Kodak Black's crimes: A look back at the jailed rapper's legal troubles as he sues Kentucky prison
Rapper Kodak Black, who has been in jail for almost a year, is going to sue the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The lawsuit is being filed by the rapper alleging he's being ill-treated behind bars. The suit is also going to cover the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the warden of the Big Sandy maximum security prison where Kodak is currently being held.
According to the complaint filed by the 'Zeze' hitmaker, the officers in Kentucky prison were involved in "gang beating" the rapper. The complaint also mentions that prison guards flicked the rapper in his testicles and mistreated him even when he obeyed the rules. What's more shocking is that he specifically mentions an incident where he was forced to wear a backless paper gown and placed in a four-point restraint for more than six hours with no access to the restroom. As a result, the rapper urinated and defecated on himself while the guards laughed. These actions, according to Kodak's attorneys, caused the rapper lacerations, vomiting and bleeding from the mouth. His attorneys claim that there are medical records to prove this alleged ill-treatment.
In more shocking revelations, Kodak accused the Big Sandy guards of forcing him to kneel execution-style in just his underwear causing him pain, emotional distress and humiliation. The rapper – a practicing Hebrew Israelite – also said that he isn't allowed see his rabbi. As a result, Kodak, along with his attorneys Bradford Cohen, Robert Buschel, and Jonathan Schwartz, is suing to move to a lower level prison and also have his legal fees covered.
Kodak was moved to the Kentucky prison Big Sandy in October 2019 following an altercation at a Miami facility that resulted in the injury of a correctional officer.
Kodak Black's history of legal troubles
The rapper's life, from an early age, has been riddled with legal troubles. The 'Tunnel Vision' hitmaker has quite a long list of run-ins with the law. As his hit single "Skrt" began making waves and garnering cosigns from stars like Drake, his legal troubles began to pile up. An October 2015 robbery and kidnapping marked the first in a string of incidents that have left him incarcerated for months at a time.
October 2015
Kodak was arrested for kidnapping, battery, robbery, false imprisonment, driving with a suspended license, and possession of marijuana when only 18-years-old. He was soon released on bond.
December 2015
Kodak was once again arrested for possession of less than two pounds of marijuana. He also was charged for possessing drug paraphernalia.
February 2016
This time, Kodak was arrested for sexual assault after allegedly being accused by a young woman in South Carolina. The woman, who accompanied the rapper to his hotel room after a show, said he ripped her clothes off and raped her. He was charged with criminal sexual misconduct.
April 2016
Shortly after the previous incident, Kodak was arrested for weapons possession. Driving in his car, he even attempted to evade arrest and threw a .40-caliber Glock 23 pistol from his car. He was arrested for possessing marijuana, a weapon and for a number of traffic violations.
May 2016
Kodak was arrested again, this time in connection with open warrants related to the previous charges of false imprisonment and armed robbery.
August 2016
After spending three months in jail, Kodak was sentenced to one year of house arrest and five years probation. He was also ordered to complete community service, anger management and community control supervision programs.
September 2016
Kodak pleaded no contest to the possession case and was sentenced to 120 days in prison.
November 28, 2016
Kodak was released from jail in order to face the sexual battery charge.
December 1, 2016
Kodak, after posting a $100,000 bond for the sexual battery charge, was freed from jail.
February 2017
This time, Kodak was arrested for violating the terms of his house arrest related to the charges of false imprisonment in May 2016. He was also involved in an alleged assault of a bartender in Miami.
April/May 2017
Between April 21 and May 4, Kodak was embroiled in a number of legal issues. On April 21, Kodak was accused of grabbing his anger management counselor by the arm after she threatened to call 911. The incident took place when the anger management counselor asked him to leave as he was intentionally disrupting the session by burping repeatedly. Later, on April 26, he was found guilty on five counts of violating his house arrest. On May 4, he was sentenced to 364 days in prison with the possibility of early release if he completed a life skills course. He was released in June after serving just 97 days.
January 2018
On January 18, 2018, the police were alerted to a live stream on Kodak's Instagram that showed the rapper in his home surrounded by drugs and weapons with his child nearby. He was then arrested for grand theft of a firearm, two charges of possession of a weapon or ammo by a delinquent adult felon, possession of cannabis over 20 grams, child neglect without great bodily harm and two counts of parole violation. His lawyers, however, got the charges of grand theft, child neglect and possession of a weapon by a felon dropped.
April 2018
Kodak pleaded not guilty but was again sentenced to 364 days in prison for the remaining charges stemming from his previous arrest. The rapper was later released in August that year. It should be noted that during this period, the rapper earned a GED, changed his legal name to Bill K Kapri, and tweeted about wanting to write a book.
April/May 2019
In April 2019, Kodak was apprehended by the US Customs and Border Protection agents while trying to cross into Canada. He was found with a Glock 9mm pistol and marijuana and was once again taken to jail. Later, he paid $40,000 bond and walked out of jail with stacks of cash covering his face. Soon, within a month, he was arrested again for weapons possession and before performing at Rolling Loud Festival, he was apprehended by US marshals for state and federal firearms violations. Even though he paid $600,000 bail, prosecutors argued that he should remain in jail because he's a "threat to society".
November 2019
Then, in November, Kodak took a plea bargain and was sentenced to 46 months in prison, much shorter than the originally expected 96-month sentence.
March 2020
On March 11, 2020, Kodak pleaded guilty to the firearms possession case he was charged with after being detained at the Canadian-American border. The sentencing began on March 24 with the court considering between two and seven years in prison for the rapper in addition to his 46-month sentencing.
June 2020
Since June this year, Kodak has been serving his federal sentence at United States Penitentiary, Big Sandy in Inez, Kentucky.