Tekashi 6ix9ine recounts abduction for jury at NYC trial
FILE- In this Sept. 21, 2018, file photo rapper Daniel Hernandez, known as Tekashi 6ix9ine, performs during the Philipp Plein women's 2019 Spring-Summer collection, Milan, Italy. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
NEW YORK (AP) - Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine described for a Manhattan jury Wednesday details from his life of crime with a violent street gang, including getting abducted at gunpoint amid a dispute between warring factions of the crew.
Testifying as a prosecution witness at the federal trial of two alleged members of the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods, 6ix9ine said that defendant Anthony "Harv" Ellison and another armed man grabbed him out of his car and forced him into a stolen vehicle one night last July. Jurors saw a video shot from the rapper's car showing how his driver gave chase before the gunmen scared him off.
Prosecutors say Ellison, a gang enforcer, was angry at the rapper - also an admitted Nine Trey member - for aligning himself with one of his rivals.
6ix9ine testified how Ellison and his cohort drove him around, stopping at various points to taunt and beat him.
"I'm pleading with Harv the whole time, 'Yo, I'm scared," he said, and told them he would give them $100,000 to let him go.
Instead, the men took him to his Brooklyn home, where they stole a bag full of jewelry before driving him a few blocks away and releasing him, he said.
Earlier, 6ix9ine testified about the mayhem around various beefs with other hip-hop artists. Prosecutors say one of the disputes resulted in a gunshot being fired backstage at the Barclays Center arena and in a robbery in Times Square that was filmed by the rapper.
Ellison and a co-defendant, Aljermiah Mack, have pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges. An attorney for Ellison portrayed the alleged abduction as a publicity stunt.
6ix9ine, 23, was a social media phenomenon with millions of followers on Instagram before becoming an ascendant name in hip-hop. He had a multiplatinum hit song, "Fefe," with Nicki Minaj, which peaked at No. 3 on the pop charts, and "Stoopid," featuring the incarcerated rapper Bobby Shmurda.
The rapper agreed to cooperate after pleading guilty earlier this year. He previously testified that he had joined the gang to increase his street credibility in exchange for bank-rolling its operations.
He was to resume testifying on Thursday.