After about 15 months behind bars, 6ix9ine is set to be released from prison.
On Thursday (April 2), 6ix9ine's lawyer, Dawn Florio, confirmed with XXL that the court has decided to allow the rapper to be released from Queens Detention Facility and into home confinement.
Judge Paul Engelmayer issued the order for Tekashi, who was sentenced to 24 months in prison last December, just after 4 p.m. EST today. He agreed to have the rapper released after 6ix9ine tried unsuccessfully to have the Bureau of Prison grant him a compassionate release from prison due to his increased vulnerability to the coronavirus because of his asthma.
Florio isn't sure when Tekashi will be released from the federal facility he was staying, but she's obviously happy about the outcome.
"We are just super excited that the judge granted our request and that Danny will be reunited with his family and that he will be safe from the coronavirus," she tells XXL.
This news arrives one day after Judge Engelmayer wrote a letter to government prosecutors saying that he would order the release Tekashi if they permitted it. A couple of hours later, the government responded to the letter and said they didn't oppose the decision. That set the stage for Tekashi, who's been behind bars since being arrested on federal racketeering and firearms charges in November 2018, to be released to his home, where he will serve the remainder of his sentence.
News of his impending prison release marks an important legal milestone for 6ix9ine, who pleaded guilty to several federal charges in January 2019. As part of his plea, he agreed to cooperate with the government in their case against members of the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods, a gang the rainbow-haired rapper had been a member of until shortly before his arrest. Last October, Tekashi testified against Nine Trey members Anthony "Harv" Ellison and Aljermiah "Nuke" Mack in their federal racketeering trial.
After cooperating with the federal authorities to get his sentence lessened, Tekashi was sentenced to 24 months in prison and five years of supervised release. Because he'd already been behind bars for 11 months at the time of his sentencing, 6ix9ine was granted time-served and was looking at a November release. However, because of the government's rule that you only have to serve 85 percent of your time with good behavior, 6ix9ine was slated to be released from prison on Aug. 2, 2020.
Now, he could be out of prison at any moment.
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