GettyTekashi69 has been transferred to a different prison which is regularly used to house witnesses who ‘cooperate’ with police.
It comes after the attorney for Tekashi69 is adamant that the rapper is not a member of a gang, saying he just portrays the image for entertainment.
The rapper, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, was indicted on six federal charges on Monday (November 19) at Manhattan Federal Court, including discharging a firearm while committing a crime and assault with a dangerous weapon.
The result of a five-year federal investigation into the rapper’s involvement with a New York gang, the Nine Trey Bloods, Hernandez was initially placed in general population with ‘extremely dangerous’ inmates while awaiting his bail hearing.
He is currently facing a minimum of 32 years in prison and was held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.
However, according to TMZ, the 22-year-old specifically requested to be in a different unit. The transfer happened last night (November 21) and the rapper’s attorney states it is for ‘security reasons’, as he was getting threats from gang members.
The crimes he is being charged with are all racketeering and firearms offences; racketeering is the involvement in fraudulent and dishonest business dealing.
But now the rapper’s attorney, Lanze Lazzaro, is protesting his innocence, stating that in no way is he a member of a gang.
GettyAs reported by The Blast, he said:
Daniel Hernandez is completely innocent of all charges being brought against him. An entertainer who portrays a ‘gangster image’ to promote his music does not make him a member of an enterprise.
Mr. Hernandez became victim of this enterprise and later took steps by firing employees and publicly denounced this enterprise through a morning show.
The employees he is referring to, as reported by TMZ, would be Tekashi69’s manager and two other former associates recently fired by the rapper, all of whom are also in federal custody as a result of getting arrested on racketeering charges.
TMZ report that 6ix9ine was arrested on Sunday night (November 18) by Agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in New York City.
The ATF agents are also said to have arrested his ex-manager, Shotti, at the same time. Tekashi had recently fired Shotti at the start of this month.
One of the other suspects arrested was Faheem Walter, otherwise known as Crippy – who got shot a few weeks ago during an altercation with Tekashi’s record label head.
The charges faced could lead to a lengthy jail spell for the star; the most serious of the charges is the discharging of a firearm while committing a crime.
This is punishable with a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison, and could potentially carry a life sentence for the 22-year-old rapper.
His debut album was expected to drop tomorrow (November 23), which features both Kanye West and Nicki Minaj. However, this has now been postponed.
The announcement was made yesterday (November 21) via the rapper’s Instagram, which only days before had revealed the tracklist for the album.
The post read:
Due to circumstances beyond our control we have postponed the release of Tekashi 6ix9ine’s Dummy Boy until further notice
Nicki Minaj also confirmed the delayed release, offering messages of love and support to the rapper and his family, saying, ‘Danny, I love you and am praying for you, your Mother, daughter & her Mom during this time.’
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).