Lil Durk pleads not guilty to murder-for-hire charges and is given a trial date

Grammy-winning rapper from Chicago Lil Durk has pleaded not guilty to the charges he directed a murder-for-hire plot That led to the death of the cousin of Georgia rapper Quando Rondo at a gas station in Los Angeles two years ago.

The 32-year-old artist, born Durk Banks, entered the plea Thursday and was remanded to a federal detention center in downtown Los Angeles after receiving a tentative trial date of Jan. 7, 2025, online records and a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Desk attached.

Prosecutors have asked for Banks to be held until trial, claiming there is a “serious risk that the suspect will flee.” In court papers, federal authorities say Banks was then trying to board a private jet bound for Italy arrested last month in Miami. They claim he was booked on separate one-way flights to Dubai and Switzerland that same day.

Prominent attorney Drew Findling, known for his representation of other high-profile clients including Cardi B, NBA YoungBoy and Donald Trumphas put himself forward as one of Banks’ attorneys. He had no comment Friday. Banks is due back in court on November 25 for a status conference. A detention hearing is scheduled for December 2.

According to a Nov. 7 superseding indictment, Banks was “the leader” of a hip-hop collective founded in Chicago in 2010 called Only the Family, or OTF. Although the group produced and sold music, the group also allegedly “committed acts of violence, including murder and assault,” largely at the “direction” of Banks, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors allege Banks bears responsibility for the murder at the center of the indictment because he allegedly sought retaliation for the killing. fatal shooting of rising Chicago rapper King Vonborn Dayvon Bennett, outside a club in Atlanta on November 6, 2020. Bennett and Banks were childhood friends, with Banks signing Bennett to his label in 2018, the same year Bennett released his debut single “Crazy Story.”

Quando Rondo, born Tyquian Terrel Bowman, was allegedly involved in an “altercation” with Bennett shortly before one of Bowman’s associates pulled a gun and shot Bennett multiple times, prosecutors allege. “After the murder, Defendant Banks made it clear in coded language that he would pay a bounty or monetary reward, and/or make a payment to anyone who participated in the murder of (Bowman) for his role in the murder of (Bennett ), which replace the indictment states. (Banks was previously charged in a standalone complaint.)

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Prosecutors allege that Banks and his co-defendants traveled from Chicago to Los Angeles in August 2022 after learning Bowman was staying at a hotel there. They allege that Banks’ co-defendants “used two vehicles and worked together for hours to track, stalk and attempt to kill Bowman,” culminating in the gas station shooting. The gunmen fired at least 18 rounds at Bowman’s vehicle, striking and killing Bowman’s cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, who was traveling with him, authorities allege.

Prosecutors claim they have bank and flight information linking a Bank employee to the travel plans. They say that around the time the one-way flights were purchased, Banks allegedly told the employee, “Do not book flights without a name associated with me.”

On the same day that several men traveled to California, Banks flew on a private jet with another alleged co-conspirator, Kavon London Grant, 28, the indictment alleges. Grant allegedly bought ski masks for the gunmen and used a credit card in Banks’ name to pay for the other men’s hotel room, prosecutors allege.

When Banks’ co-defendants were arrested in Chicago on the morning of Oct. 24, Banks was reportedly planning to leave the country, an FBI agent alleged in an affidavit filed last month. The agent said that “shortly after” officials made the arrests in Chicago and began executing search warrants, the FBI was notified by US Customs and Border Protection that Banks had been booked on separate one-way flights to Dubai and Switzerland, with the Miami flights were not taken into account. area. He did not board either flight and was arrested near a Miami airport an hour before his private jet was scheduled to take off en route to Italy, the agent wrote.

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If convicted, Banks faces up to life in federal prison.

“Sir. Banks is accused of orchestrating a cold-blooded murder that resulted in the death of a rival’s family member,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. “Not only that, the shooting took place in the open, at a gas station at a busy intersection, endangering many others in the area. This type of violent gun crime is devastating to our community and we will have zero tolerance for those who commit such insensitive acts of violence.”