Overview
- U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. entered a Jan. 7 order awarding $10 million in compensatory damages and $30 million in punitive damages to a plaintiff identified as J. M.
- The civil case, filed in 2022 in the Northern District of Georgia under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, proceeded to default after Gibson did not respond.
- Court records show the civil suit was stayed during the state criminal trial and revived once the Fulton County case concluded with convictions.
- Plaintiff’s attorney Matthew Stoddard says his firm will seek funds held in the court’s registry from criminal forfeiture proceedings and explore assigning residual income from the rapper’s music catalog.
- Gibson was convicted in July 2025 on racketeering, rape, and sex-trafficking charges; co-defendant Tyrone Taylor received a life‑plus‑70 sentence and Linda Smith received a 30‑year term after a case built on a 46‑count RICO indictment with jail calls, cellphone records, and surveillance.