Rapper Lil Durk was ordered held without bond this past Monday, June 9, following a ruling that decided the federal judge thought he was way too dangerous to be allowed back on the streets and might never return if let out.
The ruling was by U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald, who didn’t arguing why the 32-year-old Chicago-born rapper (real name: Durk Banks) must stay behind bars while he awaits trial on federal weapons charges. Even as his legal team tried to portray the situation in the best possible light, the judge determined that no conditions, ankle monitors, home arrest, or private security would realistically guarantee that Lil Durk wouldn’t flee or prove to be a further danger.
Check this Article out.
There’s nothing light about the charges Durk is facing. He is accused of masterminding a lethal assault by having hitmen travel to kill the rapper Quando Rondo in Los Angeles, prosecutors say. A daylight shooting at a gas station turned deadly, costing the life of Saviay’a “Pab Lul” Robinson.
And with the charges carrying a mandatory life sentence without parole, the court said, the stakes are too high. The fear is apparent: With that kind of time pending, would Durk run?
Pouring gasoline on that fire was the fact that prosecutors offered evidence that Durk had tried to make a trip to Dubai in the immediate aftermath of Lorenzo’s murder involving cohorts. And despite having been told the trip was for “business and spiritual reasons,” the judge didn’t have it, partly because of the suspect timing.
“There is no evidence that he intended to that day for any reason other than the execution of the murder and the arrests of the codefendants,” the judge wrote.
Fans attempted to buy Durk’s freedom with money; his mother promised the house, one backer offered $150,000, and Alamo Records/Sony volunteered to cough up $1 million, but the court didn’t have it. Those were just pocket changes to someone like Durk, Fitzgerald said, who could be making millions of dollars overseas, for all he knew, of his intellectual property.
More troubling concerns included Durk’s influence on potential witnesses. Prosecutors submitted sealed affidavits and statements that painted a worrisome portrait of intimidation and threats, which Durk was accused of wielding through his fame and financial resources.
Even his behavior in prison raised eyebrows. While there was no discussion of new crimes, the court added, Durk had already finagled around detention center phone rules for his own personal and business purposes, leaving a troubling question mark over what, exactly, a little more freedom in his home would allow him to accomplish.
So for now, Lil Durk and others remain in federal custody, and the court stands firm: At the level of the stakes and the influence, freedom is a risk the system isn’t willing to take. A trial for the rap star is on the horizon, and the stakes are high for fans and the law.
0 Comments