Rick Ross Fights Lawsuit With One Of His Own

A few months ago, rapper Rick Ross was arrested for aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and kidnapping. The charges were filed by a groundskeeper named Jonathan Zamudio, who was hired to work on one of Ross’s homes. Zamudio says he was pistol whipped and barred from leaving Rick Ross’s home.

Just two weeks earlier, the rapper was arrested for possession of marijuana, but it doesn’t seem that he’s going to take the blame for the more serious assault charges. On Wednesday, September 23, Ross filed a countersuit, hoping to have the charges against him dismissed. Leron Rodgers, Rick’s acting attorney, told BET News that there is not enough evidence for the case against Rick and that it is just a ploy to get money from the rapper.

Billboard reported that the original lawsuit, filed by Zamudio, some of his family members, and a fellow worker named Leonardo Caceres, claimed Ross stormed into a the guest house of his home and started hitting them repeatedly with a pistol. Zamudio and his family claim they were living in the guest house at the time and that Ross’s actions were completely unprovoked.

One big part of Ross’s argument is that the 911 call placed by Jonathan Zamudio did not mention any type of injury or that an assault had occurred. On the 911 call, Jonathan simply said he was being held at Ross’s home against his will. In regards to the alleged kidnapping, Ross is arguing that Zamudio did not have permission to stay in his guest house and was illegally trespassing on his property at the time.

In Ross’s countersuit, he also brings up that Zamudio has a criminal record and claims that Zamudio may possibly have left drug paraphernalia on Ross’s property, which further attempts to dismantle Zamudio’s credibility and the authenticity of his claims.

Rick Ross also draws attention to the fact that Zamudio has a friendship with Curtis Jackson, better known as rapper 50 Cent. Ross refers to 50 Cent as his nemesis and suggests that 50 Cent is, at least in part, pushing Zamudio to press charges against Ross in order to extort him.

Rick Ross was released on $2 million bail and therefore is not currently incarcerated, but the lawsuit and investigation are still ongoing. Within his countersuit, he is attempting to charge Zamudio with several things, including counts of defamation, civil theft, and damages.

[Image courtesy of Frazer Harrison / Getty images]