Lil Durk Wins Fight to Have Racketeering Charges Excluded from Murder-for-Hire Trial

Lil Durk successfully pushed back against new charges as prosecutors attempted to add racketeering to his federal murder-for-hire case just weeks before the scheduled trial.

Full story below.

The superseding indictment on June 3 accused the rapper (born Durk Devontay Banks) and his associates of running a criminal enterprise – an organization that allegedly engaged in violence against rivals and drug trafficking.

Prosecutors pointed to two incidents to support the racketeering claim; one involves a 2019 shooting in Atlanta, and the other centers on the 2022 killing of Stephon Mack in Chicago. Durk was never charged for either crime.

His lawyers filed a motion asking the judge to throw out the racketeering charges or try them separately from the murder-for-hire accusations. They argue prosecutors are “recycling old accusations” and “sandbagging” the defense by switching theories right before trial.

While the prosecution argued the new charges provide a complete understanding of the alleged gang enterprise, Tuesday (July 14) saw Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald order the racketeering charges be tried later. The trial on the original counts will begin on August 20.

As previously reported, Durk is accused of organizing a murder-for-hire plot aimed at fellow rapper Quando Rondo that ended in the death of Quando’s cousin.