American rapper Fetty Wap sentenced to six years in prison for drug-trafficking scheme

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — As friends and family looked on, rapper Fetty Wap on Wednesday apologised for his actions and said he was “exactly where I'm supposed to be,” before a judge sentenced him to six years in federal prison for his role in a New York-based drug-trafficking scheme.

The “Trap Queen” rapper, whose legal name is Willie Maxwell, pleaded guilty in August 2022 to a conspiracy drug charge that carried a mandatory minimum sentence of five years.

The sentence was handed down in federal court on Long Island.

Maxwell told US District Judge Joanna Seybert, “Me being selfish in my pride put me in this position today.”

His lawyers had suggested he turned to selling drugs because of financial hardship brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maxwell was arrested in October 2021 on charges of participating in a conspiracy to smuggle large amounts of heroin, fentanyl and other drugs into the New York City area.

The New Jersey-born rapper and five co-defendants were accused of conspiring to possess and distribute more than 220 pounds of heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine between June 2019 and June 2020.

Prosecutors said the scheme involved using the US Postal Service and cars with hidden compartments to move drugs from the West Coast to Long Island, where they were stored for distribution to dealers on Long Island and in New Jersey.

Maxwell pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances, the top charge in an indictment against him, admitting that he participated in a massive drug trafficking racket.

The plea, which pertained only to cocaine, spared him from a potential life sentence if he had been convicted on all the charges he faced.

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