Chicago rapper Chief Keef arrested
Chicago rapper Chief Keef has been taken into custody after a juvenile court judge decided a video of him firing a semiautomatic rifle at a New York gun range was a violation of probation.
The artist (real name Keith Cozart) was sentenced last year to 18 months’ probation after his conviction on aggravated unlawful use of a weapon charges for pointing a gun at police officers.
Defense attorney Dennis Berkson told Walker his client never took the gun outside of the range and the target practice was supervised.
Chief Keef’s first album (“Finally Rich”) was released last year to mixed reviews.
Chief Keef.
Just weeks after releasing his debut album, “Finally Rich,” South Side rapper Chief Keef was taken in handcuffs from juvenile court Tuesday after a Cook County judge ordered him held in custody.
Judge Carl Anthony Walker ruled that Chief Keef had violated his probation for a 2011 gun conviction by holding a rifle at a gun range in New York while a video was being shot last summer.
Prosecutors have been seeking to detain the 17-year-old rap sensation for weeks, most recently alleging that he had violated his probation by moving to a north suburb without telling authorities. Police interest in Chief Keef (whose real name is Keith Cozart) grew after he sent a taunting tweet following the slaying of aspiring rapper Lil Jojo in September.
After the judge ordered him taken into custody, Chief Keef emptied his pockets and handed his cellphone to his uncle before a court deputy escorted him from the courtroom in handcuffs – according to his lawyer.
During the approximately two-hour hearing, a gun range employee testified that Chief Keef was holding the rifle during an on-camera interview by Pitchfork Media, an Internet-based music publication.
The Cook County judge ruled that Chief Keef (17), whose real name is Keith Cozart, should not have agreed to be filmed last year firing a rifle at a gun range in New York. That decision violated the terms of his 18-month sentence of probation for pointing a gun at a Chicago police officer in 2011, the judge, Carl Anthony Walker of Juvenile Court, ruled. Chief Keef was sent to county jail to await sentencing, which is scheduled for Thursday.
Chicago has been reeling from a wave of gang-related murders over the last year, and Chief Keef’s interview with Pitchfork drew criticism when it was shown last year. In September, the editors of the music site apologized and removed the video from the Web.
The Chicago police have been investigating a possible link between Chief Keef and the September 4 slaying of an aspiring rapper, Lil Jojo, The Tribune and The Chicago Sun-Times have reported. Chief Keef has not been accused of any wrongdoing in that case.
Lil Jojo (whose real name is Joseph Coleman) had engaged in a running war of words with rival rappers, among them Chief Keef, and had had run-ins with the Black Disciples street gang. After the murder, Chief Keef made light of Lil Jojo’s death on Twitter, taunting the slain 18-year-old. He later said his account had been hacked.
During a two-hour hearing on Tuesday, Chief Keef did not address the judge or testify. Last month he released a new album, “Finally Rich,” on Interscope Records, which recently signed him to a contract.