NEW YORK — Rapper Fetty Wap has admitted to his role in a multimillion-dollar drug trafficking ring, pleading guilty in Long Island Federal Court Monday in exchange for a minimum five years in federal prison.
The platinum-selling rapper, born William Junior Maxwell II, could have faced life in prison after he was charged last October for conspiring to bring more than 100 kilos of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine from the West Coast to the East for sale in New Jersey and Long Island.
He remains locked up after taking the plea deal since his bond was revoked earlier this month.
Federal authorities labeled him “a kilogram-level redistributor for the trafficking organization,” which sold drugs between June 2019 and June 2020 — long after his rise to stardom. Five other suspects were also charged in the conspiracy.
On Aug. 8, Long Island Federal Magistrate Judge Steven Locke ordered Fetty Wap’s $500,000 bond revoked, after waved what looked like a gun during a Dec. 11 FaceTime call and told a man, “Imma kill you and everybody you with,” according to court filings.
His hit song “Trap Queen” landed in the Top 20 of Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in its third week of release and a remix crossed over into the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100. The lyrics make reference to getting rich from drug dealing, including the lines, “We just set a goal, talking matching Lambos / At 56 a gram, five a hundred grams, though.”
He put up his Georgia home as part of his bail package and was required to wear an ankle monitor but was allowed to travel on tour as long as he got permission from federal prosecutors.
Two of his co-defendants, Anthony Cyntje, who worked as a New Jersey corrections officer, and Robert Leonardi, pleaded guilty in June.
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