Lontrell Williams Jr., known professionally as Pooh Shiesty, is headed to trial in Dallas federal court on July 6, 2026, accused alongside eight others in an alleged kidnapping and robbery tied to a recording session with rapper Gucci Mane, whose legal name is Radric Davis. The case, which lists defendants including Williams’s father Lontrell Williams Sr. and Rodney Wright Jr., aka Big30, has drawn attention for its alleged contract dispute motive and for motions over custody and evidence in the Northern District of Texas. Senior U.S. District Judge David Godbey will preside over the final pretrial steps as attorneys prepare for a summer trial that applies to all nine defendants.
Federal filings set the trial to begin July 6, 2026, with the final pretrial conference scheduled for July 1 before Senior U.S. District Judge David Godbey. The docket entries make clear the case is proceeding on a typical federal timetable and that all pretrial deadlines will be enforced as the parties trade motions and disclosures. Courtroom schedules now drive the calendar for a case that started in headlines and will move into evidence over the next weeks.
Prosecutors allege that Williams arranged a January meeting at a Dallas recording studio where Gucci Mane and associates were confronted, robbed and allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint. According to the indictment, the incident was not random and had a motive tied to Williams’s desire to exit his recording contract with The New 1017 Records. Those allegations frame the government’s theory of why the meeting turned violent and why federal charges were ultimately filed.
Pooh Shiesty remains in federal custody after his arrest and after a judge earlier this spring found probable cause to support the kidnapping allegation and denied release pending trial. Defense counsel have pushed back, arguing investigators lack key physical evidence linking Williams to the robbery and to any contract dispute motive. That factual tug-of-war over evidence, witness credibility and motive will be central when jurors are chosen in July.
The indictment names nine defendants in total, and the July 6 trial date applies to all of them, including Williams’s father, Lontrell Williams Sr., and rapper Rodney Wright Jr., who records as Big30. Consolidated trials like this one raise questions about whether all defendants will be tried together or whether some will seek separate proceedings. For now, the court’s schedule treats the group as a single case moving toward the same trial window.
Public interest has followed the case from Memphis to Atlanta to Dallas, with the alleged victim, rapper Gucci Mane, tied to the Atlanta music scene and the alleged meeting taking place in Dallas. That geographic spread means witnesses, evidence and publicity will converge in the Northern District of Texas as the trial approaches. Defense teams will likely press for careful jury selection given media attention and potential celebrity connections in the gallery.
Investigators say the supposed motive centered on contractual freedom, but defense lawyers have disputed that narrative and emphasized gaps in the government’s physical proof. Those challenges typically play out in pretrial motions seeking to exclude unreliable testimony or to require the government to make stronger evidentiary showings. How the judge rules on those motions could shape what jurors are allowed to hear in July.
Court documents and hearings have already set a tone of seriousness: federal kidnapping and armed robbery charges carry major penalties and attract strict procedural scrutiny. Williams’s legal name, Lontrell Williams Jr., appears on the charging papers alongside the other defendants, and the formal process will continue through arraignments, discovery and pretrial exchanges. All sides seem to be preparing for an intensive evidentiary battle rather than a quick resolution.
“The Source:” Information in this article was provided from public documents in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, and those filings are where the official schedule and many of the allegations are laid out. With the trial date set and pretrial conferences scheduled, the case will move from headlines into courtroom testimony and legal argument in Dallas. Observers can expect a focused, document-heavy proceeding as the government and defense sort through witness lists and physical evidence.
As July nears, details will tighten: which witnesses will testify, whether any plea deals surface, and how the judge rules on contested evidence. For now, the calendar is the clearest thing in this case, and July 6 is the date under which all nine defendants are set to answer the charges in federal court. That timeline gives attorneys a narrow runway to prepare strategies and to attempt any last-minute resolutions before jurors are called.
