G Herbo Fraud Co-Defendant Avoids Prison After Hung Jury

G Herbo’s fraud co-defendant Steven Hayes Jr. avoided prison for his part in the stolen-card scheme that paid for jets, villas and designer puppies.

U.S. District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni sentenced Hayes, 34, to three years’ probation on October 8 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Prosecutors had sought four to six months in prison. The Justice Department announced the sentence October 14.

Hayes was held responsible for $44,814 in victim losses. The judge ordered him to pay $2,728 in restitution and forfeit the same amount.

The case went to trial in February, but jurors could not agree on a verdict. Hayes then pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Prosecutors charged six men in the case in 2020.

“Hayes and his co-conspirators used illicit account information to obtain, among other things, a private jet charter flight, a New York City villa rental, designer puppies from a pet boutique and car insurance. In total, Hayes was responsible for $44,814 in victim losses,” the Justice Department stated.

The purchases went through because the stolen card details belonged to real people. Once the card owners spotted charges they had not made, they disputed them. Card companies reversed the payments, leaving the businesses that supplied flights, lodging and goods with the losses.

G Herbo, whose legal name is Herbert Wright III, received his own probation sentence on January 11, 2024. He had pleaded guilty the previous July to wire fraud conspiracy and lying to a federal official.

His plea deal also led prosecutors to drop charges of aggravated identity theft.

The judge ordered the rapper to pay $139,968 in restitution and forfeiture, plus a $5,500 fine. His lawyers asked the judge to weigh his remorse, growth as a father and community work. They argued that he should stay out of prison.

Prosecutors said G Herbo used the fraud proceeds to travel to shows and post photos that promoted his career.

Those pictures showed him on private jets, in luxury cars and at a Jamaican villa. He also lied to a federal agent in November 2018, denying that he worked with or received help from promoter Antonio Strong.

Strong pleaded guilty in May 2024 and received nearly three years in prison that October. His scheme went beyond trips: prosecutors said he used fake names and claimed ties to music companies such as Sony and Universal to make fraudulent purchases.

Three other defendants, Joseph Williams, Demario Sorrells and celebrity barber Terrence Bender, also received probation.

Hayes’ sentence followed the earlier guilty pleas and punishments of all five of his co-defendants.