A 42-year-old man convicted in the robbery and shooting death of rapper PnB Rock at a South Los Angeles restaurant was sentenced Monday to just over 31 years to life in prison.
Freddie Trone was convicted Aug. 7 of murder and conspiracy to commit robbery, along with two counts of second-degree robbery involving the 30-year-old rapper and his fiancé.
Tremont Jones, 46, who was convicted of two counts of second-degree robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery -- but who was not charged with murder in the case -- was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
The defendants were charged along with Trone's then-17-year-old son. His case is currently in juvenile court while he undergoes treatment to determine if he can be found mentally competent to stand trial.
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PnB Rock, whose real name is Rakim Allen, was shot once in the chest and two times in the back by an assailant in a ski mask who demanded his jewelry and threatened to kill the rapper's girlfriend while the two were eating lunch on Sept. 12, 2022, at Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles on West Manchester Avenue.
Deputy District Attorney Timothy Richardson told the jury that Trone "sent his son out on a coordinated act to rob watches, rings and chains off of a person."
Defense attorney Winston McKesson countered that Trone's teenage son acted independently from his dad and that the "only conclusion that is consistent with justice is that Freddie Trone is not guilty of these charges." The prosecutor told jurors that the motive for the crime was "about a half a million dollars worth of jewelry," arguing that Trone drove his son to and from the restaurant but never set foot inside the business himself while the rapper was there.
The prosecution stated that Jones fist-bumped the rapper at the restaurant and then passed information on to Trone about what jewelry the entertainer was wearing.
Richardson noted "how difficult it is to accept that a father would put his son up to this."
The prosecutor told jurors that Trone, his son and Jones had coordinated actions that were not a coincidence."
Trone vigorously proclaimed his innocence from the witness stand, telling jurors, "I wasn't there. I didn't tell nobody to do nothing."
Trone testified that his son and his own vehicle went missing, and that he subsequently found his son in the vehicle with three other "youngsters." Trone's attorney said there was no evidence of a conspiracy to rob the rapper and accused investigators of making up their minds about "who they thought was guilty" and "looking only for evidence that pointed to guilt'' while ignoring anything that pointed to his client's innocence.
The defense attorney told reporters outside court that he believes his client wouldn't have been charged with murder had he not lived in the area and been African-American, saying that he would have been charged with being an accessory after the fact if it had happened in Beverly Hills. After the verdict, McKesson told City News Service that he was disappointed with the trial's outcome.
"I think the problem is whenever you have a Black man charged in a violent crime and no African Americans on the jury, it is a major problem," he said. "Because all non-Black people -- no matter what their race -- view Black men as dangerous."
The attorney said he would appeal on behalf of Trone.
Trone's son was arrested in September 2022, and his father was subsequently arrested in Las Vegas and returned to Los Angeles County in October 2022, while Jones was taken into custody in May 2023, according to jail records.
PnB Rock, from Philadelphia, gained initial recognition for his 2016 single, "Selfish," which sold more than 2 million copies.
