Rapper Bobby Shmurda pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges Friday and will be heading up the river for seven years.
Shmurda, whose real name is Ackquille Pollard, took the deal just days
before he was set to stand trial on conspiracy and weapons charges in
Manhattan Supreme Court.
Prosecutors had maintained the "Shmoney Dance" phenom was the "driving
force" behind a street crew called called GS9 that was responsible for
dealing drugs and several shootings in Brooklyn.
He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of criminal possession of a weapon.
The possession charge stemmed from a June 3, 2014 arrest for a gun
found at a pal's apartment in Brooklyn. He told cops at the time it was
rap video prop. "I use my gun for videos- I'm a rapper," he said,
according to court papers.
In court Friday, he pleaded guilty to having possessed a loaded gun with the intent to use it "unlawfully against another."
After serving the fixed seven year term, Shmurda, 22, will be on
probation for five years, according to the terms of the plea agreement
worked out with the Special Narcotics Prosecutor's office.
Two of his GS9 co-defendants, Chad (Rowdy Rebel) Marshall, 24, and
Nicholas (Montana Flea) McCoy, 21, also took the same deal after loudly
debating it with their lawyers in the courtroom for about 20 minutes.
"It's seven years, seven years," one of them was heard saying as all three were shaking their heads.
McCoy's lawyer, Leslie Jones Thomas, told the group, "You won't have a
future if you don't take it. Don't throw your life away."
A fourth defendant who was facing more charges, Santino (Cueno)
Broderick, was offered a 15 year deal. He was overheard telling his
lawyer, "Fifteen? Dang. My life is over."
"You want 80 or you want 15," his lawyer Kevin Canfield told him,
referring to how much time the 23-year-old could face if convicted at
trial. Broderick turned down the deal, and will stand trial next week.
"I tried," prosecutor Nigel Farinha told Canfield.
Fifteen members of GS9 were arrested in the conspiracy bust, which also
netted 69 guns. Those that have been convicted so far have gotten far
stiffer sentences than the ones agreed to Friday.
One, Rashid Derissant, 24, was sentenced to 98 years behind bars in May.
After Shmurda was arrested in December of 2014, his then-lawyer called
the charges against him - which included murder conspiracy -
"bulls---." Shmurda even filed suit against the city and NYPD earlier
this year over the gun charge he admitted to Friday.
His current criminal lawyer, Alex Spiro, had no immediate comment on
the plea deal. The trio will be officially sentenced later this year,
and have been ordered locked up until then.
The Brooklyn-bred rapper's debut EP "Shmurda She Wrote" was released in
November of 2014, and yielded two hit singles, including "Hot N----."
source: NY daily
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