Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine Sentenced to 24 Months in Prison

Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine was sentenced to 24 months in prison with five years of supervised release on racketeering and firearms charges on Wednesday, according to multiple reports. Federal Judge Paul Engelmayer delivered the sentence after Tekashi — whose real name is Daniel Hernandez — and his associates in the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods were arrested under the RICO Act.

The sentence includes the 13 months he has already served, which means he is expected to be free late 2020. When he is released from prison he will serve 300 hours of community service and pay a $35,000 fine.

The 23-year-old rapper and his affiliates participated in those activities “for the purpose of gaining entrance to and maintaining and increasing position in (gang) Nine,” court documents states.

“You are in custody for 13 months. I agree you deserve a great deal of credit for cooperation,” Judge Engelmayer said at the top of his sentencing, per Inner City Press‘ reporting from the courtroom. “However, I cannot agree with your counsel that time served is appropriate. In my judgment, your conduct is too violent and selfish to make 13 months reasonable. You will not be going free today.”

His judgment included mentions of incidents with rappers Casanova, Trippie Redd and Chief Keef, noting that “Before you, the gang didn’t fight with rap entourages. They had no independent interest in going after musicians and their management groups … I reject the portrait of you as a passive participant.”

The rapper had already begun providing information to law enforcement the night before he was arrested and publicly distanced himself from Nine Trey last November. During his September testimony, Tekashi testified against former associates Anthony “Harv” Ellison and Aljermiah “Nuke” Mack, while also alleging that rapper Jim Jones was a Nine Trey member and that Cardi B was a member of the Bloods.

Prior to Tekashi’s sentencing, the government dropped one of the nine counts against him, according to Complex. As he agreed to a guilty plea and cooperated with authorities, he no longer faced the initial 47 years behind bars he was expected to originally. With the gun charge dropped, he faced a minimum sentence of somewhere between 37 years and life, but the government sent a letter to the judge requesting that Tekashi be sentenced below that minimum.

In all, Tekashi was charged with conspiracy, attempted murder, conspiracy to distribute heroin, and four firearms-related charges. An innocent bystander who was shot in the leg by a Nine Trey Blood member spoke as part of the trial.

Victim impact letter were also taken into consideration for the sentencing.

“Every day I wake up, I have scars on my back,” the shooting victim reportedly said on the stand. “I was out of work. The actions took a lot of me. I still have to go to the doctors. And for him to sit up here. I want to see him apologize. My mother could have lost her daughter.”

Before his arrest, Tekashi was enjoying an ascendant music career. Last year, his debut studio album Dummy Boy peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, coinciding with his arrest. The album included the smash hit and Nicki Minaj collaboration “Fefe,” which peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100 and has been certified 8x platinum by the RIAA.

Photo credit: Zachary Mazur / Contributor / Getty