The Georgia Supreme Court will hear the appeal of a man who shot up rapper Lil Wayne’s tour bus in April 2015. Jimmy Winfrey, aka Pee Wee Roscoe, was indicted on 27 charges, including gang violence and weapons possession. Prosecutors offered him 2 plea deals, both of which he denied, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Prosecutors say Winfrey got into a verbal altercation with members of Lil Wayne’s entourage outside Compound nightclub in Atlanta, where Wayne was performing in 2015.
After Wayne’s tour bus left the nightclub, Winfrey, who was driving a white Camaro, pulled up alongside the bus and opened fire as retaliation in a bloods gang dispute.
Winfrey is appealing his 10-year prison sentence and conviction claiming the original judge coerced him to accept a plea deal he didn’t want.
Winfrey, who was tour manager for rapper Young Thug, reportedly told police he shot up the bus to increase his status within the Bloods gang.
In his appeal, Winfrey says he was hesitant to plea to a gang charge because of the impact it might have on his chances of parole later.
http://www.ajc.com/news/local/case-man-who-shot-lil-wayne-bus-cobb-sent-supreme-court/Y0Nym292rIxaKeQKjutClN/
“This opportunity is going away. Go to trial and you get convicted, there’s not going to be any of me being concerned about when you parole out,” the judge reportedly told Winfrey.
His appeal attorneys say that Winfrey’s decision to take his chances with a jury was “thwarted when the trial judge engaged Winfrey directly, expressed distaste for the charges” and “highlighted an extreme sentence” to “dissuade Winfrey from his not guilty plea.”
Winfrey was a troubled teenage rapper when rapper T.I. Harris took him under his wing. He was featured prominently in T.I.’s reality TV show “T.I.’s Road To Redemption” on MTV in 2009.
Winfrey’s appeal case is set for oral argument during the Supreme Court’s 10 a.m. session today.
