6ix9ine Avoids Prison, Ordered to Home Detention for Palm Beach Mall Attack

Rapper 6ix9ine speaks during a taping of the “One Night with Steiny” podcast, where he addressed stigma and trauma tied to his past cooperation with federal investigators. (Screengrab via YouTube/"One Night with Steiny")

6ix9ine was ordered into home detention Thursday after admitting in federal court that he punched a man during a confrontation at a Florida mall. The Brooklyn rapper — born Daniel Hernandez — told Judge Paul A. Engelmayer, “Me and another individual hit a person, and I was wrong.”

Prosecutors said the Aug. 8 assault in Palm Beach County was sparked when the man taunted him about cooperating with federal investigators in the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Rebold warned the court that this was the third time in a year Hernandez had violated supervised release, describing what he called a troubling lack of impulse control.

Judge Engelmayer, who previously sentenced Hernandez to two years in prison in the racketeering case, said repeated violations could soon end leniency. This time, he imposed electronic monitoring and home detention in Florida, making clear that the rapper’s “serial pattern” of violations will weigh heavily in any future hearing.

The sanction follows earlier admissions that cocaine and MDMA were found in Hernandez’s Florida home, as well as past penalties for unauthorized travel and missed drug tests. In November 2024, he spent 45 days in custody after what the judge called a pattern of absconding and defiance.

Hernandez addressed some of these issues in a recent appearance on the podcast " One Night with Steiny." He said taunts about being a “snitch” still feel like threats, insisting, “Putting me in jail is not going to teach me a lesson.” He spoke about the trauma of being kidnapped by former associates and argued that Latino rappers face narrower lanes in hip-hop: “When you’re Spanish, there’s no space for you in the rap game.”

 

The rapper’s legal turmoil comes against the backdrop of a once-blazing career. His 2017 breakout “Gummo” became a viral hit. “FEFE,” with Nicki Minaj, reached No. 3 on the Hot 100, and his 2018 album "Dummy Boy" bowed at No. 2 despite an early leak. But the racketeering plea and testimony against Nine Trey members recast him from chart star to lightning rod.

Hernandez also recently mourned the death of Ariela “La Langosta,” a Dominican influencer close to his circle, calling her a “tremendous woman” and “queen of New York.” The loss underscored the turbulence of a life lived partly in courtrooms and partly online.

For now, home detention keeps him out of prison. But with his record of repeat violations, the question is no longer whether 6ix9ine can top charts again — it’s whether he can keep his freedom long enough to try.

6ix9ine: Highs and Lows

Career Highs 2017: Breakout with “Gummo,” a viral hit that launched him to national attention 2018: “FEFE” with Nicki Minaj peaks at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 2018: Dummy Boy debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 2020: Post-prison single “Gooba” sets a first-day YouTube record for a rap debut

Legal Lows 2015: Pleads guilty to use of a child in a sexual performance; sentenced to probation 2018: Arrested in racketeering conspiracy with Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods 2019: Testifies against gang members; sentenced to two years in prison 2023–2024: Supervised-release violations: drug possession, missed tests, unauthorized travel Aug. 2025: Admits assault at Florida mall; ordered to home detention with ankle monitor

His chart success and courtroom trouble have risen in parallel — each new hit matched by another legal fight.

Jury Clears Metro Boomin of Civil Sexual Battery Claims in Los Angeles

Metro Boomin, born Leland T. Wayne, is pictured in a promotional portrait. A Los Angeles jury on Sept. 25, 2025, found the producer not liable in a civil sexual assault case stemming from allegations dating to 2016. 

Metro Boomin, the Atlanta superproducer whose fingerprints are on some of the biggest records of the last decade, walked out of a Los Angeles federal courthouse today after a jury found him not liable in a civil lawsuit that accused him of rape.

The verdict, delivered after two weeks of testimony, rejected claims by plaintiff Vanessa LeMaistre that he assaulted her in 2016, a case that put one of hip-hop’s most in-demand producers under a legal spotlight he never expected to face.

“I’m blessed. I’m relieved,” the 32-year-old producer, born Leland T. Wayne, told reporters outside the courthouse. “I never thought I would ever have to do anything like that. I’m just relieved. It’s a burden lifted off my back.” His remarks came minutes after jurors cleared him of four civil counts, ending a case that began when LeMaistre filed suit in October 2024.

“I’m blessed. I’m relieved,” Metro Boomin tells Rolling Stone after jury finds him not liable at civil sexual assault trial

“It’s a burden lifted off my back" pic.twitter.com/XJXZwyA3MF

— Nancy Dillon (@Nancy__Dillon) September 25, 2025

In her complaint, LeMaistre alleged she blacked out after consuming Xanax and alcohol provided by Wayne during a recording session, and later awoke in a Southern California hotel room as he raped her. She testified that she drifted in and out of consciousness during the incident. Wayne, who took the stand in his own defense, flatly denied the account. Asked whether he ever assaulted her, he told jurors, “Absolutely not,” adding there was “no way in the world” he did what she claimed. He said their past encounters had been consensual and that he had not seen LeMaistre “in, like, a decade” until she filed the lawsuit.

The trial unfolded with the kind of twists rarely seen in federal court. Jurors were shown handwritten notes LeMaistre created during a 2024 ayahuasca ceremony in Peru, pages she titled Plan Ayahuasca Gave Me. In them, she wrote about her intention to “blow the whistle on Metro Boomin” and listed a damages figure between $3.4 million and $3.7 million. Defense attorney Justin H. Sanders called the case “preposterous” and told jurors, “This whole lawsuit was born out of a drug den in Peru. In the jungle.” Judge R. Gary Klausner struck part of LeMaistre’s testimony about the hallucinogenic brew, ruling that any evidence about its effects required expert testimony. “You are going to have to call an expert in that area, counsel,” the judge told her lawyer during the trial.

How many tracks does Metro Boomin have on Young Thug's new album?

"I've been so focused on this, man, I'm not even sure," Metro says after a federal jury in Los Angeles cleared him of four claims alleging he sexually assaulted a woman in 2016. pic.twitter.com/qNJovwleKk

— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) September 25, 2025

Questions of credibility were constant. LeMaistre faced cross-examination over her efforts to amend Planned Parenthood medical records from 2016, which initially reflected that she had not reported an assault. She testified she was not trying to falsify the record but wanted it to “reflect what I know is true.” The defense cast it as an attempt to strengthen her claim, while the judge allowed the jury to weigh it for themselves.

In the end, the panel of five men and three women sided with Wayne. One juror explained the decision bluntly afterward: “The evidence wasn’t there. A lot of it was just testimony or talking about it. There was no substantial ‘This is what happened.’ There were no dates recollected correctly.” For Wayne, the verdict offered relief and the chance to return to his career without the shadow of liability, though he acknowledged outside court the weight of having lived under the allegations. 

For LeMaistre, the fight may continue. Her attorney, Michael J. Willemin, said after the decision, “Though the legal system is often stacked against survivors, our client showed unwavering fortitude. We believe that the verdict will ultimately be overturned on appeal.”

Court Tosses Rico Case Tied to Diddy’s Mother

Sean “Diddy” Combs and his mother, Janice Combs, in a portrait he shared on Instagram on Dec. 21, 2020, to mark her 80th birthday. A federal judge dismissed racketeering claims against Janice Combs on Sept. 19, 2025, ruling the allegations were filed decades too late. (Photo via Diddy/Instagram)

A federal judge in Los Angeles has dismissed racketeering claims against Janice Smalls Combs, the mother of Sean “Diddy” Combs, ending a high-stakes publishing royalties dispute more than two decades after it allegedly began.

In a final judgment entered on September 19, 2025, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson ruled that plaintiff Deon “D1” Best’s civil RICO claims were barred by the statute of limitations. The dismissal was entered with prejudice, permanently closing the door on those claims. Best’s state-law claims — including fraud, conversion, unjust enrichment and conspiracy — were dismissed without prejudice, allowing them to be refiled in California state court. The judgment also ordered that Best “shall take nothing” and that Combs and her publishing companies may recover their costs.

Best, a songwriter and producer who does business as Finish Line Entertainment and Dee Mac Music, alleged in his First Amended Complaint that he was the “rightful owner of certain music publishing rights and royalties” — including the single “Come With Me” from the 1998 Godzilla soundtrack. He accused Combs and her son of engaging in “coercive and fraudulent tactics to seize control of Plaintiff’s publishing rights,” including threats, misrepresentations and forged contracts that redirected royalties through Janice Combs Publishing beginning in 2001.

The court, however, found the allegations untimely. In a January 30 order, Judge Anderson wrote: “It is unclear from the allegations why Plaintiff would not have had enough information prior to [October 2023] to warrant an investigation which, if reasonably diligent, would have led to the discovery of fraud.” He also noted that the complaint did not allege any “new overt act within the limitations period” that would satisfy the Ninth Circuit’s separate accrual rule for RICO claims.

With the September judgment, the federal case is over. Best may still attempt to pursue his state-law claims in state court, but the racketeering allegations against Combs are permanently closed.