Casanova was sentenced to 188 months in prison on Tuesday (June 27), for racketeering and narcotics offenses arising out of his leadership role in the Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation Bloods Gang.
The Brooklyn rapper, whose real name is Caswell Senior was arrested in December 2020 as part of a sweeping federal indictment against 18 alleged members of the Gorilla Stone Nation. He pleaded guilty to racketeering, drug trafficking, and firearms charges in May 2022.
In his sentencing, U.S. District Judge Philip M. Halpern said that Casanova’s crimes were “serious and violent” and that he had “a long history of gang activity.”
“As part of the racketeering conspiracy, Senior participated in a shooting in Florida on July 5, 2020, and a robbery in New York City on August 5, 2018, and conspired to traffic over 100 kilograms of marijuana,” read a press release by the U.S. attorney’s office.
The prosecution presented evidence that Casanova was a high-ranking member of the Gorilla Stone Nation and that he had been involved in a variety of criminal activities, including drug trafficking, racketeering, and violence.
“Caswell Senior is not just a notorious recording artist, but he is also a high-profile leader of a vicious street gang and a magnet for gang violence,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
The statement noted that the Cas used his rap career to expand and fund gang activities.
“At a crowded Miami house party, Senior personally fired a gun that seriously injured and could have killed a victim, inciting a shootout. Further, Senior’s stature in the community was central to Gorilla Stone’s successful recruitment and nationwide expansion. Today’s sentencing — along with the other significant sentences that have been imposed in this case — shows once again that gang life is not worth it and will lead to many years in prison.”
Halpern sentenced Casanova to 15-years in prison, which was the minimum sentence he could have received. He was initially facing a maximum of 60 years in jail. The rapper will also be required to serve five years of supervised release after he is released from prison.
His sentencing comes just a week after he denounced his affiliation to the Bloods gang and was viciously attacked in prison and stabbed by another inmate.
In reaction to his sentencing, Casanova’s wife Swaggy Jazzy expressed her love for the 36-year old and vowed to hold him down.
“I love you baby,” she typed on Instagram. “We gon walk that sh*t down!”
