10/29/2021- 12:43 p.m.
NEW YORK CITY – Rapper Fetty Wap was arrested along with five others, including a New Jersey correction officer, on federal drug charges.
He was in federal court in Central Islip to answer to the charges Friday morning after his arrest at Citi Field on Thursday.
Six members of a drug distribution ring were charged with dealing heroin and fentanyl during the Rolling Loud music festival.
Anthony Cyntje, a New Jersey correction officer, Anthony Leonardi, his brother Robert Leonardi, William Junior Maxwell II, AKA Fetty Wap, Brian Sullivan, and Kavaughn Wiggins have been charged with conspiring to distribute and possess controlled substances.
Five of the defendants are also charged with using firearms in connection with drug trafficking.
The 30-year-old rapper from Paterson, New Jersey, was allegedly part of the group.
He was ordered detained pending trial.
The defendants allegedly obtained the drugs on the west coast and used the United States Postal Service and drivers with hidden vehicle compartments to transport the controlled substances across the country to Suffolk County, where they were stored, according to the indictment.
“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 taken too many lives,” stated United States Attorney Breon Peace. “We will continue to work nonstop with our law enforcement partners to keep our neighborhoods safe.”
Fetty Wap was a kilogram-level redistributor for the trafficking organization, prosecutors said.
“The fact that we arrested a chart-topping rap artist and a corrections officer as part of the conspiracy illustrates just how vile the drug trade has become,” the FBI’s Michael Driscoll said.
If convicted, Maxwell and the other defendants face a maximum of life imprisonment.
Two years ago, Fetty Wap was arrested after allegedly assaulting three employees at a hotel.
He faced three counts of battery.
Local news reports say he hit a parking attendant after getting into an argument. Police originally said Maxwell hit an employee but later said he “committed a battery” on three.
