Florida rapper Plies is being sued by five club-goers who were injured at a Gainesville night club during a concert back in '06.
The $10 million negligence suit, filed Tuesday (April 8) at Alachua County's civil courthouse, also names Slip-N-Slide Records, the venue 238 West and others associated with the club or the concert, according to the Gainesville Sun.
A sold out crowd of about 1,000 filled the venue on July 2, 2006 when gunfire erupted after Plies' mic was turned off when his show ran over his allotted time.
Several concert-goers were injured according to police, with one struck in the neck and another in the stomach.
The rapper (born Algernod Lanier Washington) was one of four people arrested after the ****. According to police, members of the rapper's camp - one of which was Plies' brother -- fired shots in the club.
Plies, 31, and another man, Keon D. McRae, 23, of Cape Coral, were accused of illegal possession of a concealed weapon. Plies pleaded no-contest to a misdemeanor charge of possession of a concealed weapon and paid court costs, according to court records. The rapper also voluntarily put $10,000 toward the medical bills of one injured person, his attorney Robert Rush said.
But that gesture wasn't enough for the five who suffered injuries after bullets were fired in the club concert.
Four of those injured stood alongside their attorney Christopher Chestnut at a news conference outside the courthouse yesterday morning, silent while Chestnut explained the basis of their case.
"The smallest things like July Fourth firecrackers or a random person walking by or an unrecognized car can cause havoc and fear in a client after being shot," Chestnut said. He added that some of his clients had lost their jobs while recovering from their injuries."
Plies lawyer Rush said he hadn't seen the lawsuit, but "If they're suing Mr. Washington, they're suing the wrong person. He does not have legal liability. It is not an entertainer's job to provide security for a club where the entertainer is performing."
Chestnut said the lawsuit doesn't claim Plies should be held responsible for club security.
McRae entered a no-contest plea to a misdemeanor charge of possession of a concealed weapon and received three years in prison with credit for more than a year served, court records showed.
The rapper's brother, Ronell Lawrence Levatte, 33, of Cape Coral and Tory D. Carnegie, 23, of Fort Myers, were also accused of firing shots and received prison sentences as well, the State Attorney's Office reported.
After pleading no contest, Levatte was sentenced to three years in jail with more than a year of time served for two felony counts, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and **** into an occupied building. Carnegie got a four-year prison sentence with 255 days of time served after entering a no-contest plea to attempted second-degree murder with a firearm.
[For more on the Southern rap scene peep SOHH Dirty]
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