'Love & Hip-Hop' Star Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison
Hip-hop producer Jamal 'Mally Mall ' Rashid was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison Thursday [...]
Hip-hop producer Jamal "Mally Mall " Rashid was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison Thursday after the Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood personality pleaded guilty to owning and operating a prostitution business under the guise of an escort service. Rashid took a deal in 2019, pleading guilty to using an interstate facility to aid unlawful activity in exchange for not having register as a sex offender. He will have to serve three years of supervised release following the end of his sentence.
The hip-hop producer, 45, who has worked with Tyga, Justin Bieber, Usher and Sean Kingston, asked U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro for leniency with an apology that included "the women involved" in his 12-year-long prostitution circle, reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal. While Rashid claimed he quit all criminal activity in 2014, he was still sentenced to the maximum prison time allowed.
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For 12 years before that, "Rashid operated a high-end prostitution business that transported victims across the United States, using various paid websites ... to advertise the victims for prostitution purposes," U.S. Attorney Christopher Chiou said in a statement. The music industry personality "exploited hundreds of victims" using manipulation and threats and "encouraged victims to get tattoos of him to demonstrate their loyalty" while leading many to think he would "advance their careers in show business."
Rashid's legal problems started back in 2014, when federal agents raided his home as part of a prostitution investigation. "Thank you all for your concern," the former reality personality said at the time. "Currently I'm not sure what's going on but, stay positive, truth will reveal. All faith in God. Inshallah." While no charges were pressed at the time, Rashid's house was raided again in April 2019 by authorities investigating human trafficking and exotic animal trafficking, resulting in his arrest. He was subsequently sued by three Nevada sex workers in a civil lawsuit.
Rashid was accused of owning and operating a number of escort businesses that were actually a front from prostitution activities from between April of 2002 and September of 2014, using Backpage and Eros to advertise for those services. He was subsequently charged with use of an interstate facility in aid of unlawful activity, to which he pleaded guilty in 2019.