Daniel Hernandez, the rapper known as Tekashi 6ix9ine or Tekashi69, was arrested on federal charges in New York on Tuesday.
Tekashi, 28, was arrested for a violation of his supervised release.
Tekashi previously pled not guilty to violating probation at least three times between Sept. 7 and Oct. 8.
The rapper is accused of leaving the Southern District of Florida without court permission to travel to Las Vegas, Nevada. He also failed to comply with mandatory weekly drug testing, and testing positive for methamphetamine.
Tekashi appeared before Manhattan Federal Judge Paul Engelmayer on Tuesday.
“You’re my judge. I don’t wanna be in front of you. I know how strict you are,” he said. “I know you’re very — a smart person — so I can’t stay here and lie to you.”
“I’ve been on probation for four and a half years. I’m coming down to my last six months,” Hernandez said. “What I wanna tell you, Judge Engelmayer… In the last six months, why would I mess up now?”
Tekashi’s attorney, Lance Lazzaro, told the judge the rapper had not traveled to Las Vegas for criminal intent, arguing he went “to try and survive.”
“To try and survive?” Judge Engelmayer responded, sounding incredulous.
“To make money,” Lazzaro clarified.
Engelmayer remanded Hernandez to custody for at least 2 weeks until his next court hearing.
In 2018, Tekashi was charged with federal RICO and firearms charges, including conspiracy to murder and armed robbery. Tekashi accepted a plea deal to testify against Nine Trey Gangsta Blood members.
He was released from prison in 2020 and put on supervised probation.
Tekashi first became known for his guest performance on Trippie Redd’s 2017 single “Poles 1469”, followed by the release of his debut single, “Gummo” that same year.
“Fefe”, the second single from his debut album Dummy Boy, peaked at No. 3 on the chart.
