A friend of Tekashi69′s who arranged a 2018 shooting in Times Square at rival rapper Chief Keef was sentenced Tuesday to 4 1/2 years in prison.
Kintea “Kooda B” McKenzie added time to his sentence by claiming in the spring that he was at heightened risk of catching coronavirus at the Metropolitan Correctional Center because of his asthma. Judge Paul Engelmayer agreed and released McKenzie — who was then captured on a YouTube video partying in a cramped apartment, smoking, drinking and dancing.
The 22-year-old McKenzie was “doing everything possible to contract coronavrius,” Engelmayer said during his Manhattan Federal Court sentencing conducted remotely due to the pandemic.
“You had lied to me when you said you were concerned about the coronavirus,” Engelmayer said. “You were essentially celebrating pulling one over on the court to secure your release.”
McKenzie is the last person to be sentenced in connection with the headline-grabbing takedown of the Nine Trey Bloods, which resulted in the arrest of Tekashi69. The trash-talking rapper betrayed his fellow gang members and cooperated with the feds. Tekashi scored a light sentence of two years and is again trolling enemies on social media while his former buddies in Nine Trey serve lengthy sentences of as much as 24 years in prison.
In 2018, Tekashi fueled his fame by starting gang beefs with rivals, including the Chicago-based rapper Chief Keef. McKenzie, a member of the Gorilla Stone Bloods, accepted Tekashi’s offer of $20,000 to shoot at Chief Keef. McKenzie then recruited another shooter, who has not been identified, to open fire at Chief Keef in the early hours of June 2, 2018, while he stood outside the W Hotel. No one was injured. Tekashi ultimately paid McKenzie only $10,000.
“You could have said no, you could have taken a pass, but you were all in,” Engelmayer said. “You lined up a hitman.”
Prosecutors said during the hearing that they had reached out to Chief Keef to see if he wanted to speak at the sentencing — but that he wanted nothing to do with the case.
McKenzie said he’d gone astray after getting a taste of fame through his friendship with the rainbow-haired rapper. Tekashi named a hit song, “KOODA,” after McKenzie.
“I allowed myself to look up and listen to someone with more success and fame,” McKenzie wrote to the court. “I thought he was a good friend. I was excited he named a song after me.”
Source: New York Daily News
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