A federal judge is being asked to weigh in on whether a Memphis rapper held in a rural Texas jail ahead of trial is being treated inhumanely, or whether near-constant access to a tablet loaded with email, video calls, games and streaming video undercuts that claim.
Lontrell Williams Jr., the 26-year-old performer known as Pooh Shiesty, is being held at Rolling Plains Regional Jail in Haskell, Texas while he awaits trial on federal kidnapping and armed robbery charges. His attorneys filed a motion on Oct. 15 arguing that his pretrial confinement conditions are excessively restrictive, citing 23 hours a day in solitary confinement and only two hours of visitation allowed per month, according to a report from KDWF-TV.
“Prolonged near-total isolation is well recognized to carry serious psychological risks, including anxiety, depression, and impaired concentration,” the motion stated.
Federal prosecutors pushed back hard. According to the outlet, the government’s response noted Williams has sent or received roughly 12,000 emails and made 230 video calls using a jail-issued tablet that also allows him to play video games and watch Netflix and NFL football.
“It can hardly be said that these conditions of confinement are inhumane, and therefore this emergency motion should be denied outright,” US Attorney Ryan Raybould said in the government’s filing.
Prosecutors added that Williams had not had an in-person visitor since late August. They said he was placed in solitary confinement after admitting to taking fentanyl, and also because other inmates had repeatedly sought his autograph.
The underlying case
Williams faces charges stemming from a January incident in which he allegedly held fellow rapper and 1017 Records label head Gucci Mane at gunpoint, forcing him to sign paperwork releasing Williams from his recording contract. Court documents allege eight associates simultaneously stole Rolex watches, jewelry and cash, and assaulted one of Mane’s associates during the encounter.
This is not Williams’s first brush with the law. He was arrested in 2021 for shooting a strip club bouncer in the leg and has previously faced drug, firearms and robbery charges. He pleaded guilty to federal firearms and drug trafficking charges and was sentenced to five years in prison, but was released early in 2025 due to time served and good behavior, according to a report from WCSC-TV.
