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It’s been more than two months since Brooklyn troll/rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine was arrested by feds on a slew of charges including federal racketeering and firearm possession and though his lawyers have been confident that he’d end up walking away from his indictment scott clean, it looks like those aspirations have gotten a lot dimmer.
According to Complex, not only was Tekashi 6ix9ine forced to drop his main lawyer Lance Lazzaro due to the fact that he had represented 69’s former manager/OG Kifano “Shotti” Jordan, but the government had a treasure trove of damning evidence that implicates Shotti, Tekashi and often overlooked co-defendant, Mel Murda amongst others.
An abridged list includes phone records, wiretaps of Mel Murda’s phone, prison phone calls, videos of narcotics transactions (again, the government claims, of Mel Murda), in-person secret recordings by a confidential informant, emails, Walter’s Snapchat account, 6ix9ine’s Instagram account and cell phone information, and more. The government also explained that they have several phones from the defendants, which they haven’t yet been able to unlock.
Interestingly enough, Donald Trump’s government shutdown has also effected how this case can proceed as it’s limited contact between attorneys working this case and their clients.
Most importantly, there’s the government shutdown. Multiple attorneys said they weren’t allowed to visit their clients because the shutdown has led to inmates being on lockdown (many federal prison guards are currently working without pay due to the shutdown). Several of the defendants said they’d been on lockdown for the past five days. They have been kept inside their cells, unable to see their lawyers or families, and certainly not allowed to visit any law libraries. Lazarro confirmed to reporters after the hearing that 6ix9ine, who is currently being held in a separate undisclosed location, has also been on lockdown for five days. Although he wasn’t told directly that it was because of the shutdown, he said it was “inferred.”
Given the evidence we’re not sure whether the circumstances is a blessing in disguise for Tekashi and his team or just a bump on the road to the inevitable outcome of a conviction for everyone involved. The next hearing is scheduled for February 27 which “will deal with technical issues surrounding the indictment (mandatory minimum laws for some of the charges have changed since the defendants were arrested because of December’s First Step Act, so there will be some re-charging). In addition, Aaron “Bat” Young, who was arrested just last month and was in court on Tuesday, will be officially added to the indictment. The hearing will also serve as a chance for attorneys to file suppression motions, in an attempt to stop the government from using specific pieces of evidence.”
With everything that went down in the courtroom the possibility of granting the “Gummo” rapper bail didn’t even get a chance to get brought up. The chance that the rainbow-haired rapper might not see the sun as a free man again seems to be more and more plausible with every passing day now.
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Photo: Getty
