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Rapper Fetty Wap Pleads Guilty To Federal Drug Trafficking Charges In New York
The "Trap Queen" musician was one of six people accused of pumping "massive amounts" of drugs — including crack, heroin and fentanyl — into New York and New Jersey.
Rap artist Fetty Wap has pleaded guilty to federal charges that he was part of a scheme to move illegal narcotics in New York and New Jersey.
William Junior Maxwell II, professionally known as Fetty Wap, appeared in a federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York on Monday, according to the New York Post. The "Trap Queen" artist pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess and distribute large amounts of narcontics through Long Island’s Suffolk County to Fetty Wap’s native New Jersey between 2019 and 2020.
The charge carries a mandatory minimum five-year prison sentence, though it’s likely prosecutors will move for more time in accordance with federal sentencing guidelines, according to NBC News. U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Locke reminded the court that Maxwell could face up to 40 years behind bars, the Post reported.
The musician’s lawyer, Elizabeth Macedonio, emphasized to reporters after the hearing that her client was not cooperating with authorities for a more lenient sentence. Judge Locke also noted in court that Maxwell had not obtained what’s referred to as a “5k letter,” which would have been his best chance for obtaining a reduced sentence, as it would demonstrate the defendant’s cooperation.
“He’s not cooperating,” said Macedonio. “I want that to be very, very clear.”
Fetty Wap was one of six people charged in October with conspiracy to distribute more than 200 pounds of controlled substances, according to the Department of Justice. Feds accused the group — which included a New Jersey corrections officer and a pair of brothers — of using the Suffolk County in eastern Long Island as their “home base” for a “multimillion-dollar bi-coastal distribution organization.”
The group allegedly moved drugs — including crack cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl — from a pipeline that began on the west coast.
“They were the wholesale drug dealers who pumped massive quantities of narcotics into our communities,” said then-District Attorney Timothy Sini. “As our investigation revealed, they would frequently use cutting agents to process just one of those kilograms of drugs into as many as four, even before it was distributed to lower-level dealers, so the magnitude of this operation was enormous.”
Feds said four defendants participated in transporting the drugs from the West Coast to the East Coast before the drugs were “processed, stored and ultimately resold.”
Maxwell was charged with being a “kilogram-level redistributor for the trafficking organization,” while a sixth defendant was accused of transporting the narcotics from Long Island to New Jersey.
Maxwell had been out on pretrial release after posting $50,000 bond in November, but he allegedly violated the terms of that agreement. According to NBC News, Maxwell was arrested on Aug. 8 for allegedly displaying a gun and threatening someone’s life over a FaceTime call on Dec. 11, 2021.
Court records state Maxwell told the unnamed person, “Imma kill you and everybody you with,” though it was unclear if the alleged threat was in connection with the federal drug charges. That case is still pending.
Maxwell was remanded into custody earlier this month, something his attorney brought up at Monday’s hearing when she said she was “very concerned about his housing,” according to the New York Post. Maxwell has been housed at a special unit in a Brooklyn federal jail which, according to Macedonio, subjected her client to the “harshest of conditions.“
A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled. Where Maxwell is housed between now and then will be up to the Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Marshals Service.
