Mally Mall, the rapper and music producer who made frequent appearances on the first season of Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood, was sentenced on Thursday to 33 months in prison for operating a prostitution business over the span of 12 years, according to federal prosecutors.
Between April 2002 and September 2014, the 45-year-old (born Jamal Rashid) “operated a high-end prostitution business that transported victims across the United States,” using paid websites “to advertise the victims for prostitution purposes,” the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada said in a statement.
According to prosecutors, Rashid “exploited hundreds of victims” through manipulation, “imposing rules and threatening them so that they would prostitute for him.”
The victims were either considered “independent contractors,” who paid Rashid a portion of what they earned through prostitution, or “priority girls,” who turned over nearly all of their earnings, the attorney’s office said.
Prosecutors also said that Rashid “encouraged victims to get tattoos of him to demonstrate their loyalty, and led many of them to believe he would advance their careers in show business.”
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The former reality star pleaded guilty in October 2019 to one count of use of an interstate facility in aid of unlawful activity.
On Thursday, Rashid appeared before U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro in Las Vegas and said that he has “not engaged in any criminal activity” since 2014, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Music Producer Mally Mall Sentenced to Almost 3 Years in Prison for Running Prostitution Business https://t.co/PQFJn6b3yE
— People (@people) May 14, 2021
“I truly apologize to the court, the government and, most importantly, the women involved,” he reportedly told the judge.
Though Rashid’s attorney, David Chesnoff, asked the judge for a two-year sentence and cited his client’s work with the homeless and teenagers in crisis as part of his rehabilitation, Navarro imposed the maximum sentence as recommended by the prosecution and three years of supervision after prison, according to the outlet.
