A federal judge has ordered a Georgia man and his company to pay more than $874,000 to a Youngstown-based concert booking firm after they were accused of forging contracts for hip-hop music artists. U.S. District Judge John Adams issued the ruling after the defendants failed to respond to a lawsuit filed by Esmail Entertainment.

The legal dispute began in August 2025 when Esmail Entertainment filed a complaint against Shaw Management Enterprises and its owner, Louis Givens. Esmail Entertainment specializes in booking and coordinating concerts in Northeast Ohio. The company alleged that Givens acted as a middleman to secure performers for a scheduled September 2025 concert at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland.

According to court documents, Givens provided Esmail Entertainment with contracts that appeared to be signed by artists Glorilla, Money Bagg Yo, and Skilla Baby. Relying on these documents, Esmail Entertainment paid Givens and his company $282,000 to secure the performers. The company also paid a $10,000 deposit to the concert venue and began selling tickets to the public.

The situation changed when Esmail Entertainment became suspicious of additional financial requests from the defendants. Upon contacting the production team for the headliner, Glorilla, the company learned that she had never signed a contract for the event. In fact, her team was reportedly in the process of sending a cease-and-desist letter to Givens.

Further investigation revealed that the signatures on the contracts for all three artists were forged. The lawsuit stated that Givens eventually admitted to the forgeries, claiming he hoped to secure the artists before the deception was discovered. While $20,000 was returned to the entertainment company, the remaining funds were not paid back.

The fraud forced Esmail Entertainment to cancel the concert and refund all ticket holders. The company estimated it lost roughly $2.5 million in potential sales due to the cancellation.

In the final order, the court noted that Givens and Shaw Mgmt. Enterprises were served with the complaint via certified mail in September, but never filed a response. Because they did not defend themselves in court, the judge granted a default judgment. This type of ruling occurs when one side fails to participate in the legal process, leading the court to accept the plaintiff's claims as true.

The judge awarded Esmail Entertainment a total of $874,921 in damages. Under the ruling, both Louis Givens and Shaw Mgmt. Enterprises are responsible for the full amount. The case was officially terminated following the entry of the judgment.