Tekashi 6ix9ine deemed 'danger to community' and refused bail after arrest on robbery, racketeering and firearms charges

The rapper was arrested on Sunday
AP
Jacob Jarvis20 November 2018

SoundCloud rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine has been refused bail following his arrest on racketeering and firearms charges.

The 22-year-old star, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, was arrested and taken into federal custody on Sunday.

This was along with four others in an indictment alleging that he participated in the July shooting of a bystander in Brooklyn and the gunpoint robbery of one of his gang's rivals last spring.

On Monday, US Magistrate Judge Henry B. Pitman concluded an hour-long hearing by citing "troubling" corroborating evidence 6ix9ine directed or participated in multiple acts of violence over the last eight months.

Prosecutor assistant US Attorney Michael Longyear said a backpack stolen during a gunpoint robbery in April was found during a raid at 6ix9ine's Brooklyn residence, along with an automatic pistol.

"The defendant is quite violent," the prosecutor said of a man whose debut album, Day 69, was among the most downloaded records on iTunes.

He said 6ix9ine was captured on surveillance video as he sat in a car and filmed his co-defendants carry out a violent robbery against a rival gang member, in Times Square.

He also accused the rapper, who has charted in the Billboard 100, of being part of a video boasting about shots recently fired by a co-defendant in Brooklyn's Barclays Center.

In addition he said the rapper was a threat to flee because of his worldwide connections, access to money and the knowledge that a conviction would bring a mandatory minimum sentence of 32 years in prison and as much as life.

Following this, Judge Pitman ordered 6ix9ine be held until a Tuesday bail hearing, and said he was concerned about the danger to the community.

The rapper’s lawyer, Lance Lazzaro, said 6ix9nine did not pose a threat and denies directing or playing any other role in violence.

In recent months 6ix9ine’s prestige in the rap scene has continued to grow, with his album Day69: Graduation Day among the top records on iTunes following its February release.

However, he has had a series of run-ins with the law and publicly identified himself as a member of a violent New York gang, 9 Trey Bloods, which was mentioned throughout the indictment.

Prosecutors said the gang carried out acts of murder, robbery and narcotics trafficking.

The indictment said each gang member was required to participate in at least two acts of racketeering conspiracy, including acts such as murder, court documents said.

6ix9ine recently pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in Brooklyn Criminal Court in connection with a May traffic stop and in a 2015 case in New York, 6ix9ine was sentenced to probation for his involvement in a sexually explicit video of a 13-year-old girl.

The video was posted on social media and showed the girl performing a sex act on another man while 6ix9ine "stands behind the child making a thrusting motion with his pelvis and smacking her on her buttocks," according to court documents.

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