Pooh Shiesty is pushing back against the federal government’s defense of his 23-hour daily lockdown.
In a response in the Northern District of Texas, attorney Kent Schaffer reiterates that the 27-year-old rapper, whose real name is Lontrell Denell Williams Jr., is being held in indefinite solitary confinement without any “written classification,” disciplinary violation involving violence, or administrative hearing.
As part of the requested relief, the rapper is seeking a transfer to a facility closer to Dallas to make family visits easier, along with “meaningful out-of-cell time” without being placed in solitary confinement unless he is “found to pose a danger to himself or others.” He is also requesting a minimum of four hours of visitation each month.
“Mr. Williams is not asking the Court to run the jail,” his attorney wrote. “He asks only that a presumptively innocent man not be held in near-total isolation indefinitely on the strength of an unsworn, changing explanation that, even taken at face value, describes no violence, no threat, and no misconduct of his own at [Rolling Plains Regional Jail].”
Schaffer previously also said that Shiesty “has little to no human contact and that can wear anyone down physically, mentally, and emotionally.”
“Pre-trial incarceration is not supposed to be punitive so we are trying to get the court to step in and put an end to it,” he added.
Federal prosecutors had earlier opposed an emergency motion submitted by the rapper, arguing that the restrictions are necessary to maintain institutional order and protect Shiesty himself. They cited several safety concerns, including previous allegations that Shiesty “corrupted monitors” at a halfway house, an incident involving three inmates attempting to approach him for autographs, and his admission during a court hearing that he recently consumed fentanyl.
Shiesty remains detained at the facility while awaiting his February 2027 trial over the alleged robbery and kidnapping of Gucci Mane.
Last month, prosecutors cited his access to an electronic tablet as evidence that his detention conditions were humane. However, the defense argued that the rapper’s 1,170 recorded hours of tablet activity simply reflect a man “with nothing else to do and no one to talk to.”
“The government’s central argument is that Mr. Williams cannot be suffering inhumane conditions because he can use a tablet to watch Netflix, play games, send electronic messages, and make video calls,” his attorneys wrote. “But the motion does not seek more entertainment. It challenges near-total isolation from other people that has not been justified. Screen time does not substitute for human contact, and the government cites no case holding otherwise.”
The defense also challenged what it described as the government’s changing, hearsay-based explanations for the isolation. When Shiesty was initially placed in isolation upon arriving at Rolling Plains Regional Jail, officials verbally told him it was “for his own protection.” Attorneys noted that facility staff later pointed to “safety and security reasons,” citing inmates seeking his autograph and unproven allegations involving substance use.
