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As friends and family looked on, rapper Fetty Wap on Wednesday apologized for his actions and said he was “right where I wanted to be,” before a judge sentenced him to six years in federal prison for his role in a New York-based drug trafficking scheme.
At Trap Queen The rapper, whose legal name is Willie Maxwell, pleaded guilty in August 2022 to drug conspiracy charges that carry a minimum sentence of five years. The sentence was handed down in federal court on Long Island.
“I was selfish because my pride put me in this position,” Maxwell told U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert. His lawyer suggested that he was selling drugs because of financial problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Maxwell was arrested in October 2021 on charges of participating in a conspiracy to smuggle heroin, fentanyl and other drugs into the New York City area.
The New Jersey-born rapper and five co-defendants are accused of conspiring to possess and distribute more than 100 kilograms (220 lbs) of heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine between June 2019 and June 2020.
Maxwell ‘accepts responsibility’
Prosecutors said the plan involved using the US Postal Service and cars with hidden compartments to move drugs from the West Coast to Long Island, where they were stored for distribution to dealers in Long Island and New Jersey.
Maxwell pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess a controlled substance, the top charge in the indictment against him, admitting that he was involved in a massive drug trafficking racket. The plea, which only related to cocaine, spared him a life sentence if he had been convicted of all the charges he faced.
Maxwell’s attorneys are hoping for a minimum sentence of five years in prison, while prosecutors are seeking a longer sentence.
“It’s a sad day,” defense attorney Elizabeth Macedonio said. “This kid from Paterson, New Jersey, made it.”
He said Maxwell “accepts responsibility for his actions.”
Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Caffarone said the prosecution was not about Maxwell’s fame as a player.
“The defendant was actually selling drugs,” Caffarone said. “The defendant was actually selling cocaine.”
Seybert told Maxwell, “You’ve got a lot going for you. See if you can put it together.”
Maxwell rose to fame after his debut single, melodic but grunge Trap Queenreached No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 2015. The song talks about a lover having a back – even if it means helping to cook and sell drugs.
He was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2016.
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