A federal choose delivered a crushing blow to Lil Durk and his protection group when he rejected their movement to dismiss the rapper’s murder-for-hire case over loss of life threats made towards one other choose.
U.S. District Choose Michael Fitzgerald referred to as the movement baseless throughout a heated court docket listening to in Los Angeles, the place Durk’s attorneys argued that prosecutors ought to have disclosed threatening voicemails a lot ahead of they did.
“There’s simply completely no foundation for this movement. Simply none. Completely none,” Fitzgerald stated from the bench, shutting down the protection’s arguments utterly.
Lil Durk has been sitting in federal custody since October 2024 on prices that he orchestrated a murder-for-hire plot focusing on rival rapper Quando Rondo.
The assault killed Quando Rondo’s cousin Saviay’a “Lul Pub” Robinson however missed its meant goal, in keeping with federal prosecutors who say the hit was revenge for the November 2020 taking pictures loss of life of Durk’s pal King Von in Atlanta.
Durk’s authorized group, led by Atlanta legal professional Drew Findling, had requested the court docket to both dismiss your complete case or compel the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace in Los Angeles to step other than the prosecution, in keeping with Meghann Cuniff.
The movement centered round 4 threatening voicemails that U.S. Justice of the Peace Choose Patricia Donahue obtained in February 2025, plus one threatening name that prosecutor Ian Yanniello acquired in April 2025. Donahue had denied Durk’s bail requests twice, making her a goal for nameless callers who apparently needed to intimidate her into altering her thoughts about retaining the rapper locked up.
Prosecutors didn’t inform Durk’s attorneys about these threats till October 2025, which the protection group stated was approach too late and confirmed the federal government was hiding necessary data.
“No person has heard of a case the place there was apparently a loss of life risk to a sitting choose and the federal government doesn’t flip round and inform counsel, it’s best to know earlier than this goes ahead that this occurred,” Findling argued in court docket.
Findling instructed that prosecutors might need saved quiet in regards to the threats to make sure Donahue wouldn’t grant Lil Durk bail at his second listening to in Might 2025.
However prosecutor Yanniello fired again, calling the protection movement “beautiful in respect to its factual inaccuracy” and saying any declare that the federal government tactically withheld data was utterly false.
“There was no dialog about whether or not to supply or not produce this data earlier than all of us determined it grew to become related,” Yanniello informed the choose.
Choose Fitzgerald agreed with the prosecution and stated there was zero proof that the threats brought about any prejudice to Durk’s case or affected any choose’s choices.
“It can’t probably have affected Choose Donahue or me or another choose that some hothead who has an curiosity within the music trade did one thing silly,” Fitzgerald stated.
The choose famous that threats towards federal officers are sadly widespread and emphasised that nobody has instructed Durk himself had something to do with the threatening voicemails. Fitzgerald additionally rejected the protection group’s request for an evidentiary listening to, saying it could require prosecutors to reveal work product with out authorized justification.
Durk faces conspiracy prices together with 5 co-defendants, together with Kavon London Grant, Keith Jones, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, Asa Houston, and David Brian Lindsey.
The case has been delayed a number of instances, with the trial now scheduled to start both April 21 or April 28, 2026.
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