A North Carolina judge ordered Yo Gotti to pay millions over a botched business deal. Gotti lost a $6.6 million default judgment Tuesday (May 28) after failing to appear in court to address allegations that he refused to sign off on the release of a song collaboration, despite pocketing $20,000 for the feature.
Michael Terry paid Gotti to work with his artist, Young Fletcher, in hopes of jump starting his career. The 38-year-old rapper, whose birth name is Mario Mims, reportedly refused to sign a side artist agreement which would have allowed Fletcher to release the song.
According to the Winston-Salem Journal, Judge Todd Burke approved $2.2 million in damages and tripled the judgment after concluding that Gotti participated in “unfair and deceptive trade practices.”
“Yo Gotti’s actions were willful and malicious and caused actual injury to the Plaintiffs,” Burke reportedly stated in the court decision.
Terry claims that he attempted to get in contact with Gotti and his team numerous times but to no avail. He also claimed Gotti tried to poach his artist. “At some point during this time period, Yo Gotti contacted Young Fletcher directly and privately offered him $150,000 to leave my label and join his instead,” Terry asserted in his affidavit. “Young Fletcher turned down the offer.”
Gotti is also accused of recording a new track with the same verse that he used for the song to “intentionally” make it seem as if Fletcher copied his music. Terry added that Gotti likely assumed that he could get over on the “small town” guys but was “sorely mistaken.”
Now that he won in court, Terry is prepared to do whatever it takes to get the money, including going after Gotti’s cars and Bel Air mansion. “He might want to pick up the phone.”