Hip-hop producer Mally Mall — who's famously worked with Snoop Dogg, Nick Cannon and Chris Brown — was sentenced to 33 months in prison for running a prostitution business in Las Vegas.
The FBI first investigated Mally Mall (real name: Jamal Rashid) in 2014 when they found that he "persuaded, induced, enticed and caused" hundreds of women to engage in prostitution across state lines, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Authorities said that over the course of 12 years, Mally Mall earned millions of dollars through illegal escort businesses. The women were thought of as "independent contractors" and paid his business half of what they earned. Some of the women, dubbed "priority girls," gave Mally Mall nearly all of the proceeds.
The Review-Journal says "priority girls" would net only $100 of the thousands they earned per day. In exchange, Mally Mall gave them housing and the use of a car. But federal agents claim he was incredibly controlling, forbidding the women to date and requiring them to text him when they left the house. He also put trackers on their cars and cameras in their condos to ensure that his demands were met. The women also needed to get his permission before seeing a gynecologist.
"They couldn't speak to anyone who is Black because a Black person could be a pimp," U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro said. "This was almost a form of imprisonment or enslavement."
The women, court documents allege, were encouraged to get tattoos of Mally Mall to show their loyalty. Authorities said some of the women were led to believe that he would give them their big break in the entertainment business.
Mally Mall, who also starred on VH1's "Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood," pleaded guilty to one count of use of an interstate facility in aid of unlawful activity back in 2019. He faced a sentence of one to 33 months. On May 13 — after prosecutors alleged Mally Mall contacted a victim as recently as this week — the judge gave him the maximum sentence. After Mally Mall serves his prison sentence, he'll face three years of supervision.
"I hope this really takes. I hope you get this message. You've just been really lucky," the judge told the hip-hop mogul at his sentencing. "You will spend the rest of your life in prison if you do this again."
He has until Aug. 13 to surrender.