New evidence in the Pooh Shiesty case: video shows Gucci Mane held at gunpoint

In the federal case against Memphis rapper Pooh Shiesty, born Lontrell Williams Jr., striking new evidence has come to light. Prosecutors filed a detailed response with the court on June 24 after Shiesty's attorneys submitted a motion to have his pretrial detention reconsidered. That motion followed an earlier ruling in May by a federal judge in Texas who had refused to grant him bail.

The most notable piece of the new evidence package is video footage that prosecutors say shows Gucci Mane being forced in a Dallas studio to state out loud that Shiesty had been dropped from his label 1017 Records. In footage that circulated more widely in early July, a man with a blurred face can be seen. Shiesty is allegedly audible in the recording saying "Let them know you dropping me, bruh," to which the man responds, "I drop you. Pooh Shiesty dropped from 1017." Prosecutors contend the recording was made on the phone of co defendant Big30, also known as Rodney Lamont Wright Jr.

In addition to the video, prosecutors included an alleged contract in the court filings: a so called release of contract that would have fully freed Shiesty from his deal with 1017 Global Music LLC, the label that signed him in April 2020. The document explicitly references the agreement between the company and "Lontrell Williams p/k/a Pooh Shiesty" dated April 1, 2020, and describes the contents as a complete termination of that agreement. Also included among the evidence is an 8 gigabyte USB drive, a photo of which appears in the court documents.

According to prosecutors, Shiesty lured Gucci Mane to a recording studio in Dallas on January 10, after which he and his co conspirators barricaded the studio and held Mane and his team at gunpoint. In addition to signing the contract document, the victims allegedly had jewelry, Rolex watches, and cash taken from them. On April 1, a total of eight people were arrested in connection with the incident, including Shiesty, his father Lontrell Williams Sr., and Big30.

A security guard who was working for Gucci Mane that evening wrote a letter to the judge saying he fears for his family's safety as a result of the case. Based on all the information before the court, the judge upheld the decision to keep Shiesty detained. The trial, originally scheduled for July, has been postponed to February 22, 2027. Pooh Shiesty remains in pretrial detention while he awaits that date.