On April 28, four months after being granted commutation by former President Donald Trump, Kodak Black appeared in court to face charges of rape and sexual assault stemming from a 2016 incident in South Carolina. During his court hearing, the rapper entered a plea deal, pleading guilty to a lesser charge of first degree assault and battery in a sexual assault case involving a young woman in a hotel room.
“I apologize to Miss [victim’s name] and am hopeful we can all move forward,” Kodak, whose full name is Bill Kapri, said in court. “I wish her the best in her life.”
In a statement to Complex, Kodak’s legal team said, “Today Bill Kapri took a plea to the legal charge of assault, a non sex offense, and received 18 months probation. This was a change of charge from the original charge. Having consistently denied these 5 year old allegations, he entered this plea in order to resolve the matter.”
Wednesday’s hearing marks the end of a drawn out case, which Kodak was originally indicted for in 2017. Due to Kodak’s long history of legal troubles and the length of this particular case, a lot of information has been left out of the conversation and the whole thing has been especially hard to follow. Here is a breakdown of what’s happening in Kodak Black’s ongoing criminal case.
Kodak Black was accused of assaulting and raping a female victim in South Carolina. The alleged assault took place in February 2016, following Kodak’s performance at Treasure City club in Florence, South Carolina. The victim said she attended the concert at Treasure City, where she met Kodak Black, and later accompanied the rapper to his hotel room at a Comfort Inn and Suites. She told police that he began to tear her clothes off and said he “couldn’t help himself” as she screamed and tried to push him off her. According to police reports, she said he bit her repeatedly and raped her as she screamed for help. The victim, who was reportedly a high school student at the time, told her school nurse, who alerted the Florence County Sheriff’s Office.
Although the alleged assault occurred in February 2016, Kodak was not indicted by a grand jury until October 2017. He was indicted for first-degree criminal sexual misconduct. Of the grand jury’s decision, Twelfth Circuit Solicitor Ed Clements told reporters, “We have to seek justice. Part of that is making sure that the defendant has their rights protected. And [we're going to] treat him just like we would anybody else. We [are going to] protect his rights. And give him a fair adjudication of his charges.”
Yes. Kodak Black was entangled in several other legal battles following the alleged assault. At the time, the rapper was dealing with another case stemming from a 2015 incident where Kodak was pulled over at a traffic stop in St. Lucie County, Florida and charged with two misdemeanor marijuana charges. In April 2016, Kodak was arrested in Hallandale Beach, Florida on charges of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, possession of marijuana, and fleeing police. Responding detectives said that Kodak tried to evade the cops when they attempted to pull him over. The next month, he was picked up in Miami for charges of armed robbery and false imprisonment. In August 2016, Kodak was set to accept a plea deal in relation to his May 2016 arrest, which would allow him to skip jail time, but two outstanding warrants halted his release. The first warrant was in connection to his sexual misconduct case in South Carolina. The other was related to the December 2015 arrest on charges of possession of weed and paraphernalia in St. Lucie County, Florida. The two warrants resulted in the rapper being denied bond and remaining in custody.
Kodak Black was indicted for criminal sexual assault in 2017, but didn’t appear before a court until April 28, 2021, primarily because he was also facing additional charges in different cities. In September 2016, one month after being detained on two outstanding warrants, Kodak Black was sentenced to 120 days in jail after pleading no contest to one charge of possession of 20 grams or less of marijuana and one charge of use or possession of marijuana paraphernalia in relation to his 2015 case in St. Lucie, Florida. In November 2016, he was released from St. Lucie County Jail and extradited to South Carolina to face charges of criminal sexual misconduct. In addition to juggling multiple legal cases at a time, Kodak Black’s sexual misconduct case was also delayed several times. The trial was initially set to begin in April 2019, but a judge granted Kodak a continuance at his legal team’s request, although the reason for the request was not made public. The trial has also been pushed back due to restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although Kodak is a free man at the moment, prosecutors in his South Carolina case say they are pursuing Kodak’s sexual assault case. Florence County Solicitor Ed Clements told TMZ that prosecutors will “aggressively” pursue the case until there is a trial or plea deal. “We’ll move forward as fast as we can,” he added, in conversation with Courthouse News. “The pandemic ground court to a halt.” Kodak’s South Carolina attorney Beattie Ashmore appeared to be confused by the prosecution’s continued interest in his client, telling TMZ, “Aggressively prosecute? It’s been four years. That speaks volumes. Kodak was on bond and on tour for two years before his federal case even began. Ed’s a very fine and experienced prosecutor and I look forward to once again speaking with him about this case. It’s been a while.”
Kodak has not released a public statement regarding his rape allegations, but has been asked about his pending case in the media. In December 2018, Kodak notoriously walked out of an interview on Hot 97’s Ebro in the Morning show after Ebro Darden told him, “We take sexual assault here serious. We can’t get details, but we hope to have you back so we can have a deeper conversation about that because it’s a serious topic.” Visibly upset, Kodak responded, “I feel like sometimes when niggas be going through shit, like, y’all be entertained by bullshit. Change the subject, or else I’m finna walk out.” Ebro then told Kodak, “We can be done right here,” which prompted the rapper to stand up and walk out.
During his court hearing on April 28, Kodak Black apologized for his actions, saying, “I apologize to Miss [victim’s name] and am hopeful we can all move forward,” Kapri said. “I wish her the best in her life.”
The majority of Kodak’s previous legal offenses have been related to possession of illegal firearms or drugs, but there have been a few instances in which Kodak has been accused of aggression toward women. In April 2017, Kodak was accused of punching and kicking a woman at the Miami-Dade strip club Club Climaxx, where she was employed. According to a police report that was filed at the time, Kodak allegedly approached the victim around 3 a.m. on Feb. 2, 2017, during her bartending shift. He was allegedly “acting belligerent” and when the victim pushed him away, he “began to punch her numerous times all over her body and then kicked her, stopping shortly after.” The police report was presented in a court hearing, but no formal charges were made. The incident did result in the violation of his probation terms, though. In January 2017, Kodak raised eyebrows after sharing a live broadcast of several of his friends receiving oral sex from a young woman. The video was removed from Instagram Live shortly after and all parties involved were believed to be consenting, but the clip drew backlash on social media.
On April 28, Kodak Black appeared in court on the 2016 charges of sexually assaulting a high school student after a concert. As part of a plea deal, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of first-degree assault and battery. According to Kodak Black’s attorney, “He had romantic ideas on his mind. She did not. So, he ended up trying to have a romantic encounter with her and bit her as part of that and injured her.” When asked by the judge if the facts stated by his attorney were true, he said, “Yes sir.” Kodak Black also apologized to the victim saying, “[I] am hopeful we can all move forward. I wish her the best in her life.” The public apology was a term of his plea deal.
Kodak was originally facing up to 30 years behind bars, but due to his lower plea deal, he will no longer face jail time. He got a 10 year suspended sentence and 18 months probation with the condition that he takes full accountability for his action and publicly apologizes, which he complied with in court. He has also been ordered to undergo further counseling.
In regard to his previous legal issues, Kodak was also able to avoid prison time. In January 2021, he was granted clemency by Donald Trump. At the time, he was serving a 46-month sentence for falsifying information on federal forms to buy firearms from a South Florida gun shop. The White House cited Kodak’s philanthropic efforts such as his educational and charity events for children and underprivileged families, as well as his ties to religious leaders as reasons for his commutation. Following the news, Kodak thanked the former president on Twitter, writing, “I Want To Thank The President @RealDonaldTrump For His Commitment To Justice Reform And Shortening My Sentence. I Also Want To Thank Everyone For Their Support And Love. It Means More Than You Will Ever Know. I Want To Continue Giving Back, Learning And Growing.”
