Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine Headed To Prison: 'Don't Want To Go Back In The Box'
A New York judge sentenced Tekashi 6ix9ine to 45 days in prison on Tuesday for several violations of conditions set during his high-profile 2019 racketeering case.
The 28-year-old rapper , whose real name is Daniel Hernandez , pleaded guilty to five violations, including traveling without permission to Las Vegas and Sarasota, Florida, twice failing to comply with drug testing, and testing positive for methamphetamines.
"Five violations say to me that you believe the rules don't apply to you," U.S. District Court Judge Paul Engelmayer said Tuesday, the Associated Press reports. "Maybe you believe that because you're a famous rapper, Tekashi 6ix9ine?"
Tekashi 6ix9ine accepted responsibility for his actions but asked Engelmayer for a more lenient sentence.
"I'm very sorry," he said. "I'm not minimizing my actions. I fully take responsibility. I let myself down. I let my family down. Give me an opportunity to clean things up."
"I don't want to go back in the box," Tekashi 6ix9ine added.
Ultimately, Engelmayer sentenced him to more prison time than federal prosecutors suggested. Engelmayer sentenced him to a month and a half in prison, telling the rapper, "Your breach of the court's trust is profound."
The sentencing comes after Tekashi 6ix9ine was arrested on October 29 at the Manhattan federal courthouse.
"Daniel Hernandez was charged with three technical violations regarding his supervised release. We are confident that each specification will be dismissed," Tekashi's attorney Lance Lazzaro told Newsweek in a statement at the time.
Tekashi was arrested on a warrant issued by Engelmayer.
In 2020, Engelmayer granted Tekashi 6ix9ine early release from prison after a 2018 plea deal he struck over his involvement with a violent street gang.
Charged with federal racketeering and murder conspiracy charges as part of his association with Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods, Tekashi 6ix9ine was facing up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
He accepted a plea deal which led to the guilty pleas of several of his co-defendants and was sentenced to two years in federal prison. He also testified against the gang members, which led people in the entertainment industry, including Snoop Dogg, to denounce him as a "snitch."
Is Tekashi 6ix9ine in jail?
Tekashi 6ix9ine is currently in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, according to online records.
This is the same notoriously rough jail where Sean "Diddy" Combs is being held as he awaits trial in his sex trafficking case . Crypto crook Sam Bankman-Fried is also at the facility.
Last week, Tekashi 6ix9ine struck a deal to end his current jail stint by agreeing to serve a month behind bars for violating his probation terms.
The deal with federal prosecutors, partially approved by a Manhattan judge, proposed the rapper serve one month in jail, followed by one month of home incarceration, one month of home detention, and one month under curfew, all with electronic monitoring.
Instead, Engelmayer sentenced Tekashi 6ix9ine to 45 days in prison.
There are 1,153 total inmates at MDC Brooklyn where the conditions are said to be less than ideal.
Last month, federal investigators launched an "interagency operation" at the facility, but told Newsweek that it was pre-planned and there was "no active threat."
As scrutiny intensifies over the conditions at the notoriously rough MDC Brooklyn, the Justice Department and Bureau of Prisons are ramping up efforts to address mounting violence, dire living conditions, and repeated inmate deaths.
Federal prosecutors recently brought charges against nine inmates for a string of violent incidents at the MDC between April and August, highlighting the alarming state of security. The charges, announced last month, include two inmate stabbings that proved fatal and a brutal attack in which an inmate was left paralyzed after being struck with a makeshift icepick.
Alongside these incidents, a correctional officer faces separate charges related to a high-speed chase during which he allegedly discharged his weapon at another vehicle without authorization.
