Attorneys for the New Orleans-born rapper BG maintain he did have official permission to perform alongside prominent fellow musicians despite what authorities claimed when they recently arrested him on allegations of violating the terms of his supervised release from federal prison.
Lawyers for Christopher Dorsey – BG’s legal name – made those contentions in court filings on Friday that asked a federal judge to allow the artist to remain on supervised release rather than face re-imprisonment.
In late March, a federal probation officer successfully requested that Dorsey be arrested on allegations that he failed to obtain the necessary clearance to perform at a concert in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he now lives, alongside fellow rapper Lil Boosie on 8 February.
The probation officer also alleged that Dorsey, 43, did not obtain such clearance to publish the album Choppers and Bricks alongside the Grammy-nominated rapper Gucci Mane in December while living at a halfway house – as well as the videos Really Understand, released on 16 February on YouTube, and Yellow Tape with Kidd Kidd, which appeared eight days later on Apple Music.
However, Friday’s filings assert that Dorsey had gotten the proper permission for all his work from those monitoring him at the halfway house before he had been put on supervised release under the watch of a probation officer. And at a preliminary court hearing after Dorsey’s arrest, prosecutors conceded he “was granted authority … to perform in some of these instances” when he had been accused of not having permission, something they blamed on an apparent “communication lapse”.
Dorsey’s probation officer had also objected to the fact that Lil Boosie and Gucci Mane – whose real names are Torence Hatch Jr and Radric Davis, respectively – each had prior felony convictions, as people on federal supervised release are generally required to “refrain from … associating unnecessarily with” those who have prior felony convictions.
Yet Dorsey’s attorneys Billy Gibbens and David Chesnoff reiterated that the halfway house had given him permission to have contact with both artists before he moved out and was put on supervised release.
Gibbens and Chesnoff also wrote that Hatch and Davis were “successful music artists”, and Dorsey collaborating with each of them could only help his career. They also said Dorsey recorded his parts of Choppers and Bricks in Las Vegas while Davis was in Georgia.
The arguments on Dorsey’s behalf came three days before a hearing in federal court in New Orleans, where the musician had been sentenced to prison in 2012 on gun charges. Accompanying the filings were letters from people saying it would benefit the public to let Dorsey stay on supervised release – where he has been productive – rather than return to prison.
Authors of those missives included the leader of the Emerald Dream Foundation – a charitable animal rescue organization in Las Vegas that has hired Dorsey to be an outreach worker – as well as the Cash Money Records co-founder Bryan “Baby” Williams, whose label released BG’s top hit Bling Bling.
“Since Christopher’s release, he has dedicated himself to not only rebuilding his life but also enriching the lives of others around him,” Lana Fuchs, president of the Emerald Dream Foundation, wrote.
Williams, meanwhile, added that Dorsey was “not only a talented recording artist but also a beacon of resilience and growth”.
“His music reflects his experiences, struggles and triumphs, resonating with audiences on a deep and emotional level,” Williams wrote.
As BG, or Baby Gangsta, Dorsey was part of Cash Money’s Hot Boys alongside fellow New Orleans rappers Lil Wayne and Juvenile. One of the group’s albums debuted at No 5 on the Billboard 200 in 1999 and went platinum, as fans were captivated by the Hot Boys’ lyrics about dealing drugs to financially support themselves, violently protecting their trade, and then rewarding themselves with jewelry and flashy cars, among other topics.
Dorsey was handed a 14-year prison sentence in July 2012 after pleading guilty to illegally possessing a gun during a 2009 traffic stop. He also pleaded guilty to obstructing justice by successfully pressuring one of his associates to falsely claim ownership of the gun at the center of the traffic stop.
By the fall of 2023, Dorsey was transferred to a halfway house. Then he saw his prison sentence reduced on 24 January to time he had already served.
He began a two-year period of living under federal supervision outside the halfway house on 1 February. And during the second week of January, Juvenile spoke openly about his desire for the Hot Boys to reunite.
But then Dorsey was rearrested in late March on the supervised release violation allegations. He was let out of custody on his own recognizance pending the outcome of the case and ordered to appear in federal court in New Orleans as required.
Dorsey appeared in federal court in New Orleans on Monday and was told to remain out of custody on his own recognizance on supervised release. No additional court hearings on the alleged release term violations were immediately scheduled.
