Alleged Gunman in Lil Wayne’s Tour Bus Shooting Takes Plea Deal
According to documents obtained by XXL on Tuesday (Aug. 11), Jimmy Carlton Winfrey, who supposedly has ties to Young Thug as his former tour manager, has pleaded guilty to two counts of violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. As part of Winfrey's agreement, he had 25 other charges dismissed including four counts of violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO Act), a dozen counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Winfrey was sentenced to seven years in prison, which he will be receiving time served for, according to his attorney, Steven Sadow. He was initially facing 20 years in prison. According to a report from TMZ today, Winfrey's attorney says he won't be released just yet due to unrelated outstanding warrants. He has been incarcerated for five years.
Sadow, who confirmed that Winfrey has taken a plea deal, told XXL in a statement his morning, "Jimmy Winfrey decided to enter an Alford guilty plea to two of the charges because it was in his best interest to do so. He always maintained his innocence and this allowed him to end the case with a time served sentence, which means the case ended when he entered the plea. He has no probation. The case is over."
Winfrey turned himself into Georgia's Cobb County police on June 2, 2015, following the shooting. At the time, police said that he was looking to heighten his status as a Bloods gang member by carrying out a shooting on a rival rap artist.
Months prior, in April of 2015, Wayne's tour bus was shot at as he left his performance at Compound Nightclub in Atlanta. Reports claim that a heated argument between the New Orleans native and audience members at his show transpired before the shooting. Security intervened, removing the hecklers from the venue and also providing extra protection for Weezy after the show.
Witnesses spotted suspects drive off in two white vehicles, but their accounts of what they saw weren't in great detail. Atlanta police spokeswoman Elizabeth Espy said at the time that the vehicles could have been a Corvette-styled car and an SUV. There weren't any reported injuries.
Young Thug, who had been beefing with Lil Wayne for trying to name his album Carter 6, which is an album series Weezy has been dropping since 2004, was less than two hours away at a performance in Baton Rouge, La. While performing at Southern University, Thugger was booed and someone could be heard saying, "Hollygrove, nigga. Weezy!" Hollygrove is the New Orleans neighborhood that Wayne is from. Thug ended up naming the album Barter 6 instead.
Young Thug along with Birdman were named as co-conspirators in the indictment for the case. Winfrey reportedly claimed that the Cash Money Records CEO was involved in the shooting as a result of a contract dispute between Birdman and Wayne. Birdman, however, denied any involvement with the incident.
The driver of the bus, Alan Lewis, who claimed earlier this year that Young Thug and Birdman struck deals in the case because there was overwhelming evidence to charge them, is expected to receive $100,000 in restitution from Winfrey.
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