A popular rapper signed to Rick Ross’ record label almost spent Christmas behind bars thanks to a federal cannabis offense.
Nino Breeze, real name Vaughn Matthews, was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, according to TMZ.
His attorneys, Bradford Cohen and Mark Rankin, said that the rapper surrendered to the U.S. Marshals at the federal courthouse in Tampa on Monday.
Following a court hearing, Matthews agreed to post $100,000 cash bond and put up $100,000 in property as collateral.
His lawyers told TMZ that Matthews would be home for Christmas, while a Florida judge reportedly noted the rapper’s ‘promising music career’ and encouraged him to continue pursuing it.
Rapper Nino Breeze, real name Vaughn Matthews, was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana
The rapper is signed to Rick Ross’ record label and collaborated with the hip-hop legend on the hit song ‘Type a N***a’
On Tuesday, Matthews shared a post to his Instagram Stories that read, ‘I can’t be faded’.
This is not the first time that Matthews has been in trouble with the law.
In 2016, he plead guilty and was sentenced to six years and six months in federal prison for possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and for possessing firearms and ammunition as a convicted felon.
According to court documents, police discovered over 20 pounds of marijuana, 3 firearms, more than 50 rounds of assorted ammunition, and over $86,000 in cash after searching his home.
He was also discovered with a $55,000 diamond watch, despite the fact that he was unemployed at the time.
Further investigation revealed that Matthews had trafficked at least 50 packages of marijuana into Florida, from California, via mail.
All up, police determined that he had used the mail to bring in more than 230 pounds of marijuana, with a street value of around $1million, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
‘Here’s a guy that’s really hurting our community because he’s bringing all these drugs into our community and bringing it down and we don’t want this person in our community,’ St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said at the time.
Matthews previously served almost five years behind bars over a million-dollar marijuana case
Matthews was released from prison in 2022 after serving almost five years. He went on to sign a record deal with Rick Ross’ Maybach Music in 2024.
His biggest so far is ‘Type A N***a’, featuring Ross and Memphis rapper Moneybagg Yo. The song currently has over nine million streams online.
Reflecting on his time behind bars, Matthews told YouTuber Ian Bick that he was ‘good’ at serving time because he’d spent so long as a ‘convict’.
‘I stayed focused. I was reading and educating myself. I was working out, writing music,’ he shared.
He also revealed that his million-dollar drug bust had gone viral, and is in part what helped launch his music career.
Daily Mail has contacted Matthews’ rep for comment.
