RAPPER Ackquille Pollard, known in music circles as Bobby Shmurda, has found himself in even more hot water with the law in New York.

The New York Times reported Friday that prosecutors accused him of having his girlfriend smuggle a knife into Rikers Island prison on June 11. He is being held there on gang conspiracy and gun charges, plus lying to a grand jury.

Shmurda, 20, faces additional charges of felony and misdemeanor charges of promoting prison contraband, perjury, and criminal possession of a weapon, according to a statement from the Bronx district attorney’s office.

He pleaded not guilty on Thursday. His next hearing is scheduled for October.

Shmurda, whose father is Jamaican and mother Trinidadian, faces seven years in prison if convicted.

He rose to prominence last year with the song Hot Boy, which topped the Billboard R&B Hip Hop Songs, Hot Rap Songs, Rap Streaming Songs, and R&B/ Hip Hop Streaming Songs charts.

Distributed by Epic Records, it also made the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles Chart.

A reggae version featuring Junior Reid, Mavado, Popcaan and Jah X was also recorded.

But prosecutors claim the Florida-born artiste has a dark side. They say Shmurda was a ‘driving force’ in a Brooklyn gang known as GS9, or G Stone Crips, which sold drugs and was involved in street violence.

He was arrested in December in that case, and his bail set at US$2 million. He faces a 25-year prison sentence.

His girlfriend, 18-year-old K Rousseau, has been charged with felony and misdemeanor counts of promoting prison contraband and a misdemeanor count of criminal possession of a weapon.

In an arraignment on Wednesday, she pleaded not guilty and was released on her own recognisance. She has a court date set for August.