New York rapper Fetty Wap was handed six years in jail Wednesday after pleading guilty in August to federal charges of being a drug dealer, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
In its May 24 press release, the office noted that Wap was ” a member of an organization that distributed more than 100 kilograms of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and crack cocaine across Long Island and New Jersey.”
“Earlier today, in federal court in Central Islip, United States District Judge Joanna Seybert sentenced William Junior Maxwell II, who is the rap artist known as ‘Fetty Wap,’ to six years’ imprisonment and five years of post-release supervision for conspiracy to distribute cocaine. On March 7, 2023, Judge Seybert sentenced Maxwell’s co-defendant Anthony Cyntje, a New Jersey correction officer, to 72 months’ imprisonment for his role in the drug trafficking conspiracy. Maxwell’s remaining four co-defendants pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing,” the press release added.
Maxwell’s defense team argued that the rapper should only served five years because he was motivated to become a drug dealer to support his nine children, HuffPost reported.
“He is described as a people pleaser and a person who gains great satisfaction from taking care of others,” the rapper’s lawyer, Elizabeth Macedonio, wrote. “Suddenly it felt like life was going in reverse and he became ashamed when he began to struggle to keep up the lifestyle that he created for so many.”
But federal prosecutors argued that the 31-year-old rapper did not act out of “financial duress.”
“He had a lucrative career as a rap artist and the ability to make an honest living and provide for himself and his family. Indeed, the defendant told the Probation Department that he made $5 million during his music career,” prosecutors exclaimed. “Nevertheless, this defendant chose to supplement his income by trafficking large quantities of drugs – drugs he knew would ruin lives.”
Prosecutors also added that the “Trap Queen” rapper’s bail had been revoked after his arrest and release in 2021 because he appeared on social media brandishing a gun and threatening a man as a “rat.”
Maxwell quickly shot to fame after his debut single, “Trap Queen,” reached No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in May of 2015. The song’s lyrics tell of cooking and selling drugs.
He was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2016.
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