Ca$h Out was sentenced to life in prison plus 70 years by a Fulton County judge after being convicted on multiple charges tied to a sex trafficking ring that prosecutors say he led across metro Atlanta.
The former rapper, born John-Michael Hakim Gibson, was found guilty of rape, pimping and aggravated sodomy. He was convicted on two sex trafficking counts and acquitted on a third.
Additional charges, including sexual servitude and aggravated assault, were dismissed.
The court ordered that the 70-year sentence run concurrently with the life term, meaning he will not serve additional time beyond the life term.
Ca$h Out must also register as a sex offender, avoid contact with victims or their families and stay away from several locations in Atlanta, including the Fulton Industrial Boulevard corridor.
He was initially offered 25 years, but chose to gamble and take the case to trial and lost miserably.
During Monday’s sentencing (July 21), victims and their families delivered emotional statements describing the trauma they endured. One woman said she felt “disgusting” and “unlovable” after being trafficked.
Others spoke of long-term effects including PTSD, anxiety and depression.
The parents of one victim told the court that Ca$h Out used his celebrity status to manipulate and exploit.
The case revealed a years-long operation that prosecutors said functioned like a criminal enterprise. Authorities charged Ca$h Out under Georgia’s RICO laws, typically used for organized crime, arguing he ran a for-profit sex trafficking ring.
More than 50 witnesses testified throughout the trial. Some women said they were raped or denied food unless they performed sex acts for money.
Others said Ca$h Out or his mother took the money they earned.
Prosecutors also presented video evidence from a prostitution sting to highlight the structured nature of the operation.
Ca$h Out’s mother, Linda Smith, known as “Mama Ca$h Out,” was convicted of one trafficking charge but cleared of another and a prostitution count. She was hit with 30 years.
A third defendant, Tyrone Taylor, was found guilty on all charges except pimping, including rape and aggravated sodomy. Taylor received life plus 70 years.
Ca$h Out first rose to fame with the 2012 hit single “Cashin’ Out”, but had faded from the music scene by the time the investigation began in 2019.
Related