Jailed rapper Pooh Shiesty filed new court paperwork Friday claiming “ballistics and forensic evidence” prove he didn’t shoot a man in the buttocks during a botched Florida drug deal in October 2020 — thus making a recent probation report recommending a prison sentence in line with the eight years sought by prosecutors is “illogical.”
The new filing from defense lawyer Brad Cohen argues that Shiesty, whose legal name is Lontrell Williams, pleaded guilty to only a single count of firearms conspiracy in January, so it’s not fair a pre-sentencing report submitted to the court suggests he was involved in a “robbery/shooting” during a confrontation at the Landon Hotel in Bay Harbor Islands, Fla., on Oct. 9, 2020.
According to Cohen, not only did federal prosecutors agree to drop the robbery and shooting charges in Williams’ indictment under the deal — they never could have proven the charges at trial.
“The government wants this court to believe Mr. Williams, with a net worth of $3,449,446, planned a robbery, then committed a robbery, and then shot a known drug dealer who knew him well and could easily identify him. All over a few hundred-dollar drug deal for personal use, while he was driving a lime green McLaren that he rented from the alleged victim,” the Friday filing from Cohen obtained by Rolling Stone reads.
“Mr. Williams possessed over $40,000 in cash and was driving a vehicle valued at over $200,000. It would be illogical for Mr. Williams to stage a robbery by two other individuals over something so miniscule as a bottle of liquid codeine with a retail value of a few hundred dollars, at most, when any damage done to the McLaren in the process would have cost thousands of dollars to repair,” the filings argues.
“We will provide both ballistics and forensic evidence that Mr. Williams did not fire a weapon and did not strike anyone during the Bay Harbor incident,” Cohen states. He says medical records show the bullet that struck the man “entered the left buttocks near the top of the muscle and exited at the lower part of the muscle” with “the angle being that of a downward slope.”
“Mr. Williams was sitting in a prone position. When [the man] got shot, he was standing in front of the passenger door at an angle above Mr. Williams. It simply would have been impossible for the wound to occur with Mr. Williams being the shooter,” the new paperwork states.
In his Friday filing, Cohen claims while the probation pre-sentence report calls for an offense level carrying a minimum sentence of between seven and nine years in prison, William’s maximum offense level should be much lower. Cohen says the correct calculation, based on defense evidence, is a maximum guideline range of between 37 and 46 months. He also promises to file something soon arguing Williams actually deserves a “below-guideline sentence.”
The two federal prosecutors handling the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Rolling Stone on Friday.
Williams, 22, has been behind bars since his June 9 arrest involving charges over a shooting at a Miami strip club that have since been dropped. He was indicted in the Landon Hotel case weeks later and ordered held without bail.
According to prosecutors, the Memphis rapper, whose Back in Blood collaboration with Lil Durk went platinum last year, allegedly drove the rented McLaren to the hotel the day of the alleged shooting to purchase marijuana, codeine and a pair of high-end athletic sneakers.
Video surveillance allegedly shows Williams pulling up to the hotel with another man described as his road manager riding shotgun and a third man following behind them in a black Mercedes Maybach.
According to investigators, Williams accepted a bag of marijuana and examined a pair of sneakers before he pulled out a Draco subcompact weapon and fired, hitting the alleged victim in the buttocks.
As Williams drove off, a Louis Vuitton bag stuffed with $40,912 in cash fell out of the driver’s seat of the McLaren, authorities claimed. Investigators said they linked the cash to Williams by matching the full serial number on one of the recovered bills to a $100 bill flashed on Williams’ Instagram account days before the alleged robbery.
Williams’ sentencing is now set for April 20.