Updated 2/26/18 to include details about a court hearing on Moore's legal representation.

Jayson Howard Moore flashed handguns and shotguns in his gangster rap videos.

They could be his last videos for a while.

The Dallas rapper and gang member known as "Jay Mafia" is a convicted felon, having spent time in state prison years ago for robbery. That means he's not allowed to have firearms.

Moore, 34, was arrested in 2015 after police got a tip about him and watched his videos, records show. He is charged in federal court with being a felon in possession of a firearm. In early 2016, Moore's indictment was updated to include a charge of production of child pornography.

Moore was initially deemed incompetent to stand trial, federal court records show. His court-appointed attorney told the judge in January 2017 that his client intended to rely on the insanity defense. Moore strongly rejected that in handwritten letters to the court and asked to be allowed to represent himself at his trial.

Jayson Moore mugshot.

Moore claims his arrest warrant and complaint are fraudulent, according to court records.

He's sent numerous letters to the court, alleging he's the victim of government, law enforcement and judicial corruption and conspiracies to keep him locked up without due process.

U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay ruled Monday during a hearing that Moore can represent himself at his trial.

Moore's attorney declined to comment.

Gang banging

His Facebook posts show that Moore at one point envisioned that his rap career would take off and deliver him fame.

"The toughest transition is becoming a celebrity from the streets," he said in a November 2014 post. "I honestly don't wanna be famous, but in order to get my message out I gotta step on a national stage."

Jayson Moore points a handgun in one of his rap videos (Youtube)

A short biography on his record label website once said Moore "entered the game as one of hip hop's most anticipated artists with all the right street cred to back him."

Moore's mother raised him after his father died when he was 4. His life changed when he dropped out of school and moved back to southern Dallas and "established ties" with the Lagow Park Gangsters criminal street gang, according to his biography.

"This would only hurt the young mafioso's ambition by involving him in numerous felonies such as aggravated robberies, aggravated assaults, felony drug distribution and check forgery," the bio said.

"Jay Mafia began gang banging under the direction of a well-known East Garland gang member, Tyshon Hillary," the bio said.

Hillary is serving a life sentence in state prison for fatally shooting a convenience store clerk during a 2003 robbery.

Warning: this video has explicit content:

Moore was convicted of felony robbery in Dallas County in 2002 and sentenced to 10 years in state prison, county records show. But he only served six months before being released, according to state and county records.

"Upon his release from prison, Jay Mafia immediately began writing music about his life and creating songs in a story style format painting a picture of what he has been through in his lifetime," the bio said.

Moore released his first recording in 2005. The following year, he released his debut album through his independent label, Outbreak Records.

Pawnshop

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives task force in Dallas began investigating Moore in 2015 when a confidential source said Moore was sex trafficking women out of Dallas strip clubs and carrying firearms. According to court records, the source also said Moore was a member of the Lagow Park Gangsters.

Jabari Howard, a Dallas police gang detective assigned to the ATF task force, found music videos uploaded to YouTube between 2009 and 2015 that show Moore "displaying and in possession of multiple firearms."

Jayson Moore in one of his rap videos. (Youtube)

He said similar images of Moore with firearms were posted to his social media accounts.

"In one video, Moore is observed working the action of a shotgun, and a shotgun shell is seen expelling from the chamber," Howard said in a criminal complaint.

Howard also learned that Moore had pawned several firearms at an Irving pawnshop in August 2015, including a shotgun and a semi-automatic rifle. He was charged in connection with those firearms.

The updated indictment says Moore persuaded or coerced a girl to text him a pornographic image.

In November 2015, two appointed attorneys for Moore asked to withdraw from the case, citing Moore's false claim that they worked with federal authorities to keep him "illegally detained."