Atlanta rapper Gucci Mane was allegedly robbed and kidnapped by Memphis rapper Pooh Shiesty and others in Dallas.
The Department of Justice announced on Thursday that Pooh Shiesty, along with his fellow Memphis rapper Big30 and several others, robbed and kidnapped numerous victims, including Gucci Mane, real name Radric Delantic Davis, at a Dallas music studio. Authorities arrested the Memphis rappers and other suspects on April 1, across Dallas, Memphis and Nashville.
On Jan. 10, a complaint was filed with the DOJ alleging that Pooh Shiesty, real name Lontrell Denell Williams Jr., invited three music industry professionals, including Gucci Mane, to Dallas. Williams reportedly arranged a meeting to discuss the terms of a recording contract with one of the victims.
When the victims arrived to the studio, Williams and his eight accomplices “executed an armed takeover,” according to the DOJ complaint. Williams allegedly forced one of the victims to sign a release from the disputed recording contract at gunpoint with a handgun that resembled an AK-47.
According to federal investigators, the remaining conspirators also brandished firearms and stole cash, jewels, Rolex watches and other high-value items from the other victims. One of the victims was reportedly nearly unconscious after being choked during the heist. To stop the victims from fleeing, Rodney Lamont Wright Jr., also known as “Big30,” blocked the door, preventing the victims from escaping.
Within hours of this robbery and kidnapping, numerous suspects in this case posted some of the items stolen on social media, officials said.
The announcement was made one day after the FBI carried out an arrest and search warrant on Pooh Shiesty’s family’s Cordova, Tennessee, residence early on Wednesday. The agency did not further describe the search. The Memphis rapper and his father, Lontrell Williams Sr., were both detained in Memphis on Wednesday, according to TMZ.
The DOJ claims that Lontrell Williams Sr., the father of Williams, assisted in organizing and carrying out the kidnapping.
Pooh Shiesty previously served a 63-month term in a federal prison in Pennsylvania before being released in October 2025 after being convicted for shooting a man at a hotel in Miami, three years prior. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess firearms, and the terms of the deal dictated that he would not commit another crime or possess a firearm.