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Rapper Pooh Shiesty receives 63-month prison sentence for gun charge

MIAMI — Rapper Pooh Shiesty was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison for a gun charge two years ago in Florida, prosecutors said.

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Shiesty, 22, a Memphis, Tennessee, native whose real name is Lontrell D. Williams Jr., pleaded guilty on Jan. 4, 2022, to conspiring to possess firearms in furtherance of crimes of violence and drug trafficking, WHBQ-TV reported.

Williams had been facing up to 20 years in prison, according to The Associated Press.

As part of a plea deal, prosecutors dropped three charges, including a gun charge that had a possible maximum sentence of life in prison. According to court records, the charges are related to three separate events.

Williams was indicted in June 2021 on four counts related to an Oct. 9, 2020, shooting at the Landon Hotel in the Miami-area town of Bay Harbor Islands, Variety reported. Prosecutors alleged that Williams and two other people shot and wounded a pair of individuals they were meeting to buy marijuana and sneakers from, according to the website.

Both shooting victims survived, according to Variety.

“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,” defense lawyer Bradford Cohen told Rolling Stone. “We’re happy with the decision of the court.”

The judge gave Williams credit for the year he has already spent in custody, the magazine reported. With credit for good behavior, Williams could be released from prison in about 3 1/2 years, according to Rolling Stone.

Williams has collaborated with several notable figures since his commercial debut in 2019, according to Variety. He has worked with Lil Baby, Big30, Gucci Mane, 21 Savage and G Herbo. His 2020 single “Back in Blood,” featuring Lil Durk, has been streamed more than 209 million times on Spotify, Variety reported.

Williams released his debut commercial mixtape, “Shiesty Season,” last February, according to the AP. It peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 200.

Williams was originally released from custody after the October 2020 shooting, Variety reported. The rapper was arrested again in June 2021 in connection to a Memorial Day weekend shooting of a security guard at a strip club in Miami-Dade County. The status of that separate case is unknown, according to Variety.

The rapper was inside a vehicle in Memphis in July 2020 when an occupant of the car discharged a firearm at a gas station, the AP reported.