arrest
Tekashi 6ix9ine (Daniel Hernandez) was arrested Tuesday (Oct. 29) over allegations that he violated the terms of a parole agreement struck with prosecutors after the rapper agreed to testify against his former Brooklyn gangmates.
The rapper was arraigned in Manhattan federal court Tuesday over alleged violations of his supervised release, which is set to expire in April 2025. According to court records, Tekashi pleaded not guilty to the new violations and was ordered to remain in custody until his next court date.
In a statement to Billboard, Tekashi’s attorney Lance Lazzaro said his client had been “charged with three technical violations regarding his supervised release” and that he was “confident that each specification will be dismissed.”
Trending on Billboard
Tekashi was originally charged in 2018 with federal racketeering and murder conspiracy charges over his involvement with a New York City street gang called Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods. He then famously flipped on the gang and provided bombshell testimony in return for a plea deal, which saw him sentenced to just two years in prison and five years of supervised release.
At Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutors argued that Tekashi had violated his release conditions by traveling to Las Vegas without permission, failing to submit for drug testing and testing positive for methamphetamine, according to Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press.
The hearing featured arguments from Lazzaro that the failed drug test was from the use of prescribed Adderall, according to Josh Russell of Courthouse News — but the judge was apparently unswayed, citing a “broader pattern” of misconduct during parole that he said suggests a “full spectrum disregard for the law.”
Tekashi’s next court date is an evidentiary hearing set for Nov. 12.
Once a rising star in the world of hip-hop and social media, Tekashi was charged in November 2018 alongside several other members of Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods, who prosecutors claimed “wreaked havoc on New York City” by “engaging in brazen acts of violence.”
But just a day after being arrested, Hernandez cut a deal with federal prosecutors to flip on his crew in return for lenience. Taking the witness stand during a 2019 trial, he offered detailed and frank testimony about his involvement in the gang and his former gangmates.
Under the deal with prosecutors, Tekashi was sentenced to two years in prison and five years of supervised release and ordered to serve 1,000 hours of community service and pay a $35,000 fine.
The prison sentence was set to run until July 2020, but Hernandez was released early, in April 2020, after his attorneys argued that the COVID-19 pandemic posed an increased risk to him because he suffers from asthma.
A Missouri woman has been arrested for allegedly attempting to defraud the family of Elvis Presley and steal their ownership interest in Graceland, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday (Aug. 16).
The 53-year-old woman, whose name is Lisa Jeanine Findley but has gone by numerous aliases, has been charged with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. She faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the former charge and a mandatory minimum of two years on the latter; she made an initial court appearance in Missouri on Friday.
“As alleged in the complaint, the defendant orchestrated a scheme to conduct a fraudulent sale of Graceland, falsely claiming that Elvis Presley’s daughter had pledged the historic landmark as collateral for a loan that she failed to repay before her death,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, in a statement. “As part of the brazen scheme, we allege that the defendant created numerous false documents and sought to extort a settlement from the Presley family. Now she is facing federal charges. The Criminal Division and its partners are committed to holding fraudsters to account.”
Trending on Billboard
According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Tennessee on Thursday (Aug. 15), Findley allegedly posed as three different people affiliated with a company called Naussany Investments & Private Lending in claiming that Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, had used the famed Memphis mansion as collateral to secure a loan of $3.8 million that she failed to repay. She also allegedly fabricated loan documents and forged the signatures of Lisa Marie and a notary public to file a false creditor’s claim with the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles and a false deed of trust with the Shelby Country Register’s Office in Memphis. The Justice Department also claims that Findley published a fraudulent foreclosure notice in the Memphis daily newspaper The Commercial Appeal announcing that Naussany Investments would auction Graceland on May 23.
The attempted auction was quickly blocked after Presley’s granddaughter and Lisa Marie’s daughter, Riley Keough — who took over as trustee of Promenade Trust, the entity that controls Graceland, following Lisa Marie’s death in January 2023 — won a court order halting it. Shortly thereafter, Findley allegedly wrote to Presley family representatives, the Tennessee state court and the media to falsely claim that the person responsible for the faud was an identity thief based in Nigeria.
“Fame and money are magnets for criminals who look to capitalize on another person’s celebrity status,” said Eric Shen, inspector in charge of U.S. Postal Inspection Service Criminal Investigations Group (USPIS), in a statement. “In this case, Ms. Findley allegedly took advantage of the very public and tragic occurrences in the Presley family as an opportunity to prey on the name and financial status of the heirs to the Graceland estate, attempting to steal what rightfully belongs to the Presley family for her personal gain. Postal Inspectors and their law enforcement partners put an end to her alleged scheme, protecting the Presley family from continued harm and stress.”
Wiz Khalifa took an unexpected detour to a Romanian jail over the weekend when the 36-year-old rapper (born Cameron Jibril Thomaz) ran afoul of the country’s drug laws while lighting up one of his omnipresent joints on stage. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news According to a […]
HipHopWired Featured Video
Sukihana was recently arrested in Florida on drug charges and has now spoken out about the incident and claims that what was reported was not true. The social media and reality television star says that she doesn’t sell drugs and added that the charges against her will be dropped.
Sukihana, real name Destiny Henderson, 32, was initially arrested on April 25 and was taken into custody by the North Lauderdale Police Department with her mugshot processed by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. Henderson was charged with possession and intent to sell MDMA (Ecstasy) and codeine and was held on $7,500 bond at the Paul Rein Detention Facility in Pompano Beach as reported by The Miami Herald.
Taking to Instagram Live, Sukihana addressed the arrest and was very clear that she was not intending to sell drugs and added that she made more money using other methods.
“I don’t need to sell no fuckin’ dr*gs, b*tch, I’m already rich,” Sukihana is seen stating on Instagram Live. “I don’t do no motherf*ckin’ drugs, and I don’t sell no drugs. Like I said, I sell coochie.”
The “Hood Rats” artist added that the charges will later be dropped during her address.
Sukihana is using the mugshot from her arrest as part of a new merch rollout on her website, along with other items.
—
Photo: Johnny Nunez / Getty
On Tuesday morning (April 16), GloRilla was reportedly arrested on suspicion of DUI in Georgia. According to TMZ, which first reported the arrest, the rapper (real name: Gloria Hallelujah Woods) was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, consuming/possessing an open alcoholic beverage container and a separate traffic charge in Suwanee, Georgia, a suburb […]
Polo G was arrested on Wednesday (April 10) in New York on a pair of weapons charges, a spokesperson for the NYPD confirmed to Billboard on Friday (April 12).
Police relayed that the Chicago rapper — born Taurus Bartlett — was arrested and brought into custody on charges of criminal possession of a firearm as well as criminal possession of a weapon.
“On Wednesday, April 10, 2024 at approximately 1209 hours, police responded to a 911 call for found property at 246 Spring Street,” the NYPD spokesperson said via email. “Upon arrival, it was reported to officers that there is a firearm at the location. An individual was placed into custody at the location without incident.”
Based on the address given by law enforcement, it appears the arrest took place at The Dominick hotel in New York’s SoHo neighborhood earlier this week.
Trending on Billboard
According to TMZ, a loaded Glock 23 was discovered by a Dominick hotel employee who alerted local authorities. Police executed a search warrant of the room and found the weapon before arresting the “Pop Out” rapper. Polo G was allegedly carrying about $23,000 in cash at the time of the arrest.
This is far from Polo’s first run-in with the law. The rapper was arrested in August 2023 after police raided his California home and found “numerous firearms” there. The raid followed Polo G’s brother, Taurean Bartlett (a.k.a. Trench Baby), being identified as a suspect in a California robbery. According to the LAPD, when the alleged victim arrived at Taurean’s house to film a music video, the rapper pulled out a “handgun and demanded that the victim transfer money to an unknown account.”
LAPD Detectives subsequently obtained an arrest warrant for Taurean and discovered that he was living with Polo G. When the firearms were discovered at the residence, police arrested both brothers. In that incident, Polo G was booked for possession of a rifle at Van Nuys Jail.
Polo G has been working toward the release of his anticipated fourth album. His third LP, Hall of Fame, arrived in 2021 and notched him his first Billboard 200 No. 1 with 143,000 equivalent album units earned in the first week.
Billboard has reached out to Polo G’s reps for comment.
Morgan Wallen was arrested and jailed on Sunday night (April 7) in Nashville after the chart-topping country singer allegedly hurled a chair off the six-story roof of a popular bar on the city’s bustling Broadway street. On Monday morning (April 8), Billboard received a statement from Wallen’s attorney, Worrick Robinson of Worrick Robinson Law, confirming […]
Rod Wave was arrested on two counts of illegal possession of a weapon or ammo in Manatee County, Florida on Wednesday (April 3), according to arrest records viewed by Billboard.
The St. Petersburg Police Department hosted a press conference in the aftermath of the arrest alleging that Rod — born Rodarius Marcell Green — was connected to a gang-related shooting in Florida that left four bystanders injured outside of Sonic Sports Bar in St. Petersburg.
St. Petersburg Police Chief Mike Kovacsev explained that three of the apprehended assailants (Christopher Atkins, Keith Westby and Kevontre Wesby) are allegedly connected to the Young Gangsters gang and that two more are in the process of being arrested after law enforcement discovered 60 shell casings of ammo at the site of the shooting, which occurred on Sunday night (March 31).
Trending on Billboard
Kovacsev claimed that the getaway vehicle used in the shooting was registered to Rod and that the Palm Avenue residence the group fled to was also allegedly registered to the “Heart On Ice” singer.
“The vehicle they fled in was registered to [Green],” Kovacsev said. “They also fled back to a residence at 500 Palm Avenue North … That residence was rented by [Green] as well. We executed a search warrant at that location on Monday night and we recovered two assault rifles, two pounds of marijuana and a great deal of evidence we’re going to utilize the case going forward.”
Police determined that “another residence” was rented by Rod in Palm Meadow and shifted the focus to that location, where they executed a search warrant. Subjects leaving that residence were arrested on weapons charges by undercover detectives and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
“We are hopeful and anticipate potentially other evidence to be taken out of the vehicles as we do search warrants over the next couple of days,” Kovacsev added. “We went and had the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office execute that warrant and we located a number of other assault rifles and a handgun inside that residence.”
The police chief said that along with the firearms, money and jewelry were also seized. More charges are also possibly looming related to the shooting and narcotics.
Rod’s weapon possession charges listed him as a convicted felon, which his attorney, Bradford Cohen, vehemently denies. Cohen also denies Wave’s connection to the shooting.
“[Rod] has nothing to do with a shooting,” Cohen tells Billboard. “There was nothing found in his car and he is not a convicted felon.”
Cohen and another of Rod’s attorneys, Mark Rankin, released a joint statement on Cohen’s Instagram claiming that the judge agreed that the evidence didn’t support the charges and that the Florida singer was set free on Wednesday.
“Rod was arrested and detained with absolutely no evidence of wrongdoing,” Cohen captioned the Instagram post featuring a photo of Rod. “The police claimed he was a felon in possession of ammunition. Not only was he not in possession of ammunition, a basic check of public records would have easily demonstrated to the police that he was not a convicted felon. The prosecutor and the judge immediately agreed that the evidence did not support the charge and set him free the same day.”
Rod was previously arrested in his hometown of St. Petersburg in May 2022 on a felony charge of battery by strangulation, which was dropped weeks later. That arrest stemmed from an April 2022 incident involving Wave and his ex-girlfriend, who alleged that the singer entered her home and choked her, according to the arrest warrant.
Billboard has reached out to the St. Petersburg Police Department for additional information.
This is a developing story.
HipHopWired Featured Video
OJ da Juiceman, a past member of the XXL Freshmen class, was arrested earlier month in his home state of Georgia and subsequently arrested. Police found drugs and a handgun after pulling over OJ da Juiceman for speeding.
TMZ reports that OJ da Juiceman, 42, was pulled over for speeding in Coweta County, Ga. After giving a brief chase in his 2024 Ford Expedition, OJ, real name Otis Williams Jr., pulled off to the side where the discovery of cocaine and a 9mm handgun was made.
Along with the cocaine and other drugs charges, OJ also faces charges of fleeing cops, firearm possession, and failure to maintain his lane.
OJ was part of the 2010 XXL Freshmen class along with Nipsey Hu$$le, Wiz Khalifa, Pill, J. Cole, Freddie Gibbs, Jay Rock, Fashawn, Donnis, and Big Sean. He was once linked with Gucci Mane and his 1017 Brick Squad imprint before creating his independent label situation.
A court date has yet to be announced.
—
Photo: Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Nicole Fegan, a defense attorney whose client was connected to the Young Stoner Life list of codefendants, was arrested on unrelated gang charges on Friday (Feb. 16) in Georgia. Fegan, who has several videos online of her discussing her career and connection to clients, is facing multiple gang-related charges that is not connected to the YSL matter despite the chatter online.
The arrest of Nicole Fegan is a fast-developing story so we’ll try to pack in as much as we know currently. Fegan was charged back in February of last year after making contact with the suspect of a Sept. 27, 2022 shooting case that left one man dead.
As local outlet WSB-TV reports, Fegan was arrested for contacting the male suspect in the aforementioned shooting, which contained two victims, in Northwest Atlanta. Fegan was arrested in Gwinnett County and will be transported to Fulton County based on warrants that highlighted she was facing charges of participating in criminal street gang activity and criminal solicitation to commit the offense of tampering with evidence.
Police told WSB-TV that Fegan contacted the suspect by phone but was not part of their legal team thus sparking the warrants for arrest. Fegan alerted the man that there were warrants out for his arrest and that she found out about the warrants during a hearing while instructing the suspect to rid himself of his phone so he couldn’t be tracked digitally.
Fegan did not represent Young Thug in the YSL RICO case. Her client, Tenquarius Mender, had his case split from the wider YSL trial. That said, the arrest of Fegan has caused a stir online with some believing it will have some impact on the YSL RICO trial.
On X, formerly Twitter, the reactions have been pouring in. We’ve got them listed below.
—
Photo: @feganlaw / Instagram
11. Just in case there are any mixups.
14. Getting the important questions out of the way.