Rapper Fetty Wap faces five years in prison after admitting drug charge
Rapper Fetty Wap has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy drug charge that carries a compulsory five-year prison sentence.
The Trap Queen rapper, whose real name is Willie Junior Maxwell II, is behind bars for breaking his pre-trial bail conditions.
He entered the plea in Central Islip on Long Island before US Magistrate Judge Steven Locke, who had revoked his bail two weeks ago for threatening to kill a man during a FaceTime call in 2021.
Maxwell was initially arrested in October 2021 on charges alleging that he was part of a conspiracy to smuggle large amounts of heroin, fentanyl and other drugs into the New York area.
The arrest came two months after he confirmed his four-year-old daughter Lauren had died.
On Monday, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances, the top charge against him.
The crime carries a minimum five-year sentence, and federal sentencing guidelines are likely to recommend additional years in prison.
Maxwell and five co-defendants were accused of conspiring to possess and distribute more than 100kg (220lbs) of heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine between June 2019 and June 2020.
The scheme allegedly involved using the US 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.
The rapper’s debut single, Trap Queen, shot him to fame, charting at number two in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 2015.
He was scheduled to perform in Austin, Texas, on 27 August, according to his website.
In 2019, he was arrested in Las Vegas for allegedly assaulting three employees at a hotel casino, and he was also arrested in November 2017 and charged with drink-driving after police said he was drag racing on a New York City motorway.
