By Tai Saint Loui
Newly uncovered court documents are calling to question the authenticity of self-appointed “Grand Hustle Muscle,” rapper Alfamega. A 1997 court order signed by United States District Judge J. Owen Forrester indicates the Atlanta rapper’s 1995 prison sentence was shortened after he served as a Drug Enforcement Administration informant and testified as a government witness in a high profile case.
Alfamega, who has made no secret of his criminal past and lengthy prison sentence, was sentenced to a federal prison term of 110 months in September 1995, after being found guilty of selling weapons to an undercover federal agent. According to documents published by TheSmokingGun.com today (May 5), following his sentencing, Alfa, born Cedric Zellars, contacted the United States Attorney’s office via his attorney Dwight Thomas, to offer information regarding “the illegal activity of several individuals within the City of Atlanta.”
Upon agreeing to cooperate with authorities, Alfamega was debriefed concerning the information he had to provide. He would go on to become a major asset for the prosecution in the trail of accused heroin trafficker Ali Baaqar, who stood accused of conspiring to distribute heroin in Atlanta and surrounding counties.
In October 1996, based on the testimony of several witnesses, including Zellars, Ali Baaqar was convicted of all charges.
Following the trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Gabay-Smith petitioned the courts on behalf of Alfamega, requesting that the rapper’s sentence be decreased, in light of his cooperation with the government. On July 25, 1997, Judge Forrester effectively reduced the sentence from 110 months to 92, therefore shaving off a year and a half.
Coincidentally, Dwight Thomas, the attorney responsible for brokering this arrangement with federal prosecutors, was one of the attorneys who represented Grand Hustle co-founder T.I. in his weapons case nearly ten years later.
Alfamega’s Grand Hustle/Capitol Records debut, I Am Alfamega, was scheduled for release on January 13, a date which was already three months after it’s original October 2008 release date.
At press time, a new release date had not been set.