Jay-Z And J. Cole Wrote Letters For Durk — The Feds Told The Judge To Ignore Them
Lil Durk’s bond package came with some of the biggest co-signs in hip-hop. Federal prosecutors just told the judge to throw them in the trash.
Durk’s legal team submitted character letters on October 27 ahead of Wednesday’s bond hearing, and the names were heavy: Jay-Z, J. Cole, Fanatics founder Michael Rubin and former Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx all wrote in support of his release. Jay-Z’s letter drew on his personal encounters with Durk; J. Cole’s spoke to the rapper’s growth and his influence on the next generation.
In an objection filed Wednesday (November 4) and obtained by XXL, prosecutors went straight at the celebrity factor: “Defendant has trotted out several celebrities in his support. This familiar playbook to apply public pressure to these proceedings, in search of preferential treatment, should be rejected out of hand by this Court.”
The filing also notes Durk has already been refused bond four times, and argues his proposed package — future royalties, publishing and touring income as security, plus a Sony guarantee of up to $1 million toward an appearance bond — still does not answer the government’s flight-risk and public-safety concerns. Reporter Meghann Cuniff also noted prosecutors referenced an ongoing investigation into Durk’s alleged conduct, with the possibility of additional charges — a claim from the government side that Durk’s team has not answered yet.
Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald took the bond request under submission at Wednesday’s hearing and has not ruled. Durk, acquitted in September in his first federal murder-for-hire trial, has pleaded not guilty in the VICAR case and remains in custody — currently in solitary confinement over a search dispute — ahead of a trial scheduled for August 2027.
Our earlier coverage: what prosecutors alleged at the hearing and why there is still no ruling.
Source: federal court filing via XXL. Additional reporting via Baller Alert, HotNewHipHop and reporter Meghann Cuniff.
