Rapper Fetty Wap arrested on federal drug charges
The rapper, whose legal name is Willie Junior Maxwell II, is among six charged with conspiring to distribute and possess controlled substances.
Fetty Wap was arrested by the FBI on Thursday on federal drug charges in New York.
The rapper, whose legal name is Willie Junior Maxwell II, was a performer at the Rolling Loud music festival, which was held this week in Queens. Maxwell was arraigned early Friday. He was one of about six people indicted, according to NBC News.
A local ABC News report notes that a corrections officer was among the half dozen people arrested Thursday.
The report notes in addition to Maxwell, Anthony Cyntje, a New Jersey correction officer; Anthony Leonardi; his brother, Robert Leonardi; Brian Sullivan and Kavaughn Wiggins have all been charged with conspiring to distribute and possess controlled substances.
They are accused of dealing heroin and fentanyl during the Rolling Loud festival at Citi Field.
Additionally, five of the defendants are also charged with using firearms in connection with drug trafficking; it is unclear if Maxwell is among those five.
The performer appeared in federal court Friday morning and was ordered to be detained pending trial.
“As alleged, the defendants transported, distributed and sold more than 100 kilograms of deadly and addictive drugs, including heroin and fentanyl, on Long Island, deliberately contributing to the opioid epidemic that has devastated our communities and taken too many lives,” stated United States Attorney Breon Peace. “We will continue to work nonstop with our law enforcement partners to keep our neighborhoods safe from the scourge of dangerous.”
If convicted, all of the defendants — including Maxwell — could be facing a maximum sentence of life in prison.
As previously reported, the rapper endured a personal tragedy earlier this summer when his 4-year-old daughter, Lauren Maxwell, died of a fatal cardiac arrhythmia due to a congenital birth defect.
His daughter’s death was just before the rapper performed at Rolling Loud fest in Miami, where, in an Instagram story, he shared that he had dedicated his set to the toddler.
Fetty Wap is best known for his 2014 single, “Trap Queen,” which spent 25 consecutive weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.
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