6ix9ine
had pleaded guilty to racketeering, firearms and drug trafficking
charges related to a series of shootings and assaults around New York
City. He was also sentenced to five years supervised release plus 300
hours of community service.
In
making the decision, Judge Paul Engelmayer said that 6ix9ine, born
Daniel Hernandez, was a "central figure in a vicious and brutal gang."
Engelmayer said he caused mayhem around the city and used the gang as
his "personal hit squad."
However,
Engelmayer balanced those crimes with the rapper's extensive
cooperation with government investigators. Prosecutors had requested
that he receive a reduced sentence because of his "extraordinary" and
"substantial" cooperation.
His
attorney Lance Lazzaro had asked the court to sentence him to time
served, highlighting the risks that Hernandez took in cooperating with
the government. Hernandez provided investigators with an "insider's
view" of the Nine Trey gang, Lazzaro wrote in court filings, and even
testified against two former gang members.
Tekashi 6ix9ine pleads guilty to federal charges
In
court, Hernandez spoke of his remorse and how he failed the young fans
who look up to him. He stressed that he'd change his ways when he's out
of prison. He also directly apologized to a woman who told the court
that she was shot in the foot in a July 2018 shooting in Brooklyn.
"I'm sorry for what happened to you that day," Hernandez said.
6ix9ine's startling rise and dramatic fall began when the 23-year-old burst onto the rap scene with "GUMMO" and its music video in
October 2017. With 360 million views on YouTube, the video shows the
rainbow-haired, face-tattooed rapper surrounded by guns, drugs, stacks
of cash and a group of people wearing red, the color associated with the
Bloods gang.
But Hernandez was
not actually a gang member when that video was made. He has said he used
the Nine Trey gang to boost his street cred, and in exchange, he helped
fund the gang's operations, according to the government sentencing
memo.
After the success of "GUMMO,"
which peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, he continued making
music and collaborated with Nicki Minaj on their 2018 song "FEFE."
6ix9ine apologized for 'misrepresenting myself'
But his career came to a screeching halt last November when he was charged
alongside other alleged members of the gang known as Nine Trey Gangsta
Bloods with serious federal offenses including racketeering.
US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey S. Berman said the gang "wreaked havoc on New York City,
engaging in brazen acts of violence." Prosecutors said in court filings
that he and other gang members carried out a March 2018 shooting in
Times Square, an April 2018 shooting at the Barclay's Center, a June
2018 shooting at the W Hotel in Times Square, and more.
6ix9ine pleaded guilty to nine charges
in February, including racketeering, and informed on his associates,
according to court documents. He testified as a witness during the
trials of Anthony Ellison and Aljermiah Mack, who were both convicted of
felonies, Lazzaro wrote.
Tekashi 6ix9ine, real name Daniel Hernandez, leaves court on August 22, 2018, in Houston, Texas.
In
a letter to the judge filed last week, 6ix9ine apologized for his
crimes, for joining the gang and for "misrepresenting myself" to his
fans.
"I now know that I am
remorseful for what happened because I was blessed with the gift of an
opportunity that most people dream of but I squandered it by getting
involved with the wrong people and misrepresenting myself when I should
have been true to myself and my fans," Hernandez wrote.
"I'm
sorry to the victims who were affected by my actions, to my fans who
look up to me and were misled, to my family who depends on me and to
this courtroom for this mess that I contributed to."
Lazzaro portrayed Hernandez as a young man who joined the Nine Trey gang to promote his rap career and support his family.
"Mr.
Hernandez is a rap artist who foolishly joined the Nine Trey Gansta
Bloods (hereinafter "Nine Trey") in an attempt to promote a gangster
persona which would help him sell his music and advance his career,"
Lazzaro wrote in the filing.
Two
victims of an April 2018 armed robbery filed victim impact statements to
the court saying that the attack, orchestrated by 6ix9ine, had caused
severe stress and left them in constant fear for their lives.
"Why
should this person, who nearly ended my life, be free when I am not
free?" one victim, an unnamed 33-year-old man, wrote in court filings.
Hernandez
was previously arrested in 2015 for filming a 13-year-old performing
sex acts and posting the video to Instagram, according to the
government's sentencing memo. He pleaded guilty to use of a child in a
sexual performance and was sentenced to probation, prosecutors said.
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