What up squad, hope the new year been treating you guys better than these rappers. Feds have not been playing no games and they got to the man Casanova himself. Damn. The more the case is being revealed the more neck deep in it Cas appears to be. Let’s get right into it and look into just how the FBI got Casanova looking at life behind bars.
Rap has always been hardcore and gritty. You know how it goes, violence sells, sex sells. Women use sex appeal, and dudes lean to the side of violence. Everyone from Ice Cube, to Lil Tecca. Something about gang banging just gravitates us to music. Sadly these rappers pay the price. Casanova is the latest in a long string of rappers in the crosshairs of law enforcement. It’s sad, but the life has finally caught up to Cas. To tie all this together and how Cas got here, we’re going back to what got him started down this path and into the hands of the FBI.
A young Casanova had it all, parents well off, big house, J’s every other week https://youtu.be/-tzw-zvSirI (2:30-2:34) Dude was living comfortable, but this is what get’s dudes messed up…friends. Cas fell for the age-old bait, too cool for school. Even with everything he had going for him, he woke up and chose violence with a little help from peer pressure https://youtu.be/jSBHZYQAcDg (3:13-3:50). To a young Cas it all seemed like fun being down with the crowd https://youtu.be/-tzw-zvSirI (3:29-3:55) but the red flags already began showing soon after when his lifestyle was crossing paths with the law https://youtu.be/-tzw-zvSirI (7:19-7:37) Being young and reckless it was more a badge of honor than a wake up call to change his ways https://youtu.be/-tzw-zvSirI (7:45-7:50). Cas was being fueled by the adrenaline and hype of the life at a young age. In and out of juvi his notoriety already started building, and inevitably his name began being claimed by gangs https://youtu.be/-tzw-zvSirI (8:17-8:52).
Throughout his teenage years Casanova continued robbing, that was his main thing, but after robbing a cashier for $7500, getting caught, bonded and robbing again soon after for a payout of $15,000 and getting caught again, that’s when reality set in. The 19 year old Cas became a known criminal to law enforcement. His robbing spree would come to an end with a hefty price https://youtu.be/swWP7TtZ5oA (15:38-16:00). In order to avoid doing a bid of 25 years, he took a deal and got off with 6.5 years in prison https://youtu.be/swWP7TtZ5oA (16:51-17:41). Cas may not have known it, but that jail sentence would be the defining moment that led him into FBI hands. His 6.5 years turned into 7.5 due to Cas catching offenses like selling dope and fighting behind bars. Cas got home and in no time, his ways sent him right back in the pen, but this time claiming innocence in a robbery he didn’t commit. Life started sinking in, having a daughter he’s never met and already back to prison https://youtu.be/UaQI2VvPrRQ (10:33-11:01) It started changing Cas, this time for the better. Being lucky to beat the case and be back out in 2 months, Cas was ready to change his ways https://youtu.be/UaQI2VvPrRQ (11:40-11:55) but old habits die hard. Cas would get a job through his sis and quit soon after.
Looking for a way out, he turned to music and with the release of the hit ‘Don’t Run’ in June 2016 https://youtu.be/Ph-g4kY_OIU The track racked up millions of views and it seemed Cas was off to a new start. Cas seemed to step onto the right path, but his gangster antics continued to haunt him, and in turn gave the feds more evidence to build a case. At the height of the now forgotten rapper 6ix9ine, Cas was heavy in a beef with the rainbow haired rapper and his then clique, Nine Trey.
The beef led to a shootout at the Barclays Center between the two camps https://youtu.be/-s9qWcswZxQ (0:00-0:40) https://youtu.be/-s9qWcswZxQ (2:58-3:55) to which snitch9ine confessed to when the law brought the hammer down on Nine Trey.
It turns out Cas was repping a new gang called the Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation and his downfall that placed him right in the feds hands was making this new allegiance. Cas began falling into the same routine that got him jailed in the past. Even though he denounced being in anything gang related in interviews, he constantly kept showcasing allegiance with the Gorillas which the feds used to take him down. During his 6ix9ine beef, he released a song speculated to be about his opp named ‘Set Trippin’ which showcased Cas in a Gorilla mask
Throughout the gritty gang related theme of the song, he rapped bars like “I’m set trippin’ on you ninjas, ya’ll don’t bleed like I bleed I’m gorilla” https://youtu.be/ffrIyEZoMhY (0:51-0:54). With the feds watching, Cas was slowly digging his own grave piling on the evidence for what became the RICO charge that tied him to the gang. If he stopped there he might have had a chance, but Casanova became the face of the gang, dropping a verse on the gang anthem, ‘Big Ape’ where he can be seen wearing a gorilla chain while spitting of the gang life.
This pic from the vid is very important in the case the feds have against him. Pay particular attention to the guy on the far left flipping the bird. His name is Walter Luster, aka “Shells”
Luster is a leader of the Money Gang Cave of Gorilla Stone. Law enforcement obtained a wiretap of his phone and Shells was clearly heard boasting of his violent tendencies, saying he was “thirsty for someone to give me reason to clap ‘em.”
They also got him on tape confessing to ordering an act of violence on a recorded call. One of these acts was in conjunction with Dwight Reid, aka “Dick Wolf” the founder and gang leader of the Gorilla Stone who is currently incarcerated on a fifty-year-to-life sentence for a 2014 hit he committed by banging a victim at point blank range in the head.
Why would Cas align himself with the gang after finally detaching from his past? We may never know, but the feds were probably smiling robbing their hands like birdman while they piled up the evidence files. Cas tried to act like he’s done with the gangster life, even squashing his beef with archnemesis 6ix9ine https://youtu.be/WGTNs7iN83g (7:07-7:32).
After what happened to 6ix9ine being caught with the RICO charge, Cas probably had the street smarts to know the law was closing in on him and tried to avoid it, but with a bunch of connections floating around with his allegiance to the Gorilla Stone’s, they were already hot on his trail. Not only were his ties to them evident in videos, but on posts to his social media as well.
Cas was the brand of the Gorilla Stones, and he wore it with pride https://youtu.be/AGENJyUScLs (0:06-1:02)
While Cas was riding the high wave, the feds got all they needed to tie him in with the Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation and on December 1st the FBI issued a public statement to the world that they’re looking for the rapper.
They had already taken down his 18 other crewmates and only him was left to be indicted.
Casanova was being indicted on some very serious charges, one of which was in relation to the hit on a 15-year old which is the crime that will destroy his life is convicted. Cas later turned himself in https://youtu.be/IgKZl-mfnKg (0:30-0:41).
While Casanova is keeping his spirits up and hopeful behind bars, the severity of the case isn’t looking too good for the Flatbush gangster.
The feds seem to have built an iron clad case with evidence through Casanova’s social media and interviews along with wire taps on his devices.
They’ve got some pretty incriminating evidence, even messages and confirmations of the agreement that Casanova would use his music to benefit the gang while also calling shots and sending orders to gang members through Instagram DM’s and other online means.
Honestly, things aren’t looking good for Casanova. When the feds come get you, they come for a reason. They’re not playing games or try to see who they can get. They’ve compiled the evidence, done their homework, and ready to school you. This can very well be Casanova’s fall from grace, but we’ll just have to wait and see was up. As of right now, the latest update comes in the form of a rumor that Cas and his legal team are putting together a bail package deal of 2.5 million to present to the court, but because he was seen as on the run and a bulleting had to be put out by the FBI for his arrest, things may not go in his favor with getting bail. Only time will tell if Cas will make it out, be able to do music, or revert back to his older self…
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Chad is a professional journalist specializing in Hip-Hop culture and writing music reviews.
