According to the FBI affidavit released on October 25, 2024, rapper Lil Durk, born Durk Devontay Banks, was officially charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. Other members of Durk's rap group, OTF, have also been arrested.
Durk was arrested Thursday night, October 24, on federal charges that he paid for the attempted 2022 revenge murder of rapper Quando Rondo. However, it resulted in the death of his cousin rather than Rondo in a gas station shooting.
Now, new information came up as celebrity lawyer Bradford M. Cohen explained how Lil Durk has a chance to beat the alleged murder case conspiracy against him. While talking about the rapper's arrest on October 29, in a podcast conducted by Law&Crime's YouTube channel, he said,
"When it comes to Durk Banks, you know, so far, I've seen one text that says, "Don't have them associate my name with any kind of flights that they're taking." Certainly, that's not a good text, but is that the only text? Because that doesn't, you know, that it in itself doesn't stand on its own. Certainly, it's circumstantial."
One of the only alleged evidence against Durk as of now seems to be the text that said he doesn't want his name associated with the other OTF group members. Bradford Cohen continued to say that while it was not a "good text," more evidence would be required to actually prove the alleged conspiracy against him.
Cohen added,
"I think that Durk will still have a defense…. I think there's some missing pieces there, when it comes to Durk, about how involved he was in this alleged conspiracy."
Lawyer Bradford Cohen recently opened up about Lil Durk's case and arrest
The Chicago rapper Lil Durk is being held in relation to a murder-for-hire conspiracy. Jesse Weber of Law&Crime reviewed the indictment and criminal complaint against Lil Durk and several other suspected co-conspirators. Later, on the show's YouTube podcast, Bradford Cohen appeared to talk about the same.
"The other guys, where they all have plane tickets, they all got a car, you know, they're on tape. That's going to be a very difficult case for those lawyers who have that case…"
In the video, he explained that while there is no other evidence against Durk yet, the "other guys" on the case have plane tickets, videos of them, etc. He explains that their lawyers may have a harder time defending their case due to such evidence.
Justifying the rapper's situation, he continued,
"There are so many ways these days to catch individuals in this type of crime where you have cell phone records, GPS data. You're going to have cross-reference on the phones, what phones are together, at what times you're going to have car rental agreements, you're going to have videotapes."
Explaining the situation further, he spoke about how there are many ways for "the feds" to get such evidence,
"Very often, you find these red light cameras and things like that that the feds get on state cases. Where I want the footage, where I know it's good for my client, they're like, "Sorry, we don't save that footage." But somehow the feds get, you know, camera footage from red light cameras, camera footage from the next door neighbor, camera footage from some guy who's just randomly on the street..."
The video interview came five days after the Chicago rapper was arrested. The Justice Department said on October 25 that Lil Durk was allegedly involved in a shooting and murder that took place at a petrol station close to the Beverly Center shopping mall in Los Angeles in August 2022.
As per the same source, United States lawyer Martin Estrada said,
"Mr. Banks is charged with orchestrating a cold-blooded murder that resulted in the death of a rival's family member. Not only that, the shooting occurred in the open, at a gas station at a busy intersection, endangering many others in the area."
Estrada continued to say that this incident of gun violence has affected the community, and they will have "zero tolerance" for those perpetuating such acts of violence.
Lil Durk, taken into custody late Thursday near Miami International Airport, first appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on the afternoon of October 25. He is still in federal detention. In the upcoming weeks, a federal court in Los Angeles is anticipated to hold his arraignment.