Rapper Fetty Wap sentenced to 6 years for drug trafficking

Rapper Fetty Wap sentenced to 6 years for drug trafficking
PHOTO: Instagram/fattywap

Fetty Wap has been sentenced to six years in prison for drug trafficking.

The 31-year-old rapper has been found guilty of operating a drug trafficking operation across the US, after pleading guilty in 2022 to a conspiracy drug charge.

The rapper - whose real name is Willie Maxwell II - was sentenced to six years in prison on Wednesday (May 24), having previously admitted to being involved with a large-scale drug trafficking scheme.

During his sentencing hearing, Fetty - who released his eponymous debut album back in 2015 - said: "I hurt my community, people who look up to me. My family and myself. I am truly sorry for any pain I caused."

The music star and five co-defendants were initially arrested in 2021, when they were charged with conspiring to smuggle heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine from the West Coast of the US to Long Island in New York State.

Maxwell subsequently pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. The plea deal meant that he was protected from a potential life sentence if he was convicted of all the charges.

Despite his conviction, prosecutors had actually called for a longer sentence, arguing that the rap star used his platform to "glamorise the drug trade".

Breon Peace, the attorney for the eastern district of New York, previously recommended a sentence of seven to nine years.  

Pace said in a letter to the judge: "Young people who admire the defendant and are considering selling drugs need to be sent a message that selling drugs is not a glamorous lifestyle and, if they participate in that trade, they will receive lengthy prison sentences."

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