The self-proclaimed “CEO of Purple Drank,” Cuban Harry or Muhammad-A-Lean (real name Harrison Garcia), still has his Instagram profile set to private, which makes sense considering the Miami native was just convicted of five felony charges, according to the Miami Herald. Proof of his chosen “drug kingpin” lifestyle was plastered across his Instagram page and, in fact, had U.S. Homeland Security knocking on his door in January with a warrant. The 27-year-old posed with guns, flashed stacks of cash and boasted about the relationships he’d built with a slew of celebrities, including Lil Wayne and Chris Brown.
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Garcia was accused of selling marijuana, Xanax and the “popular-among-rappers” cough syrup known as “lean,” “drank” or “sizzurp.” His Instagram account has been at the center of the prosecution’s strategy. He put his lavish choices and braggadocious photos on display for over 30,000 followers, and appeared to revel in his reputation as a violent drug dealer. The jurors saw a plethora of Instagram photos of Garcia showing off his arsenal of guns, five of which were confiscated by federal agents.
His defense team, however, claimed he was a drug addict desperate to exude a tough guy persona. “My client is a 27-year-old schmuck,” defense lawyer Gustavo Lage said. “He is a kid who talks big and is trying to be something he’s not.”
They also tried to compare him to troubled, heavily tattooed rapper Stitches, who has notoriously called out other artists for being fake gangsters (while toting the hardened image himself), by attempting to show jurors a clip of the “Brick In Yo Face” video. The defense clearly failed while attempting to draw parallels to Stitches and Garcia being “wannabe thugs.”
Over four days of testimony last week, jurors heard that Garcia admitted he sold “large amounts of narcotics” to Weezy and received $15,000 from Brown for drugs, including lean. Jurors were also privy to undercover videos of two drug deals Garcia allegedly executed with two confidential informants who were posing as buyers.
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He is also facing state racketeering charges in Broward County (although jurors were not given this information) where authorities allege Garcia paid a crew of young men to break into dozens of Walgreens and CVS stores to steal bottles of promethazine with codeine syrup.
Garcia will be sentenced June 3 for the convictions relating to armed drug trafficking and faces life in prison.
