The estranged wife of rapper Xzibit says the former host of MTV’s “Pimp My Ride” secretly sold a $170 million-plus cannabis company he founded while they were still married and threatened to kill a witness who knew where he was hiding cars, homes and other assets, according to legal documents obtained by TheWrap.
Krista Joiner, who filed for divorce in 2021 from the rapper-actor whose real name is Alvin Joiner, served a legal petition and motion for a temporary restraining order Tuesday, alleging he violated court orders by secretly selling his stake in Brass Knuckles, the cannabis company created during their marriage.
The petition also seeks an urgent change in her legal representation as she is seeking expertise in high-stakes corporate transactions and cannabis-industry assets.
The restraining order is for Julio Garcia, whose company detailed cars for both the Joiners before and after their divorce filing, and was filed by Krista’s lawyers Cris Armenta, Tamara Benefield and Earth Shah. In the filing, Armenta describes Garcia as a material witness to “crimes of extortion, witness tampering, obstruction of justice and felony death threats.”
“Alvin Joiner threatened to kill me if I testified and told Krista the truth about what I learned when I washed his cars, like what vehicles he has, where he has them, where his new house is, that I helped Alvin move cannabis merchandise from Las Vegas to Chatsworth and where the warehouse is,” Garcia wrote in the petition. “He said, ‘I’ll kill you.’ Then he said, ‘Good luck to you and Krista.’”
When contacted by TheWrap, a representative for Xzibit said there would be no comment on legal matters. He has yet to respond publicly.
At the center of the dispute is Brass Knuckles, a high-profile cannabis brand co-founded by Xzibit during the couple’s marriage, making it a community property asset under California law. Krista claims Xzibit sold his interest in the brand without her knowledge or the court’s approval sometime after the divorce filing.
According to the petition, Brass Knuckles was valued at $170 million in 2019 and has since expanded its distribution to at least 10 states. The company, along with other cannabis ventures, constitutes the largest portion of the couple’s marital wealth, the filing says.
Her petition further states that proper discovery has been stalled for years, with Xzibit repeatedly failing to disclose key documents. The document also names another cannabis brand, Napalm, as a significant community asset created during the marriage.
In addition to seeking a delay in trial proceedings, Krista’s legal filing requests court orders for contempt charges against Xzibit for violating a TRO automatically generated by divorce proceedings, as well as modifications to existing support arrangements.
A hearing has been set for March 19 of next year.
