Atlanta rapper Ca$h Out, born John-Michael Hakim Gibson, has been found guilty on multiple serious charges following a six-week trial in Fulton County.
The verdict came after just one day of jury deliberation, capping a years-long investigation into an alleged sex trafficking ring operating under the guise of a music label.
According to Atlanta News First, Ca$h Out was convicted on charges including rape, pimping, aggravated sodomy, and two counts of sex trafficking. He was acquitted on a third sex trafficking count, as well as charges of sexual servitude, aggravated assault, and operating a place of prostitution.
The 33-year-old rapper was also found guilty under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, along with his co-defendants — his mother and manager Linda Smith, and associate Tyrone Taylor.
Prosecutors used the RICO statute to connect the group’s coordinated criminal activities to a broader enterprise allegedly built around Ca\$h Out’s music label, Pyrex Music Group.
Prosecutors: Music Career Was a Front for Exploitation
Ca\$h Out was first indicted in 2022, after a lengthy investigation into claims that he used his celebrity status and business operations to lure young women with promises of fame, money, and opportunity. Prosecutors alleged that the rapper manipulated, coerced, and at times used violence to control women, forcing them into prostitution and collecting their earnings.
During the trial, several women testified they were trafficked by the rapper and that he exerted psychological and financial control over them. The state also introduced bank records and electronic evidence that prosecutors said showed links between Ca$h Out’s financial activity and organized sex trafficking.
Co-Defendants Also Convicted
Linda Smith, who served as Ca$h Out’s manager and mother, was convicted of one count of trafficking, but acquitted of a second trafficking charge and prostitution.
Tyrone Taylor, another alleged key figure in the enterprise, was convicted on all but one charge, including rape and aggravated sodomy; he was only acquitted of pimping.
All three defendants now await sentencing.
Legal Implications of Georgia’s RICO Law
The case marks another high-profile application of Georgia’s expansive RICO law, which has been increasingly used to prosecute not only traditional organized crime but also street gangs and, in this instance, alleged exploitation rings in the entertainment industry.
By connecting individual acts of trafficking, sexual violence, and financial fraud, prosecutors were able to establish a pattern of racketeering under state law.
Legal experts say this conviction could have broader implications for how Georgia handles criminal enterprises that operate within seemingly legitimate industries like music and entertainment.
