Back in 2019, there was this wild story of an aspiring Baltimore-rapper, named Chad “Focus” Arrington, who allegedly stole over $4 million dollars from his then employer to help fund his music career. At the time he was being charged for “federal charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft” and faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Well it appears he’s getting a two and half year sentence.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, 33-year-old Chad Arrington, aka “Chad Focus,” received his sentence Wednesday, getting 30 months for his role in the crime. And after completing his prison sentence, Chad will serve 12 months of home confinement as part of three years of supervised release. The judge also ordered him to pay back $4,142,435.31 in restitution to cover the victim’s losses.
Prosecutors say he had used the stolen money to buy billboards across the U.S., including one in Times Square that touted him as the “#1 recording artist in the world.” He is also accused of using some of that money to purchase social media followers as well as services that artificially increased online streaming of his songs. He allegedly conducted the scheme from at least January 2015 to August 2018.
“Chad Arrington illegally used a company credit card to spend more than $4 million to promote himself as a hip-hop artist and to promote his company,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner. “Now Arrington will spend more than two years in federal prison. The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland will continue to utilize our resources to prosecute this type of costly fraud.”