Consider this an example of life imitating art gone terribly wrong. A video by a rapper called BillBoard Biggs, that used Kanye West & Jay-Z’s “The Joy” instrumental, depicted an armed robbery and a speedy getaway in a Mercedes-Benz. A few of the players in the video were part of a real life group of men that have been convicted of armed robbery in Federal Court.
The New York Times reports:
The actual crimes, prosecutors say, included a string of armed robberies in the Bronx and Westchester County, in which a group of men brandished guns and knives and stole thousands of dollars from bodega owners and deliverymen. In one 2011 robbery in Mount Vernon, N.Y., a man was shot and killed.
Five members of the group have now been convicted in Federal District Court in Manhattan; the latest two, Dwayne Barrett, 35, and Jermaine Dore, 26, were found guilty on Tuesday.
In the music video, Mr. Barrett drives the Mercedes getaway car.
In many of the actual robberies, prosecutors said, the same Mercedes was used and Mr. Barrett was the driver. Another defendant, Taijay Todd, who pleaded guilty in February to participating in robberies, portrays a gunman in the video.
It was Todd that created the video. Despite the protest of the defendants lawyer’s, saying that it was merely fiction, the prosecution was able to enter the video as evidence. The video was played in court, as well as surveillance footage of the actual robberies, and used to prove that the defendants knew each other and were part of the conspiracy to commit the alleged crimes.
Both Barrett and Dore face life in prison. Dore was not in the video but interestingly, a third unnamed man that did appear in the visual and participated in the real life robberies was not charged. Yep, sounds like he dropped dime.
Ironically presented by “CrimeScene Entertainment,” the BillBoard Biggs video for “The Joy” hasn’t even cracked 2,000 views at the time this story was published. Watch it below.
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Photo: YouTube
