The hopes Lil Durk had of getting out of prison ahead of a second rackteering trial next year were put on hold on Wednesday (November 4), and his lawyers are upset with prosecutors from the federal government aiming to keep the rapper in jail despite him being acquitted of a murder-for-hire charge earlier this year.
The prosecution and the defense, along with Lil Durk, appeared before Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald in court. Attorneys Drew Findling, Brian Steel and Marissa Goldberg presented a bond package proposal that included letters of support from known celebrities such as Jay-Z and J. Cole, as well as all of Lil Durk’s future music royalties as well as his mother’s home as collateral.
The prosecution wasn’t swayed by the appeal, alleging that Lil Durk aka Durk Banks was guilty of concealing contraband while incarcerated at the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center. They claim that Lil Durk acquired an Apple Watch and hid it in a body cavity, making hundreds of phone calls before confiscating it, according to Taylor Parise of LA Magazine.
Prosecutors argued that Lil Durk was constantly breaking rules, leading to him being placed in solitary confinement. They also alleged that he was using his celebrity connections to manipulate the court, claiming that celebrities who attended the August trial like Ye and Machine Gun Kelly were allowed to cut the lint to the courtroom and that Lil Durk’s team paid protesters outside of the courthouse.
Lil Durk’s attorneys hotly contested the accusations, blasting the government’s resistance to the bond proposal. “here is a little bit of hypocrisy here. The Government is unwilling to accept…I’m embarrassed for them,” said Findling as reported by journalist Michael Blackshire. “Those were well-informed jurors. The statements in this case pale in comparison to PW1 & PW2.”
“His next trail is not until next August,” Steel said to the judge. “That is not Mr. Banks fault. That’s the fault of counsel, who couldn’t work on a date until next August. Another year of waiting while imprisoned, that’s unimaginable.” Goldberg objected to the prosecutors’ calling Lil Durk’s view of the MDC as a “hotel”.
Lil Durk’s second trial concerns a charge of Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering Activity (VICAR). Judge Fitzgerald opted not to deliver a bond verdict at the hearing, but promised that there would be a decision in writing soon.
