How long has Pooh Shiesty been in prison? Young Thug calls for rapper to be freed

Young Thug, who was freed from prison in October 2024, recently called for the release of rapper Pooh Shiesty. In January 2022, Shiesty pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges and in April of the same year, he received a sentencing of five years and three months in prison.

It has been about two years and 10 months since Shiesty has been behind bars. On February 18, Young Thug tweeted:

"Free poohshiesty."

The tweet garnered massive traction within less than 24 hours since it was uploaded on X. The tweet gained more than one million views as well as about 40K likes.

Pooh Shiesty was initially scheduled to be released from prison in 2027. However, last year in September, it was revealed that Pooh Shiesty could be freed a lot earlier than that. As per the Bureau of Prisons, the rapper's release date was set to be on April 25, 2026.

For the unversed, Pooh Shiesty aka Lontrell Donell Williams Jr. was born in November 1999 in Memphis, Tennessee. The rapper reportedly began focusing on music when he was 18 years old.

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Why was rapper Pooh Shiesty sent to prison in the first place?

Pooh Shiesty's conviction was connected to a shooting at the Landon Hotel in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida in October 2020. According to an April 2022 article by Variety, prosecutors accused him and a few individuals of opening fire at another group from whom they were buying sneakers and marijuana.

The outlet further reported that both the victims who were shot at survived the incident. After being first arrested due to the shooting, the rapper was let go. However, he was detained for the second time in June 2021, for a separate case. The second arrest was related to a shooting that happened during Memorial Day at a strip club in Miami-Dade County in May.

After the second set of allegations, federal authorities indicated him for the earlier incident. While initially pleading not guilty, the rapper later pleaded guilty. According to Variety, Pooh signed a plea deal that included him pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of violent and drug-trafficking crimes.

After being sentenced, Pooh Shiesty addressed his fans and issued a statement on social media. As per XXL, the message read:

"I just wanna thank all my love ones, supporters and fans for holding me down during these hard times. I wish I could be coming home to y'all today gut this could've been wayyyy worse. I will be back sooner than y'all think! But [in the] meantime new music dropping next week."

Despite being behind bars since 2022, Pooh has posted updates on his official Instagram account. A lot of those posts were photos of him in jail. In October 2023, the rapper called into Gillie da King and Wallo's interview show Million Dollaz Worth of Game. He then mentioned that some artists like Lil Baby, Lil Durk, and Don Trip had sent him supportive letters while he was in prison.