Twenty-two-year old drill rapper Kay Flock was sentenced to 30 years in prison in Manhattan federal court Tuesday (Dec. 16). The rapper, real name Kevin Perez, was found guilty in March of 2025 by a jury on charges of racketeering conspiracy, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon in aid of racketeering, and a firearm discharge offense.
The sentencing hearing took place in a packed courtroom: one side full of the rapper's family and friends (including his mother Jackie, popularly known as "Momma Flock"), and the other side heavy on law enforcement.
Perez entered the courtroom shackled, wearing a grey suit and blue dress shirt. Before the proceedings and during a break, he acknowledged his supporters with winks and smiles.
The first issue discussed was the recommended sentence, known as the guideline range. The sides disagreed over what it should be, and Judge Lewis Liman ended up siding with the prosecution's interpretation that the guideline sentence for the rapper's crimes — which the judge did not have to abide by, but only serves as a recommendation — would be 600 months, or 50 years.
Perez was convicted of taking part in four shooting incidents (though not of being the actual shooter) in 2020 and 2021, as well as of bank fraud and wire fraud. All the incidents were done, the jury found, to advance the Sev Side/DOA gang, of which he was a leader. The shootings all took place in rival gang territory, and Perez often bragged about them in private messages, on social media, and in song lyrics.
The fact that he was not the shooter, Judge Liman said, did not make a difference in the rapper's culpability.
"I recognize you were not the gunman," the judge said, while noting that Perez was a leader of the gang and planned the attacks. "In some ways, it was a measure of the fact that you were a leader that you distanced yourself from the shooting."
Perez received an additional sentencing enhancement for being a gang leader after the judge shot down the defense's argument that he couldn't have been a leader due to an intellectual disability.
After that was settled, Assistant US Attorney Patrick Moroney argued for the rapper to spend a full half-century behind bars.
"That's not an ask that we make lightly," he explained. But Flock "perpetuated the cycle of killings. He bragged about it... He taunted his rivals to come to his territory and shoot."
Moroney said that between Perez's songs and social media posts, he "was very good at celebrating his violence and getting under the skin of his rivals," and that he did it all "to make money." He accused the rapper of "using his following to promote the gang war."
He also brought up Perez's post-trial Instagram post, which appeared to be aimed at a cooperating witness in the case, where he said, "All rats must die."
"That's not consistent with someone who has changed their ways," Moroney argued.
Perez's lawyer, Michael T. Ashley, then argued for a shorter sentence. He suggested either 10 years — the statutory minimum — or a multi-year, detailed 11-point "punishment plan" that would involve Perez moving to Los Angeles, getting a GED, remaining drug and alcohol-free, using his social media to condemn violence, and more.
Ashley pointed out that Perez joined Sev Side/DOA at 13, under the influence of a decade-older man.
"Mr. Perez was the child victim of an adult predator who used him for his own ends," Ashley said. "This is the lens through which his conviction should be viewed... He had his childhood robbed from him."
The rapper himself briefly spoke.
"What I was at 18 is not who I am today," he began. "I accept responsibility for my actions. I realize the impact my actions have had on myself and my family."
"God blessed me with gifts to uplift myself, my family, and the youth," he continued. "I found God. Sometimes you have to go through darkness to see the light."
When Judge Litman pronounced his 30-year sentence, he said that Perez's crimes "contributed to an environment of terror and fear for your community."
"It's just a matter of luck — luck for you and for them — that no one was killed," he continued.
The judge also called out the popular rapper's influence on his young fans.
"Your victims also include generations of young people... who chose to join a gang at a young age, just like you did," Judge Liman said. "Your life was ruined by gang activity, and you in turn ruined the lives of others."
The judge recognized Perez's talent, even while sentencing him to decades behind bars.
"In a different environment, you might have been a successful musician," he said. "It's a tragedy you are not."
After the hearing, the rapper's mother Jackie gave a tearful statement.
"I'm not done with the fight," she said. "I'm not going to stop. That's my son. That's my world. I've got three of them, and I've got to get one back."
Attorney Ashley spoke as well, saying that in his view, federal sentencing guidelines were "ripe for reform."
"I respectfully strongly disagree with the sentence imposed," he said, while noting in Judge Liman's favor that "there are probably plenty of federal judges who would have given him 50 years."
Ashley also objected to the way Perez's songs were used in both the trial and the sentencing. (Judge Liman quoted the rapper's song "DOA" during the hearing, pointing out that its lyrics directly referenced a shooting in August, 2020).
"The case law is clear that generally, it's highly inappropriate to use art in a criminal case," he said.
The lawyer said he has "little doubt" that Perez will appeal his sentence.
Allen DeWane, a hip-hop advocate, also spoke about how music was used in the case.
"Rap music is on trial," he said. "With RICO, it's guilt by association."
DeWane drew comparisons to the Bobby Shmurda case.
"You know who the [gang] leader is? The guy who has the platinum record," he said sarcastically.