Lil Durk has pleaded not guilty to a murder-for-hire charge. On Thursday, Nov. 14, the Chicago-born rapper appeared in a Los Angeles federal court after being extradited from Florida on charges related to a murder-for-hire plot that he was hit with three weeks earlier.
Following his plea, Lil Durk — real name Durk Devontay Banks — was booked into the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center. He will remain behind bars until December 12, when a judge will rule whether or not he should be granted bond.
Videos by VICE
While the murder-for-hire charge was the initial reason for Lil Durk’s arrest, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California subsequently slapped him with two more charges: one count of “use of interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death,” and one count of “using, carrying and discharging firearms and a machine gun and possession of such firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death.”
Notably, Prosecutors have requested that Lil Durk remain in custody, pending his federal trial, due to their belief that he is a flight risk and potentially a danger to the community. A statement released by the U.S. Department of Justice alleges that Lil Durk was involved in the attempted murder of rapper Quando Rondo.
“Bank and flight records,” the DoJ statement reads. “Show that an OTF member and close associate of [Durk] coordinated and paid for five co-conspirators to travel from Chicago to California on the day before the murder.”
Lil Durk is being represented by attorney Drew Findling — according to court documents obtained by DJ Akademiks — the same lawyer who represented rapper NBA YoungBoy during his federal weapons case earlier this year.
If convicted of all three charges against him, Lil Durk could face a maximum sentence of life in prison. His trial is set to begin on January 7, 2025, with United States District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald presiding over the case.
