The rapper Casanova has been sentenced to more than 15 years in prison on federal racketeering conspiracy and drug charges related to his involvement in what prosecutors called “a vicious street gang.”
A New York federal judge on Tuesday (June 27) sentenced the artist (real name Caswell Senior) to 188 months in prison after he pleaded guilty last year to one charge under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), as well as a charge of conspiracy to distribute over 100 kilograms of marijuana.
Casanova, a Brooklyn rapper once signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, was one of 18 men charged in 2020 for their alleged roles in the Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation gang, which prosecutors said “committed terrible acts of violence” across the New York City region.
“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 statement after the sentencing, adding that Casanova’s stature had helped the gang recruit and expand nationwide. “Gang life is not worth it and will lead to many years in prison.”
Prior to the criminal charges, Casanova had been an up-and-coming artist, peaking at No. 3 on Billboard’s Next Big Sound chart in 2019 after the release of his album Behind These Scars. Chatting with Billboard at the time, Casanova said he was hopeful for the future, but knew that his past could return to haunt him: “People will always blame you for your past. I’m ok with that; I just have to fight harder. I have to do more to get recognized.”
In December 2020, he was one of 18 defendants named in the sweeping RICO case over Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation, which prosecutors said operated a violent narcotics operation across the NYC metro area, including the murder of a teenage boy in Poughkeepsie. The allegations even included “brazen fraud” for exploiting benefits programs providing assistance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In May 2022, Casanova pleaded guilty to the RICO conspiracy charge and the drug charge. Among other things, he admitted to participating in a July 2020 shootout at a crowded Miami house party in which he personally shot a man, leaving the victim seriously injured.
Ahead of Tuesday’s sentencing, federal prosecutors requested a prison term ranging from 188 to 235 months, calling Casanova “a high-profile gang leader” who had “amplified the message of the gang” through his music, helping to recruit “a generation of new members.”
“He did not simply pretend to be violent in his music or on social media,” the government wrote. “Unfortunately, he walked the walk. Senior’s offense conduct is not about a few song lyrics or how he marketed his music. Rather, he carried out an array of violent activity and significant narcotics trafficking that benefited some of the gang’s most violent and impactful members.”
Casanova’s attorneys argued that he should receive a sentence well below those guidelines. They said he was “not involved in the gang’s daily activities” and had begun “to distance himself” from the group as his music career took off, including having “denounced gang life” in some public statements.
“The fact is that Mr. Senior stayed in this gang as it furthered his rap career,” Casanova’s lawyers wrote. “As he gained moderate success and then a recording contract with Roc Nation, he increasingly separated himself from the gang’s activities despite remaining a member.”
In a statement to Billboard on Wednesday, Casanova’s lawyer, James Kousouros, said he and his client were “gratified that the court acknowledged the productive messages that Mr. Senior had been giving against gang life over the past several years and sentenced him to the lowest end of the guidelines.”
