Rapper who joined Trump at campaign rally sentenced for attempted murder

Rapper Sheff G, also known as Michael Williams, right, joins then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally in the Bronx borough of New York on May. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

NEW YORK — A New York City rapper who joined U.S. President Donald Trump during a campaign rally last year has been sentenced to five years behind bars after he admitted he used earnings from his music career to fuel gang violence in Brooklyn.

Sheff G, whose legal name is Michael Williams, also must serve five years of supervised release once he’s freed under the terms of the sentence imposed Wednesday.

He and the judge agreed on the sentence when the rapper pleaded guilty earlier this year to attempted murder and conspiracy. Prosecutors wanted a 20-year prison term.

“This defendant had talent and opportunity, but chose to use them to fuel violence instead of building a better future,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said after the sentencing.

The 27-year-old rapper, whose songs and videos have millions of YouTube views and Spotify streams, was among those arrested in connection with a long-term investigation into gang-related shootings in Brooklyn. The allegations of violence against Sheff G had already been made public when he appeared with Trump onstage in May 2024.

More than 30 purported members of the 8 Trey Crips and the street gang’s affiliate, the 9 Ways gang, have been indicted. Twenty-three have pleaded guilty to various charges while seven cases are still pending.

Among those charged was Tegan Chambers, a rapper known as Sleepy Hallow who also appeared on stage with Trump and Sheff G during the May 23, 2024, rally in the Bronx. Chambers was sentenced last week to a year in jail following his guilty plea to a conspiracy count.

A spokesman for Trump’s campaign was asked at the time about whether the campaign knew about the charges and whether it was the former president who sought the rappers’ support or the other way around.

“As Sheff G said: `They always whisper your accomplishments and shout your failures,”' campaign spokesman Steven Cheung responded.

Prosecutors have said Sheff G showered money and jewelry on gang members as they battled rivals in Brooklyn.

They say the rapper acted as a getaway driver on at least one occasion, chauffeuring three co-defendants to and from a 2021 shooting that targeted a rival but instead hit two bystanders. Sheff G even treated gang members to a lavish dinner at a Manhattan steakhouse to celebrate a 2020 shooting that killed a purported rival gang member and injured five others, according to prosecutors.

Surveillance videos, social media posts, text messages and more evidence document the criminal activities, and the two rappers also boasted about their misdeeds in their songs, Gonzalez’s office said.

Sheff G’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Wednesday. He’s said previously that the plea deal was in the “best interest of everyone involved.”

Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow were among the notable names Trump touted during his campaign stops as he worked to woo Black voters on his way to reclaiming the White House.

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Philip Marcelo And Bruce Shipkowski, The Associated Press

Shipkowski contributed to this report from Toms River, New Jersey.