G Herbo has issued a public response to a lawsuit filed against him by the law firm Prince Lobel Tye. The company claims the Chicago artist owes $237,000 for legal services related to his federal fraud case.
In an impassioned Instagram video, Herbo expressed frustration over the lawsuit and defended his actions, claiming he has already paid the firm more than $1 million. Additionally, Herbo touched on the nature of the charges he fought against in the federal fraud case, revealing he was unfairly wrapped up in the fraud activity resulting in the charges against him when he was just a teenager. In the video, Herbo (real name Herbert Wright III) explained his side of the story, lamenting that he even had to address the issue publicly.
“I wish I didn’t even have to address this kind of stuff because… if I could avoid any kind of public perception in my personal life, in my business, I would do the opposite,” G Herbo said. “First of all, I paid y’all a million dollars. A million dollars, I think a little over a million dollars. I pleaded guilty to something. I had minor, a little involvement in the first place, and I only had my name on five pages of discovery.”
Herbo detailed his frustrations with the law firm, alleging that they overcharged him and misrepresented the work they performed. The lawsuit stems from legal fees Prince Lobel Tye law firm claims are still outstanding after representing Herbo in his high-profile federal case. Herbo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and identity theft but insists he was an unwitting participant in the scheme. The rapper, who was 18 or 19 years old at the time, claims he paid large sums for goods and services without knowing they were being procured illegally.
“I don’t know how to do fraud,” he stated emphatically. “I went to jail for paying a [guy] hundreds of thousands of dollars to do s### for goods and services when I was 18 years old… He doing that s### illegally. That ain’t had nothing to do with me.”
G Herbo went on to explain that his legal team used a mitigation argument, focusing on his character and community work to avoid a trial. “My lawyers ain’t even really do s###,” he said. “I went into the courtroom and was able to walk home free based off who I am as a person and the likeliness that that’ll never happen again.”
Another major frustration for the rapper is the fallout from the case, which has caused issues with banking. G Herbo revealed that he has millions of dollars on hold and is struggling to find a bank that will accept his business after being “de-banked” as a result of the legal case.
“I got millions of dollars in deals on the table right now that I got to figure out what I’m going to do with the checks that I have already,” he explained.
As the lawsuit progresses, G Herbo seems confident that his team will handle the situation, though he’s clearly frustrated by the public nature of the dispute. “It is what it is. I’m going to deal with it, my team going to deal with it,” he said. “But I see it’s going viral everywhere, and my fans, I feel like they deserve a statement from me behind this.”
Watch the full video of G Herbo’s rebuttal to the lawsuit above.
