Livermore police bring street terrorism case against rapper known for Norteño ‘drill music’

LIVERMORE Alameda County prosecutors have filed felony charges against a Livermore rap artist who police say is known for promoting his street gang in his music Richard Ivy known in the rap world as Curly LVM was charged with felony street terrorism and gun possession as well as a misdemeanor count of having marijuana for sale During an April raid of Ivy s home police say they identified pounds of marijuana which investigators calculated was enough to get the average user continuously high for hours or about days Police say they re familiar with Ivy who turned just last month through his status as a member of the Livermore Valley Mexicans gang a subset of the Norte o gang and as a rapper who makes drill music a subgenre of rap that promotes gang life In addition to monitoring his music police say they re aware of instances where Ivy drove through rival gang neighborhoods and threw up gang signs to antagonize people there If prosecutors plan to use Ivy s lyrics against him in court though they may face legal opposition A bill severely limiting that practice was signed into law by Gov Gavin Newsom in On March investigators authored a sealed search warrant to raid the Livermore home where Ivy lives with his mother and to go through his motorcycle according to court records Various of Ivy s music now seems prophetic Last year he distributed a song and music video called Run It Up where he opined that gang task invariably on my a for specific dumb s referring to a police gang task force and specifically taunts the Livermore Police Department rapping f LPD Ivy was charged on April and has since been issued after posting bail His lawyer declined to comment on the charges His next court date is on May with a preliminary hearing set for June records show During the April raid Livermore police say they recovered gang indicia including a Huegla bird flag a common symbol used by the Nuestra Familia prison gang and the Norte os and writing that referred to Ivy being a sixth generation gang member Police say they used a sledge hammer to bust open a safe in Ivy s room where they identified a loaded revolver The street terrorism charge a standalone felony generically alleges that Ivy did unlawfully and actively participate in a criminal street gang without specifying what he did The fact that it was filed appears to be a deviation from the prior Alameda County District Attorney administration under recently-recalled DA Pamela Price who generally opposed gang charges arguing they were disproportionately applied to minorities and contributed to mass incarceration Ivy pleaded not guilty on April court records show