On Tuesday, January 21, 2025, Rakim “A$AP Rocky” Meyers reportedly rejected a plea deal the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. The plea deal offered the Harlem native a seven-year suspended sentence, three years of probation and a six-month jail sentence in exchanging for pleading guilty to one felony count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. Instead, the 2025 GRAMMY Award-nominated artist will begin trial next week.
“I want to get this done and over so he can start enjoying his family and move on,” A$AP Rocky’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, said.
“We’re going to be quiet and we’re going to try this (case) in a courtroom, and when we do, facts will come out that show that he’s truly innocent and he’s a victim in this case.”
The chart-topping artist’s latest legal battle dates back more than three years. He is accused of firing a handgun at Terell Ephron, who previously performed as A$AP Relli, near Selma Avenue and Argyle Avenue in Hollywood on November 6, 2021. Ephron says the bullets grazed his hand and he sought medical treatment after flying to New York. Months later, the Los Angeles Police Department formally announced Rocky’s arrest.
“33-year-old Rakim Mayers, a Los Angeles resident, also known as music artist A$AP Rocky, has been arrested in connection to a shooting that occurred in the Hollywood area in November of 2021,” a post from the LAPD in April 2022 reads.
Jury selection for the high-profile trial began this week and trial is expected to begin in late January or early February. If convicted, A$AP Rocky faces up to 24 years in jail.
