Tekashi 6ix9ine appeared in a Manhattan courtroom on Sept. 19 to testify against alleged Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods members Anthony “Harv” Ellison and Aljermiah “Nuke” Mack. According to court testimony obtained by The New York Times, the 23-year-old rapper named Jim Jones, 43, as a member of the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods gang. HollywoodLife has since reached out to Jim Jones’ rep for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.
Before prosecutors played a recording for the packed federal courtroom, they asked Tekashi 6ix9ine to identify voices of a phone conversation. Tekashi 6ix9ine then identified one of the voices as belonging to Jim Jones, and called him a “retired rapper,” as reported by The New York Times. Before the Sept. 19 testimony, neither Jim nor the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods were linked to the case.
After Tekashi 6ix9ine dropped that bombshell in the courtroom, fans flocked to Jim Jones’ Instagram, leaving comments like, “You gettin snitched on,” “Yeah, you might have to drop a diss track on the rat,” and “Bruhh, you need to lawyer up, you have a rat problem.” Although these allegations against Jim are incredibly serious, fans also accused Tekashi 6ix9ine of disrespecting the hip hop artist by calling him a “retired rapper.”
“How do you feel about being called retired on paperwork?” one fan wrote. Another chimed in with, “You were just minding your own business and he went and name dropped you for no reason.”
Tekashi 6ix9ine landed in major hot water for his alleged involvement with the gang, who committed a series of violent crimes, robberies, drug-trafficking offenses, and even attempted murder. “This gang, which included platinum-selling rap artist Tekashi 6ix9ine, wreaked havoc on New York City, engaging in brazen acts of violence,” United States attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said in a statement in November 2018. That month, Tekashi was arrested on racketeering and firearm charges. He has been behind bars ever since.
Interestingly, though, “It is possible that [Tekashi 6ix9ine] would be eligible for supervised release (parole) within the next year,” if he continues to be cooperative with the trial, Julie Rendelman, New York criminal attorney EXCLUSIVELY tells HollywoodLife. “There is no question that Tekashi chose to cooperate against others because he recognized that it was likely the only way to avoid a lengthy prison sentence. Once his cooperation is complete, the prosecutor will present to Tekashi’s sentencing judge how honest and helpful they believe he was. If the prosecutor (and the judge) believes Tekashi did everything that he was asked to do (and perhaps more) he could be looking at a sentence significantly lower than 47 years.”