Crime & Safety

NJ Rapper Fetty Wap Out On Bail After Drug-Ring Charges: Reports

The Paterson native can travel for music tours if he gets permission from federal prosecutors, according to reports.

New Jersey rapper Fetty Wap was released from jail Friday on a $500,000 bond.
New Jersey rapper Fetty Wap was released from jail Friday on a $500,000 bond. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Firefly)

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — New Jersey rapper Fetty Wap may soon soar up the Billboard charts, but an ankle monitor is coming with him. The artist, whose real name is Willie Maxwell II, was released Friday on a $500,000 bond as part of a drug-deal case, according to New Jersey Advance Media.

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The "Trap Queen" artist put up his Georgia home as part of his bail package, according to New York Daily News. Maxwell must wear an ankle monitor, but he can travel for music tours if he gets permission from federal prosecutors, the Daily News reported.

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Maxwell, of Paterson, was indicted Oct. 29 in Long Island for his role in distributing more than 100 kilograms of drugs, federal authorities said. Five other people were indicted for the alleged conspiracy, including Anthony Cyntje, a corrections officer from Passaic. Read more: NJ Rapper Fetty Wap Indicted For Cocaine, Heroin Conspiracy: Feds

The indictment alleges that the defendants distributed more than 100 kilograms of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine across Long Island and New Jersey from June 2019 to through June 2020. Maxwell, of Paterson, was a kilogram-level redistributor for the trafficking organization, according to authorities.

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Federal authorities labeled Maxwell “a kilogram-level redistributor for the trafficking organization.”

In a statement to Patch, Maxwell's attorney, Navarro Gray, of Hackensack, said he is praying that the arrest is "all a big misunderstanding."

"He does see a judge today and we're hoping he gets released so we can clear things up expeditiously," he added.

Search warrants during the investigation yielded $1.5 million in cash, 16 kilograms of cocaine, 2 kilograms of heroin, numerous fentanyl pills, two 9mm handguns, a rifle, a .45 caliber pistol, a .40 caliber pistol and ammunition, authorities said.

Also indicted were New York residents Anthony Leonardi, Brian Sullivan and Kavaughn L. Wiggins and Pennsylvania resident Robert Leonardi.

Maxwell's album "The Butterfly Effect" is set for an Oct. 22 release.

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