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Brooklyn Rapper Bobby Shmurda Released From Prison
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Feb 23, 2021
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By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Feb 23, 2021
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Brooklyn rapper Bobby Shmurda has been released from prison after serving the bulk of a seven year sentence for conspiracy and weapons charges.
The 26-year-old Shmurda — whose real name is Ackquille Pollard — was granted conditional release from Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York on Tuesday morning, a Department of Corrections spokesperson confirmed. As part of the plea deal, he will be under community supervision in Brooklyn for the next five years.
Shmurda, an East Flatbush native, achieved overnight celebrity status with his 2014 hit "Hot N***a," and an accompany viral meme known as the Shmoney Dance. On the heels of the dance craze, he signed a seven-figure deal with Epic Records.
Later that year, Shmurda was arrested — along with 12 other members of his GS9 crew — at the Quad Recording Studios near Rockefeller Center. The NYPD said they found 21 weapons on the young men, including two guns and a small amount of crack in Shmurda's car.
Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office argued that Shmurda was the "driving force" behind the G-Stone Crips, an East Flatbush offshoot of the Crips crew they claimed was responsible for several shootings in Brooklyn. He was held on $2 million bail — about tenfold more than what others have received for similar charges.
The case turned Shmurda into a local hero, and prompted allegations that prosecutors and the NYPD had targeted the young rapper with aggressive conspiracy charges for his rising hip-hop celebrity status. His arrest and sentencing were recently covered as part of the podcast Louder Than A Riot, which explored "RICO-like conspiracy charges being weaponized in communities of color and the criminalization of hip-hop persona."
In an interview with the podcast host, Shmurda said he hoped to leave Brooklyn for good at the earliest opportunity following his release from prison.
"I'll be in New York to handle business or do a show," he said, "but I don't want nothing to do with New York."
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Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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