While the circumstances of Pooh Shiesty’s arrest were unclear when the news first broke on Thursday (April 2), new details quickly emerged, including word that the “FDO” artist was being accused in connection with an alleged robbery and kidnapping said to have targeted Gucci Mane.
As first reported by Texas-based outlet 12News, the 1017 label founder was the target of the incident, said to have occurred in January at a Dallas-area studio. Multiple arrests were later made, including Shiesty and his father.
A criminal complaint obtained by Complex on Thursday (April 2) does not directly name Gucci Mane, born Radric Davis. However, one of the victims is identified throughout as “R.D.” Also mentioned is Shiesty’s previous signing with 1017.
“Inside the control room, [Lontrell Williams Jr., a.k.a. Pooh Shiesty] produced purported contract termination or release paperwork from a bag and told R.D. to sign,” reads the complaint. “When R.D. declined, Williams Jr. became agitated, and the pair started to argue. M.M. and B.P. could see inside the recording room and initially believed R.D. and Williams Jr. to be discussing business, but as M.M. saw the conversation intensifying, he texted C.W. (who was still in the music studio’s lobby).”
The complaint continued: “As the argument inside the recording room ensued, Williams Jr. instructed [fellow suspect Rodney Wright Jr.] to get his bag. Wright complied, leaving the recording room before returning with a bag. Williams Jr. then pulled what appeared to be a black AK-style pistol from the bag and pointed it at R.D., demanding again that R.D. sign the contractual release paperwork. R.D. complied, signing the paperwork for Williams Jr. while Williams Sr. and Wright stood by. R.D. was not allowed to leave the recording room while he was held at gunpoint by Williams Jr.”
Ryan Raybould, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said at a press conference on Thursday that the suspects in the case were accused of having “kidnapped and robbed at gunpoint” the alleged victims, including R.D. Raybould also described the effort as a “coordinated, armed takeover” of the studio space.
“As alleged, [Shiesty] produced an AK-style pistol and forced one of the victims to sign a release from the recording contract at gunpoint,” Raybould also said during the presser, reiterating allegations made in the complaint.
Cell phone records, social media posts, surveillance footage, and more are all cited in Thursday’s complaint. If convicted as charged, the suspects in the case could face as much as a life sentence, per prosecutors.
At the time of the alleged kidnapping, Shiesty was on home confinement, meaning he’s barred from possessing firearms or partaking in criminal activity. Last year, he was released from a prison after serving three years on a federal conspiracy charge guilty plea.
