Chief Keef held in contempt of court for not paying child support
BY MICHAEL LANSU Staff Reporter September 12, 2013 8:42PM
Keith Cozart, a k a Chief Keef, leaves Cook County Juvenile Court, 1100 S. Hamilton Street after a hearing on Oct. 17, 2012. I Sun-Times Media
Chicago rapper Chief Keef was found in contempt of court last week for failing to pay child support, authorities said.
Chief Keef, whose real name is Keith Cozart, did not show up to a Sept. 5 hearing in child-support court and a judge found him in direct civil contempt for not paying his child support, Cook County Sheriff’s office spokeswoman Sophia Ansari said.
The judge ordered Cozart appear in court Oct. 21 for a status hearing, Ansari said. If he does not start making payments and show up to court, the judge could issue a warrant for his arrest.
Cozart, 18, who made his much-anticipated debut on Interscope records in December 2012 with the album “Finally Rich,” has been in trouble with the law numerous times this year. He gained notoriety last year for a gloating tweet sent from his account after rival Chicago rapper Joseph “Lil Jojo” Coleman was shot to death in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side.
The rapper was locked up in a juvenile detention center in January for wielding a gun in a music video, which violated his probation for an earlier gun conviction for pointing a weapon at police.
Cozart was arrested for disorderly conduct in May after security at the LeMeridien Atlanta Perimeter hotel “observed smoke and a smell of marijuana from a room,” according to police in Dunwoody, Ga.
In July, he was ordered to pay a $531 fine after Illinois State Police stopped him for driving 110 mph on the Edens Expy. in Northfield in May, according to court records.
In August, the rapper and his label, Glory Boyz Entertainment, were ordered to pay more than $230,000 to a Washington D.C.-based concert promotion company for failing to appear at a London show in December 2012, according to court records.
