Anti Da Menace Case: Plea, Sentence, Probation, and Career Impact

Atlanta rapper Anti Da Menace, whose legal name is Linderius Cortez Johnson, accepted a plea deal on October 28, 2024, in Fulton County Superior Court, admitting guilt to armed robbery, gang participation, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during a felony. Judge Kimberly Esmond Adams sentenced him to 25 years total: 10 to serve in prison, 10 on probation, and five years suspended if he complies with probation terms.¹

What He Pleaded To

Johnson entered guilty pleas to four counts: participating in criminal street gang activity, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The plea was entered before Judge Adams in Fulton County Superior Court.¹ The charges stemmed from an Atlanta police armed robbery investigation that led to his arrest on February 19, 2024.²

The Sentence

The 25-year sentence breaks down into 10 years of confinement followed by 10 years of probation, with five years suspended contingent on compliance with the probation conditions.¹

Armed robbery in Georgia falls under Georgia Code § 17-10-6.1, one of the “Seven Deadly Sins” carrying a 10-year mandatory minimum that ordinarily cannot be suspended, probated, or deferred, and that must be served in full without parole.³ The statute does permit a judge to depart from that floor when the prosecution and defendant reach a negotiated sentence. Johnson’s plea, with its 10 years to serve and five suspended, reflects that kind of negotiated resolution.

Probation Terms

The conditions Judge Adams attached to Johnson’s probation reach well past the standard set:

No association or affiliation with gangs, including his own record label, 952 Da Label.
No possession of firearms or firearm replicas.
No wearing of gang paraphernalia.
No social media posts depicting or endorsing gang association.
A curfew from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. for the first two years of probation.

Naming 952 Da Label in the association ban is unusual. Courts routinely bar contact with known gang members, but writing a defendant’s own business into the order signals that the label itself was treated as connected to the underlying gang activity.¹

What It Means for His Career

Johnson had been building a following in Atlanta rap before the arrest. Ten years of confinement puts recording and touring on pause. Once released, the probation terms continue to bite: he cannot post gang-associated content, cannot affiliate with 952 Da Label, and lives under a 9 p.m. curfew for the first two years. Those restrictions govern how he can present himself publicly and who he can build a business with, and they remain binding conditions of the plea entered in October 2024.

1
Yahoo News. Atlanta Rapper Anti Da Menace Arrested on Gang Charges
2
WSB-TV. Atlanta Rapper Anti Da Menace Arrested on Gang Charges
3
Justia. Georgia Code § 17-10-6.1