US Rapper, Fetty Wap, Arrested On Drug Charges

Popular US rapper Fetty Wap has been arrested and charged with being part of conspiracy to smuggle heroin, fentanyl, and other drugs in large amount into the New York City region. Fetty Wap whose real name is Willie Maxwell was arrested at the Citi Field (home of the Mets), venue for the three-day Rolling Loud hip-hop music festival on Thursday, October 28, 2021.

Following his arrest, an indictment which had seen the rapper’s name previously blacked out was unredacted on Friday to include his name publicly in a case involving five other defendants inclusive of a New Jersey corrections officer.

FBI’s top official in New York Michael J. Driscoll said: “The fact that we arrested a chart-topping rap artist and a corrections officer as part of the conspiracy illustrates just how vile the drug trade has become.”

Fetty Wap’s indictment alongside that of co-defendants charges them with conspiracy to possess and distribute over 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of drug substances such as heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine in the period between June 2019 and June 2020. Authorities said the scheme saw the offenders use U.S. Postal Service and cars with compartments that are hidden to move narcotics from the West Coast to the Long Island for storage and distribution to dealers in Long Island and New Jersey.

The rapper pleaded not guilty to the charges and was ordered to be detained without bail at a virtual hearing on Friday. Fetty Wap’s lawyer Elizabeth Macedonio did not push for bail. A prosecutor told a magistrate judge that there was a potential plea deal for Fetty in the works.

Fetty Wap’s debut single “Trap Queen’’ shot him to limelight in May 2015 after it reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The rapper has had other cases such as a 2019 arrest in Las Vegas for alleged assault on three employees at a hotel-casino. In 2017, he was arrested and charged with DUI after the police said he was drag racing on a high way in New York.

Aside his cases with the law, the rapper have suffered personal tragedies. In October 2020, his younger brother Twyshon Depew died at the age of 26 after being shot in Paterson, New Jersey, their hometown. Fetty Wap’s 4-year-old daughter Lauren died in June 2021.

Source

AP

Featured Image Source: Billboard