Grammy-winning rapper arrested for murder-for-hire plot

Rapper Lil Durk has been arrested in South Florida in connection with a murder-for-hire plot, according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.

Lil Durk, whose real name is Durk Devontay Banks, is being held by the U.S. Marshals Service, records show.

Banks is accused of being the leader of a Chicago-based rap collective — called Only the Family — that acts as a group of individuals who engage in violence, including murder and assault, at Banks’ direction, a federal prosecutor said. complaint filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

He is accused of providing a “monetary reward to an individual with whom Banks had an altercation,” according to the complaint.

Banks had an altercation with an individual identified in court documents as TB. The feud stemmed from a murder that occurred on November 6, 2020, in which “an associate of TB shot and killed an OTF rapper named Dayvon Bennett, aka ‘King Von.’ “who was close friends with Banks,” the Justice Department said in a news release.

“In response to Bennett’s murder, Banks allegedly placed a bounty on TB’s life,” the DOJ said.

Nearly two years later, on August 19, 2022, multiple OTF members allegedly used two vehicles and worked together to “track, stalk and attempt to kill TB at a Los Angeles gas station,” according to the complaint.

“The co-conspirators fired at least 18 rounds at TB’s vehicle, striking and killing SR—TB’s family member, who was traveling with TB,” the complaint said.

U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada, whose office is prosecuting the case, said such violent gun crime is “devastating” and “heartless.”

“Mr. Banks is accused of orchestrating a cold-blooded murder that resulted in the death of a rival’s family member,” 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.

Banks is one of five co-conspirators charged in the incident with crimes including murder, murder for hire and conspiracy to commit murder for hire resulting in death, the indictment said.

The hitmen allegedly used money from banks and OTF-related finances to carry out the attack, the DOJ said.

Five people were allegedly paid to travel from Chicago to Los Angeles to commit the murder the day before the shooting, prosecutors said.

“Around the time the one-way flights were purchased, Banks told the OTF agent who booked the flights, ‘Do not book flights under any name involved in booking the flights. (sick) me,” the DOJ said.

All five people have been arrested and search warrants have been executed at locations associated with the OTF members.

Banks made his first appearance at the C. Clyde Atkins U.S. Courthouse in Miami on Friday afternoon. Banks’ attorney, Alek Ubieta, asked for privacy after leaving court, telling Miami ABC affiliate WPLG, “We will not be commenting at this time.”

ABC News has also contacted Ubieta.

Indictment against Banks and the five other defendants is expected to take place in Los Angeles federal court in the coming weeks, the DOJ said.

If convicted, each faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison, prosecutors said.

The 32-year-old Chicago rapper won a Grammy earlier this year for best melodic rap performance for “All My Life” with J. Cole. His albums ‘The Voice’, released in 2020, and ‘7220’, released in 2022, both went platinum. His latest album would be released next month.

Durk is one of the most popular drill rap artists in the industry, a controversial hip hop subgenre that started in Chicago and was popularized by rappers like Durk and Chief Keef, Fredo Santana and G Herbo. It is known for its often violent lyrics and its connection to Chicago’s gang culture.