Rapper Fetty Wap sentenced to 6 years in prison for drug trafficking charges
Rapper Fetty Wap has been sentenced to six years in prison for drug trafficking, officials said Wednesday.
The rapper, whose legal name is Willie Junior Maxwell II, was one of multiple defendants charged and found guilty of being part of an organization that distributed more than 100 kilograms of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine in Long Island and New Jersey. He was arrested at New York City's Citi Field, home of the Mets baseball team, shortly before he was scheduled to perform a concert there in Oct. 2021.
Maxwell was initially released on bond, but has been in custody since August 2022, when his bail was revoked. He later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. The minimum sentence for such a charge is five years.
On Wednesday morning, U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert sentenced him to six years imprisonment and five years post-release supervision, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice's Eastern District of New York.
In March, Seybert sentenced one of Maxwell's co-conspirators, New Jersey corrections officer Anthony Cyntje, to 72 months in prison for his role in the crime. The other four co-defendants — Anthony Leonardi, Robert Leonardi, Brian Sullivan, and Kavaughn Wiggins — have all pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
According to court filings, the six men distributed drugs between June 2019 and June 2020. The narcotics were obtained on the West Coast, then driven or mailed across the country to Suffolk County, New York. Wiggins, Sullivan and the Leonardis participated in the purchase and transportation of the illicit substances, according to court filings.
From Suffolk County, the drugs were distributed to dealers who operated on Long Island and in New Jersey. Cyntje allegedly transported kilograms of cocaine from between the two regions. Maxwell was described as "kilogram-level redistributor" for the organization.
Search warrants executed during the investigation found about $1.5 million in cash, 16 kilograms of cocaine, 2 kilograms of heroin, fentanyl pills and multiple firearms.