Pooh Shiesty arrested for 'kidnapping and robbing' rapper Gucci Mane in 'armed takeover'
US rapper Pooh Shiesty has been arrested for allegedly robbing and kidnapping fellow musician Gucci Mane.
Shiesty, real name Lontrell Williams Jr., is one of nine people arrested in connection with the incident, which occurred outside a music studio in Dallas, Texas, on 10 January.
According to a release shared by the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas, Williams Jr had arranged a business meeting with Gucci Mane - real name Radric Delantic Davis - to discuss his recording contract. Davis is the owner of 1017 Records, to which Williams Jr was signed.
Once inside the studio with Davis and two other alleged victims, eight other co-conspirators entered the studio and 'executed a coordinated armed takeover'.
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"As alleged, nine defendants travelled to Dallas, Texas, to kidnap and rob victims who thought they were coming into town for a business meeting," U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said of the incident during a press conference given on Thursday, via Entertainment Weekly.
"Instead of discussing business in a civil matter, the defendants resorted to violence and intimidation to achieve their purported business objectives."
Raybould then alleged that Williams Jr forced one of the men in the studio to sign a form releasing him from a recording contract at gunpoint. The men are also accused of robbing cash, Rolex watches and other jewellery from the men while one of the victims was said to have been 'choked to the point of near unconsciousness'.
Meanwhile, a copy of the complaint, viewed by Rolling Stone, claimed that co-defendant Terrance Rodgers had later posted on social media while wearing what prosecutors say is a stolen Rolex.
Raybould went on to state that eight of the nine suspects had been arrested on Wednesday across Dallas, Memphis and Nashville, with the ninth man to be taken into custody 'soon'.
Among those arrested alongside Williams Jr were the rapper's father, Lontrell Williams Sr, and Big30.
For Williams Jr, the arrest comes just months after he was released from prison last October, after serving three years of a 63-month sentence on gun charges. The 'Back in Blood' singer had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of violent and drug-trafficking crimes over the alleged shooting of a man at a Florida hotel.
According to court records, Williams Jr was still in home detention and was not allowed to possess a firearm when the alleged kidnapping and robbery occurred.
If convicted for the January 2026 incident, the defendants could face up to in prison.
Brenna Cooper