On Tuesday, a Miami federal magistrate judge ordered that 21-year-old Tennessee rapper Lontrell D. Williams (a/k/a Pooh Shiesty) be held without bond in a federal detention center pending trial on charges that he participated in the shooting of two men during a street purchase of marijuana and high-end sneakers.
According to an indictment returned by a federal grand jury and an earlier-filed criminal complaint affidavit, on October 9, 2020, Williams, along with 21-year-old Bobby Brown of Memphis, Tennessee, and 20-year-old Jayden Darosa of Pembroke Pines, Florida, drove to a Bay Harbor Islands hotel to buy marijuana and a pair of high-end sneakers from two other men.
It is alleged that during the transaction, the defendants shot the sellers with semi-automatic weapons. Then, Williams, Brown, and Darosa drove away from the scene, taking with them the sneakers and marijuana they had not paid for, according to the court documents. The shooting victims survived.
The indictment charges Williams, Brown, and Darosa each with one count of conspiring to possess firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence, conspiring to commit a Hobbs Act robbery, committing a Hobbs Act robbery, and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Williams and Darosa made their initial federal court appearances on June 29, 2021. Brown was arrested in Tennessee on June 15, 2021. Brown’s first appearance in federal court in Miami is yet to be scheduled.
Yesterday, after separate hearings, Miami U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres ordered Williams and Darosa detained in a federal detention center without bond pending their trials (pre-trial detention).
Williams also faces state criminal charges, including charges related to the shooting of a security guard at the King of Diamonds strip club in May 2021, over the Memorial Day weekend. The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the state charges.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Miami Field Office, made the announcement.
FBI Miami investigated the case, with assistance from ATF Miami, Miami Dade Police Department, and Bay Harbor Islands Police Department. The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office also assisted. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Arielle Klepach and Ignacio J. Vázquez, Jr. are prosecuting the case.
Indictment and criminal complaints are merely charging document. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
This case stems from Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.
In 2017, PSN was reinvigorated as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime. The case is also related to “Operation Summer Heat,” a Miami-Dade County antiviolence initiative.
Anyone with information related to possible gun crimes is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
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