With Twitter speculating about Bobby Shmurda’s release and calling it the ‘finale of 2020’, here’s a refresher on his case and what exactly sent him behind bars
Ackquille Jean Pollard aka Bobby Shmurda is back in the news. To refresh your memory, the American rapper and songwriter signed a deal with Epic Records after his song ‘Hot’ was placed at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2014. His debut EP ‘Shmurda She Wrote’ was released on November 10, 2014. However, on December 2014, the musician was arrested during a raid at Quad Studios in Manhattan.
According to XXL Mag, the raid uncovered 21 guns, crack cocaine and marijuana. In 2016, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven years in prison, which was eventually reduced to five years.
Now, Twitter is speculating that he might be released soon. According to Capital Xtra, previous reports suggested that the rapper may be released in December 2020. A Twitter handle @OnnThinIce posted: “Bobby Shmurda’s website has updated with a countdown that ends on August 4th at 8:00 PM EST.
Could we be seeing Bobby home in the next couple weeks?” The speculations just kept growing there on.
One excited fan wrote, “Bobby Shmurda’s comeback music video will break the internet. It will be a cultural reset. There’s no way around this.”
Another speculated, “Bobby Shmurda has a parole hearing scheduled for August 2020 and his conditional release date is scheduled to be August 4th 2020.”
One fan wrote, “Apparently Bobby Shmurda is getting out tomorrow, on God, if that blue fitted decends from the heaven like Thorz hammer when Captain America summon it In Endgame 2020 will be saved.”
Another announced, “ITS ALMOST TIME FOR BOBBY SHMURDA DAY.”
On June 3, 2014, Shmurda was arrested and charged with felony criminal possession of a weapon. The police alleged that the rapper was flashing a gun in an apartment when they went to investigate and had tried to hide the weapon in the couch. Shmurda was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, reckless endangerment and drug and gun possession, according to a Billboard report. The report also states Shmurda was held on $2M bail.
According to a 2016 New York Times report, the rapper was accused of being a leader in GS9 or G Stone Crips, a violent street gang in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, who according to the police was responsible for one murder and several shootings. Investigating on the gang for alleged murder and shooting indiscriminately at crowds in public places were going on long before Shmurda rose to fame. As per the report, after spending over a year and a half in jail awaiting trial, Shmurda pleaded guilty to conspiracy and weapons possession in a deal with prosecutors, three days prior to the beginning of jury selection.
The report further states, Justice Abraham Clott promised Shmurda a prison sentence of seven years in return for his guilty plea. Clott asked him if he possessed a loaded 9-millimeter handgun on June 3, 2014, in an apartment in Brooklyn and meant to “use it unlawfully”. Shmurda answered, “Yes, your honor.” A 2014 New York Times report details that more than a dozen people were arrested that time. “Details of the investigation, and charges, were expected to be unsealed on Thursday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan”, said Kati Cornell, a spokeswoman for the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for New York City. According to the report, the agency, along with the New York Police Department’s Brooklyn South Violence Reduction Task Force, had been on a long-term investigation that “centered on shooting and narcotics trafficking”, Cornell had said.
According to a recent report by TMZ, Shmurda, after his release, plans to drop new music and help at-risk youngsters leave a better life. The same report quotes his mother saying, “Bobby also wants to produce a documentary about his life, which he hopes will also be used as an educational tool for troubled youth.” His mother visited him every two weeks but that was halted due to the pandemic. According to TMZ, she speaks to him on the phone often and says “Bobby’s optimistic the parole board will spring him.”
