Rapper G Herbo charged with stealing identities to pay for vacations, designer puppies

It’s like a famous rapper once reminded us: Mo’ money, mo’ puppies. That’s the takeaway from a series of charges handed down in Massachusetts this week, as Chicago-based rapper G Herbo and several of his associates were accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in order to, among other things, pay for some fancy designer dogs. G Herbo, Joseph “Joe Rodeo” Williams, and alleged co-conspirators Terrence Bender, Steven Hayes Jr., and Demario Sorrells have all been charged on 14 conspiracy counts, while Herbo’s manager, Antonio “T-Glo” Strong—per Consequence Of Sound, working from a report by the Chicago Tribune—has been accused of being the ringleader of the identity theft spree.

The group is alleged to have charged more than $1.5 million to stolen accounts, using them to pay for vacations in Jamaica, charter private jets, and, yes, two designer puppies bought from a breeder in Michigan. The group allegedly acquired the credit card information from the fabled and terrifying dark web, well known as the most frightening place on the internet from which to procure illegal puppy funds.

Herbo has been—up until now, at least—a rising star in the rap world; his most recent album, this year’s PTSD, featured collaborations with the likes of Chance The Rapper and Lil Uzi Vert, and he previously worked with folks like Vic Mensa and Nicki Minaj. This is not, as it happens, his first brush with the law since gaining prominence; he was previously charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in 2018, and with simple battery in 2019 after allegedly attacking the mother of his child in Atlanta.