Chief Keef Impostor Busted By The Feds

JULY 28--A Miami man masquerading online as the rapper Chief Keef allegedly coerced and threatened a 14-year-old girl into sending him sexually explicit photos, according to federal investigators.

Lenny Baldwin, 21, is charged in a three-count indictment with extortion, sexual exploitation of a child, and coercion and enticement of the victim, a Virginia teen who was randomly contacted by Baldwin via Kik, the messaging application.

Pictured at right, Baldwin has been locked up without bond since his arrest two months ago.

The victim’s mother last year contacted Virginia cops to report that her daughter had sent a series of naked photos to a Kik user with the handle “Gbe_chiefkeef.” The man told the victim that his name was Keith Cozart.

The actual Chief Keef (real name: Keith Cozart) is a 19-year-old performer from Chicago who has a lengthy rap sheet and is considered the violence-plagued city’s leading gangsta rapper. Cozart is founder and CEO of the record label Glory Boyz Entertainment, or GBE.

A Chicago mayoral spokesperson recently called the rapper (seen below) “an unacceptable role model” whose music “promotes violence.” On Saturday night, police in Hammond, Indiana shut down Chief Keef’s appearance--via hologram from California--at a hip-hop festival, citing unspecified safety concerns.

As detailed in a search warrant application, after Baldwin received nude pictures from the girl, he pressured her to send additional explicit photos. In Kik messages, Baldwin demanded new images “or ur gonna get exposed.”

A review of Baldwin’s Gmail account, agents reported, turned up nude photos of several females that appeared to be under 18. The images were forwarded from Baldwin’s Kik account, which contains the avatar “Keith Cozart.” In one e-mail, Baldwin warned a woman named Leetricia, “I should expose you.”

Baldwin did not reply to e-mail and Facebook messages sent by a TSG reporter prior to his mid-May arrest. (4 pages)