Early Prison Release for Gangsta Rapper Sped Up by Coronavirus
Daniel Hernandez was a Brooklyn rap artist who managed to achieve no small measure of fame. To his fans he was Tekashi 6ix9ine. He decided to live the gangsta life and rapped about his time as a member of New York City’s Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods. He also became known to the feds as a co-conspirator, amongst a few unpleasant legal monikers.
Hernandez was 23 years old when the feds arrested him in November 2018. Seeing the error of his ways (not to mention a probable 47 years to life sentence) Hernandez quickly decided to cooperate against his former fellow gang members as a government witness.
In September 2019, Hernandez’s rap turned into a canary’s song. His testimony was instrumental in securing racketeering conspiracy convictions against two fellow gang members, Anthony Ellison and Aljermiah Mack, during a three-day trial.
While testifying, Hernandez pegged fellow rappers Jim Jones and Cardi B as Nine Trey Gangsta Blood members.
Jones’ spokesperson declined to answer questions on the matter while Cardi B denied she had been s member of Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods. However, in a 2018 interview with Gentleman’s Quarterly magazine, Cardi B admitted to prior gang involvement, stating, “I used to pop off with my homies and they’d say, ‘Yo, you really got it poppin.’ You should come home. You should turn Blood.’ And I did. Yes I did.”
In exchange for the cooperation and testimony, Hernandez ultimately was sentenced to two years in prison with credit for 13 months in pre-trial confinement.
Because he allegedly spent all of his pre-and post-trial imprisonment being a “perfect model prisoner” in the words of his spokesperson, Hernandez was to be released from the federal Bureau of Prisons three months early, on August 2, 2020. However, after the coronavirus pandemic erupted, a judge ordered that Hernandez be allowed to serve the rest of his sentence at home. The rapper has a serious asthma problem, which puts him at high risk if he gets the virus.
Because of his testimony for the government, Hernandez is also eligible for placement in the witness protection program. He will have to pay a $35,000 fine, complete 300 hours of community service and serve five years of supervised probation.
Sources: buzzfeednews.com, variety.com
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