Toronto rapper 'Top5' brags about time in jail, thanks guards he says gave him cellphones

More than two weeks have passed since Hassan Ali walked out of a Toronto courtroom a free man, after prosecutors decided not to move forward with a first-degree murder trial against the local rapper.

Two days after the charges were stayed, Ali, who goes by the stage name ‘Top5’ joined an online live stream where he boasted about his time in jail.

“I had a knife in jail. I had a cheeseburger in jail. I had a phone in jail,” Ali said. He went on to thank the correctional officers, saying, “Shoutout to the COs who took care of me and gave me the phones.”

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In 2023, Ali used one of those cellphones to record a music video while in custody at the Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton, Ont, claiming he paid someone $10,000 to get it.

Ali was serving time at the facility, which he described as the “Four Seasons” in another interview. while awaiting trial in the shooting death of Hashim Omar Hashi, a 20-year-old student who police say had no criminal ties.

While contraband is not uncommon behind bars, Ontario’s solicitor general said it launched a full investigation into the incident last June.

More than a year later, the office tells CTV News Toronto, “The ministry does not comment on internal investigations but can confirm that the investigation has concluded, and all appropriate action has been taken.”

Former homicide detective Mark Mendelson explains that while it’s routine for the ministry not to divulge the outcome of an investigation, he says these system flaws do happen, particularly in the provincial system because of how transient it is.

“It happens through many different modes of transport into the system from the correctional officers at the particular jail to the courthouse to the security in the courthouse to private meetings with their counsel,” Mendelson said.

Since his release, Ali has appeared on multiple platforms threatening to incite violence. However, the line is often blurred between what rappers say being taken as fact versus artistic expression.

Mendelson says, “We saw what happened in court with this particular gentleman where certain evidence was not allowed in. That doesn’t mean the end of investigation at all, that means they’re going to continue on and if this man happens to inject himself back into the investigation again then so be it.”

Although the charges against Ali were stayed, they could still be revived by the Crown at a later date. Meanwhile, Toronto police are not commenting on the investigation into Hashi’s death as it remains ongoing.