Pooh Shiesty's Lawyers Say He's Locked in His Cell 23 Hours a Day, File Emergency Motion
Pooh Shiesty's lawyers filed an emergency motion Oct. 15 in Texas federal court, saying the jail keeps the Memphis rapper in his cell 23 hours a day and cut family visits to 2 hours a month. Trial is set for February 2027.
Pooh Shiesty's lawyers say the jail holding him is keeping him in his cell 23 hours a day, and they want a federal judge to stop it.
Attorneys for the Memphis rapper, real name Lontrell Williams Jr., filed an emergency motion on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in the Northern District of Texas, where he faces federal charges tied to the alleged January 2026 armed robbery and kidnapping of his label boss, Gucci Mane, at a Dallas recording studio. He has not been convicted and is presumed innocent. He has been held without bond since April.
According to the motion, first obtained by Complex, Rolling Plains Regional Jail in Haskell, Texas, confines Shiesty to his cell for about 23 hours a day. His lawyers also say the facility cut his family visitation to two hours a month, down from the four-hour monthly minimum they say federal detainees are guaranteed.
The filing says he has no significant disciplinary history. The only reason he was given, his lawyers wrote, was "a vague statement that he is being isolated for his own protection," and he was never told who or what the threat is, Billboard reported.
"Prolonged near-total confinement of the kind imposed here is associated with heightened anxiety, depression, and difficulty concentrating," the motion says, per Billboard. His lawyers say he reports trouble sleeping and growing anxiety.
Lead attorney Kent Schaffer told Complex the team is "seeking humane treatment" for his client. "Pre-trial incarceration is not supposed to be punitive so we are trying to get the court to step in and put an end to it," he said.
The motion asks the court to direct the U.S. Marshals Service to make the jail end the 23-hour lockdown unless it can show a documented security or disciplinary reason, and to restore at least four hours of monthly visits, including time lost during an August family visit, Baller Alert reported. As of Friday, the judge had not ruled. Shiesty's trial is set for February 2027.
Sources: Complex (Oct. 16, 2026); Billboard (Oct. 16, 2026); Baller Alert (Oct. 16, 2026); Rolling Out (Oct. 16, 2026). Photo: Pooh Shiesty booking photo, April 2026, as published by XXL.