NBA YoungBoy‘s former affiliate OTS Lil Pap has accepted a plea deal in connection to a murder that authorities say sparked a longstanding feud with another local crew.
According to The Advocate, Lil Pap (real name Deandre Fields) stood accused of killing fellow Baton Rouge, Louisiana artist Gee Money in September 2017. NBA YoungBoy was close friends with Gee Money and once performed with his label, Top Boy Gorilla ( TBG), however the two fell out when YoungBoy struck out on his own to launch his Never Broke Again imprint.
Things escalated when Gee Money (real name Garrett Burton) released a song that contained “disparaging lyrics” about YoungBoy’s sister. Authorities in East Baton Rouge claim that the rift escalated from a rap feud to a years-long all out gang war, sparked by Gee’s murder.
Prosecutors representing the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney stated on Monday (January 23) that the subsequent killings even interrupted their case against OTS Lil Pap, as a key witness to Gee Money’s killing was arrested on an unrelated second-degree murder charge in July 2020.
“This arrest created a serious issue to the successful trial of Deandre Fields as the state’s eyewitness has been indicted for a homicide himself,” District Attorney Hillar Moore said in a statement. “There was no other direct information outside of some circumstantial evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Fields was responsible for this homicide.”
Lil Pap, who formerly went by the moniker NBA Lil Pap, was originally indicted under second-degree murder charges and was scheduled to go to trial this week. He was facing a mandatory life sentence if found guilty.
Instead he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of accessory after the fact of murder under a new indictment that listed that he was simply in the car with a group of people that included Gee Money’s killer. Authorities allege Lil Pap also assisted the shooter afterwards.
Moore said that his office had no choice but to offer the plea deal, as it would have been nearly impossible for them to prove Pap was the actual perpetrator.
“Under the circumstances the state was not in any other position but to resolve this matter under these circumstances,” he added. “My office has discussed these issues with Mr. Burton’s family prior to accepting this plea.”
OTS Lil Pap was sentenced to five years in prison, which he will serve concurrently with a three-year sentence he received last year after being convicted on a federal weapons charge.
The 28-year-old maintained his innocence even as he appeared in court to enter the plea deal. However, when prosecutors pointed out that he could not plead guilty and continue to claim he was innocent, Lil Pap stated, “It’s in my best interest to accept the plea.”
Aside from his relationship with the victim Gee Money, NBA YoungBoy was not implicated in OTS Lil Pap’s case in any way.
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