Photo Credit: chevyy.flock (Instagram)
Drill rapper Kay Flock has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for gang violence charges, including various weapons and assault charges, as well as racketeering conspiracy.
Kay Flock, the 22-year-old drill rapper best known for the hit “PSA,” has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in a packed courthouse hearing on Tuesday. Judge Lewis Liman rejected Flock’s bid for leniency and his claim that he had an “intellectual disability,” which his lawyers argued prevented him from having headed the ruthless crew that terrorized the Bronx.
“The life of the street seems to be all you have ever known—that’s sad, and that’s tragic,” Judge Liman told Flock, whose real name is Kevin Perez. “Your crimes were extremely aggravated. You showed callous disregard for life,” the judge added. “You taunted, you celebrated, and you helped create the culture of violence.”
Flock was convicted back in March for his part in a gang-related shooting spree in the Bronx between 2020 and 2022, as well as gun violence in upper Manhattan that resulted in the death of 24-year-old Hwascar Hernandez.
The rapper’s legal team argued he should serve just 10 years in prison as opposed to the daunting 50 that federal prosecutors requested. But most puzzlingly, they made the claim that their client couldn’t have led the DOA/Sev Side crew that committed the violence in question due to his purported disability.
Judge Liman said he was unconvinced that Flock suffered from an intellectual disability and cited trial evidence of the rapper’s music industry success. Further, prosecutors condemned the argument as a “transparent attempt to deflect responsibility in any way he can.”
“He was the one leading the charge on the street—not the other way around,” wrote the office of Southern District US Attorney Jay Clayton in a court filing on Friday.
“Over the course of less than 18 months, [Flock] and his fellow gang members engaged in a campaign of violence, deepening existing gang rivalries and instigating new feuds where none had previously existed,” prosecutors wrote. “Dozens of people were shot at, injured, and even killed during this short period of time, due to the increased gang violence whipped up, in large part, by [Flock].”
The musician was convicted of racketeering conspiracy and numerous serious weapons and assault charges. Notably, he was acquitted of a murder charge after his attorneys argued that the December 16, 2021, shooting of Hernandez outside a barbershop in Hamilton Heights was done in self-defense.
