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The platinum-selling rapper – whose real name is William Junior Maxwell II – had been charged last year with conspiring to transport more than 100 kilos of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine from the West Coast for sale in New Jersey and on Long Island.
Rather than risk a possible life sentence at trial, Maxwell took a deal from the government, pleading guilty in U.S. Eastern District Court in Central Islip, Long Island on Monday to conspiring to possess and distribute 500 grams of cocaine.
The agreement requires a five-year minimum sentence, although the judge could impose additional time depending on how much federal prosecutors recommend.
Whatever amount of time he gets, Maxwell will have to serve just about all of it because there's no parole in the federal prison system.
Prosecutors might have kept their ask at five years if Maxwell had agreed to work with them. That wasn't the case, however.
U.S. District Court Judge Steven I. Locke said during Monday's hearing that prosecutors didn't give Maxwell what's known as a "5k letter," in which defendants who take guilty pleas can secure prison terms at the lower end of the federal guidelines.
According to multiple news reports, defense attorney Elizabeth Macedonio also emphasized that the deal doesn’t include her client’s cooperation, according to multiple news reports.
“I want that to be very, very clear,” Macedonio told reporters after the plea hearing.
Arrested with Maxwell last year were Anthony Cyntje, a corrections officer from Passaic, Anthony Leonardi and Kavaughn L. “KV” Wiggins, both of Coram, NY, Robert Leonardi of Levittown, PA, and Brian Sullivan of Lake Grove, NY.
Warranted searches during the investigation turned up 35 pounds of cocaine, nearly 4 ½ pounds of heroin, as well as fentanyl, $1.5 million in drug cash and several weapons, including two 9mm handguns, a rifle and two pistols, federal authorities said at the time.
Cyntje and Robert Leonardi both pleaded guilty this past June and were awaiting sentencing pending the outcome of the case against the others.
Maxwell, meanwhile, had been free on bond but was jailed again two weeks ago after authorities said he flashed and gun and threatened to kill a “rat” during a Facetime call.
SEE: Fetty Wap Busted By Feds For Making Death Threat, Flashing Gun On Facetime While Free On Bond
According to documents filed in the Eastern District, Maxwell twice tells the victim on the recorded call: "Imma kill you and everybody you with.”
He's also seen in the video holding a gun and pointing it at the person on the phone.
The call violated conditions of the hip-hop artist’s release following a major drug bust late last year, they said, leading to his arrest in New Jersey on Aug. 8.
Maxwell had originally been taken into custody on the drug charges at Citifield last Oct. 29. Federal authorities at the time called him a "kilogram-level redistributor for the trafficking organization.”.
A $500,000 bond package had Maxwell putting up his Georgia home and wearing an ankle monitor while being allowed to tour with permission from the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Long Island.
He was not to violate any federal, state or local law, or in any way possess “a firearm, destructive device, or other weapon.”
Authorities didn’t provide a sentencing date for Maxwell’s guilty plea in the drug case.
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