Lil Durk Pleads Not Guilty In Federal Murder-For-Hire Case Over Quando Rondo Shooting

Lil Durk has pleaded not guilty to federal charges over an alleged plot to kill rival rapper Quando Rondo in a 2022 shooting.

At a hearing Thursday in Los Angeles federal court, the Chicago rapper (Durk Banks) was arraigned on conspiracy, murder-for-hire and firearms charges. He pleaded not guilty to all three, federal prosecutors confirmed to Billboard.

The court appearance came three weeks after the Chicago rapper (Durk Banks) was arrested and charged with orchestrating the 2022 attack at a Los Angeles gas station, which left Rondo (Tyquian Bowman) unscathed but saw his friend Lul Pab (Saviay’a Robinson) killed in the crossfire.

If convicted on all three charges, Durk faces a potential sentence of life in prison. A trial is tentatively set for January, though it could be pushed back for a variety of reasons.

Documents filed Thursday also reveal that Durk has hired Drew Findling, a prominent Atlanta criminal defense attorney with an extensive history representing rappers, including Gucci Mane, the members of Migos and Cardi B. Findling did not immediately return a request for comment on Friday.

In their case against Durk, prosecutors claim that his “Only The Family” crew was not merely a well-publicized group of Chicago rappers, but a “hybrid organization” that also functioned as a criminal gang to carry out violent acts “at the direction” of Durk. They say one of those acts was the 2022 attempted killing of Rondo, allegedly carried out in retaliation for the 2020 killing of rapper King Von (Dayvon Bennett), a close friend of Durk’s.

“Banks put a monetary bounty out for an individual with whom Banks was feuding named T.B.,” prosecutors wrote in the charges last month, referring to Rondo by his initials. “Banks ordered T.B.’s murder and the hitmen used Banks and OTF-related finances to carry out the murder.”

In addition to Durk, prosecutors have also charged those who they say actually carried out the attack, including alleged OTF members Kavon London Grant, Deandre Dontrell Wilson and Asa Houston, as well as Keith Jones and David Brian Lindsey, two other alleged Chicago gang members.

In charging documents, prosecutors allege that the assailants booked flights to Los Angeles using a credit card that was clearly connected to Durk. The government says the card was allegedly issued under a bank account that listed Durk’s one-time manager as an owner, and that another credit card was issued under the same account to Durk’s father.

Among other claims, the documents cite a text allegedly sent by Durk to another co-conspirator in the lead up to the shooting: “Don’t book no flights under no names involved wit me.”

In a superseding indictment unveiled last week, prosecutors also cited Durk’s lyrics – claiming he had directly referenced the Rondo shooting in a 2022 track called “Wonderful Wayne & Jackie Boy.” They claim the lyrics tie Durk to the killing, and that he was seeking to “commercialize” Lul Pab’s death by “rapping about his revenge.”

As he awaits trial, Durk is incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, a federal prison frequently used to house defendants before and during trial. He will appear again before the judge next month to decide whether he will be released on bail as he prepares for trial.