A senior law enforcement official said the FBI arrested rapper Vitti Wap Thursday night on federal drug charges.
Viti Wap, whose legal name is Willie Jr. Maxwell II, is expected to stand trial on Friday.
According to the official, the artist was arrested at Citi Field in Queens, where he was Rolling Loud Music Festival held on Thursday.
The rapper, from Paterson, New Jersey, is among about six people charged in the case. The other defendants were identified Friday as New Jersey Correctional Officer Anthony Sentje, 23, of Passaic. Brian Sullivan, 26, of Lake Grove, New York; Kavon Wiggins, 26, of Coram, New York; Robert Leonardi, 26, of Levittown, Pennsylvania; and his brother Anthony Leonardi, 47, also from Coram.
They are all accused of running what prosecutors described as a “million-dollar drug distribution organization” with Suffolk County as their base, County Attorney Timothy Sene said in a statement.
According to the indictment, the organization continued to operate from about June 2019 to June 2020. The defendants obtained drugs from the West Coast and used the postal service and “drivers with hidden car compartments” to transport the drugs to Suffolk County where they were stored, according to the indictment. accusation. In a press release issued by the US Attorney’s Office.
The drugs were then allegedly distributed to dealers who sold them in Long Island and New Jersey. Prosecutors said five of the defendants are also accused of using firearms to protect the drug organization and their distribution chain.
“As alleged, the defendants transported, distributed and sold more than 100 kilograms of deadly and addictive drugs, including heroin and fentanyl, on Long Island, deliberately contributing to the opioid epidemic that has devastated our communities and claimed many lives,” Brion said. Salam, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in a statement.
“We will continue to work nonstop with our law enforcement partners to keep our neighborhoods safe from the scourge of dangerous drugs and gun violence.”
The search warrants carried out during the investigation recovered approximately $1.5 million in cash, 16 kilograms of cocaine, 2 kilograms of heroin, several fentanyl pills, two pistols, a shotgun, a handgun, and ammunition.
Sullivan was arrested on September 30 while the other defendants were arrested in October. They were all charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances. If charged, the defendants face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Navarro Gray, Viti Wap’s attorney, said: “We pray this is all a major misunderstanding. He’s seeing the judge today. Hoping to release him so we can clear things up quickly.”
It is not clear whether the other defendants have access to lawyers.
Fetty Wap was previously arrested in 2019 on three battery counts, and in 2017 on a DUI charge after police said he was caught driving another car on a New York City highway. The status of those cases on Friday was not immediately clear.
His 4-year-old daughter, Lauren Maxwell, passed away over the summer.
The rapper is best known for his 2014 sleepover song, “Trap Queen”, which reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100.
Elisha Feldstadt Contributed.
