Lil Duke remains behind bars after a judge denied his request for bail.
On Thursday (December 13), the Chicago rapper’s attorneys reportedly proposed a broad bail package that would include $2.3 million in property and $1 million in cash from Sony Music. The Department of Defense also provides electronic surveillance, 24-hour security of secure property, and handover of all electronic equipment.
Prosecutors said the proposed bail conditions were “woefully inadequate”. They considered Banks a danger to the community and labeled him a flight risk, saying the evidence against Lil Duke warranted detention.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue agreed, telling the Los Angeles court, “I don’t think there is any condition or combination of conditions that would reasonably ensure the safety of the community.”
She added: “The allegations are not that the defendant personally pulled the trigger. The allegations allege that the defendant had a great deal of control over other people.
Lil Durk was arrested in October for his alleged role in a murder-for-hire plot. The rapper and five other men were indicted on federal charges for allegedly plotting to kill rapper Quando Rondo in retaliation for the 2020 murder of King Von.
A trial date is scheduled for January 7, 2025.
Lil Durk suspected of ‘other murders’
Prosecutors, meanwhile, linked Duke to another murder, the 2022 slaying of an alleged gang leader outside a community center on Chicago’s Far South Side.
A newly unsealed indictment accuses Lil Durk of financing a murder-for-hire conspiracy in retaliation for the 2021 killing of his brother, Dontay Banks. Documents show that Durk planned the killing of Stephen Mack in January 2022.
A federal agent wrote in a search warrant application filed in April 2023: “Lil Durk has been and still is providing money for people to kill those responsible for his brother’s murder, and more specifically, Fund any Gangster Disciple killed.
Prosecutors also argued that Duke was implicated in “other murders,” the Chicago Tribune reported.
“Evidence gathered in this case also revealed that the defendant was involved in offering monetary rewards for other murders, including by the family of a witness,” prosecutors wrote. “The defendant’s modus operandi was clear: He would use his power, money, influence and any pretrial release to endanger anyone he believes poses a threat, including witnesses in this case.”
