Pooh Shiesty faces federal kidnapping and robbery charges tied to Gucci Mane's record label

Federal prosecutors have accused rapper Pooh Shiesty and eight co-defendants of luring three men to a Dallas recording studio under the pretense of a business meeting, then robbing them at gunpoint and kidnapping them. The alleged motive: a contract dispute with 1017 Records, the label belonging to Gucci Mane.

This wasn't a street confrontation. It was calculated. Three men traveled to Dallas believing they were walking into a legitimate negotiation. What they walked into was something else entirely.

What prosecutors say happened

According to the federal indictment filed in the Northern District of Texas, Pooh Shiesty, whose legal name is Lontrell Williams Jr., allegedly arranged the meeting to address the terms of his recording contract with 1017 Records. Once the three men were inside the studio, Shiesty allegedly produced an AK-style pistol and forced one of them to sign a release from the contract, as Breitbart reports.

The other defendants then displayed firearms and stripped the men of watches, jewelry, cash, and other items. One man was choked to near unconsciousness. Another defendant reportedly barricaded the door with his body to prevent anyone from leaving.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Dallas declined to name the three victims. The federal indictment identifies them only by their initials. One victim, identified as R.D., is described as the owner of 1017 Records.

On Wednesday, the FBI in Memphis traveled to a home in the suburb of Cordova to serve court-ordered warrants connected to the case.

A prior record and a broken condition

Here is the detail that sharpens the legal picture considerably: at the time of the alleged January 10 confrontation in Dallas, Pooh Shiesty was on home confinement for a prior firearms conspiracy conviction out of Florida.

Let that sink in. A man already under federal supervision for a gun-related conviction allegedly walked into a recording studio with an AK-style pistol and forced someone to sign a legal document at gunpoint. His attorney, Bradford Cohen, who represented him during the prior firearms case, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Pooh Shiesty himself did not return an emailed request for comment.

Gucci Mane's label at the center

Gucci Mane, whose legal name is Radric Delantic Davis, is widely regarded as one of the founders of trap music alongside Atlanta artists T.I. and Jeezy. He emerged in the mid-2000s with the single "Icy," helped develop artists including Young Thug, earned a Grammy nomination for his appearance on Lizzo's "Exactly How I Feel," and has remained active with new music and business ventures, including the 2025 album "Episodes." He also published a memoir in 2017 and has publicly emphasized sobriety and personal stability in recent years.

Publicists for Gucci Mane did not immediately respond to requests for comment. His label, 1017 Records, is now linked by a federal indictment to an alleged armed robbery and kidnapping. Whatever the outcome of the case, that association carries weight.

The contractual dispute as pretext

The detail worth sitting with is how the alleged scheme was structured. This wasn't about money taken impulsively. Prosecutors allege the meeting was arranged specifically to resolve a contract dispute, and that an AK-style pistol was the negotiating tool of choice. A signed release under duress is not a release. It's a crime scene document.

The music industry has long operated with loose structures, informal agreements, and power imbalances that courts have repeatedly had to untangle. Contract disputes are common. What prosecutors describe here is not a dispute. It is coercion backed by firearms and a barricaded door.

Nine defendants and a federal indictment

Pooh Shiesty is not alone in this indictment. Eight additional defendants were charged alongside him. Their identities have not been provided in the charging documents made public. As the case proceeds in the Northern District of Texas, the full scope of the alleged conspiracy will come into clearer view.

What is already clear is the federal government's framing: this was not a street argument that escalated. It was a premeditated operation with multiple armed participants, a specific target, and a specific objective. The three men who flew to Dallas for what they believed was a business meeting never consented to what allegedly followed.

Accountability tends to arrive eventually. The question now is whether the legal system delivers it with the seriousness the charges demand.