Grammy winner Lil Durk pleads not guilty in Los Angeles murder conspiracy case

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LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Grammy award-winning rapper Lil Durk pleaded not guilty Thursday in downtown Los Angeles to federal charges stemming from a murder-for-hire plot near the Beverly Center two years ago.

The 32-year-old Chicago rapper, whose real name is Durk Banks, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges, using interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death, and using, carrying and shooting a firearm. Possession of machine guns and such firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue ordered Banks jailed without bail until a detention hearing on Dec. 12. A status conference has also been set for Nov. 25 before the federal judge who will oversee the case. A tentative hearing date was also scheduled for January 7 but is expected to be postponed.

Banks is being held at the federal prison downtown.

The rapper was arrested on October 17 near Miami International Airport after law enforcement discovered he had multiple international flights booked for him.

An updated indictment filed in Los Angeles federal court names Banks as the lead defendant in a case that charges five members and alleged associates of the rap collective also known as Only Family, or OTF.

Banks is accused of placing a bounty on the life of Georgia rapper Tyquian Bowman, known as Quando Rondo. The alleged hit squad of OTF members arrived from Chicago to kill Bowman, but a botched ambush near the Beverly Center mall resulted in the death of one of Bowman’s relatives who was traveling with him, according to the Justice Department.

The remaining five defendants are expected to go on trial in federal court in downtown Los Angeles in the coming weeks.

Prosecutors allege Banks put up a bounty on Bowman after an associate of Bowman killed a close friend of Banks’ at a nightclub in Atlanta, Georgia, two years ago.

Around August 18, 2022, the alleged conspirators learned that Bowman was staying at a hotel in Los Angeles. The next day, five of Banks’ friends drove from Chicago to Los Angeles “with the intention of killing” Bowman, federal prosecutors allege.

OTF members and their associates allegedly drove two vehicles and worked together to track, follow and attempt to kill Bowman at the gas station, according to court documents.

The Justice Department alleges that the co-conspirators fired at least 18 shots into Bowman’s vehicle, hitting and killing one of Bowman’s family members who was traveling with the intended target.

The amended 19-page indictment charges Banks and five others — Kavon London Grant, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, Keith Jones, David Brian Lindsey and Asa Houston — with crimes stemming from the murder, including murder for hire and conspiracy to commit murder. -for hire- resulting in death.

Federal prosecutors allege Banks ordered Bowman’s murder and ultimately paid his alleged co-conspirators to travel from Chicago to Los Angeles the day before the murder. At the time the flights were purchased, records show a phone number linked to Banks texted his accomplice: “Do not book flights under any name unrelated to me,” according to an affidavit filed with the accused. complaint.

The affidavit states that Banks flew with Grant on a private jet from Miami to Los Angeles. Grant used Banks’ credit card to reserve a room at the Sheraton Universal Hotel; stayed there the night before the five-man hit squad found Bowman, according to the affidavit; In this statement, it was claimed that Grant purchased the shooters’ balaclavas for use. commit murder.

The document states that Banks, meanwhile, was staying in a rented house in Encino.

The rapper won a Grammy for best melodic rap performance earlier this year. The albums “The Voice” and “7220” have sold over 1 million copies each. The new Lil Durk album, his ninth studio album, is scheduled to be released on November 22.