The Grammy-winning rapper Lil Durk was arrested on a federal charge near Miami International Airport on Thursday over accusations that he conspired to kill a rap rival, resulting in the fatal shooting of another person.
Lil Durk put out a bounty on the life of another rapper, identified only as T.B. by prosecutors, as retaliation for the 2020 killing of the rapper King Von, a member of the hip-hop collective Only the Family, which Lil Durk founded, according to the federal criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
An F.B.I. affidavit also says that Lil Durk had been booked on at least three international flights that were leaving on Thursday — to Italy, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates — in an attempt to flee the United States.
Lil Durk, 32, whose legal name is Durk Banks, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Friday. He remained in federal custody and was expected to be arraigned in Los Angeles in the coming weeks, according to prosecutors. He was charged with conspiracy to use interstate facilities to commit murder for hire resulting in death.
The news of his arrest comes weeks before the scheduled release of his new album, “Deep Thoughts,” on Nov. 22. Earlier this year, he won a Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance for his song “All My Life,” featuring J. Cole.
Representatives for Lil Durk had not responded to a request for comment.
Here’s what we know about the case so far:
Lil Durk is alleged to have co-conspirators.
Lil Durk’s arrest comes on the heels of a recently unveiled federal indictment in Los Angeles charging five other men affiliated with Only the Family, or O.T.F., with the murder-for-hire plot, alleging that they conspired to “track, stalk, and attempt to kill” a rapper identified as T.B.
Those accused of conspiring with Lil Durk — Kavon London Grant, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, Keith Jones, David Brian Lindsey and Asa Houston — were arrested in Chicago on Thursday and will also be arraigned soon in Los Angeles.
Prosecutors say that, in addition to being a hip-hop collective, O.T.F. is a gang that engages in murder and assault “at the direction” of Lil Durk and “to maintain their status in O.T.F.”
The ‘murder-for-hire’ plot was planned after King Von was killed.
Born Dayvon Bennett, King Von emerged onto the Chicago drill rap scene and was signed to Lil Durk’s record label. A week after releasing his third album, “Welcome to O’Block,” King Von was shot and killed in Atlanta on Nov. 6, 2020.
According to the Atlanta police, two groups of men started arguing and exchanged gunshots, leading officers patrolling nearby to also open fire. Law enforcement officials said they believed that King Von had been shot during the initial shootout and before the police responded.
A day later, an associate of T.B. was charged with murder in King Von’s killing. But the charges against him were eventually dropped.
Prosecutors say Lil Durk ordered the hit.
Following King Von’s death, federal officials say, Lil Durk ordered the hit against T.B. and used O.T.F.’s resources to orchestrate the killing.
Court documents say that the hitmen were offered rewards, including lucrative music opportunities, if they contributed to T.B.’s death. A credit card linked with Lil Durk and O.T.F. was used to purchase airplane tickets for the co-conspirators to fly from Chicago to California, where they believed T.B. was located.
Around the time the flights were purchased, a telephone number that prosecutors said was associated with Lil Durk was used to text an associate, saying, “Don’t book no flights under no names” connected to him, according to the F.B.I. affidavit.
On Aug. 19, 2022, the hitmen opened fire on T.B., unloading at least 18 rounds at his vehicle, near a gas station close to West Hollywood, Calif. While T.B. was uninjured, a family member of his was killed.
In a news release on Friday, Martin Estrada, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said that Lil Durk had orchestrated “cold-blooded murder” and that the shooting had endangered many others, as it occurred in the open at a busy intersection.
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