Bobby Shmurda Arrested: Rapper Held On Gun, Drug Charges

Rap artist Ackquille Jean Pollard, better known by his stage name Bobby Shmurda, was arrested in New York City earlier this week and was subsequently arraigned in the State Supreme Court in Manhattan on gun and drug charges.

The arrest of Shmurda took place outside the Quad Recording Studios, which is situated at 723 Seventh Avenue, near Times Square. He was picked up as he sat outside the studio in a car. Initially the details of the investigation were sealed. However, during the arraignment that took place the next day it was learned that the GS9 gang had been under investigation for over two years.

Shmurda was charged along with 12 members of GS9, the group which he and rapper Rowdy Rebel formed. Rebel was also charged. Each of them was held on a $2 million bail, which the pair's attorney noted would be paid by Epic Records.

Epic Records had signed Rebel, whose official name is Chad Marshall, and Shmurda earlier this year to a contract after Shmurda's song "Hot Boy" became a surprise hit on the Internet and then subsequently rose to number eight on the Billboard chart.

The prosecutor on the case, Nigel Farina stated during the arraignment that "there was no doubt that Shmurda was the driving force behind the GS9 gang and the organizing figure within the conspiracy."

The gang was also described as being involved in drug trafficking. It was likewise linked to the murder of a member of another gang in Brooklyn, and also to shootings that took place in New York and Miami.

The lawyer who had been hired by Shmurda, Howard Greenberg, stated that the indictment was a "worthless piece of paper."

He also said no evidence linked Shmurda to the crimes mentioned and that the police were relying solely on the statements of "unreliable co-conspirators."

Greenberg described his client as "famous and rich" who had no reason to "do this stuff."