Feds accuse Baton Rouge rapper Boosie of threatening to put $10,000 bounty on bodyguard

Baton Rouge-native rapper Torence “Boosie” Hatch threatened to put out a $10,000 bounty on his bodyguard for telling San Diego officers during a traffic stop that a gun was in the back seat of their SUV and failing to say it was his, prosecutors allege.

But, after hearing arguments from Hatch’s defense attorney that he is a dedicated family man, a judge allowed him out of jail on $100,000 bail.

Federal prosecutors in California alleged this week that officers heard Hatch shout toward his bodyguard that Hatch had “10K on you” and that “you’re gonna’ be in a body bag.”

At the time, officers were leading Hatch and the bodyguard to separate patrol cars during the May 6 stop, prosecutors said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego said the comments were indications of Hatch’s plan to let his bodyguard take the blame for Boosie’s illegally possessing a weapon and Hatch’s determination to intimidate a witness when that plan went awry.

“Hatch poses a danger to the community, and specifically to witnesses and evidence. The United States is extremely concerned about witness intimidation,” federal prosecutors claimed in court papers this week.

The allegations echo accusations that were leveled against Hatch in Louisiana but never proven. Baton Rouge prosecutors accused Hatch of ordering the murder of Terry Boyd in 2009, but he was acquitted of the alleged murder-for-hire scheme in 2012.

Michael “Marlo Mike” Louding, who was accused of committing the execution, was convicted, however, for Boyd’s murder and sentenced to life in 2013.

The latest allegations emerged in a detailed petition that federal prosecutors had filed asking a judge to order Hatch held without bond. In addition to claiming he threatened a witness, they said he is a a flight risk with millions of dollars to his name and no ties to California. Officers recovered $16,000 cash during the traffic stop.

But Hatch’s defense attorney argued that he a loving father who is devoted to community work and who has a stable home in Georgia. U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo wasn’t convinced of the alleged risks and, for a second time this week, Hatch was granted bail.

On Thursday, however, Bencivengo upped the bail amount for Hatch from $50,000 to $100,000, court minutes say.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Hatch had posted bail and been released. Under the bail conditions, Hatch cannot visit Mexico or other foreign nations but can travel across the country for his work. He had to surrender his passport, submit to a location monitoring program and avoid any contact with his bodyguard, among other conditions. 

Hatch’s defense attorney, Meghan Annette Blanco, didn’t immediately return a telephone message left with her office answering service Friday.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego didn’t immediately return an email for comment Friday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard had originally granted Hatch $50,000 bail on Tuesday, but prosecutors objected.

After a federal grand jury indicted Hatch on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm on Wednesday, another bail hearing was set before Bencivengo on Thursday in District Court in San Diego.

Hatch, who has previous felony convictions in Louisiana, pleaded not guilty to the new federal charge on Thursday.

In an attempt to bolster the allegations of Hatch’s alleged scheme to have his bodyguard take the blame, prosecutors noted in court papers an earlier podcast that Hatch had made.

In it, he explained that when the police pull him over and find a gun, he finds someone else to blame, prosecutors said.

“Hatch explains that ‘this happens plenty of times’ and another occupant of the vehicle ‘will say it’s his guns when they come to the car. That’s what they do,'” prosecutors wrote.

Prosecutors said at the time of the May traffic stop, Hatch had told officers that both guns were in a black bag owned by his bodyguard. But prosecutors said officers found one gun in that bag and another on the back seat, court papers say.

Hatch had faced California state weapons and other counts following the May traffic stop, but those charges were dropped earlier this month — only for agents to arrest him on a federal gun count outside a California courtroom. 

Federal prosecutors’ early moves to halt Goddard’s first bail order prompted an angry outburst from Hatch on Twitter on Wednesday. 

Hatch wrote that he had paid his bail but prosecutors had refused to respect the judge’s ruling, accusing the lead prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Wheat, of being racist.  

“The prosecutor Mr. wheat (sic) looked at me singing Wipe Me Down, wiped his shoulders and shook his head with a look of evil in his eyes. This is total misconduct from a prosecutor. He is racist and has evil intentions,” Hatch wrote on his official Twitter account.

Hatch, 40, who formerly rapped under the name “Lil Boosie,” is known for a featured role on the song “Wipe Me Down” by rapper Foxx, as well as the song “Zoom.”

He is perhaps best known for his song “Set It Off.” Both “Set It Off” and “Wipe Me Down” have more than 54 million plays on Spotify.  

Hatch also added in the same Twitter post on Wednesday that “all prayer warriors across the world” should pray for Wheat to be removed from the prosecution.

“Even my attorneys have never seen nothing like this in their career. Help Me Fight this Injustice and say a prayer for my freedom tomorrow,” Hatch added on Twitter.

In a federal criminal complaint that preceded Hatch’s indictment Wednesday, federal agents said San Diego police spotted Hatch with a handgun in his waistband while they reviewed the Instagram account of a known member of the “Neighborhood Crip” gang.

A screenshot from the Instagram story of a known “Neighborhood Crip” gang member included in a criminal complaint depicts rapper “Boosie” with a gun in his waistband.

Courtesy of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Hatch was recording a music video in a home’s back yard at the time and performed later that night at a Gaslamp Quarter nightclub, arrest documents say. Officers tracked Hatch’s SUV with a helicopter and pulled it over in the Chollas View neighborhood of San Diego.

Officers searched the SUV and found two guns, including a loaded 9 mm handgun and a gun magazine in the seat between Hatch and his security guard, the federal complaint alleges.

That gun, according to federal agents, was the one in Hatch’s waistband on his Instagram Live video.

The rapper was previously convicted in East Baton Rouge Parish of bringing illegal contraband to and from a penal institution, criminal conspiracy to incite a felony and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute in 2011.