Rapper Fetty Wap pleaded guilty Monday to a federal count of conspiracy to distribute and possess cocaine, a charge that carries a mandatory minimum of five years in prison, federal officials announced.
The rapper, whose real name is William Junior Maxwell II, had been arrested at Citi Field on Oct. 28, 2021, after an indictment alleged that the New Jersey-born artist was part of a nationwide drug trafficking ring. Prosecutors said he was a "kilogram-level redistributor" for a drug ring that moved more than 100 kilos of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and crack in a massive drug trafficking racket that moved drugs from the West Coast to Long Island.
A total of six people were charged late last year, including a New Jersey correction officer. The other five were separately arrested and were all ordered detained pending trial. All six face one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances, and all of the defendants except for Maxwell also 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," Brookyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
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Maxwell remains in federal custody, a spokesperson for federal prosecutors said, after failing to make a request to be released on bond. His sentencing date is yet to be scheduled, but the rapper's sentencing guidelines range from 7 to 9 years.
According to a reporter for the New York Post, Maxwell’s attorney said outside of court, “He is not cooperating [with federal authorities]. I want that to be very, very clear. This is a standard plea.”
The rapper was rearrested two weeks ago for allegedly violating the conditions of his pretrial release, prosecutors said, by issuing a threat to kill someone while waving around a gun. At a federal court hearing Aug. 8 on Long Island, a judge revoked Maxwell's $500,000 bond at the request of prosecutors.
A video-recording of the FaceTime call was reviewed by investigators, where Maxwell is accused of threatening to kill the victim in a call made back on Dec. 11, 2021. Possessing a firearm and violating any law are in direct violation of his pretrial release.
The Long Island arrest was not his first. In 2019, he was arrested in Las Vegas for allegedly assaulting three employees at a hotel-casino. He was also arrested in Nov. 2017 on a DUI charge after police said he was drag racing on a New York City highway.
The 30-year-old native of Paterson, New Jersey, who lost an eye to glaucoma as a child has had a troubled life. His brother was killed in their hometown a year ago, and his 4-year-old daughter died earlier this summer.
Maxwell was previously arrested on assault charges in Las Vegas in 2019 and DUI charges in New York in 2017.
Best known for singles like "Trap Queen" and "My Way," the two-time Grammy nominee released his newest project, "The Butterfly Effect", just last week.
