Gucci Mane apparently robbed at gunpoint by rapper and seven others | Gucci Mane
Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged rapper Pooh Shiesty and eight others with robbing and kidnapping three people at gunpoint in Texas in January following a contract dispute with rap star Gucci Mane’s record label.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Dallas declined to name the victims, and an FBI affidavit attached to the criminal complaint refers to them only by their initials. It is stated that one of the victims, RD, was the owner of 1017 Records, which is owned by Gucci Mane, whose legal name is Radric Delantic Davis.
“The victims in this case came to Dallas to conduct legitimate business and were met with gunfire and violence,” Ryan Raybould, the U.S. attorney for the northern district of Texas where the complaint was filed, said at a news conference Thursday.
Gucci Mane’s publicists did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
The alleged confrontation occurred Jan. 10 after the three victims flew to Dallas for what they thought was a business meeting at a music studio, according to the affidavit. Prosecutors said Pooh Shiesty, whose legal name is Lontrell Williams Jr., arranged the meeting to discuss the terms of his contract with 1017 Records.
“Once these three men entered the recording studio, Williams Jr. and eight co-conspirators, many from Memphis, Tennessee, carried out a coordinated, armed takeover,” said Raybould, who identified Pooh Shiesty as the “ringleader.”
Eight of the nine were arrested Wednesday, Raybould said. In Tennessee, the FBI in Memphis said Wednesday it went to a home in suburban Cordova to serve court-approved arrest warrants. Property records show it was owned by Pooh Shiesty.
Raybould said the three victims were professionals in the music industry. The other two victims are named in the statement with the initials MM and BP.
Pooh Shiesty asked to speak privately with the record label owner in a recording room, the affidavit said. The record label owner then entered the room with Pooh Shiesty, Pooh Shiesty’s father and rapper Big30, whose legal name is Rodney Wright. Both Lontrell Williams Sr. and Wright are also defendants.
Pooh Shiesty prepared the contract termination paperwork and told the label owner to sign it. They argued and Pooh Shiesty pulled out a gun that looked like an AK style pistol and forced him to sign. Pooh Shiesty then took the man’s wedding ring, watch, earrings and money, the affidavit said.
Once they left the room, the other defendants produced firearms and demanded property from the other two victims, and the man, identified as MM, was nearly strangled to the point of unconsciousness, the affidavit said.
The affidavit said Wright blocked the studio door with his body to prevent the victims from leaving.
Messages sent to Wright and his record label were not immediately responded to Thursday. Contact information for Lontrell Williams Sr. was not immediately available. A number listed for it was not in service. The number to the house in Cordova was also not in service.
Pooh Shiesty did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. At the time of the alleged shooting in Texas, he was under house arrest for a previous firearms conspiracy conviction out of Florida and was required to wear an electronic monitoring device, prosecutors said.
Investigators used data from the device, as well as surveillance videos, cell phone records and images posted on social media, as part of the investigation, the affidavit said.
Bradford Cohen, Pooh Shiesty’s attorney in the firearms case, did not immediately respond to an email and phone call for comment.
Gucci Mane is considered one of the pioneers of trap music, along with fellow Atlanta rappers T.I. and Jeezy. She emerged in the mid-2000s with her breakout single Icy and has continued to build an extensive catalogue. He has also helped launch or develop artists including Young Thug, and earned a Grammy nomination for his appearance on Lizzo’s song Exactly How I Feel.
Gucci Maine’s career was also marked by legal troubles and personal struggles. He faced numerous arrests in the 2000s and early 2010s on charges including drug possession, assault, and probation violations. He was convicted in a federal firearms case in 2014 and was released from prison in 2016.
His 2017 memoir, The Autobiography of Gucci Mane, reflects his evolution as a musical artist and his personal struggles, including being diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In recent years, he has publicly emphasized sobriety and stability.
