Casanova has officially been sentenced for his alleged crimes as part of the Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation gang.
On Tuesday (June 27), the Brooklyn rapper (real name Caswell Senior) received 188 months or 15 years behind bars from U.S. District Judge Philip M. Halpern. Included in the crimes he’s accused of are a shooting in Florida on July 5, 2020, a robbery in New York City on August 5, 2018 and conspiracy to traffic over 100 kilograms of marijuana.
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“Caswell Senior is not just a notorious recording artist, but he is also a high-profile leader of a vicious street gang and a magnet for gang violence,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a press release. “At a crowded Miami house party, Senior personally fired a gun that seriously injured and could have killed a victim, inciting a shootout.
He continued: “Further, Senior’s stature in the community was central to Gorilla Stone’s successful recruitment and nationwide expansion. Today’s sentencing — along with the other significant sentences that have been imposed in this case — shows once again that gang life is not worth it and will lead to many years in prison.”
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Casanova is the 12th defendant in the Gorilla Stone case to have been sentenced. Five more defendants have pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
Earlier this month, the Roc Nation artist penned a letter to the judge hoping for leniency from the legal system.
In the emotional letter, which was obtained by AllHipHop, Cas renounced his ties to Gorilla Stone Nation and admitted he’s had suicidal thoughts during his time behind bars.
“I am telling you and anyone that will listen that I wanted out before I was arrested and I am out. I learned through my music career that people will listen and that I don’t need to associate myself with a gang to succeed. I don’t need to associate with a gang even if I don’t succeed,” he wrote.
“While I have been in here I lost my father to cancer. While I put on that strong facade, all I wanted to do was end it. Surviving on Rikers Island and upstate correctional facilities were not easy with racial and gang tension and violence at its height.”
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Casanova continued: “I thought I needed to stay in the life in name because it was a way to promote my career. I don’t care what the government tells you. I am telling you the truth. I was not involved in the daily activities of this gang. I wasn’t anyone’s boss.
“What I was and I regret this was a person that they could use to promote themselves in a world I swear to you I was trying to leave. I clearly did not do a good enough job of this as I did find myself in one bad situation after another.”
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Casanova has been behind bars since December 2020 when he was named as one of 18 alleged Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation gang members indicted in a sprawling drug conspiracy RICO case.
Despite maintaining his innocence, Cas pleaded guilty to two counts in May 2022: racketeering conspiracy and narcotics conspiracy.
According to a report from Rolling Stone at the time, the Roc Nation artist was moved to accept the prosecutors’ offer after someone essentially snitched on him.
Casanova was facing a minimum of 15 years and up to 60 years behind bars, so perhaps his letter did help as he received the minimum allowed.
