Screen shot from 30 Deep Grimeyy's "The Biggest Dookie" video in which he raps outside the federal courthouse in St. Louis where he was sentenced today.
Popular St. Louis rapper Arthur Pressley, better known as 30 Deep Grimeyy was sentenced in federal court today to more than 7 1/2 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The felon-in-possession charge, which Pressley pleaded guilty to last October, stemmed from a January 5, 2021, police stop during which Pressley and three other men in a 2008 Pontiac G8 were pulled over in north city.
On the backseat, between Pressley and another man, sat a Beretta M9.
Pressley, 25, subsequently admitted to trying to forge a bill of sale from three months prior to make it look like the gun wasn't his but instead belonged to the man seated next to him.
However, numerous social media posts showed Pressley with the gun, including in October 2020 when it was purchased.
Most sentencing hearings for felons-in-possession last around an hour, but Pressley’s took all morning, starting at 9:30 a.m. and not wrapping up until around 2 p.m. The hearing was also more well-attended than the average sentencing hearing, with about 30 people — almost all Pressley supporters — in the courtroom's public seating area.
The recommended sentencing guidelines for Pressley's crime and his criminal history was between 41 and 51 months. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassandra Wiemken asked for Judge Stephen Clark to impose the maximum possible sentence of 10 years. Wiemken said that the longer sentence was warranted because Pressley was a "prolific possessor of firearms" and "a gang leader" who had "no respect for the law."
During the hearing, the prosecution displayed photos posted to social media that showed Pressley holding firearms. They also played excerpts from Pressley's music videos, including one in which the rapper gets a simulated blowjob outside the very courthouse where the hearing was taking place.
"My rap name is an image I have to portray. I have a certain type of fan base," Pressley told the judge.
He added: "I feel like I'm being targeted because of my rap name. I'm Arthur Pressley. I'm a human being."
Wiemken said that Pressley's being a rapper was largely irrelevant, aside from the music videos that seemed to prove Pressley did possess weapons despite a prior felony conviction making his doing so illegal. She said that what should impact Pressley's sentencing is that he was the leader of the so-called "30 Deep Gang," whose members she alleged had committed assaults and other crimes involving drugs and violence.
U.S. Attorney's Office
Photos of Pressley with the Beretta included in the prosecution's court filings.
Pressley's attorney, Lenny Kagan, called the prosecutor's argument an "unbelievable leap."
He pointed out that when Pressley was arrested, authorities searched him and two residences of his, finding no drugs or guns of any kind.
"This is your alleged gang leader?" he said.
He pushed back on the idea that 30 Deep Gang was a gang at all, saying that it is a brand associated with Pressley's rap persona, not unlike Kanye West’s Yeezy brand.
When prosecutors played clips of Pressley's music, they said that he was rapping about real crimes that his peers had committed.
Kagan retorted that rapping about something doesn't prove a person is involved in those activities. He also questioned why all this was even being brought up when Pressley was being sentenced for the crime of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
"I feel like I'm on trial for murder," Pressley said at one point.
Much of the morning's proceedings involved testimony from ATF Special Agent Kirsten Ellerbusch, who began investigating the 30 Deep Gang in 2019.
At one point, Kagan asked Ellerbusch if it was illegal to receive a fake blowjob from a woman dressed like a corrections officer outside the Thomas F. Eagleton Courthouse.
Ellerbusch said that she didn't know if it was illegal, though it was in poor taste.
After deliberating in his chambers for more than an hour, Judge Clark returned to the bench to deliver his sentence of 92 months. He said that he'd determined that the 30 Deep Gang had been a "street gang" and that Pressley was its leader.
Out in the courthouse lobby, prior to Judge Clark reading the sentence, Pressley's manager, Jeremy Fips, who goes by JFips, highlighted the album Pressley just dropped last night, called Let Me In.
"He wants to be let into the industry. That's why it's called Let Me In, Fips says. "The songs on the album are based on everything he's feeling right now."
For the album, Pressley worked with producer Alley Knock, who was also there in court to support Pressley.
"Me and him had a nice run together, and we will continue to have a nice run together," Alley Knock said.
Pressley announced the new album last night on his Instagram page, and included a photo of himself in the St. Louis City Justice Center in the post. "Had to leave my supporters wit Summ!" he wrote.
Fips says about Pressley's future: "He's good. He's got two more albums on the way. He's going to count these days down. Do his time and get out."
We welcome tips and feedback. Email the author at [email protected]
or follow on Twitter at @RyanWKrull.
Coming soon: Riverfront Times Daily newsletter. We’ll send you a handful of interesting St. Louis stories every morning. Subscribe now to not miss a thing.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
