Lil Durk has pleaded not guilty in his murder-for-hire case.
The 32-year-old rapper, whose real name is Durk Banks, entered the plea last week in the Central District of California.
AP Photo
Lil Durk has also hired prominent Atlanta defense attorney Drew Findling to represent him in the case, WSBTV reports.
Former President Donald Trump hired Findling in 2022 to represent him in a criminal investigation into election interference in Georgia. Findling was replaced by Steven Sadow in 2023.
Newsweek has contacted Findling and attorney Alek Ubieta by email for comment.
Lil Durk is accused of being the mastermind behind the 2022 plan to kill fellow rapper Quando Rondo, allegedly in retaliation to the 2020 shooting death of rapper King Von. He allegedly hired five men associated with his Only the Family (OTF) label to carry out Rondo’s shooting, which did not kill Rondo but instead his cousin, Saviay’a Robinson.
A California grand jury indicted Kavon London Grant, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, Keith Jones, David Brian Lindsey, and Asa Houston.
Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office
Lil Durk was later arrested at the Miami International Airport as prosecutors claimed he was trying to leave the country.
All six defendants are expected to be arraigned in the United States District Court in Los Angeles in the coming weeks.
Lil Durk is facing charges of conspiracy, use of interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death, and using, carrying, and discharging firearms and a machine gun and possession of such firearms.
Last week, an LA federal grand jury approved additional charges against Lil Durk of using, carrying, and discharging firearms, including a machine gun, in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death.
Co-Conspirators’ Alleged Roles
Prosecutors allege that the five defendants used two vehicles and worked in tandem to track, stalk, and attempt to murder Rondo at a gas station in Los Angeles.
They claim Lil Durk has a monetary bond on Rondo’s life. They say that the hitmen allegedly used credit cards linked to OTF and Lil Durk to book one-way flights from Chicago to San Diego on August 18, 2022, as well as a hotel room at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City, California.
Text messages between Lil Durk and one of the alleged hitmen read, “Don’t book no flights under no names involved wit [sic] me,” according to the complaint.
Lil Durk also flew to California with Grant on a private plane on August 18.
Later that day, Grant allegedly bought black ski masks for the hitmen to wear during the murder.
Surveillance video allegedly captured Rondo and Robinson riding around town on the day of Robinson’s murder in a black Escalade and being followed by a white Infiniti and white BMW allegedly carrying the hitmen.
US Central District Court of California
Jones, Lindsey, and an unidentified third man allegedly opened fire on the Escalade at a gas station, ran back to the Infiniti, and drove away.
About 50 minutes after the shooting, surveillance video from an In-N-Out Burger in Los Angeles captured the co-conspirators at the restaurant.
A few hours later, Jones, Lindsey, Wilson, Houston, and an unidentified co-conspirator boarded a flight from San Diego to Chicago booked with the same credit card linked to OTF and Lil Durk.
US Central District Court of California
The men were arrested in Chicago on October 24. Upon the arrests, the FBI received a tip that Lil Durk had booked two international flights: a one-way flight from Miami to Dubai connecting through Doha, Qatar, scheduled to depart the evening of October 24, and another one-way flight from Fort Lauderdale to Switzerland, connecting through New Jersey, also scheduled to leave that night.
Lil Durk did not board either flight and the FBI learned he was on a private plane departing from Miami to Italy that night. He was arrested at the Miami airport.
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