Rapper Boosie BadAzz pleads guilty to federal gun charges in San Diego

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- Rapper Boosie BadAzz has pleaded guilty to federal gun charges in connection to his 2023 arrest in San Diego.

The 42-year-old Louisiana-based rapper, whose real name is Torrence Hatch Jr., was arrested in May 2023 after police found two loaded handguns in the vehicle he was in during a traffic stop in San Diego's Chollas View neighborhood.

He had been in town to film a music video and to perform at a Gaslamp Quarter nightclub in downtown San Diego.

The court documents allege Hatch was seen by San Diego Police Officers with a gun in his waistband on an Instagram livestream while he was filming a music video in what appeared to be the backyard of a home, and they used a helicopter to track down the vehicle he was in.

On Tuesday, Hatch pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in a federal court in San Diego.

Hatch earlier this month posted on social media that he accepted a plea deal on the gun case:

"Just accepted a plea from the federal government on my gun case. I thought this case was over n I was going to get on with my life but ‘god don't make mistakes’ n I'm tired of fighting. Talked to my family n this is the right decision. To all my fans across the world say a prayer for ya boy n go get the new album."

This past summer, less than two weeks after a federal judge threw out the previous case against him after a 9th circuit court ruled it was unconstitutional to ban nonviolent felons from owning guns, a larger panel from that court reversed the ruling, resulting in the new charges filed against him.

Hatch is set to be sentenced later this year on November 21.

Boosie BadAzz (Lil Boosie) is known for early 2000 hits like “Wipe Me Down” and “Set It Off.” He just dropped a new album -- Words Of A Real One -- on Aug. 1, 2025.