Fetty Wap Charged With Drug Trafficking

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William Junior Maxwell II, better known to hip-hop fans as Fetty Wap, was one of six individuals indicted for conspiracy to distribute more than 100 kilograms of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and crack cocaine across Long Island and New Jersey Friday.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, the two-time Grammy nominee — who was arrested Thursday at New York’s Citi Field on the first day of the three-day Rolling Loud hip-hop music festival — and his co-defendants, “ran a multimillion-dollar bicoastal drug distribution organization with Suffolk County as their home base.”

“As alleged, the defendants transported, distributed and sold more than 100 kilograms of deadly and addictive drugs, including heroin and fentanyl, on Long Island, deliberately contributing to the opioid epidemic that has devastated our communities and taken too many lives,” said Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, of indictments in the statement. Michael J. Driscoll, a top official with the FBI’s New York Office added, “The fact that we arrested a chart-topping rap artist and a corrections officer as part of the conspiracy illustrates just how vile the drug trade has become.”

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Details from court proceedings and the indictment, paint a picture of a scheme that ran from June of 2019 to June of 2020 in which narcotics obtained on the West Cast were transported to Suffolk County, utilizing the United States Postal Service and “drivers with hidden vehicle compartments” for distribution and sale on Long Island and in New Jersey.

Maxwell, 30, was a kilogram-level redistributor for the trafficking organization according to the indictment.

What the arrest means for the career of the up-and-coming musician, whose 2014 debut single “Trap Queen” catapulted to mainstream success as it reached No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, remains to be seen.

If convicted on the charge of conspiring to distribute and possess controlled substances he faces a maximum of life in prison.

This is not the first legal challenge for the rapper, who suffered a profound personal tragedy over the summer when his 4-year-old daughter Lauren died and is still mourning the death of his 26-year-old brother Twyshon Depew, who was shot and killed in their hometown of Paterson, New Jersey last year. In 2019 he was arrested on three counts of battery for allegedly assaulting employees at a Las Vegas hotel, and he was charged with a DUI in 2017 after being caught drag racing in Brooklyn.

In 2019 he was sued by a woman who alleged he strangled and punched her during an incident inside of his Los Angeles home. That case was letter dropped by the L.A. District Attorney’s office citing insufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Search warrants executed during the investigation recovered about $1.5 million in cash, 16 kilograms of cocaine, two kilograms of heroin, numerous fentanyl pills, two handguns, a rifle, a pistol, and ammunition.

Facebook Announces Name Change Amid Controversies

Facebook is dead! Long live Fac... err Meta!

You heard the man-bot, right kiddos? After 17 years of representing the best of what it is to be a bleeding-edge multimedia platform, — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company is rebranding itself as Meta.

The name change is in no way an effort to distance the platform from the increasingly bad press generated by its refusal or inability to deal with its sex-trafficking problem, hate-feuling algorithms or less than perfect privacy practices.

Zuckerberg instead insists that it is an effort to encompass his companies virtual-reality vision of the future. 

"I believe the metaverse is the next chapter of the Internet, and it's the next chapter of our company too," he said, adding, "While most tech companies focus on how people could connect to technology, we focus on building technology so people could connect with each other."  

Today we're introducing Meta, which brings together our apps and technologies under a new company brand. Learn more about how we’re helping build the metaverse and other news from Connect. https://t.co/6s3GKjWq4S

— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) October 28, 2021

So what is the metaverse? Unless you're already working Big Blue or one of its digital brethren like Google, there's no simple explanation. But, in his founder's letter, Zuckerberg likened it to an immersive version of the internet, "where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it," adding, "The defining quality of the metaverse will be a feeling of presence — like you are right there with another person or in another place. Feeling truly present with another person is the ultimate dream of social technology. That is why we are focused on building this."

Dave Chappelle Drops Instagram Video to Defend Himself Amid Controversy Over 'The Closer'

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Dave Chappelle dropped a five-minute clip on Instagram to defend himself from the controversy surrounding his latest Netflix release "The Closer" on Monday, which critics have called transphobic and attempted to have removed from the streaming platform.

In the video he denies being invited to speak to transgender employees at Netflix, hundreds of which staged a walkout because of the special, and refusing to do so saying, “If they had invited me, I would have accepted. Although I am confused about what we would be speaking about. I said what I said, and boy, I heard what you said. My God, how could I not? You said you want a safe working environment at Netflix. It seems like I’m the only one who can’t go to the office anymore.”

Chapelle went on to say, “I’m more than willing to give you an audience, but you will not summon me. I am not bending to anybody’s demands.”

He noted that the meeting would not come without conditions, however, adding that he had three: anyone participating had to watch "The Closer" in its entirety, he would choose the time and place, and “you must admit that Hannah Gadsby is not funny.”

Gadsby, an Australian comedian who also works with Netflix, likely drew Chapelle's ire when she criticized Netflix for defending Chappelle and the content of his special earlier in the month.

He went on to say that his "cancellation" was affecting a project close to his heart, insisting that his documentary "Untitled" was being dropped from film festivals, though he did not list which ones.

To circumvent this and get the project, produced and directed by Oscar and Emmy-winning filmmakers Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar and which claims to provide a" glimpse into the challenges facing a rural village in Ohio during the early days of the pandemic," to the masses Chapelle said he is taking the film on a 10-city screening tour.

“You will be able to see this movie in its entirety, and you can see what they’re trying to obstruct you from seeing,” Chappelle said of the film. “And you can judge for yourself, but you cannot have this conversation and exclude my voice from it. That is only fair.”

Watch the entire video below:

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