Dallas– Federal prosecutors charged the rapper on Thursday Pooh Shisty and eight others are accused of robbing and kidnapping three people at gunpoint in Texas earlier this year following a contract dispute involving the rapper Gucci Mane ‘s record label.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Dallas declined to release the names of the victims and an FBI affidavit attached to a criminal complaint mentions only their initials. One victim, RD, is described as the owner of 1017 Records, the label owned by Gucci Mane, whose legal name is Radrick Delantic Davis.
“The victims in this case came to Dallas to conduct legitimate business and were met with firearms 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.
Publicists for Gucci Mane did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
According to the affidavit, the alleged confrontation occurred on Jan. 10 when the three victims traveled to Dallas for a business meeting at a music studio. Pooh Shisty, whose legal name is Lontrell Williams Jr., allegedly arranged the meeting to discuss the terms of his contract with 1017 Records, prosecutors said.
“Once these three men were inside the recording studio, Williams Jr. and eight co-conspirators – many of whom came from Memphis, Tennessee – executed a coordinated, armed takeover,” said Raybould, who described Pooh Shisty as the “ringleader.”
Raybould said eight of the nine were arrested Wednesday. In Tennessee, the FBI in Memphis said Wednesday it had gone to a home in the suburb of Cordova to serve a court-approved warrant. Property records show it is owned by Pooh Shiesty.
Raybould described all three victims as music industry professionals. In the affidavit, the other two victims are referred to by the initials MM and BP
The affidavit states that Pooh Shiesty asked to speak privately with the record label owner in a recording room. The label owner then entered the room along with Pooh Shisty, Pooh Shisty’s father, and rapper Big30, whose legal name is Rodney Wright. Lontrell Williams Sr. and Wright are both also defendants.
Pooh Shisty presented the contract termination paperwork and asked the label owner to sign it. They argued and Pooh Shisty pulled out an AK-style pistol and pressured him into signing it. Pooh Shisty took the man’s wedding ring, watch, earrings and cash, the affidavit says.
When they left the room, the other defendants produced firearms and demanded property from the other two victims, and the man, identified as MM, was strangled almost unconscious, the affidavit said.
The affidavit states that Wright blocked the studio door with his body to prevent the victims from leaving.
Messages left to Wright and his label were not immediately returned Thursday. Contact information for Lontrell Williams Sr. was not immediately available. A number listed for him was not in service. The number listed for the home in Cordova was also not in service.
Pooh Shisty did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. At the time of the alleged confrontation in Texas, he was under home confinement for a prior firearms conspiracy conviction out of Florida and was required to wear an electronic monitoring device, prosecutors said.
The affidavit said investigators used data from the device, surveillance video, cell phone records and images posted on social media as part of their investigation.
Bradford Cohen, Pooh Shiesty’s attorney in that firearms case, did not immediately respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment.
Gucci Mane is widely considered one of the pioneer of trap music With fellow Atlanta rappers TI and Jeezy. He emerged in the mid-2000s with his breakout single “Icy” and built a vast 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 Mane’s career has also been filled with legal troubles and personal struggles. In the 2000s and early 2010s, he faced several arrests on charges including drug possession, assault, and probation violations. In 2014, he was sentenced in a federal firearms case and was released from prison in 2016.
His 2017 memoir, “The Autobiography of Gucci Mane”, reflects his evolution as a musical artist and personal struggles such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In recent years, he has publicly emphasized moderation and stability.
___
This story has been corrected to show that the details come from an affidavit attached to a criminal complaint, not an indictment.
___
Associated Press reporters Adrian Saenz in Memphis and Jonathan Landrum Jr. in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
