On Friday, Louisiana Civil Court Judge Nakisha Ervin-Knott ordered Juvenile to spend 30 days in jail after the rapper reportedly failed to pay $150,000 in child support payments. The order came after Ervin-Knott’s May ruling that Juvenile, whose government name is Terius Gray, had to either serve jail time, or settle a child support debt with Dionne Williams. Juvenile and Williams have a son together.
According to court documents obtained by the New Orleans Advocate, the debt is linked to 2012 and 2013 rulings, which found Juvenile to be roughly $170,000 behind in payments to Williams. Court records disclosed a $20,000 payment to Williams at that time. Additional records show Williams accusing Juvenile of failing to pay over $71,000 in child support payments.
As a member of Cash Money Records’ Hot Boys collective with Lil Wayne, B.G. and Turk, Juvenile enjoyed commercial success with singles such as “Back That Azz Up” and “HA.”
Coincidentally, the latter features him rhyming about the type of legal proceedings that landed him behind bars.
“You gotta go to court ha/You got served a subpoena for child support ha/That was that nerve ha,” Juvenile rhymed.
After helping launch Cash Money to prominence with 400 Degreez in 1998, Juvenile would split from the label over financial disagreements before returning in 2003, and again in November of 2014.
In 2003, Juvenile faced legal trouble after pleading guilty to a theft charge.
According to Louisiana’s Department of Children and Family Services, judges are allowed to jail people who fail to pay child support. Other more common methods used to enforce payment include interception of state and federal tax refunds, interception of lottery winnings, suspension of occupational, professional, drivers’, hunting, and fishing licenses, contempt of court hearings, and passport denials.
