US rapper Fetty Wap sentenced to six years for drug trafficking

US rapper Fetty Wap arrives for the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Aug. 26, 2019. JOHANNES EISELE / AFP

NEW YORK—American rapper Fetty Wap was sentenced to six years in prison on Wednesday, May 24, for trafficking drugs across the United States.

The “Trap Queen” rapper born Willie Junior Maxwell II had pleaded guilty last year to distributing and possessing cocaine.

New York prosecutors said he was part of a ring of six men that distributed more than 100 kilograms of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine across Long Island and New Jersey between June 2019 and June 2020.

The men obtained the drugs on America’s west coast and used the US Postal Service and drivers with hidden vehicle compartments to transport the narcotics to New York.

The substances were then distributed to dealers who sold them on Long Island and in New Jersey.

The Justice Department described Maxwell, 31, as “a kilogram-level redistributor for the trafficking organization.”

The rapper was arrested in October 2021 at the Citi Field baseball stadium in Queens, New York, where he had been scheduled to perform at a music festival.

Prosecutors said that searches during their investigation had recovered around $1.5 million in cash, 16 kilograms of cocaine, two kilograms of heroin, numerous fentanyl pills and several guns.

Maxwell will also be subject to five years of post-release supervision, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York said in a statement.

One of Maxwell’s co-defendants, a New Jersey prison officer, was sentenced to six years in March for his role in the scheme. The other four co-defendants have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

Maxwell gained recognition when his debut single “Trap Queen” reached No. 2 on the US charts in 2015.  /ra

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