Brooklyn drill rappers Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow have been indicted alongside 30 other alleged members of the 8 Trey Crips and the affiliated 9 Ways gangs. Both men were charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. Of the 32 defendants, 24 were in custody and arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court today; if convicted, Sheff G faces up to 25 years in prison.
Online records show that Sheff G has pleaded not guilty. In his Instagram story, Sleepy Hallow wrote, “DON’T BELIEVE THE INTERNET WE INNOCENT 🤞🏾❤️🩹.” When reached by Pitchfork, Sheff G’s attorney, Mitchell C. Elman, offered no comment.
Prosecutors accuse Sheff G of offering money and jewelry in exchange for “acts of violence,” including murder, presenting video evidence from cell phones and surveillance cameras, text messages, and property searches. The indictment describes one incident in which the rapper allegedly assembled three shooters and drove them to and from the crime scene. In another, on Wednesday, October 21, 2020, surveillance video captured suspects firing from a white vehicle at alleged members of the Folk Nation gang, killing one and injuring five more.
Prosecutors allege that Sheff G and his sister, Crystal Williams, conspired with the shooters to commit murder, and treated a group of nine people—including Sleepy Hallow—to dinner at a Manhattan steakhouse as a reward for carrying out the Folk Nation shooting. “This is not an indictment of rap music,” Brooklyn’s district attorney, Eric Gonzales, said today at a press conference. “In fact, this investigation did not rely on a single lyric to prove any of the alleged crimes.”
Sheff G is currently incarcerated in New York, having been sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree in November 2021. He had been arrested in January after police stopped him and found a loaded gun in his car. Sheff G would have been eligible for release in June.
Sheff G was one of five Brooklyn drill rappers removed from the lineup at Rolling Loud New York in 2019 at the request of New York Police Department, who cited safety concerns.
