Chicago-based rap manager on trial for alleged conspiracy to bankroll elite lifestyle
SPRINGFIELD — It was a high-flying lifestyle, quite literally, until federal agents arrested rap artists and their entourages while queuing up to board a private jet at a Chicago airport.
Among those arrested were Steven Hayes Jr., then a manager for emerging Chicago rapper Calvin "Calboy" Woods.
It was 2017 and FBI and U.S. Secret Service agents had been tailing the group's financial activities for months.
While several defendants charged in this state negotiated plea deals for less prison time, Hayes Jr. is the only one who opted to take his case to trial. Opening arguments and testimony began in U.S. District Court on Tuesday afternoon. The case is taking place in Springfield because one of the "corporate victims," a charter flight company, is based in Western Massachusetts.
During the prosecution's initial statements to jurors, an attorney painted a picture of a cabal of players in the Chicago-based rap scene who stole people's credit card information to finance flights, hotel stays, island trips and even the purchase of two designer puppies worth $10,000.
"They enjoyed the fruits of their fraud — never having to pay a dime for thousands upon thousands of dollars for luxury goods," said Kyle Crawford, a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice fraud unit.
He told the panel the government intends to put on witness and introduce exhibits including text exchanges about purchases and credit card accounts between Hayes and lead defendant Antonio Strong.
Strong was a more influential manager with a client list including prominent rapper Herbert "G Herbo" Wright III.
Strong pleaded guilty in the case last year and was sentenced to three years in prison, plus a pledge to repay nearly $2.2 million in restitution and forfeitures.
Wright also pleaded guilty in the case in 2023, receiving a probation sentence and a mandate to repay $140,000.
For Hayes' part, his lawyer argued he was new to the rap world, picked up "Calboy" as a client through a family connection and was duped by Strong. Defense lawyer Dana Goldblatt also argued Strong poached "Calboy" after Hayes became suspicious of the credit card scheme.
Goldblatt told the panel her client initially assumed the revolving credit accounts were legitimate.
"This case begins and ends with Antonio Strong," she said during opening arguments. "(Hayes) is not the mastermind in this."
Goldblatt also told jurors that part of the government's case against Hayes will be to show that the defendant was schooled in "the lingo," using words like "crib," "joint" and "move."
In court filings, Goldblatt argued that tactic amounted to racism.
The trial is expected to last up to three days before U.S. District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni.
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