Fetty Wap pleads guilty to conspiracy drug charge on Long Island

August 22, 2022 Associated Press with additional material from Daniel Cody, Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Fetty Wap appears at the MTV Video Music Awards in Newark, N.J. on Aug. 26, 2019. Photo: Evan Agostini/Invision via AP

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Rapper Fetty Wap, whose nonperformance name is Willie Junior Maxwell II, pleaded guilty on Monday, Aug. 22, to charges relating to the distribution of cocaine. Originally arrested in 2019 for distribution charges relating to a conspiracy to possess and distribute over 100 kilograms of controlled substances, Maxwell is now facing charges of distributing heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and another substance with a cocaine base.

The plea in Central Islip on Long Island came before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Locke, who had revoked his bond and sent him to jail two weeks ago. No sentencing date was immediately set.

Locke took that step after prosecutors said that Maxwell threatened to kill a man during a FaceTime call in 2021, violating the terms of his pretrial release in his drug case.

The “Trap Queen” rapper was initially arrested last October on charges alleging he participated in a conspiracy to smuggle large amounts of heroin, fentanyl, and other drugs into the New York City area.

Among those charged by federal prosecutors include Anthony Leonardi, Robert Leonardi, Willie Junior Maxwell II (Fetty Wap), Brian Sullivan, Anthony Cyntje and Kavaughn Wiggins, also known as “KV.”

The first count of the indictment lists Maxwell as culpable of procuring five or more kilos of cocaine, along with his co-conspirator, Anthony Cyntje, in relation to their conspiracy: the top charge in the indictment against him.

It carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison while federal sentencing guidelines are likely to recommend additional years in prison.

Maxwell and five co-defendants were accused of conspiring to possess and distribute more than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine between June 2019 and June 2020.

The scheme allegedly involved using the U.S. Postal Service and cars with hidden compartments to move drugs from the West Coast to Long Island, where they were stored for distribution to dealers on Long Island and in New Jersey, prosecutors said.

New York Post reporter Ben Feuerherd tweeted that he reportedly heard Maxwell’s attorneys remain noncooperative, and that the plea is standard procedure.

Prosecutors allege in a second count of the indictment that Anthony and Robert Leonardi, Brian Sullivan, Cyntje and Wiggins had knowingly and intentionally possessed firearms in relation to their drug trafficking activities. Maxwell is exempt from the firearms-related charges.

Previously, Robert Leonardi pleaded guilty to count one of the indictments, and Cyntje pleaded guilty to both.

Maxwell rose to prominence after “Trap Queen,” his debut single, reached No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 2015.