Grammy-winning rapper arrested in murder-for-hire plot

Rapper Lil Durk has been arrested in South Florida in a murder-for-hire plot, according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.
Lil Durk, whose real name is Durk Devontay Banks, is being held by the U.S. Marshals Service, records show.
Banks is accused of being the leader of a Chicago-based rap collective — called Only the Family — that acts as a group of individuals who engage in violence, including murder and assault, at the direction of Banks, according to a federal criminal complaint filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
He is accused of placing a “monetary bounty out for an individual with whom Banks was feuding,” according to the complaint.
Banks was feuding with an individual identified in court documents as T.B. The feud stemmed from a murder that occurred on Nov. 6, 2020, in which “an associate of T.B. shot and killed an OTF rapper named Dayvon Bennett, a.k.a. ‘King Von,'” who was close friends with Banks, the Department of Justice said in a press release.
“In response to Bennett’s murder, Banks allegedly put a bounty on T.B.’s life,” the DOJ said.
Nearly two years later, on Aug. 19, 2022, multiple OTF members allegedly used two vehicles and worked together to “track, stalk and attempt to murder T.B. at a gas station located in Los Angeles,” according to the complaint.
“The co-conspirators fired at least 18 rounds at T.B.’s vehicle, striking and killing S.R. — T.B.’s family member who was traveling with T.B.,” the complaint said.
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada, whose office is prosecuting the case, said such acts of violent gun crime are “devastating” and “callous.”
“Mr. Banks is charged with orchestrating a cold-blooded murder that resulted in the death of a rival’s family member,” Estrada said in a statement. “Not only that, the shooting occurred in the open, at a gas station at a busy intersection, endangering many others in the area.
Banks is one of five co-conspirators charged in the incident, with crimes including murder, murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death, according to the complaint.
The hitmen allegedly used money from Banks and OTF-related finances to carry out the hit, the DOJ said.
Five people allegedly were paid to travel from Chicago to Los Angeles the day before the shooting to commit the murder, prosecutors said.
“Around the time the one-way flights were purchased, Banks told the OTF associate booking the flights, ‘Don’t book no flights under no names involved wit [sic] me,'” the DOJ said.
All five people have been arrested and search warrants were executed at locations associated with the OTF members.
Banks made his first appearance Friday afternoon at C. Clyde Atkins U.S. Courthouse in Miami. Banks’ lawyer, Alek Ubieta, asked for privacy after leaving court, telling Miami ABC affiliate WPLG, “We will not be commenting at this time.”
ABC News has also reached out to Ubieta.
The arraignments for Banks and the five other defendants are expected to occur in Los Angeles federal court in the coming weeks, the DOJ said.
If convicted, they all would face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison, prosecutors said.
The Chicago rapper, 32, won a Grammy earlier this year for best melodic rap performance for “All My Life” featuring J. Cole. His albums “The Voice,” released in 2020, and “7220,” released in 2022, both went platinum. His newest album was scheduled to be released next month.
Durk is among the industry’s most popular drill rap artists, a controversial hip-hop subgenre that started in Chicago and was popularized by rappers like Durk and Chief Keef, Fredo Santana and G Herbo. It is known for its often-violent lyrics and connection to Chicago’s gang culture.