{"id":802773,"date":"2026-07-15T04:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T04:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/802773\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T04:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T04:18:08","slug":"lil-durk-scores-major-win-racketeering-charge-severed-from-l-a-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/802773\/","title":{"rendered":"Lil Durk Scores Major Win, Racketeering Charge Severed From L.A. Trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tLil Durk<\/a> won a significant court victory Tuesday when a federal judge agreed to separate newly filed racketeering charges<\/a> from his upcoming trial over allegations he ordered a killing that resulted in an August 2022 murder in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a brief ruling issued after a tense hearing, the judge said that a separate January 2022 killing in Chicago and an alleged February 2019 attempted murder in Atlanta would be off-limits at Durk\u2019s Aug. 20 trial in downtown Los Angeles because prosecutors introduced them only last month, in a third superseding indictment. The judge said the related new counts \u2014 alleging violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity and firearms possession in furtherance of murder in aid of racketeering \u2014 would be severed for a subsequent trial.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt has been and remains the court\u2019s intention that the Los Angeles trial will include all admissible evidence that is not unduly prejudicial,\u201d U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald wrote in his decision obtained by Rolling Stone. He said prosecutors \u201cchose to withdraw evidence of the \u2018Chicago incident’\u201d from the Los Angeles trial earlier in the case, and they would have to live with that decision now that Banks and his lawyers spent so much time preparing their defense accordingly.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn court filings, the Grammy-winning rapper, born Durk Banks, and his lawyers said prosecutors blindsided them with the \u201csweeping new charges,\u201d leaving too little time to prepare for trial. Banks has a constitutional right to a speedy trial, they said, and he doesn\u2019t want any further delays. He\u2019s been locked up without bail<\/a> since his arrest in 2024.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are very happy with the court\u2019s order,\u201d Drew Findling, one of Durk\u2019s defense lawyers, tells Rolling Stone. \u201cFor 21 months, we have been unwavering in our commitment to Mr. Banks and his innocence, and we look forward to an Aug. 20, 2026, trial.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring the 40-minute hearing Tuesday, which Banks\u2019 wife, India Royale, attended, Judge Fitzgerald pressed prosecutors on why they had waited so long to file charges related to the Jan. 27, 2022 killing of the alleged \u201crival gang member\u201d in Chicago. Banks was not charged in that killing and has denied the government\u2019s claim that he brought $1 million in cash to a music studio after the killing as a \u201cmonetary reward.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\u201cIf you felt so strongly, why not persist in getting a ruling from me that the Chicago incident should be brought before the jury [in the Los Angeles murder-for-hire case],\u201d Judge Fitzgerald asked. He said prosecutors might have persuaded him that it was \u201cinextricably linked\u201d to their original charges claiming Banks ordered an August 2022 murder that ended with the death of Saviay\u2019a Robinson in Los Angeles. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis third superseding indictment, indisputably, is just a very clever attempt at having the Chicago tail wag the Los Angeles dog,\u201d the judge said, cutting off an assistant U.S. attorney mid-argument at one point. He said it sounded like the government was worried it was \u201cgoing to lose\u201d if the racketeering charges were severed for a separate trial.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou think you will have a better chance to win if the Chicago incident is tried with the Los Angeles murder. It\u2019s obvious,\u201d Judge Fitzgerald said. \u201cYou treat that as a feature, and I treat that as a bug. I\u2019m concerned it\u2019s going to be unfair. \u2026 I\u2019m here to make sure both sides have a fair trial.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tArguing to sever the racketeering allegations, Banks\u2019 defense lawyer Christy O\u2019Connor said the \u201cAll My Life\u201d rapper was ready for his trial next month based on the second superseding indictment and did not want to wait. \u201cHe\u2019s incarcerated. His businesses are suffering without him. His children are growing up without him. There is a cloud of aspersion over his good name,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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\n\tAfter the judge left the bench, promising a ruling by day\u2019s end, India blew kisses to Banks as he was led away, back into custody. Banks\u2019 father also attended the hearing along with a group of supporters. Brian Steel, who represented Young Thug at his racketeering trial in Atlanta, recently joined Banks\u2019 legal team and sat at the defense table Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\n\tBanks, 33, was arrested in Florida in October 2024<\/a>. He vehemently denies the government\u2019s claims he used \u201ccoded language\u201d to hire a group of alleged hitmen to travel to Los Angeles and carry out an execution-style killing on Aug. 19, 2022. Federal prosecutors say the intended target was Robinson\u2019s cousin, Tyquian Terrel Bowman, the rapper known as Quando Rondo<\/a>. They say Banks allegedly blamed Bowman for the 2020 shooting death of his friend and prot\u00e9g\u00e9, Dayvon \u201cKing Von\u201d Bennett.<\/p>\n

\n\tProsecutors allege that after Bennett\u2019s death, Banks texted an alleged co-conspirator about it, writing, \u201cI can\u2019t let this slide \u2026 I ain\u2019t letting shit slide \u2026 [Bennett] dying turning me [into] a different animal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the June indictment, prosecutors alleged that Banks conspired with several other men to kill Bowman after a concert near Blackshear, Georgia, on May 21, 2021. The indictment claimed the men attacked Bowman using firearms outside a gas station, but Bowman survived.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to prosecutors, a group of gunmen later tracked Bowman to Los Angeles in 2022, then stalked and ambushed him at a gas station near the Beverly Center, firing at least 18 rounds from multiple weapons, including a machine gun. Robinson was struck and killed while standing outside a black Escalade, authorities said.<\/p>\n

\n\tRobinson\u2019s mother, Andrea Robinson, addressed the court at a hearing last year, saying she was distraught over the death of her only child.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI never in a million years thought I\u2019d lose my baby,\u201d she said through tears. \u201cHe had a family. He has a mother. He has three kids. They will never know their dad. \u2026 It hurts so bad that I can\u2019t pick up the phone and call him.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tIn his ruling Tuesday, Judge Fitzgerald said both sides should confer to come up with a subsequent trial date for Counts One and Six of the third superseding indictment. If the Aug. 20 trial ends with an acquittal for Banks, it\u2019s possible he could fight the second trial in Los Angeles on double jeopardy grounds.<\/p>\n

Lil Durk\u2019s high-powered legal team, outside court, waiting for judge\u2019s ruling: Drew Findling, Christy O\u2019Connor, Marissa Goldberg, and Brian Steel (who repped Young Thug at YSL trial) pic.twitter.com\/Ujhpyhf5nB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Nancy Dillon (@Nancy__Dillon) July 14, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tProsecutors said Tuesday they would ask the court to grant anonymity to the 16 jurors chosen for the Aug. 20 trial, citing security concerns. In his ruling, Judge Fitzgerald said the court would discuss the \u201cprecise procedure\u201d for dealing with the jurors at a follow-up hearing.<\/p>\n