Rapper Cash Out, whose real name is John-Michael Hakeem Gibson, was sentenced to life in prison plus 70 years on Monday after being found guilty in his RICO and sex trafficking case.
On Friday, the 34-year-old artist received a guilty verdict in an Atlanta court. According to WSB-TV Atlanta, the life sentence plus 70 years will run concurrently. His mother, Linda Smith, was sentenced to 30 years, and his cousin, Tyrone Taylor, was sentenced to life in prison plus 70 years.
Gibson is known for his 2014 platinum hit “Cashin’ Out” and “She Twerkin.” He released one studio album in 2014, “Let’s Get It,” and six mixtapes.
His career was stalled when he was arrested in a Georgia prostitution sting in June 2019.
The trial, which began this past June, brought forth allegations that Gibson, his cousin and his mother had forced women into sex work. When they operated the “house of horrors,” they were also said to have coordinated the sale of women and the corresponding payments. Prosecutors presented text messages from eight different phones as evidence.
“This has been going on for seven years,” Fulton County prosecutor Earnelle Winfrey said to the Atlanta courtroom on Friday. “This ain’t just straight pimping — this is trafficking.”
She added that though they were “pimping, for sure,” it was the “force and cohesion” of the operation that made it trafficking.
Gibson first faced charges in June 2023. His legal team claimed that victims were pushed to testify. In closing arguments, his team argued that the women involved were not forced.
His mother claimed that she was unaware of the trafficking, but prosecutors cited payment receipts linking her to the offenses. This included a leased residence where some of the victims were said to be housed. Additionally, witnesses claimed that Smith had engaged in prostitution herself.
“It’s not about the victims’ actions in a sex trafficking case,” Winfrey told jurors on Friday. “It’s about what they did.”
This story originally appeared on LA Times
