Casanova’s 15-Year Prison Sentence Upheld In New Ruling: “Defendant’s Conduct Is Dangerous”

Casanova will remain in prison for the foreseeable future. On Friday (December 1), a federal judge upheld the Roc Nation artist’s 188-month prison sentence, determining it was still warranted. According to court documents reviewed by AllHipHop, the judge noted Casanova already got a sentence at the bottom of the sentencing range and has yet to serve 20 percent of it.

As the docs explain, “Defendant is not entitled to a sentence reduction because, assuming arguendo that he exhausted administrative remedies, he has failed to establish the existence of extraordinary and compelling reasons, and consideration of the factors set forth at 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) does not warrant the relief requested.

“The defendant has failed to address, much less sustain, his burden of proof that a reduction would be consistent with the applicable policy statement that he is not a danger to the safety of any other person or to the community. The Court, at sentencing, noted the need to protect the public from further crimes: the defendant’s offense conduct is extremely serious and dangerous.”

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Casanova pleaded guilty to robbery in 2020. Although he distanced himself from his ties to the Gorilla Stone Nation gang, writing an emotional letter to the judge ahead of sentencing, the judge said he hasn’t proven he’s no longer a threat to the community,

Casanova asked for the sentence reduction (or what is referred to as “a compassionate release”) in August, explaining his actions during a 2018 altercation at the Good Stuff Diner in New York didn’t legally constitute a “robbery” under New York State law. He was one of 18 defendants charged in a sweeping racketeering case for drug dealing, murder, attempted murder and other crimes committed by the Gorilla Stone gang.

A significant portion of Casanova’s sentencing was over an incident in which he snatched a cellphone from Niya Rucker, who was recording him at the diner. Rucker claimed that Casanova’s associates assaulted, choked, cut and broke her jaw while retrieving her phone to delete the footage. Consequently, Casanova was slapped with two counts of felony robbery. The rapper and his lawyer, Scott Leemon, refuted these accusations, with Leemon stating that Rucker left the diner with her phone and insisted no robbery occurred.