Prosecutors urged a judge to sentence Fetty Wap to seven to nine years in prison for dealing cocaine.
According to court documents obtained by AllHipHop, prosecutors cited Fetty Wap’s song “Trap Queen” as proof he is an unrepentant drug offender. The rapper is scheduled to be sentenced for a federal drug charge on May 24.
“The defendant does not have a lengthy criminal history, having only one prior misdemeanor conviction for reckless endangerment after he was arrested driving his Mercedes Benz recklessly at 105 miles per hour while he was impaired by alcohol,” prosecutors wrote. “However, this was not the first time that the defendant distributed narcotics. As he admitted in the PSR, he distributed crack cocaine in Patterson, New Jersey before 2014.”
They continued, “Specifically, he admitted to the Probation Department that his hit song ‘Trap Queen,’ which was released in 2014, was an ‘ode to a former girlfriend who assisted him in a cocaine base distribution operation in Patterson, New Jersey.’ The defendant was never held accountable for that conduct, but that does not diminish its significance. It is germane because the defendant engaged in the exact same criminal conduct as the instant offense, which is an aggravating factor warranting a Guidelines sentence.”
Fetty Wap pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess and distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine in 2022. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York argued for Fetty Wap to receive more than six months in prison because he glamorized drug dealing.
“Another aggravating factor is that the defendant has used, and continues to use, his fame, sizeable platform and influence to glamorize the drug trade,” prosecutors contended. “Before his arrest, the defendant became famous singing about his experience cooking crack cocaine, selling drugs and making substantial money from those illegal endeavors. In the official video for ‘Trap Queen,’ the defendant also enlisted young children who stood behind him while he idealized selling drugs.”
They added, “From this and other songs, the defendant’s music career has flourished and he has earned millions of dollars. Even after his arrest and while awaiting trial in this very serious federal drug case, the defendant continued to glamorize the drug trade. In November 2022, he released a song entitled ‘Sweet Yams’ where he sang about selling ‘yams,’ which is code for grams of narcotics, and making significant money (i.e., ‘bands’) from that illegal trade.”
Fetty Wap’s lawyers asked Judge Joanna Seybert for a more lenient sentence of five years in prison. Defense attorneys claimed their client’s involvement in the drug trade was “motivated by his commitment to financially support others” during the pandemic.