GANG ‘RAP’
FEDS: B’KLYN PERFORMER PART OF VICIOUS DRUG CREW:
Revenue from Brooklyn rapper Casanova’s successful career fuels the Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation, prosecutors charged Thursday.
Casanova, whose real name is Caswell Senior, is a hardcore member of the gang, according to a Manhattan Federal Court filing. The 34-year-old star gives a cut of his earnings to the gang’s founder, Dwight “Dick Wolf” Reid, who is serving a life sentence for the point blank execution of an enemy in 2014, according to a court filing.
Casanova also sells drugs through two of the gang’s “most violent members,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Shiva Logarajah wrote in a document detailing the case against the rapper and 17 other accused gangsters.
Casanova played it cool Thursday during his first appearance via telephone in Manhattan Federal Court, saying he took a shot of Hennessy before he was arrested by the FBI.
“I’ve never been addicted to drugs or nothing. I took a shot of Henny,” he said in response to a judge’s question whether he was under the influence of any drugs or alcohol.
“That’s it, just liquor. Before I turned myself in I took a little swig.”
He said he hadn’t drank anything since he was in custody.
“Unless the officer gave it to me!” he added, chuckling.
But the feds say the Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation is no joke. The investigation determined that Reid, the gang’s leader, maintains “an iron grip over Gorilla Stone from behind bars,” prosecutors wrote.
The gang has members in the five boroughs, New York prisons, in North Carolina and Florida. It has eight different sets, referred to as “Caves,” each with its own command structure, prosecutors wrote. There are separate hierarchies for the “street lineup” and “prison lineup.” Gangsters have various responsibilities within the “Dept. of Security,” “Dept. of Finance” and “Dept. of Education,” according to prosecutors.
Among the gang’s rules: “Never let the enemy of a rilla live around you,” and “As rillas we must crush our enemies on site.”
Casanova faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison if convicted. The indictment notes he’s flaunted his membership of Gorilla Stone in social media and that one of his songs, “Big Ape,” has been viewed over 1.8 million times.
Prosecutors cited a 2018 confrontation in a West Village diner as an example of Casanova using Gorilla Stone members for protection. Authorities say the rapper snatched a 23-year-old woman’s phone after suspecting she was filming him. A member of Casanova’s entourage choked the woman into unconsciousness, surveillance video shows.
The indictment claims the gang caused mayhem from Poughkeepsie to Brooklyn, dealing crack and weed, robbing rival drug dealers and shooting at enemies.
Casanova, who pleaded not guilty and did not seek bail, is charged with racketeering conspiracy, drug conspiracy and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug dealing.
One accused Gorilla Stone gangster, Brandon “Stacks” Soto, allegedly drove an accomplice to Poughkeepsie to assassinate a 15-year-old boy on Sept. 21. Other members are charged with using stolen identities to apply for unemployment benefits tied to COVID-19 relief programs.
The federal investigation involved six wiretaps. Recorded prison calls revealed Reid shares in Casanova’s earnings, prosecutors wrote.
Casanova joked during his court appearance that he’d mistakenly told court officials in a post-arrest interview he’d married his wife in 2008 — it was actually 2007.
“Big trouble for me!” he said. “There’s so much going through my mind right now.”
Casanova is the latest rapper to be caught in a gang takedown charged in Manhattan Federal Court. Tekashi69 was arrested in 2018 in a sensational bust of the Nine Trey Bloods. Tekashi cooperated with prosecutors, betrayed the gang and scored a two-year sentence.
The case revealed that Tekashi used Nine Trey gangsters as henchmen as he beefed with rival rappers, including Casanova.
A key episode in the Tekashi case came on April 21, 2018, during an Adrien Broner vs. Jessie Vargas boxing match at the Barclays Center. Tekashi and Casanova’s rival crews met in a hallway in a VIP area and Nine Trey member Fuguan “Fu Banga” Lovick fired a shot, which struck no one.
Casanova’s attorney James Kousouros emphasized that Casanova turned himself in.
“He strongly believes he’ll be exonerated,” Kousouros said, adding that he doubted Casanova would follow Tekashi’s path and flip on the gang.
“I have absolutely no indication whatsoever that my client is even thinking about taking that route,” he said.