Pooh Shiesty, BIG30 Among Nine Federally Charged in Dallas Studio Kidnapping

Pooh Shiesty had spoken with his federal probation officer before traveling to Dallas on January 10. Prosecutors say he then drew an AK-style pistol on his own record label boss.

Lontrell Williams Jr. had been released from federal prison in October 2025 after serving time on a prior firearms conspiracy conviction out of Florida. He was on home confinement, ankle monitor attached, when he allegedly orchestrated what the Department of Justice called a "coordinated armed takeover" of a music studio inside an office building on Dallas Parkway. Nine men now face federal kidnapping and conspiracy charges, each carrying up to a life sentence in federal prison.

According to the criminal complaint, Williams Jr. arranged a meeting with Gucci Mane, founder of 1017 Records, whose legal name is Radric Davis, under the premise of renegotiating his recording contract. When Davis and two other music industry professionals arrived at the studio, they found exits blocked and multiple armed men waiting. Williams Jr. allegedly produced the AK-style pistol while BIG30, whose legal name is Rodney Lamont Wright Jr., barricaded the studio door with his body. Prosecutors allege Williams Jr. forced Gucci Mane at gunpoint to sign a contract release, then personally took Davis's wedding ring, watch, earrings, and cash. Co-conspirators robbed the remaining victims of Rolex watches, jewelry, and additional cash. One victim was shoved onto a couch and stripped of his wallet; another was choked from behind to near unconsciousness.

The group, which also included Williams Jr.'s father Lontrell Williams Sr. and co-defendants Kedarius Waters, Terrance Rodgers, Damarian Gipson, and Demarcus Glover, left Memphis on January 8 and arrived in Dallas on January 9. Prosecutors allege Williams Sr. was in contact with the studio owner on the day of the robbery and was arrested following an FBI raid at the family's Cordova, Tennessee home.

The Department of Justice announced the charges on April 2, and one of the nine arrests was carried out in Frisco, placing the case directly inside Collin County. Additional arrests occurred in Dallas and Memphis; FBI Atlanta's Violent Crime Squad picked up Terrance Rodgers on April 3. Federal investigators used electronic evidence, social media data, and GPS readings from Williams Jr.'s ankle monitor to place each suspect at the scene.

U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould, who oversees the Northern District of Texas, announced the charges at a Dallas press conference and credited joint operations spanning FBI field offices in Memphis, Dallas, and Atlanta. Defendants held outside the district are being transported to Dallas for arraignments and detention hearings.

The ankle monitor GPS data that placed Williams Jr. at the studio with precision will be among the evidence prosecutors present as the case advances in federal court. Eight of the nine suspects were in custody by April 3; federal authorities have not confirmed whether the remaining defendant has connections to North Texas, though one arrest has already been made in Frisco.