Pooh Shiesty is home. Reps for the Memphis rapper confirmed to Billboard on Monday (Oct. 6) that he’s been released from prison after more than three years behind bars.
Footage of Pooh Shiesty back home and celebrating regaining his freedom emerged on social media on Monday. While fans were elated, many were surprised, since Shiesty’s original release date was slated for April 2026.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons database system also revealed that the “Back in Blood” rapper was no longer in BOP custody. Shiesty (real name Lontrell Williams) had been behind bars in federal prison since 2022, serving a 63-month sentence on firearm conspiracy charges.
The charges stemmed from an October 2020 shooting in Bay Harbor Islands, Fla. Prosecutors argued that Pooh Shiesty and two others met up to make a deal for marijuana and high-end sneakers, but an altercation transpired outside the Landon Hotel and the two sellers were shot. Both survived.
Shiesty was indicted on four counts related to the shooting. After posting bond, the rapper was arrested for a shooting at the King of Diamonds strip club in Miami in May 2021.
He reached a plea deal in January 2022 for one charge of conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of violent and drug-trafficking crimes. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop three counts, including one that he was the gunman. He was sentenced to five years and three months in April 2022.
“I am elated that Pooh has been released after three years,” Pooh Shiesty’s attorney, Drew Findling, told XXL. “The government fought hard to give him 10, but after listening to the case, the judge agreed with us that it was not appropriate and gave him a sentence that resulted in him serving three years. I know he will come back bigger than ever and definitely learned from this experience. He is excited to start the next chapter of his story. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and I think that this is just the beginning of his second act.”
The 25-year-old has remained pretty quiet on the music front during his prison sentence. Shiesty’s last single, “Federal Contraband 2,” arrived on Christmas Day 2023.
