Lil Durk has pleaded not guilty to charges he directed a murder-for-hire plot.
The Chicago-born rapper, real name Durk Devontay Banks, entered his plea on Thursday (November 14), and pleaded not guilty to charges that he directed a murder-for-hire plot which led to the shooting death of Georgia rapper Quando Rondo’s cousin two years ago.
Per Rolling Stone, he was remanded to a federal detention centre in Los Angeles after receiving a trial date of January 7, 2025, as a spokesman with the US Attorney’s Office confirmed.
“Mr. Banks is charged with orchestrating a cold-blooded murder that resulted in the death of a rival’s family member,” US Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement.
“Not only that, the shooting occurred in the open, at a gas station at a busy intersection, endangering many others in the area. Violent gun crime of this sort is devastating to our community and we will have zero-tolerance for those who perpetrate such callous acts of violence.”
Prosecutors have asked that Banks be held until trial due to a “serious risk [that the] defendant will flee”, with the filings claiming Banks attempted to board a private jet before he was arrested last month – and was also booked on separate one-way flights to Switzerland and Dubai and on the same day.
Defense attorney Drew Findling, who has worked with high-profile figures including Cardi B, NBA YoungBoy and Donald Trump, has filed to appear as one of Banks’ lawyers. The artist is due back in court on November 25 for a status conference, with a detention hearing slated for December 2.
The ‘Pelle Coat’ rapper was first arrested in Florida in October and was held in a Broward County, Florida jail, as initially reported by USA Today.
The arrest came hours after five other people were indicted in Los Angeles with federal murder-for-hire charges for the alleged targeting of rapper Quando Rondo (Tyquian Bowman), which authorities believe may have been in retaliation for the killing of Chicago rapper King Von in 2020.
The five individuals – Kavon London ‘Vonnie’ Grant, DeAndre Dontrell ‘DeDe’ Wilson, Keith ‘Flacka’ Jones, David Brian ‘Browneyez’ Lindsey and Asa ‘Boogie’ Houston – are all allegedly associated with Lil Durk’s Only The Family (OTF) rap collective.
Per a news release from the Central District of California, Wilson, Jones, Lindsey and Houston are charged with “one count of conspiracy, one count of use of interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death, and one count of using, carrying and discharging firearms and a machine gun and possession of such firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death.”
Jones faces an additional count of possession of a machine gun, the statement continues. The defendants are expected to be arraigned in United States District Court in Los Angeles over the coming weeks.
Federal prosecutors have since unsealed the charges against Lil Durk, which claim that he ordered the murder of Quando Rondo in a failed 2022 shooting (via Billboard). They label OTF as a “hybrid organisation” that functions as a criminal gang as well as a musical collective, with the group operating “at the direction” of Durk.
As yet, neither Lil Durk’s representatives nor those of the five others arrested have responded to requests for comment.
If convicted, Banks could face life in federal prison.
