Photo: JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images
Rapper Fetty Wap was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison for participating in a drug trafficking conspiracy. which covered parts of Long Island and New Jersey with cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and crack from June 2019 to June 2020.
The 31-year-old hip-hop star, whose real name is Willie Junior Maxwell II, was sentenced in federal court in Central Islip, New York, for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Prosecutors said that the rapper was a redistributor at the kilogram level for the organization of drug trafficking.
The drugs were obtained from the West Coast and brought to the East Coast by mail and by drivers with concealed vehicle compartments transporting the drugs to Suffolk County, New York, where they were stored, prosecutors said in a statement.
The drugs were then distributed to dealers, who sold them on Long Island and New Jersey, they added.
Investigators recovered $1.5 million in cash, 16 kilograms of cocaine, two kilograms of heroin, numerous fentanyl pills, various firearms and ammunition in the investigation.
Rapper Fetty Wap who is from Paterson, New Jersey, pleaded guilty in August in federal court in New York of conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances.
The star apologized in the courtroom. “I hurt my community, the people who look up to me, my family and myself. I am truly sorry for the pain I caused,” she said.
In addition to six years in federal prison, Maxwell was sentenced to five years of post-release supervision.
Prosecutors had called for Maxwell to receive a longer than minimum sentence, saying he used his fame and influence to “glamorise the drug trade.”
Fetty Wap was arrested on October 28, 2021 during the Rolling Loud Music Festival in Queens, New York. He was charged with five others, including a New Jersey corrections officer, in the case.
The former corrections officer, Anthony Cyntje, was sentenced in March to 72 months for his role in the conspiracy. The other four remaining defendants have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
Maxwell rose to fame after “Trap Queen”his debut single, reached number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 2015. He was also nominated for two Grammy Awards for the hit.
Keep reading:
Drake will not testify in the trial for the murder of rapper XXXTentacion
Possibly gang-related murder of Nipsey Hussle in South Los Angeles
· XXXTentacion: the rapper “confesses” in a secret recording to have attacked his ex-girlfriend and other crimes