Brooklyn drill rapper ‘Sheff G’ offered gang members cash, jewelry for violence: prosecutors
A prominent Brooklyn drill rapper used his music career to fuel bloodshed in the borough by offering up cash and jewelry in exchange for acts of violence, prosecutors alleged Tuesday — as they announced a 140-count indictment against more than two dozen gang members.
Rapper Michael Williams — whose stage name is Sheff G — was among 32 members of the 8 Trey Crips and affiliate gang the 9 Ways hit with charges, including second-degree murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, weapons possessions, assault, attempted assault, kidnapping, gang assault and related raps, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.
“Instead of using his fame and his fortune for the betterment of himself and his family and those close to him, we allege that he used that fame and fortune to elevate gang violence in Brooklyn,” DA Eric Gonzalez said at a press conference announcing the takedown.
Williams, 24, known as a leader in the Brooklyn drill movement, encouraged gun-fueled gang violence by offering incentives like money and expensive jewelry to𒁃 his pals, prosecutors alleged.
And two days after an Oct. 21, 2020, ambush by 8 Trey Crips in rival Folk Nation territory that killed one and injured five others, Williams treated members of the two affiliate gangs to a lavish dinner at a Manhattan steakhouse to celebrate the shooting spree, the DA’s Office claimed.
“Sheff G is not a wannabe drill rapper” but “a legitimate person who made it good,” Gonzalez said, noting Williams “has gold records,” “a lot of money” and “millions of monthly listeners and over 100 million views on social media” as well as a very large rental house in Short Hills, New Jersey.
The gang members were revelling over the murder of Folk Nation’s Theodore Senior, 23, and the injuries of the other rivals from the caught-on-surveillance mass shooting where 8 Trey Crips Kamondre Dekattu sprayed his gun from the sunroof of a white Infiniti while two others fired shots from the driver’s window and the left rear window on Hawthorne Street, prosecutors allege.
Gonzalez said the gang members — including another rapper, Tegan “Sleepy Hallow” Chambers — are charged with committing 27 acts of violence and crime between March 2019 and the present, including using stolen cars during shootings to add to their territory and enhance their reputation.
The gang used roughly 37 firearms — 19 of which were recovered by law enforcement — to carry out 12 shootings of 13 victims, including three innocent bystanders, the DA said.
Many of their crimes were caught on surveillance videos and theꦗ members also boasted about their crimes on social media and in text messages taking cred🏅it for certain shootings and assaults, prosecutors claim.
On one April, 6, 2021, shooting at a rival, a 53ไ-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman were struck by stray bullets fired by three gang members who then hopped in a getaway car being driven by Williams, the DA alleged. Williams and three others texted the next day about news articles on the shooting, the office said.
On June 20, 2021, a group of ten 8 Trey Crips brutally beat a fellow member who they🦹 thought had betrayed Williams. The group came up on the target in a three-car caravan near Flatbush Avenue and Albermarle Road, where they began beating him before throwing him in the car and continuing the assault late🃏r near a cemetery, prosecutors allege.
The group beat, kicked and stomped the victim until they were fina♏lly stopped when cops arrived, the DA claims.
“We focus on the small number of extremely violent people who have made up their minds that they will continue to do violence no matter what happens,” Mayor Eric Adams said at the press conference. “Doesn’t matter if they reach fame and fortune, they’re going to use their fame and fortune to enhance their ability to access dangerous guns.”
Adams said the defendants have “total disregard for ever🧸yday New Yorkers who are walking our streets.”
“We’re not going to surrender our streets to violence,” Adams said.
