The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said Tuesday (June 2) that it will not pursue the death penalty against the Chicago rapper Lil Durk in his ongoing federal murder-for-hire conspiracy case.
The 31-year-old artist, whose birth name is Durk Derrick Banks, remains in hot water with several serious federal charges. But with the possibility of capital punishment eliminated, the worst possible result of execution will not be on the table.
Durk is charged with having plotted a violent plan targeting fellow rapper Quando Rondo, a Georgia rapper who was reportedly originally the target of a fatal revenge hit. Durk bankrolled and ordered the attempted hit, in which Rondo's cousin, Saviay'a "Lul Pab" Robinson, was killed in a deadly shooting on Aug. 19, 2022, prosecutors said.
Court paperwork details a chilling sequence of events. Durk is accused of putting a hit on Quando Rondo and had members of his Only the Family (OTF) rap crew do the job, according to court docs. Federal authorities believe the shooting was a continuation of the vendetta-style killing of King Von, a tight OTF affiliate who was killed outside an Atlanta club in 2020.
Durk is now up on four federal counts in total, namely:
Conspiracy to use interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire,
Interstate facilities in murder-for-hire resulting in death,
Use of a firearm in a crime of violence and resulting in the death of a person.
Five additional men are identified in the massive indictment: Kavon London Grant (Atlanta), Deandre Dontrell Wilson and Asa Houston (both of Chicago), Keith Jones (Gary, Indiana), and David Brian Lindsey (Addison). They are all charged the same way and have all been accused of being part of the same murder-for-hire plot.
Lil Durk was taken into custody in South Florida on what law enforcement officials said was an effort by the rapper to leave the country because He has pleaded not guilty.
Although the DOJ could have legally sought the death penalty under federal law, the decision not to do so reflects a moderate path taken in the case. Alas, a guilty verdict could result in Durk and his co-defendants' life in prison.
For now, the music industry looks on as one of rap's leading voices, two steps in the spotlight and a courtroom, and toward the limelight, it seems he has loved it ever so much.
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