Chicago Rapper G Herbo Faces Prison Time in Wire Fraud Case

On Wednesday (July 19), 27-year-old rapper G Herbo had a court hearing in Massachusetts. The hearing came less than two weeks after he was arrested in his hometown of Chicago on July 9, when cops found four guns and 248 grams of cannabis in his car during a traffic stop. While he would post bond the next day, the arrest was a violation of his probation for a more significant crime, which he is now likely to face time in prison for.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Herbo agreed to enter a guilty plea for a wire fraud case that spans more than half a decade. Accused of using stolen credit cards and IDs to spend roughly $1.5 million under other people’s names, Herbo and five accomplices of his were arrested by federal officials in 2018. As noted by The Chicago Tribune, who has been following the case closely, Herbo and Co. used the money to finance “goods and services, including private jet trips, a personal chef, a vacation at a Jamaican villa, and a pair of ‘designer puppies.’”

While initially charged in 2020, Herbo’s new hearing this week not only contextualized his recent arrest earlier this month but added new details regarding his identity theft scheme. Allegedly, when questioned about the potential charges by authorities, Herbo lied about his relationship with one of the accomplices named Antonio Strong, who is looked at as the mastermind behind the fraud operation. Texts between Herbo and Anderson were presented to the court, showing the two parties corroborating the crime.

Along with Herbo now being liable to pay back $140,000 in restitution to the numerous victims of his misdeeds, he is now facing somewhere between 2-3 years in prison. Typically, the recommended sentences for wire fraud schemes such as these can be around 20 years, but with his plea deal, federal guidelines assure that he’ll receive a reduced sentence. Herbo’s official plea hearing before a U.S. district judge is currently scheduled for July 27.

Throughout his career, Herbo has worked with hip-hop icons like Nicki Minaj, Lil Baby, Lil Uzi Vert, Chance the Rapper, Juice WRLD, and more. His three most recent solo albums, PTSD (2020), 25 (2021), and Survivor’s Remorse (2022) have all landed inside the top 10 of the Billboard 200.

(Photo by Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for BET)