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After Arkansas Arrest, EBK Jaaybo Pleads Guilty to Federal Gun and Drug Counts
Stockton rapper EBK Jaaybo, born Jaymani Gorman, pleaded guilty June 4 to federal counts tied to a May 2025 Arkansas traffic stop: possession of a machine gun and possession with intent to distribute marijuana. Ballistics linked the weapon to a separate Bay Area shooting.
There is a rhythm to how stories like this unfold: a traffic stop becomes a headline, a few public names get dragged through court dockets, and a neighborhood’s music and violence narratives cross paths again. On Thursday, June 4, Jaymani Gorman—better known as Stockton rapper EBK Jaaybo—formally pleaded guilty to federal charges that originated with a May 2025 traffic stop in Arkansas.
The plea covered two counts: possession of a machine gun and possession with intent to distribute marijuana. Xavier “Baby Maxx” Jones, identified in filings as a codefendant, entered the same pleas on the same day. What started as a routine-sounding stop did not stay routine for long.
According to court records, officers discovered an illegally modified Glock, roughly five ounces of marijuana and $8,534 in cash in the vehicle. The original indictment listed a longer menu of charges—possession of a firearm by a felon, transportation of a firearm in interstate commerce while under indictment, possession of a stolen firearm, and an allegation that the machine gun was used in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime—but prosecutors pared most of that back as part of the plea agreement.
“I understand the nature of the charges against me and enter this plea voluntarily,” a statement attributed to Jaaybo during the plea proceeding reads in court documents. “I accept responsibility for my actions and will await the court’s sentence.”
Ballistics work in the months after the arrest added another layer to the case. Investigators concluded the modified Glock had been fired two months earlier in a nonfatal shooting of Bay Area rapper DreamllifeRizzy—Jarico Anderson—according to reporting from the Mercury News and the federal case file. That shooting itself is tied up in its own complications: DreamllifeRizzy has been identified in press accounts as an alleged member of San Francisco’s Double Rock set and, later, released a track titled “EBK Killer,” which prosecutors cite as further evidence of an East Bay feud that has simmered in the background of these legal moves.
Those separate criminal allegations involving the shooting remain under investigation and are not resolved by Jaaybo’s recent plea.
As part of the deal, prosecutors dropped several counts, narrowing the case to the two guilty pleas. The machine-gun count carries a statutory maximum of up to 10 years in federal custody. Sentencing will be scheduled later; federal judges frequently consult guideline ranges, prosecutor recommendations and any victim-impact statements before setting a term.
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, an attorney listed in court as representing Jaaybo said the plea was pragmatic. “We reviewed the evidence and negotiated a resolution that eliminates exposure on a number of counts,” the lawyer said. “Mr. Gorman is focused on preparing for sentencing and addressing the underlying issues that brought him before the court.” The defense did not elaborate on whether Jaaybo plans to seek mercy-based arguments at sentencing or to pursue appeals related to evidence suppression.
Elsewhere in the paperwork, the government highlights travel between states, the illegal modification to the Glock, and the cash seized at the traffic stop. For readers who follow the overlapping worlds of Bay Area rap and regional crews, none of this will feel entirely new: rap feuds cross into the legal system far more often than labels or playlists acknowledge.
For now, Jaaybo remains a figure in two concurrent narratives. There is the musical one—regional flexes, online diss tracks, local shows—and there is the legal one, which now proceeds on a narrower set of factual claims and charges. The plea changes the calendar but not the story’s edges: ballistics, social media, and neighborhood histories will likely keep this case in the papers until sentencing and possibly beyond.
XXL has reached out to Jaaybo’s counsel for additional comment; the plea hearing marked the immediate legal turning point but not the final act. In hip-hop’s long list of artists whose careers intersect with long prison terms, this development adds another chapter—one that will be measured in filings and hearing dates rather than streams for the foreseeable future.
That list—names like C-Murder, Max B, and B.G.—was invoked around the time authorities confirmed the gun’s alleged connection to the shooting in the Bay Area; it’s a reminder that the industry’s history with the courts is as much about geography and policing as it is about music. For fans and observers, the sentencing date will be the next hard deadline to watch.
