Lil Durk has pleaded not guilty to federal charges related to an alleged plot to kill rival rapper Quando Rondo in a 2022 shooting.
In a hearing Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles, Chicago rapper Durk Banks was charged with conspiracy, murder-for-hire and weapons charges. He has pleaded not guilty to all three, federal prosecutors confirmed to Billboard.
The court appearance came three weeks after the Chicago rapper (Durk Banks) was arrested and charged with orchestrating the 2022 attack on a Los Angeles gas station, which left Rondo (Tyquian Bowman) unharmed but saw his friend Lul Pab (Saviay' a Robinson) was killed in the crossfire.
If convicted on all three counts, Durk faces a possible life sentence. A trial is tentatively set for January, though it could be postponed for a number of reasons.
Documents filed Thursday also reveal that Durk has hired Drew Findling, a prominent Atlanta criminal defense attorney with an extensive record representing rappers including Gucci Mane, members of Migos and Cardi B. Findling did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
In their case against Durk, prosecutors allege that his “Only The Family” crew was not just a highly touted group of Chicago rappers, but a “hybrid organization” that also operated as a criminal gang to carry out acts of violence “during direction” by Durk. They say one of those acts was the 2022 assassination attempt on Rondo, allegedly in retaliation for the 2020 murder of Durk's close friend King Von (Dayvon Bennett).
“Banks provided reward money for an individual with whom Banks had a dispute named TB,” prosecutors wrote in the charges last month, referring to Rondo by his initials. “Banks ordered the assassination of TB and the killers used Banks and OTF-related financial assets to carry out the assassination.”
In addition to Durk, prosecutors also charged those they say carried out the attack, including alleged OTF members Kavon London Grant, Deandre Dontrell Wilson and Asa Houston, as well as Keith Jones and David Brian Lindsey, two other alleged Chicago gang members. .
In charging documents, prosecutors allege the perpetrators booked flights to Los Angeles using a credit card clearly linked to Durk. The government says the card was allegedly issued to a bank account that listed Durk's one-time manager as the owner, and that another credit card was issued to the same account to Durk's father.
Among other claims, the documents cite a text Durk allegedly sent to another co-conspirator in the run-up to the shooting: “Do not book flights without any names involved.”
In a superseding indictment unsealed last week, prosecutors also cited Durk's lyrics — claiming he had directly referenced Rondo's shooting in a 2022 track called “Wonderful Wayne & Jackie Boy.” They claim the lyrics link Durk to the murder and that he was trying to “commercialize” Lul Pab's death by “rapping about his revenge.”
While awaiting trial, Durk is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, a federal prison often used to house defendants before and during trial. He will appear before a judge again next month to decide whether he will be released on bail as he prepares for trial.
