Fetty Wap has been arrested on a federal drug charge.
The US rapper was charged yesterday (October 29) for participating in a conspiracy to smuggle large amounts of heroin, fentanyl and other drugs into the New York City region.
AP News reports that Wap, whose real name is Willie Maxwell, was arrested on Thursday (October 28) at Citi Field baseball park where the three-day Rolling Loud NYC festival is taking place.
According to fans online, Wap didn’t perform at the festival as planned on Thursday. Pitchfork said it reached out to the festival for confirmation and more information and was told: “Rolling Loud had no prior knowledge.”
Wap and five other men are alleged to have “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 five other defendants except for Wap are also being charged with one count of using firearms in connection with a drug trafficking crime. One of the defendants is a New Jersey corrections officer.
Michael J. Driscoll, a top official with the FBI’s New York office, said in a statement: “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.”
AP added that authorities said the alleged scheme involved using the US Postal Service and cars with hidden compartments to transport the drugs from the West Coast to Long Island where they were stored for distribution to dealers on Long Island and in New Jersey.
Wap, in particular, has been accused of being “a kilogram-level redistributor for the trafficking organisation”, according to a press release seen by AP.
At a virtual hearing yesterday, Maxwell, 30, pleaded not guilty and was ordered to be held without bail. Wap’s lawyer, Elizabeth Macedonio, didn’t submit an argument for bail and a prosecutor told a magistrate judge that there was a potential plea deal being concocted.
Wap has been arrested and charged for crimes in the past, including being charged with a DUI in New York City in 2017. He was accused of driving with a suspended New Jersey license after what authorities described as a drag race through Brooklyn.
People reported that he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment in Brooklyn Criminal Court in 2018 as part of a plea deal to avoid jail time. He agreed to take a state impaired driving program course and lose the use of his license for 90 days alongside having to pay a $500 fine.
In 2019 he was arrested but not charged for allegedly assaulting three employees at a hotel-casino. He did not submit a response to the claims [via The Hollywood Reporter].
Earlier this year Wap’s four-year-old daughter died of a heart defect.
The rapper was overcome with emotion as he thanked fans for their support in an Instagram Live following her death in the summer.
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