On a recent episode of Fox’s “Empire” Montana of 300 fictitiously helped Terrance Howard’s character record “Snitch B**ch” on the hit series while in jail. Last year, a group of seven inmates in a South Carolina prison recorded the first ever rap video while being incarcerated and are now receiving severe punishments for their infractions.

In March of 2014, the video titled “South Carolina Inmates Film 1st Ever Music Video In Prison!” was uploaded to LightworkerTV’s YouTube Channel and was then picked by WorldStar. Once the video garnered the attention of the South Carolina Department of Corrections they began an investigation.

According to BuzzFeed, the inmates involved in the making of the video were serving time for various charges including armed robbery, voluntary manslaughter, and burglary. All seven received additional punishment for having a cellphone and for creating “security threat group” material.

Public records acquired by the Electronic Frontier Foundation show that the WorldStarHipHop link was used as evidence against the inmates. As a result, five inmates were sent to “disciplinary detention” for 180 days each. The other two inmates received 270 and 360 days for recording the video and uploading it to the Internet. Collectively those involved were sentenced to 7,150 days (approximately 20 years) in solitary confinement. The inmates also lost a litany of privileges such as visitation, phone rights, and loss of time accrued for good behavior.

While the inmates were indeed in possession of contraband, many people are arguing the sentence is harsh and uncalled for. What it represents to others are prisoners who have come together to present their creativity to the world despite having once committed crimes against the people in their community.

Do you believe the punishment to be just or too harsh? Sound off below and watch the video in the gallery above.