Federal prosecutors have revealed the terms rapper Boosie Badazz’s plea deal in his gun possession case – including his recommended prison sentence and new details about his alleged misconduct.
A month after Boosie (Torence Hatch) said he’d take a deal because he was “tired of fighting,” the rapper appeared in a San Diego federal courtroom Tuesday to formally plead guilty – and the feds disclosed the specific terms of the deal.
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In return for Boosie pleading guilty to a single count of illegal gun ownership, prosecutors agreed to drop a second gun charge and ask for just a two-year prison sentence, far less than the maximum fifteen-year sentence the rapper was facing if convicted.
They also revealed new details about the case against him – including that he purchased the Glock and “Hellcat” handguns in Georgia and flew with them to San Diego on a Delta Air Lines flight the same day that he was arrested during a traffic stop.
“Neither the Glock, the Hellcat, nor the ammunition were manufactured in California,” the feds wrote in new court documents, obtained by Billboard. “Therefore, by the mere presence in San Diego, [the guns] traveled in and affected interstate commerce.”
Prosecutors also said in the new filings that they would not seek a monetary fine on top of the prison sentence, citing Boosie’s “limited financial prospects.” An attorney for the rapper did not immediately return a request for comment on Wednesday.
Boosie was first charged in June 2023 with being a felon in possession of a firearm – meaning he violated a federal law that prohibits people with felony convictions from owning guns. The rapper had previous been convicted of drug charges in 2011.
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The details of his arrest raised eyebrows. Local authorities spotted him with a handgun tucked into his waistband because they were monitoring the Instagram feed of a “known gang member.” After switching to Boosie’s account, police then used a helicopter to track him in an allegedly gang-associated neighborhood of San Diego. After a traffic stop, prosecutors said he was found with a matching black pistol in the vehicle.
The case has been anything but straightforward. State prosecutors initially charged him over the traffic stop, but then quickly dropped the case. Minutes after they did so, Boosie was arrested at the courthouse by federal prosecutors over the same incident.
Then in July 2024, he was briefly saved by the Second Amendment. A judge dismissed the charges because an appeals court had ruled it unconstitutional to charge nonviolent convicts with felon-in-possession. Boosie left the courthouse in tears that day, according to Courthouse News: “Ninety percent of people thought I was going to prison, but God had a different plan.”
The respite was short-lived: Prosecutors quickly refiled the case with small changes, and a higher appeals court panel later overturned the gun-control ruling that might have helped him.
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The new case was proceeding toward an eventual jury trial when the plea agreement was reached earlier this month. Boosie announced the move on Instagram, saying he had “talked to my family” and “this is the right decision.”
“JUST ACCEPTED A PLEA FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON MY GUN CASE,” Boosie posted on X at the time. “I THOUGHT THIS CASE WAS OVER N I WAS GOING TO GET ON WITH MY LIFE BUT ‘GOD DONT MAKE MISTAKES’ N IM TIRED OF FIGHTING!!”
Under the terms of the plea deal revealed Tuesday, prosecutors will also recommend three years of supervised release after Boosie completes his prison sentence. Boosie can ask for less than two years in prison, and the government can oppose that request. A sentencing hearing is currently scheduled for November.
