Rapper Gets Prison for Drug Trafficking

Fetty Wap, the Grammy-nominated rapper who rose to fame by singing about crack cocaine, was sentenced to six years in federal prison on Wednesday for his role in a drug trafficking scheme. The artist, whose offstage name is Willie Junior Maxwell II, pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances. Prosecutors said Maxwell was part of an organization that distributed more than 100 kilograms of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and crack cocaine across New Jersey and Long Island from June 2019 till June 2020, News12 New Jersey reports. In a Long Island courtroom, Judge Joanna Seybert told him, "Despite your background and all you overcame, you threw it all away."

The minimum sentence was five years; prosecutors had asked for more, telling the court Maxwell he used his fame to "glamorize the drug trade." His "Trap Queen" video, they said, showed young children behind him as he "idealized selling drugs," per NBC News. The judge added five years of post-release supervision for Maxwell, who's from Patterson, New Jersey. Five other people were charged in the case. Maxwell apologized in court. "I hurt my community, people who look up to me, my family and myself," he said. "I am truly sorry for any pain I caused." (More Fetty Wap stories.)