A New York City rapper who joined President Donald Trump at a campaign rally last year has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder and conspiracy.
Sheff G, whose real name is Michael Kyle Williams, was among 32 gang members arrested in 2023 and named in a 140-count murder conspiracy case.
The 27-year-old pleaded guilty to attempted murder and conspiracy charges in March and turned himself in to court on Wednesday.
“This defendant had talent and opportunity, but chose to use them to fuel violence instead of building a better future,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez on Wednesday.
Prosecutors said the rapper used his music earnings to fund gun violence in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, paying members of the 8 Trey Crips and 9 Ways gangs to carry out violent acts.
In 2020, prosecutors say Sheff G treated some members to a steak dinner to celebrate an October 2020 shooting that killed a member of a rival gang and injured five others.
In May 2024, Sheff G appeared with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally in the Bronx, alongside Tegan Chambers, known as Sleepy Hallow, who also faced conspiracy charges in the gang case.
Chambers was sentenced to one year in jail after pleading guilty to fourth-degree conspiracy last week.
During the 2024 rally, Trump invited the rappers on stage.
“One thing I want to say: They are always going to whisper your accomplishments and shout your failures. Trump is going to shout the wins for all of us,” Sheff G said to the crowd at the time.
Sleepy Hallow then took the microphone to say: “Make America Great Again.”
Chambers and Williams had pleaded not guilty in the gang case and were out on bail when the campaign rally took place.
When asked about the rappers’ charges at the time, a Trump campaign spokesperson echoed Sheff G’s rally speech, saying in an email, “As Sheff G said: ‘They always whisper your accomplishments and shout your failures’.”
At the time of the rally, Trump was on trial in Manhattan for a hush money case and was later found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Bronx Democrat, told The Associated Press at the time that it was offensive for Trump to associate with people accused of violent crime in an attempt to appeal to Black voters.
Trump claimed during his criminal cases that his indictments boosted his support among Black Americans.
“The conflation of communities of color with criminality is a racist trope that Donald Trump repeats,” Torres told AP.
Twenty-three alleged members of the 8 Trey Crips and their affiliate, the 9 Ways gang, have pleaded guilty to various charges, while seven cases remain pending.
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