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

Grammy Award-winning rapper Lil Durk pleaded not guilty Thursday in downtown Los Angeles to federal charges stemming from an alleged murder-for-hire plot near the Beverly Center two years ago.

The 32-year-old Chicago rapper, real name Durk Banks, pleaded to federal charges of conspiracy, using an interstate facility to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death, and using carrying and discharging firearms and a machine gun and possessing such firearms during a crime of violence resulting in death, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

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

Banks is being held at the federal center downtown.

The rapper was arrested on October 17 near Miami International Airport after law enforcement learned he had been booked on several international flights.

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

Banks is accused of placing a price on the life of Tyquian Bowman, a Georgia rapper known as Quando Rondo. The alleged team of OTF members came 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 DOJ.

The remaining five defendants are expected to be arraigned in federal court in downtown Los Angeles in the coming weeks.

Prosecutors say Banks put a bounty on Bowman after a Bowman associate killed a close friend of Banks two years earlier at an Atlanta, Georgia, nightclub.

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

Members and associates of the FTO allegedly used two vehicles and worked in tandem to stalk, stalk and attempt to murder Bowman at the gas station, according to court documents.

The co-conspirators fired at least 18 rounds at Bowman’s vehicle, striking and killing one of Bowman’s family members who was traveling with the intended target, the DOJ alleges.

The 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. to commit murder. -for the benefit of others resulting in death.

Federal prosecutors say Banks ordered Bowman’s killing and ultimately paid for the alleged co-conspirators’ travel from Chicago to Los Angeles the day before the killing. Around the time the flights were purchased, records show a phone number associated with Banks texted a co-conspirator: “Do not book any flights under any name involved with (sic) me,” according to an affidavit filed with the criminal. complaint.

The affidavit says Banks took a private jet from Miami to Los Angeles with Grant. Grant used Banks’ credit card to book a room at the Sheraton Universal Hotel, where the five alleged crew members spent the night before meeting up with Bowman, according to the affidavit, which claims Grant purchased ski masks that the shooters can use to commit the murder.

Banks, meanwhile, resided in a rented home in Encino, the document states.

The rapper won a Grammy earlier this year for Best Melodic Rap Performance. His albums “The Voice” and “7220” have both sold over a million copies each. A new album from Lil Durk, his ninth studio album, is set to be released on November 22.