A federal courtroom showdown is officially on the calendar, with Pooh Shiesty and eight co-defendants now staring down a high-profile Dallas trial date.
For starters, Senior U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey signed a pretrial order setting jury selection and trial to begin on July 6, 2026. The court also scheduled a final pretrial conference for July 1, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. That means the clock is running, and the legal steps between now and July get real.
As for who is in the mix, the case covers nine defendants total. Court filings identify Pooh Shiesty by his legal name, Lontrell Williams Jr., and they also list his father, Lontrell Williams Sr., along with rapper Rodney Wright Jr., better known as Big30. With that many people on one case, the paper trail and defense strategies can get complicated fast.
Meanwhile, prosecutors say the story goes back to January 2026, when a meeting at a Dallas recording studio turned into a violent confrontation. The alleged victim is listed as R.D. in court documents and is described as being held at gunpoint, robbed of valuables, and forced to sign paperwork tied to a recording contract dispute involving 1017 Records and Atlantic Records. Nothing has been proven in court yet, and every detail is still an allegation until a jury rules.
What is at stake is huge. The charges include kidnapping, and reporting on the case has noted that a conviction could mean life in prison, while an acquittal could reset everything and send careers in a completely different direction.
In the meantime, Williams has remained in federal custody as the case moves toward trial. A judge previously denied his release, citing factors that included a prior federal conviction and alleged violations connected to home confinement. That custody status matters because it shapes everything from trial readiness to plea calculus, and it often raises the stakes inside a courtroom long before a verdict.
Looking ahead, the next phase is pretrial litigation, evidence review, and trial readiness. With the July 6 trial date locked in, the biggest questions now are about what gets admitted into evidence and how both sides frame their version of events when jurors finally take their seats in Dallas.
