Shortly before he was scheduled to perform at the Rolling Loud hip-hop festival in New York on Thursday night, rapper Fetty Wap was arrested on drug charges and later indicted, along with five others, on a drug trafficking conspiracy charge.
Federal prosecutors say the six men allegedly transported and distributed drugs, including heroin and fentanyl in Long Island, according to an indictment obtained by CNN Friday.
While initial reports of the arrest seemed to reflect a minor drug charge, the arrest was apparently a sting; Fetty Wap had been scheduled to perform at the festival for months. The indictment, filed Sept. 29 and unsealed Friday, charges the rapper (real name: Willie Junior Maxwell II) with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances.
The rapper, who had several hits in the mid-2010s with songs like “Trap Queen,” is expected to be arraigned Friday afternoon at Brooklyn federal court.
The four others were also charged with an additional count of use of firearms in connection with a drug trafficking crime, according to CNN.
Maxwell was arrested in Las Vegas in 2019 for allegedly assaulting three employees at a hotel’s casino, and was also arrested in November 2017 and charged with DUI after police said he had been racing on a New York highway. In October of last year,his younger brother, Twyshon Depew, was shot and killed in their hometown of Paterson, New Jersey; last June, his 4-year-old daughter, Lauren, died, according to the Associated Press.
In a press release, authorities claim the offenders “contribut[ed] to the addiction and overdose epidemic we have seen time and time again tear people’s lives apart.”
“As alleged, the defendants transported, distributed and sold more than 100 kilograms of deadly and addictive drugs, including heroin and fentanyl, on Long Island, deliberately contributing to the opioid epidemic that has devastated our communities and taken too many lives,” stated United States Attorney Breon Peace. “We will continue to work nonstop with our law enforcement partners to keep our neighborhoods safe from the scourge of dangerous drugs and gun violence.”
