The first page of Gizwop’s D.C. District Court case.

In another major blow to Washington D.C.’s burgeoning rap music scene, local rapper Gizwop (real name Russell Campbell) was sentenced to 30 months in prison yesterday after pleading guilty to firearms charges last September. Campbell is from the Fort Dupont area of Southeast D.C., specifically the neighborhood around 37th Street and 37th Place, Southeast. According to court documents, he was arrested after fleeing a car during a traffic stop in 2022. Multiple weapons were found when the car was searched, including an automatic pistol that when swabbed, had a DNA profile that matched Campbell’s DNA. He is best known for his collaborations with rappers like No Savage, Baby Jamo and former Grammy nominee Shy Glizzy, who are all also from the same neighborhood east of the Anacostia River.

Gizwop has made headlines for his legal troubles instead of his music, much like his peers. According to TMZ, Shy Glizzy was arrested last May on criminal charges, accused of pulling a gun on his ex-girlfriend and threatening to kill her. No Savage was sentenced in June of 2023 to felony firearm charges after a 2022 incident where he fired a gun inside a crowded Northern Virginia shopping mall. Baby Jamo made national news in November after crashing a car into a barricade outside the United States Capitol building.

      A viral Gizwop music video from 2022.

The story of Campbell’s conviction is also relevant to the District’s ongoing problems with violent crime and issues with systemic racism in America’s justice system. In his sentencing hearing yesterday, Campbell was found guilty of unlawfully possessing a firearm while under indictment, and unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition as a felon. According to court documents, Gizwop became a felon after being convicted of gun charges. He was a minor when arrested for these charges, but was tried as an adult. Black youths in America are significantly more likely to be sent to juvenile facilities and to be tried as adults.

     A Council on Criminal Justice graph: Percentage Change in Homicides in 32 Cities, 2022–2023

Violent crime has been trending downwards nationally since the 1980’s. In 2020, as tensions flared at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, violent crime did have its largest rise in years, but crime rate fell dramatically afterwards. Washington D.C. was the most noticeable exception, especially in 2023. The city had 274 homicides, making D.C.’s homicide rate rise the second highest of any major city in the U.S. The city has faced a police shortage, and fewer arrests were made in 2023, which has been blamed as a potential culprit for the continued violence. But, D.C. has a number of social problems that seem likely to be related, including chronic absenteeism in public schools. Gizwop is just one of many in the District whose criminal record reflects a larger trend.

The United States Attorney’s Office has released an announcement of his sentencing:

Russell Campbell, 21, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 30 months in prison in connection with his possession of a Glock firearm and possession of an AK-style pistol recovered during a traffic stop by the U.S. Secret Service.

The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, Special Agent in Charge Craig Kailimai of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Special Agent in Charge Michael Buck of the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division, and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Campbell is an influential rapper who performs as “Gizwop.” He is affiliated with a violent group originating in 37th Place SE that refers to themselves as the Fox 5 Gang.

In addition to the prison term, Campbell was ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Christopher R. Cooper to serve three years of supervised release.

Campbell pleaded guilty September 21, 2023, to a two-count indictment, charging him with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm while under indictment and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person convicted of a felony.