In federal court in Little Rock, ex-bodyguard pleads guilty to giving rapper, a felon, a gun

A former bodyguard for rapper Ricky Hamption, also known as Finese2Tymes, pleaded guilty Wednesday to letting Hampton, a known felon, borrow a machine-gun style pistol that Hampton was pictured holding outside a Forrest City nightclub last summer.

Hampton pleaded guilty March 5 to holding the gun, known as a Draco, just before a woman's rear windshield was shot out and she was grazed on the neck by a bullet outside Club Envy. Hampton was caught on camera holding the gun, but has denied firing it, despite the woman's claim that he aimed it at her while screaming for her to get out of the way, when she couldn't turn her car around fast enough for his liking to escape a traffic jam outside the club.

The bodyguard, 26-year-old Kentrell Gwynn of Memphis, was with Hampton that night, a week later when a shootout occurred inside the Power Ultra Lounge in Little Rock, injuring 28 people, and again early July 2, the night after the Little Rock shootout, outside the Side Effects nightclub in Birmingham, Ala., where Hampton was to perform.

The Draco -- also known as a Century Arms model RAS47, 7.62 x 39-caliber pistol -- and two other guns were in the Mercedes that Gwynn was driving when he and Hampton were stopped outside the Birmingham club by federal agents.

On Wednesday, Gwynn pleaded guilty to a charge of knowingly transferring a firearm to a felon. In exchange, prosecutors dropped a second charge Gwynn faced of transporting another gun while working for Hampton, knowing he was a felon. Gwynn had been scheduled for a federal jury trial on both charges beginning Sept. 17.

Both Hampton and Gwynn are also facing 10 aggravated assault charges apiece in Pulaski County Circuit Court, in the Power Ultra Lounge shooting. Police said a .40-caliber shell casing found at the scene was later matched to a .40-caliber pistol Gwynn was wearing in a thigh holster when he was stopped in Birmingham.

Gwynn is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on the state charges on Sept. 18 and is facing an Oct. 8 jury trial. Hampton is also charged in Pulaski County with possession of a firearm by certain persons.

Twenty-five people were wounded in the crossfire of what police have said was a gang dispute at the downtown Little Rock club. Three others were injured while fleeing from the second-story nightclub.

The gun charge to which Gwynn pleaded guilty Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Givens told Holmes that a plea agreement Gwynn signed stipulates that his sentence will be steeper than normal because the gun in question was capable of accepting a large-capacity magazine. However, Givens and defense attorney Erin Cassinelli of Little Rock both stipulated, as part of the agreement, that the government won't seek any other sentencing enhancements for Gwynn when he is sentenced at a later date.

The guideline range is determined by federal sentencing guidelines based partly on a pre-sentence investigation by U.S. probation officers that hasn't yet been done but will be detailed in a private pre-sentence report to the court. Federal judges are to consider the guidelines but can impose a sentence above or below the range.

Givens said Gwynn had served as a bodyguard for Hampton for several months before Hampton's performance late July 24, 2017, and early July 25, 2017, at Club Envy in Forrest City. Givens said Hampton had pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery in 2010 and served an eight-year prison sentence, and Gwynn was aware of Hampton's felony conviction.

The AK-style pistol that Hampton was pictured holding that night in Forrest City was purchased by Gwynn on May 26, just 29 days before the Forrest City shooting, Givens said. He has described it as having an AK-47 rifle barrel with a pistol grip and no shoulder stock.

Givens said the gun has also appeared in videos taken last summer on a street corner in Marianna.

The prosecutor noted that later the day of the Little Rock shootout, but before federal agents caught up with Gwynn and Hampton in Birmingham, Gwynn purchased a Glock handgun in Memphis.

Holmes asked Gwynn Wednesday to describe in his own words what crime he had committed.

"Giving a felon possession of my firearms," Gwynn replied.

Information for this report was provided by John Lynch of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

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Metro on 09/06/2018

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