davis being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in paragraph 7)

By Jack Queen and Steve Gorman

LAS VEGAS, Oct 13 (Reuters) - A former gang leader was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison on Tuesday for ‌orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting death of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas, capping the prosecution of a long-unsolved murder that shaped ‌the golden age of rap music.

Duane "Keffe D" Davis, 63, found guilty of first-degree murder in August, received the penalty during a hearing in a Las Vegas courtroom.

Until Davis' 2023 arrest, the killing of ​Shakur, shot dead in the passenger seat of an SUV driven by his record executive, Marion "Suge" Knight, had stood for nearly three decades as one of America's most notorious cold cases.

The murder, which silenced one of rap's most commercially successful and influential artist...