Casanova's Early Prison Release Plea Denied By Judge

A judge has dismissed a plea by Casanova to release the rapper from prison. The federal judge noted that Casanova's sentence was already at the low end of the sentencing recommendation. Furthermore, the judge argued that Casanova was asking to be released despite serving less than 20% of his sentence. Finally, the ruling also stated that Casanova has not yet proven that he is not a danger to his community. As a result, the rapper's 15-year sentence will be upheld.

Casanova had written a personal letter to the judge asking for a compassionate release. In the letter, the Roc Nation affiliate argued that he had fully distanced himself from the Gorilla Stone Nation gang. Furthermore, Casanova pointed to the fact that he had taken a plea deal as evidence of his remorse. While Casanova was one of 18 people charged in the New Jersey RICO case, his sentence primarily stemmed from the 2018 assault of a woman. The rapper was accused of violently grabbing the woman's phone and deleting a video she had taken of him at a restaurant.

Casanova's Co-Defendants Facing Possible Life Sentences

However, November brought more news from the RICO case in which Cas had pled guilty. Dwight "Dick Wolf" Reid and Christopher "Beagle" Erskine, the purported leaders of Gorilla Stone Nation, were both found guilty on a variety of charges including racketeering. Reid was described by prosecutors as the "gang's founder and prison leader" while Erskine was portrayed as their "street leader." While they were acquitted on several gun charges, the two men could face up to life in prison for the convictions.

It's likely that they will not be incarcerated at the same facility as Casanova, however. As part of his plea deal, Cas had denounced and disavowed the Gorilla Stone Nation. As a result, Cas was attacked in prison while awaiting sentencing. After inmate Ulysses Lugo "slashed" Cas' face, the rapper reported chased down Lugo, leading to a bloody mass brawl. “Inmate Lugo? You couldn’t see his face because it was saturated in blood… and his whole uniform was saturated in blood. Inmate Senior was sitting there and blood was just coming out of his face," a prison officer who responded to the brawl told a local news outlet at the time.

[via]