Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine – real name Daniel Hernandez – has been given a two-year prison sentence as well as five years of supervised release following charges of federal racketeering.
After his release from prison, Hernandez, 23, has been ordered to serve 300 hours of community service and to pay a fine worth $35,000.
This sentencing was given despite Hernandez’s cooperation with the US Attorney’s office in a case against fellow members of the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods, a branch of the United Blood Nation street gang which operates on the east coast of the US.
Hernandez has spent more than a year in federal prison after being arrested in 2018 on federal racketeering charges.
However, as reported by Rolling Stone, it was ruled the charges against Hernandez were too serious for these months to be considered time served, with the 13 months time served counting as part of the new two-year sentence.
Handing down the sentence, Judge Paul Engelmayer made the following comments, as per courtroom reports from Inner City Press:
You have been in custody for 13 months. I agree you deserve a great deal of credit for cooperation.
However, I cannot agree with your counsel that time served is appropriate. In my judgment, your conduct is too violent and selfish to make 13 months reasonable. You will not be going free today.
Judge Engelmayer added:
Before you, the gang didn’t fight with rap entourages. They had no independent interest in going after musicians and their management groups. … I reject the portrait of you as a passive participant.
In victim impact statements heard within the court, two victims of an April 2018 armed robbery said the attack – orchestrated by Hernandez – had caused them severe stress and left them feeling fearful for their lives.
As reported by CNN, one unnamed 33-year-old male victim, wrote the following message in court filings:
Why should this person, who nearly ended my life, be free when I am not free?
Hernandez was arrested in 2018 and slapped with nine overlapping charges for gun possession, attempted murder and gang activity.
He initially pleaded not guilty, but changed his plea to guilty as of January 2019. Within this same time period, it was reported Hernandez had opted to cooperate with the government, however it was later understood he had begun working with the prosecution the very next day following his arrest.
Even after pleading guilty, Hernandez was still looking at a 37-year prison sentence, although his testimony earned him a 51K letter in which prosecutors recommended a reduced sentence.
Hernandez also sent a letter of his own to Judge Engelmayer, expressing remorse over his actions as well as his affiliations with the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.