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Tekashi 6ix9ine pulled 'a Jussie Smollett' with kidnapping, lawyer says at gang trial

San Jose Mercury News - 9/17/2019

Sep. 17--As the gang racketeering trial involving Tekashi 6ix9ine got underway Monday, a defense attorney compared the rainbow-haired rapper to disgraced "Empire" star Jussie Smollett by claiming that he faked his own abduction for publicity.

"This was a hoax," attorney Devereaux Cannick said of the July 2018 kidnapping and robbery of Tekashi, Complex reported. Cannick represents alleged Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods member Anthony Ellison.

"It's a Jussie Smollett, if you will," Cannick said, referring to the actor who was accused of staging a hate crime against himself in Chicago in January order to garner publicity. Cannick told the jurors that Tekashi, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, staged the kidnapping in order to hype the release of his single "Fefe," featuring Nicki Minaj.

The controversial rapper himself is not on trial; he is the star cooperating witness in the federal government's case against two alleged members of the violent Nine Trey street gang. In addition to the kidnapping and robbery of Tekashi, Ellison also is accused of slashing another Nine Trey member. The second defendant, Aljermiah "Nuke" Mack, is charged with dealing heroin and MDMA.

Tekashi could testify as early as Tuesday at the trial, taking place in the federal courthouse in Manhattan. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to weapons, narcotics and other charges related to his association with the Nine Trey gang, which began in 2017, according to prosecutors.

Tekashi, 23, was facing a minimum penalty of 47 years in prison. But under the terms of a plea deal, he could be sentenced to time served and be released from custody as early as January.

In opening statements, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Rebold portrayed Nine Trey as a "brutal" gang, and Ellison and Mack as "two of the gang's highest-ranking members," Complex reported. Ellison was the "muscle and manager" for Tekashi until he was removed by a gang leader. That removal prompted Ellison to kidnap and rob Tekashi for revenge, Rebold said.

The prosecutor prepared to rebut the defense argument that Tekashi staged his own kidnapping by telling jurors that they will hear testimony from police officers and a doctor who saw the rapper after he was allegedly abducted, Complex reported. Rebold also said he will present cell site evidence that places Ellison at the scene of the alleged kidnapping.

Ellison has denied being in the Nine Trey gang or participating in any gang activity. Cannick described him as Tekashi's "security manager" and said he had done an excellent job of protecting the rapper, given that "there are people all across the country who wanted a piece of Tekashi," Complex reported.

Tekashi and other Nine Trey members were arrested last November and indicted on multiple racketeering and other charges. Prosecutors say the rapper met the gang while filming the music video for "Gummo," his first hit single, in 2017. He became associated with the gang for mutually beneficial reasons, according to court documents.

For Tekashi, being in the gang gave his raunchy, incendiary music and videos authenticity, court records indicate, as he rapped about sex, drugs, guns, murder and money. In exchange, Tekashi was "the bank" for the gang; money from his music and videos provided revenue for the gang's alleged racketeering, TMZ added.

"Musical success meant money," Rebold said Monday, according to Page Six. "Money for Hernandez, money for the leaders, money for the gang."

Being the government's star witness has put Tekashi into a difficult situation, with concerns that he or his family could be targets for gang retaliation and some in the hip-hop community labeling him a "snitch" for turning against his friends and associates. TMZ earlier reported that Tekashi fears he could be "a marked man for life."

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