ATLANTA — A tour manager pleaded guilty Friday to firing shots at rapper Lil Wayne's tour buses as they traveled on I-285 in April.
Jimmy Carlton Winfrey, also known as Peewee Roscoe, pleaded guilty to five charges and was sentenced to 20 years, including 10 to serve in prison, according to the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office. Winfrey, who previously worked for the rapper known as Young Thug, is eligible for parole.
No one was injured on April 26 when multiple shots were fired at two buses traveling on I-285 near I-75, according to Atlanta and Cobb police. About a dozen people were on the buses around 3 a.m. after a performance at the Compound nightclub on Brady Avenue, police previously said. It was not known if Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Carter, was aboard either of the buses.
Winfrey was allegedly driving when he fired the shots from his vehicle, causing more than $20,000 worth of damage to the buses, according to police. He allegedly fired the shots to gain "street cred," police said.
"I think it was best for the client to avoid the massive risk if he was even to lose on a single count in this," defense attorney Manny Arora said.
Arora told Channel 2's Ross Cavitt he thinks his client would have beaten most of the 27 charges in the indictment.
On May 21, Cobb police secured an arrest warrant for Winfrey, charging him with aggravated assault, terroristic threats and acts, criminal damage, possession of a firearm by a felon, criminal gang activity, reckless conduct and discharging a weapon near the street. Then in June, a grand jury indicted Winfrey on 30 counts.
Winfrey pleaded guilty to the gang-relaed counts.
District Attorney Vic Reynolds made no apologies for his approach to gang charges.
"If you come to Cobb County, you shoot at a bus, thankfully no one was hurt, over some beef that started in Atlanta, we're not going to tolerate that," Reynolds told Cavitt.
Winfrey has been held at the Cobb jail since his arrest.
WSBTV
