Chicago-area rapper 'Rockstar Rodie' pleads guilty to same fraud plot as G Herbo

BOSTON - A Chicago-area rapper pleaded guilty to his role in a nationwide wire fraud conspiracy that also landed rapper G Herbo three years of probation earlier this year. 

Joseph Williams, 32, of University Park, Ill., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in federal court in Springfield, Mass. on March 8. 

Williams was indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2020 along with five co-defendants, including rap promoter Antonio Strong, rap artist Herbert Wright (G Herbo) and Demario Sorrells.

Williams, also known as "Joe Rodeo," "Rockstar Rodie," or "Rodeo," conspired to defraud numerous businesses and individuals across the country by using unauthorized and stolen card account information.

Prosecutors say the fraud began in March 2017 at the latest and lasted through November 2018. The cardholders discovered the fraudulent transactions on their accounts and disputed the charges with their card companies. The card companies charged back the transactions to the businesses and individuals, which consequently suffered losses in the amounts of the unauthorized transactions.

Williams allegedly received illicit account information from Strong and used it to make purchases knowing the account information was stolen. He also took numerous private jets, commercial flights and stayed in hotels that were paid for with illicit account information. 

Although Williams did not personally conduct all of the transactions that benefitted him, he presumably knew that the co-defendants were purchasing his flights and hotels with stolen funds. In total, Williams was responsible for $102,000 in victim losses.

G Herbo was sentenced to three years probation and was ordered to pay restitution and forfeiture of $139,968 on Jan. 11, 2024. 

Sorrells pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 28, 2024.

Williams' sentencing was scheduled for June 28, 2024.