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Fetty Wap is facing a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to drug charges.
The Trap Queen rapper plead guilty to running an illicit drug operation in New York and New Jersey. Cops arrested the rapper and found bricks of cocaine and heroin at his Long Island residence. The 31-year-old rapper, real name Willie Junior Maxwell II, is accused of supplementing his recording income with ‘kilo-level’ drug dealing.
The rapper pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess and distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine in a Long Island court on Monday, a rep for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York has confirmed. While the maximum penalty for the charge is 40 years behind bars, the sentence carries a minimum sentence of at least five years.
The guilty plea comes just two weeks after U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Locke revoked a previously granted $500,000 bond. Since his arrest on August 8, Fetty Wap has remained in custody.
Two other defendants in the case also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances, while another confessed to using firearms in connection with drug trafficking. Fetty Wap initially maintained his innocence, but he has since pleaded guilty to the first distribution count.
“The fact that we arrested a chart-topping rap artist and a corrections officer as part of the conspiracy illustrates just how vile the drug trade has become,” says Michael Driscoll of the FBI’s New York field office. Three others were charged in relation to the drug arrest, and all six face at least one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances. All of the defendants with the exception of Fetty Wap face firearms charges.
“As alleged, the defendants transported, distributed, and sold more than 100 kilograms of deadly and addictive drugs, including heroin and fentanyl, on Long Island, deliberately contributing to the opioid epidemic that has devastated our communities and taken too many lives,” says Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace in a statement.