FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Atlanta rapper Ca$h Out, once known for hits including “Cashin’ Out” and “She Twerkin,” will spend the rest of his life in prison after being sentenced Monday for his conviction on charges including rape and sex trafficking.
Ca$h Out, whose legal name is John Michael Hakeem Gibson, was convicted last week after a month-long trial in a racketeering case that accused him of leading a trafficking and prostitution enterprise.
His full sentence includes a life sentence and then 70 years in jail. He was given jail sentences on several other charges that were made concurrent, which do not add any additional years.
His additional conditions include no contact with any victims or their families, registering as a sex offender, and staying away from several addresses in metro Atlanta, including the Fulton Industrial Blvd. corridor.
In court on Monday, multiple victims and their families described the pain they’d been subjected to, feeling “disgusting” and “unlovable,” as well as PTSD, depression, anxiety, and other resulting conditions from being trafficked and coerced into prostitution. The parents of one victim said he used his status as a famous musician and his wealth to “steal their person … literally stole the souls of all the women they victimized.”
“For the rest of my life, I will fear that he will kill me, all because I wouldn’t do what he wanted me to do,” one victim said.
The rapper, for his part, rejected that he was guilty of trafficking, coercion, or rape, saying the jury had made the “wrong judgment,” suggesting the victims were “bullied” into testifying against him and invoking Jesus as a falsely accused figure.
His attorney had asked for a 30-year sentence, saying the prosecution recommended 25 years before the trial, which he hadn’t accepted because he “wanted his day in court.” The attorney asked the judge not to impose a “trial penalty,” which would result in harsher sentencing.
The judge, before reading her sentence, said the evidence at trial had shown “the very worst of human behavior toward other human beings.” She said the jury verdict reflected that the prosecution had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that “the diabolical conduct of the defendants occurred,” and her sentence would be “responsive to that.”
Ca$h Out was convicted last week after a month-long trial of on charges that included rape, aggravated sodomy, sex trafficking, and racketeering, among other violations.
Two others, Linda Smith, his mother, known as “Morenika Vinnie” and “Mama Ca$h Out,” and Tyrone Taylor, also stood trial and were convicted.
Linda Smith was given 30 years in prison, and Taylor was also given life plus 70 years.
Prosecutors had alleged an enterprise and racketeering activity that led to crimes of trafficking and other violence. The prosecutors claimed in the case, which was re-indicted in 2023, that Ca$h Out was a leader of the enterprise.
“Although now administratively dissolved, Cash Out used PMG (Pyrex Music Group, LLC), along with this brand name ‘Cash Out,’ to promote his music and the ‘Cash Out’ brand, and through the use of deception and then coercion, enticed and recruited women from social media platforms to engage in commercial sexual activity,” the re-indictment states.
- Count 1 – Violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) – 20 years to serve in confinement consecutive to Count 10
- Count 10 – Rape – Life in confinement
- Count 12 – Aggravated sodomy – Life in confinement to run concurrent with Count 10
- Count 22 – Trafficking a person for sexual servitude – 20 years to serve in confinement to run consecutively with Count 1
- Count 23 – Trafficking a person for sexual servitude – 20 years to serve in confinement to run consecutively with Count 22
- Count 24 – Battery – 12 months to serve in confinement to run concurrent with Count 10
- Count 25 – Possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony – 5 years to serve in confinement to run consecutive with Count 23
- Count 26 – Pimping – 12 months to serve in confinement to run concurrent with Count 10
- Count 27 – Pandering – 12 months to serve in confinement to run concurrent with Count 10
- Count 28 – Keeping a place of prostitution – 12 months to serve in confinement to run concurrently with Count 10
- Count 29 – Willful obstruction of a law enforcement officer – 12 months to serve in confinement to run concurrent with Count 10
- Count 30 – Simple battery – Merged with Count 24
- Count 45 – Possession of prohibited items by an inmate – 5 years to serve in confinement to run consecutive with Count 25
During the trial last week, Gibson’s lawyer, Careton Matthews, argued that the state had failed to prove its case and called some of the charges against him overblown. He also pointed to key testimonies from the accusers, who he said voluntarily reconnected with Gibson and contradicted themselves repeatedly.
“What I’m doing is I’m showing you all how you have to look at statements and when they, when you confront them with something that is not accurate, and they tell you something one day and then they tell you something different on another day, those are inconsistencies,” said Matthews.
Matthews accused the prosecution of overcharging by presenting conflicting counts for the same incidents.
He also questioned the credibility of co-defendants who received deals for cooperating with prosecutors. Matthews also accused prosecutors of having a lack of expert witnesses in their lineup. He asked the jury to consider the lack of proof when deciding if any of the defendants were guilty.
Defense lawyers for Gibson’s mother claimed that she was mentioned only a few times in the indictment and should not be involved in the case.
The prosecutors’ case, which presented their closing arguments on Thursday, relied heavily on messages from cell phones, financial records, and witness testimony.
“This was a reign of terror for seven years, probably more, but seven years, that’s what we have on the books for the evidence,” said Fulton County Deputy District Attorney Earnelle Winfrey in her closing arguments.
Prosecutors said Gibson orchestrated a criminal enterprise using a network of women, including his mother. According to the prosecuting attorneys, Gibson recruited women for prostitution, controlled their finances, and used the proceeds to support his lifestyle.
Attorneys accused Gibson of using fear and manipulation to maintain control. Prosecutors said women were isolated from their families, had their IDs taken, and were coached not to talk to police. Several alleged victims testified that Gibson beat them, forced them to post sex ads, and withheld money.
