Tekashi 6ix9ine, the embattled rapper embroiled in a mounting series of federal counts of racketeering, has pleaded guilty to eight counts according to documents obtained by Rolling Stone.
6ix9ine (real name Daniel Hernandez) had previously pleaded not guilty since his arrest in November. Denied bail, he has spent the ensuing months in custody, and reports from his lawyer at the time, Lance Lazzaro, proclaimed his innocence.
This week, though, three of Hernandez’ associates and alleged gang members involved in his racketeering case were indicted, and reports surfaced that Hernandez was potentially cooperating with the prosecution in some capacity. He pleaded guilty on Saturday, January 26, and the plea was made public on Friday.
Hernandez pleaded guilty to an array of charges including weapons possession, armed robbery and dealing narcotics, including fentanyl and heroin.
The indictment, filed by U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman and obtained by Rolling Stone, charges Hernandez with participation “in the operation and management” of the Nine Trey Bloods, a New York gang. The indictment alleges that the Nine Treys “committed multiple shootings, robberies, and assaults against their rivals and against fellow Nine Trey members.” The gang was also, according to the indictment, responsible for dealing a wide range of illegal drugs, including “heroin, fentanyl, furanyl fentanyl, MDMA, dibutylone, and marijuana.”
According to the indictment, Hernandez was involved in all criminal aspects of the Nine Treys between 2017 and November of 2018. According to Hernandez’ early collaborators, and detailed in a recent Rolling Stone report, he met Kifano “Shotti” Jordan, a leader of the Nine Treys, at the 2017 recording of “Gummo” — what would eventually become his breakout hit as Tekashi 6ix9ine. From there, he would become increasingly involved with the gang, eventually leading to the current charges leveled against him.
The indictment goes on to claim that Hernandez “knowingly did use and carry firearms,” “shot at an individual who was a rival gang member” and “participated in a gunpoint robbery of rivals of Nine Trey.” He is also charged with conspiring to distribute over one kilogram of “substances containing a detectable amount of heroin.”