DALLAS – Federal prosecutors say video evidence captures rapper Pooh Shiesty demanding to be released from Gucci Mane’s record label as an armed man stands guard at a door during an alleged January robbery at a Texas music studio.
According to a court filing, the footage was introduced as evidence in federal court in Dallas, where Pooh Shiesty and eight other people have been charged with kidnapping and extortion. Prosecutors allege the victims were held up at gunpoint after coming to the city for talks about Pooh Shiesty’s recording agreement with Mane’s 1017 Records.
Court documents identify the victims only by their initials. One of them, listed as R.D., is described as the owner of 1017 Records. Gucci Mane’s legal name is Radric Delantic Davis. In his spring release “Crash Dummy,” Gucci Mane raps: “I thought it was a business meeting, but it was a set up.”
The prosecution filing came in response to a request Pooh Shiesty submitted last month seeking release to home confinement. His attorneys argued the government’s evidence was not strong enough to justify keeping him jailed before trial, as a judge ordered in April.
Prosecutors pushed back, saying the motion filed by Pooh Shiesty, whose legal name is Lontrell Williams Jr., should be rejected because the case against him is “extraordinarily strong.”
In the filing, prosecutors said all five victims and witnesses are cooperating, and investigators also have cellphone location records. They said surveillance footage places the defendants at the scene, and they cited additional video allegedly showing the 1017 Records owner being forced to state that Pooh Shiesty had been “dropped” from the label.
Prosecutors further alleged that moments before that recording was made, Pooh Shiesty presented the label owner with a printed release from his contract to sign. The man initially refused, according to the filing, but signed after Pooh Shiesty allegedly pointed an AK-style pistol at his head.
Prosecutors also said BIG30, whose legal name is Rodney Wright, filmed the exchange on his cellphone while another defendant blocked the doorway with a firearm that appeared to be an AK-47-style rifle.
According to prosecutors, Pooh Shiesty robbed the record label owner of about $450,000 worth of items including his wedding band, a watch, a pair of earrings and cash.
Prosecutors have said that at the time of the alleged confrontation, Pooh Shiesty was on home confinement for a prior firearms conspiracy conviction out of Florida and was required to wear an electronic monitoring device.
Attorneys for Pooh Shiesty and BIG30 did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Thursday.
Gucci Mane is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of trap music alongside fellow Atlanta rappers T.I. and Jeezy. He emerged in the mid-2000s with his breakout single “Icy” and went on to build a vast catalog.
