Pooh Shiesty has been arrested on robbery and kidnapping charges tied to a violent dispute over the Memphis rapper’s recording contract that included Gucci Mane as one of three victims.
The Department of Justice announced on Thursday (April 2) that Pooh Shiesty (Lontrell Williams Jr.), his father, Lontrell Williams Sr. and Big30 (Rodney Lamont Wright Jr.) were among eight individuals arrested on Wednesday (April 1) over the alleged incident, which is said to have taken place on Jan. 10 in Dallas.
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During a press conference on Thursday hosted by Ryan Raybould, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, it was alleged that on Jan. 10, three music professionals traveled to a Dallas recording studio for a meeting arranged by Pooh Shiesty to discuss the rapper’s record deal. According to CBS News, the DOJ identified Gucci Mane as one of the individuals at the meeting.
Once the meeting began inside the Dallas recording studio, the complaint alleges that an “armed takeover” ensued.
“Williams Jr. produced an AK-style pistol and forced one of the victims to sign a release from the recording contract at gunpoint,” Raybould said. “The remaining conspirators displayed firearms and robbed the other victims of Rolex watches, jewelry, cash and other high-value items. One of the victims was actually choked by one of the victims to near-unconsciousness.”
The complaint accuses one of Pooh Shiesty’s co-conspirators of barricading the studio door so that the victims could not leave. Defendants also flaunted some of the stolen prized items on social media, as shown in a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Texas.
Pooh Shiesty was on home confinement at the time of the January altercation after being released from prison in October. He served more than three years of a five-year sentence on firearm conspiracy charges.
Shiesty is signed to Gucci Mane’s 1017 Records company in partnership with Atlantic Records. Upon his release from prison, the Memphis rapper earned a top 10 hit with “FDO” on the Billboard Hot 100.
Eight of the nine suspects were arrested on April 1 by the FBI, while one remains at large. The same day, the FBI also raided Shiesty’s family home, located in Cordova, Tenn.
Outside of Shiesty, his father and Big30, the U.S. Attorney’s Office listed Kedarius Waters, Terrance Rodgers, Damarian Gipson, Demarcus Glover, Kordae Johnson and Darrion McDaniel as defendants in the case. Each faces up to life in prison if convicted.
Representatives for Shiesty declined to comment for this story. Billboard has reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for North Texas for comment.
