The 'Back in Blood' spitter gets 63 months behind bars after pleading guilty to a single firearms conspiracy charge in connection to the incident where he allegedly shot a man in the butt.
- Apr 21, 2022
AceShowbiz - Pooh Shiesty appears to be keeping a positive attitude after finding out that he's going to spend the next few years behind bars. The rapper is "happy" after he has been sentenced to 63 months in jail for his involvement in a 2020 shooting in Bay Harbor Island.
A Florida judge handed down the sentence on Wednesday, April 20. The 5-year sentence is considerably less than the maximum of 96 months he initially faced for a federal conspiracy charge, which is why he's pleased with the decision.
"Listen, nobody's happy to go to prison, but he was happy the judge listened to our argument, and the judge received the argument well. He was satisfied with the outcome," his lawyer Bradford Cohen tells Rolling Stone, "We're happy with the decision of the court."
Bradford adds to PEOPLE, "The federal sentencing guidelines placed him at a high end of 107 months, the government agreed to not seek more than 97 months. [and] we argued that the guidelines weren't appropriately applied and requested 63 months. We are pleased that he took all the evidence and argument into consideration and look forward to Lontrell having a successful career in the future."
The judge gave Pooh credit for the year he's already spent in custody. With credit for good behavior, he could be out in about three and a half more years. His lawyer explains, "The judge agreed after a 2-hour hearing in the matter."
In October 2020, Pooh, whose real name is Lontrell Donell Williams Jr., was arrested in connection to a shooting in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida, where he allegedly shot a man in the buttocks. He faced several charges including armed robbery, aggravated assault and battery, and criminal theft.
In January of this year, he pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charge, avoiding a possible life sentence. Later in March, his lawyer insisted that Pooh would never have committed a robbery considering his success as an artist.
"The government wants this court to believe Mr. Williams, with a net worth of $3,449,446, planned a robbery, then committed a robbery, and then shot a known drug dealer who knew him well and could easily identify him," the filing read. "All over a few hundred-dollar drug deal for personal use, while he was driving a lime green McLaren that he rented from the alleged victim."
It continued, "Mr. Williams possessed over $40,000 in cash and was driving a vehicle valued at over $200,000. It would be illogical for Mr. Williams to stage a robbery by two other individuals over something so miniscule as a bottle of liquid codeine with a retail value of a few hundred dollars, at most, when any damage done to the McLaren in the process would have cost thousands of dollars to repair."
