JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A jury has found Jacksonville rapper, Tyler Jackson, or ‘Y&R Mookey’, guilty of ‘possession of a firearm by a convicted felon’.
The conviction stems from 2019 when the Jacksonville Sheriff’s office and the State Attorney’s office completed ‘Operation Rap Up’, a campaign that looked at social media and Youtube videos to find convicted felons showing off guns and other weapons.
Diane Watts stood in court while a jury handed down a guilty verdict for her son Tyler Jackson.
"It's sad the way that they did my son, and it hurts as a parent," said Diane Watts, mother of Jackson.
Watts claims her son has no gang affiliation and as far as the gun Jackson is seen holding in a music video made back in 2018,
"Those are prop guns, I know my son I know, I don’t care. How ca you judge a person by their past? People have a tendency to change," Watts said.
His defense agrees, and said prosecution failed to prove with reasonable doubt the weapon was real.
"He said 100% it was a real firearm but he was unable to tell us where the serial number of the firing pin was. My client's just a young kid who is trying to pull himself up," Kevin Raudt, Jackson's Defense attorney, said.
The music video was showed in court Friday. You can see a then 20 year-old Jackson holding what the state prosecution argued was a modified Ak-47 style weapon.
"Here he was absolutely confident that this was a real firearm that meets the definition of Florida statues and it's because not only the quality of the video, it's because of this specific time of firearms," said Leah Owens, Asst. State Attorney.
Ultimately, after nearly 3 hours of deliberation, the jury found Jackson guilty. Jackson is in custody, held without bond, awaiting sentencing. He is schduled to be back in court March 14 to set a day for sentencing. Jackson could face up to 30 years in state prison.
Courtroom Video: Y&R Mookey's reaction to guilty verdict
