Cardi B’s best friend, Star Brim, was charged by New York prosecutors in a sweeping roundup of the 5-9 Brims—a violent set of the Bloods street gang—for allegedly orchestrating an attack at the same club where the rapper’s strip-club brawl took place.
The well-connected 28-year-old from the Bronx, whose real name is Yonette Respass, was one of the 11 charged in indictments unveiled on Tuesday in the Southern District of New York. Prosecutors claim she ordered a brutal assault against Queens bartenders at Angels Strip Club while she was serving a federal prison sentence in Connecticut.
Respass allegedly ordered her younger female subordinates in 5-9 Brims, known as “drops,” to execute the assault against the bartenders in August 2018—after members concluded that the servers disrespected a person in their crew. She ordered them to “pop that bottle” during the attack, prosecutors said.
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“I want hands put on them. I don’t even want no talking,” she allegedly instructed them.
On Aug. 15, three “drops” met up with three other defendants at the club, where they ordered a drink from her and gestured her to come closer, according to prosecutors. They then allegedly pulled her by her hair over the bar, repeatedly beat her head, and threw a bottle at her.
According to prosecutors, one of the defendants—Jeffrey Bush—recorded the incident on his cellphone. Bush also allegedly served as “muscle” for Cardi B in an Aug. 29, 2018, fight with two bartenders at Angels.
Another defendant who was allegedly present at the scene, Louis Love, shared details of the incident with Respass. “Them bitches got her. Bitches got her,” he said, according to prosecutors.
But Respass doubted if the violence was vicious enough and wondered whether the gang needed to target the victim again, the indictment states. According to prosecutors, another assault eventually took place about two weeks later—in which several 5-9 Brims members targeted the same bartenders at Angels. The second attack is the subject of a separate prosecution by the Queens County District Attorney’s Office.
Respass was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit assault in aid of racketeering. According to NBC New York, Respass is pregnant and due to give birth any day. Officials told the news station that she would only be arrested after giving birth.
Cardi B posted a pregnancy portrait of her friend late last year celebrating the “never ending beautiful chapter” in her life. “I’m so happy for you,” the rapper wrote.
While the majority of the other defendants were arraigned on Tuesday, prosecutors noted in their filing that Respass would be arraigned at a later date.
