Fetty Wap, the New Jersey rapper who rose to fame with his 2015 single “Trap Queen,” was sentenced to six years in federal prison Wednesday for his part in a New York-based drug-trafficking conspiracy.
U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert also sentenced the musician, whose legal name is William Junior Maxwell II, to five years of post-release supervision. Seybert previously sentenced Maxwell’s co-defendant Anthony Cyntje, a New Jersey corrections officer, to six years in prison, and four other co-defendants have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
Maxwell, 31, and his co-defendants were accused of distributing more than 100 kilograms of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and crack cocaine across Long Island and New Jersey.
Maxwell was arrested in October 2021, hours before he was set to take the stage at the Rolling Loud festival. He was subsequently released on bail, but his bail was was revoked after he allegedly threatened to kill someone and brandished a firearm during a FaceTime call. In August 2022, Maxwell pleaded guilty to the charges against him, which carried a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of nine years.
Manny Hernandez/Getty Fetty Wap
An attorney for Maxwell didn’t immediately respond to EW’s request for comment Wednesday.
According to the New York Times, the rapper apologized for his actions before being sentenced. “I only ever wanted to help my family,” he said. “I never asked myself if it was all-the-way right.”
According to a memorandum obtained by XXL, Maxwell’s attorney previously asked for a lighter sentence and said his client’s involvement in the drug-running scheme stemmed from mental health struggles and financial obligations exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. But prosecutors lobbied for a longer term, arguing that Maxwell used his fame and music, including “Trap Queen,” to “glamorize the drug trade.”
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