Pooh Shiesty sentenced in Florida firearms case
Memphis rapper Pooh Shiesty has been sentenced to in prison in connection to a federal firearms case in Florida.
District Judge K. Michael Moore sentenced the rapper — whose real name is Lontrell Williams Jr. — Wednesday during proceedings at the United States Courthouse in Miami.
Williams, 22, has been in federal custody in Florida since last summer.
In January, Williams formally pleaded guilty to a firearms conspiracy charge. As part of a plea agreement, he no longer faced a possible life sentence for allegedly shooting a man at a Florida hotel in 2020.
Williams accepted a conviction on a single charge of conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of violent and drug-trafficking crimes. Prosecutors in turn dropped three other counts against him, including the most serious charge of using a firearm “in furtherance of another federal crime of violence” — which could have carried a life sentence — as part of the agreement.
Prosecutors and Magistrate Judge Lauren Fleischer Louis had jointly recommended a sentence of 97 months for Williams.
Williams and his attorneys had filed several motions ahead of Wednesday’s hearing. In March, his team had objected to a presentencing report, which had called for a minimum sentence of 7 to 9 years for Williams. Earlier this month Williams’ attorneys attempted to delay sentencing altogether. Both efforts were rejected by the court.
Williams’ legal battles and imprisonment have put a hold what had been a burgeoning musical career for the South Memphis native.
In January 2021, Williams released his debut mixtape “Shiesty Season,” having been handpicked by rapper-mogul Gucci Mane to sign to his The New 1017 label. Shiesty saw his record hit the Billboard charts, selling the equivalent of 62,000 copies and placing at No. 4 in its first week of release.
A month later the album recharted, hitting a new peak at No. 3. The album would prove to be one of the year’s big releases, finishing at No. 37 on the Billboard 200 for 2021.
The rapper’s breakthrough year included nominations for Best New Artist at the 2021 BET Awards, multiple nominations at the 2021 BET Hip-hop Awards (Best New Hip-hop Artist, Song of the Year, Best Collaboration), a spot on XXL’S 2021 Freshman Class Issue and recognition as “Rookie Of The Year” by Spotify’s Rapcaviar.
In February “Shiesty Season,” was officially certified platinum, marking a million in overall sales. It would mark Shiesty’s fourth platinum certification, following the three times platinum single “Back In Blood” (featuring Lil Durk), as well as “Monday to Sunday” (featuring Lil Baby and BIG30) and “Neighbors” (featuring BIG30), both of which have also achieved platinum status.