Rapper G Herbo pleaded guilty Friday to using stolen credit card information from the dark web to pay for private jets, exotic car rentals, a luxury vacation rental, and expensive designer puppies.
The lifestyle was a far cry from his growing up years on the East Side of Chicago in a neighborhood dubbed Terror Town, so named for its gang and gun violence.
He released his debut mix tapes “Welcome to Fazoland” and “Pistol P Project” in 2014, both named for friends who had been killed in the city. His first album was 2017’s “Humble Beast,” and his latest is “Survivor’s Remorse,” released last year.
His 2020 album “PTSD” debuted at number 7 on the Billboard 200.
The 27-year-old Chicago rapper (real name Herbert Wright III) entered a guilty plea today in federal court in Springfield, Massachusetts. He was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and making false statements. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed several counts of aggravated identity theft.
As part of his plea, G Herbo also agreed to forfeit nearly $140,000, the amount he used in what prosecutors claimed was a $1.5 million scheme that involved several other people.
“Mr. Wright used stolen account information as his very own unlimited funding source, using victims’ payment cards to finance an extravagant lifestyle and advance his career,” acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said in a statement.
Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 7, and he faces a maximum of 25 years in prison.
From at least March 2017 until November 2018, G Herbo and his promoter, Antonio Strong, used text messages, social media messages and emails to share account information taken from dark websites, authorities said.
Prosecutors contend that the stolen account information paid for a chartered jet to fly the rapper and members of his entourage from Chicago to Austin, Texas. On another occasion, they used a stolen account on a six-bedroom Jamaican Villa, racking up a nearly $15,000 bill. ,
In court documents, prosecutors said G Herbo “used the proceeds of these frauds to travel to various concert venues and to advance his career by posting photographs and/or videos of himself on the private jets, in the exotic cars, and at the Jamaican villa.”
G Herbo was also charged in May 2021 with lying to investigators by denying that he had any ties to Strong. The two worked together since 2016.
Strong has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
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