Rapper Ca$h Out must pay $40 million to a sex trafficking victim while serving life in prison for running a criminal enterprise.
Atlanta rapper Ca$h Out must pay $40 million to a sex trafficking victim after a federal judge issued a default judgment against the imprisoned artist.
U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash ordered Ca$h Out to pay the massive sum in January 2026 to a plaintiff identified only as J.M. The judgment includes $10 million in compensatory damages and $30 million in punitive damages for alleged sex trafficking that occurred between 2013 and 2015.
The rapper failed to respond to the civil lawsuit filed in 2022, resulting in an automatic default judgment against him. The victim claims Ca$h Out physically abused her and forced her to work as a prostitute after inviting her to stay at his Hapeville, Georgia home.
According to court documents, the woman said she was sexually assaulted hundreds of times during the two-year period. The civil case was connected to Ca$h Out’s criminal conviction on similar charges that landed him a life sentence plus 70 years in prison.
A Fulton County jury found Ca$h Out guilty of rape, pimping and aggravated sodomy in July 2025 after prosecutors said he led a sex trafficking ring across metro Atlanta. The criminal case revealed an organized operation that authorities charged under Georgia’s RICO statute, typically reserved for mob-related crimes.
Prosecutors argued the rap star ran the trafficking ring like a for-profit criminal enterprise involving sex work and violence. More than 50 witnesses testified during the criminal trial, with several women saying Ca$h Out or his mother took money they earned from performing sex acts.
Some victims described being raped or denied food unless they engaged in sexual acts for money. Authorities presented video evidence from a prostitution sting to demonstrate the structured nature of the operation Ca$h Out allegedly controlled.
Ca$h Out was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. He had been offered a 25-year plea agreement but chose to proceed to trial instead. The court ordered Ca$h Out to register as a sex offender and avoid contact with victims or their families.
His mother, Linda Smith, known as “Mama Ca$h Out,” was convicted of one trafficking charge and sentenced to 30 years in prison. A third defendant, Tyrone Taylor, received life plus 70 years after being found guilty on all charges except pimping, including rape and aggravated sodomy.
During his criminal sentencing, Ca$h Out thanked the judge and jury but maintained his innocence, stating that he had “done things” in his life but not the crimes for which he was accused.
The $40 million civil judgment represents one of the largest awards in a sex trafficking case involving a Hip-Hop artist, though collecting the money may prove difficult given the rapper’s incarceration.
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