Image source: James Messerschmidt/Page Six
From Page Six:
Brooklyn rapper Bobby Shmurda lost yet another bid for bail Monday in advance of his upcoming drug-dealing and weapons-possession trial in Manhattan.
The 21-year-old rapper, whose legal name is Ackquille Pollard, has been incarcerated since his arrest in December, when the judge set bail of $2 million.
The rising Epic Records artist is being repped by a new lawyer, Alex Spiro of the high-powered law firm Brafman & Associates. Spiro appeared in court for the case Monday for the first time.
During the hearing, Judge James Burke set a new trial date of Feb. 22, but Spiro objected to the further delay and asked for his client to be released pending the trial.
But Special Narcotics Prosecutor Nigel Farinha argued that there had already been at least four bail applications that had been denied and that the case had only gotten stronger. He cited Shmurda’s ties to Florida and net worth of half a million dollars.
Burke denied the bail request.
Shmurda and 14 other alleged GS9 gangsters were arrested Dec. 17, 2014, in connection with a drug and firearm ring, several brazen public shootings and the murder of a 19-year-old rival, court records show.
Only months earlier, Shmurda’s 2014 single “Hot Boy” shot to No. 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 charts.