What to Know
- Rapper Fetty Wap was sentenced to six years in prison Wednesday for operating a large scale drug conspiracy that sold kilos of cocaine in New Jersey.
- Fetty Wap, who hails from Paterson, New Jersey, and whose real name is Willie Maxwell, pleaded guilty in August to a conspiracy drug charge, which carries a mandatory five-year prison sentence, admitting that he participated in a massive drug trafficking racket that moved drugs from the West Coast to Long Island.
- Maxwell rose to prominence after “Trap Queen,” his debut single, reached No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 2015.
Rapper Fetty Wap was sentenced to six years in prison Wednesday for operating a large scale drug conspiracy that sold kilos of cocaine in New Jersey.
Fetty Wap, who hails from Paterson, New Jersey, pleaded guilty in August to a conspiracy drug charge, which carries a mandatory five-year prison sentence, admitting that he participated in a massive drug trafficking racket that moved drugs from the West Coast to Long Island.
Prosecutors alleged he distributed 25 kilograms s of cocaine in New Jersey after picking it up on Long Island.
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During Wednesday's sentencing, he apologized, saying: "I truly am sorry for any pain I caused. I hurt my community, people who look up to me. My family and myself."
His attorneys said he was simply trying to support his family when his music income dried up during the pandemic lockdown. That led him to make the worst mistake of his life, his lawyer said.
But Judge Joanna Seybert presided over the sentencing and had strong words for the rapper, whose real name is Willie Maxwell.
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“Despite your background and all you overcame, you threw it all away," Seybert said.
The judge sentenced Maxwell to a year more than the minimum sentence, despite the large number of letters from those supporting Maxwell urging he receive the minimum.
His family and friends left court without speaking to reporters.
Initially, Maxwell's plea during the summer in Central Islip came before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Locke, who had revoked his bond and sent him to jail. Prosecutors previously said that Maxwell threatened to kill a man during a FaceTime call in 2021, violating the terms of his pretrial release in his drug case.
The rapper was initially arrested in Oct. 2021 on charges alleging he participated in a conspiracy to smuggle large amounts of heroin, fentanyl and other drugs into the New York City area.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances, the top charge in an indictment against him, though the plea pertained only to cocaine. The plea spared him from a potential life sentence if he had been convicted on all the charges he faced.
Maxwell and five co-defendants were accused of conspiring to possess and distribute more than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine between June 2019 and June 2020. Two codefendants also have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.
The scheme allegedly involved using the U.S. Postal Service and cars with hidden compartments to move drugs from the West Coast to Long Island, where they were stored for distribution to dealers on Long Island and in New Jersey, prosecutors said.
Maxwell rose to prominence after “Trap Queen,” his debut single, reached No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 2015.
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 November 2017 on a DUI charge after police said he was drag racing on a New York City highway.
