Lil Durk remains locked up after his latest attempt to secure bond before his murder-for-hire trial was shot down.
According to Meghann Cuniff, U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue rejected the rapper’s bail application during Thursday’s (May 8) court session in Los Angeles. She referenced a report claiming Durk broke phone privileges while incarcerated, utilizing the phone accounts of “at least” 13 other inmates and making three-way calls. “It shows a disrespect for the rules, and that is precisely the court’s concern,” Donahue stated.
Durk was taken into custody alongside several members of his Only the Family record label last October and has stayed locked up since then. He stands accused of planning a murder-for-hire plot that resulted in the death of Quando Rondo’s cousin, Saviay’a “Lul Pabb” Robinson, in August 2022. The deadly shooting of Rondo’s relative is thought to be payback for King Von’s murder in 2020. Lil Durk previously requested bail in December, which was also turned down.
The rapper’s lawyer, Drew Findling, pointed out during the hearing that prosecutors removed mentions of his lyrics in a superseding indictment filed recently, which he claimed had accused his client of rapping about a specific killing in a song. He mentioned that he believes “the government no longer contends that was accurate or at least viable testimony,” to which the lead prosecutor responded they “stand by the allegation that defendant did, in fact, commercialize his violence.”
The inclusion of Lil Durk’s lyrics as evidence has sparked debate, as it has in other rappers’ cases. His family has accused authorities of using his lyrics “against him.”
Just last week, Lil Durk was slapped with an additional stalking charge in the ongoing case, which is scheduled for trial this October.
