Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald deferred a decision on Lil Durk’s motion for bail after hearing arguments at a court hearing on Wednesday, Nov. 4. He said he would issue a written ruling in due course.
Durk, whose legal name is Durk Banks, was acquitted in September of arranging a hit on rival rapper Quando Rondo. His lawyers are seeking his release after more than two years in jail and have offered all his future music royalties as bond. Jay-Z and J. Cole also sent letters supporting his release.
Fitzgerald said he was torn over the request. Durk tried to flee to Dubai before his original arrest in 2024, and he faces another trial next summer over allegations that he ran his Only the Family (OTF) label as a violent gang. The judge also noted that the acquittal had significantly changed the calculation.
Defense attorney Drew Findling argued that Durk understands how the legal system works and wants a second jury to find him not guilty. Lawyer Christy O’Connor said the proposed bond covers all of Durk’s future music earnings, leaving him destitute if he fled.
Prosecutors want Durk to remain in jail. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Weiner said the rapper has no respect for authority and could flee to a country that does not extradite him, make music there and accumulate more wealth.
In the case that ended in acquittal, prosecutors accused Durk of putting a bounty on Rondo in retaliation for the 2020 killing of his close friend and collaborator King Von. Rondo survived a shooting at a Los Angeles gas station in 2022. His cousin Saviay’a Robinson, also known as Lul Pab, was killed in the crossfire.
At the next trial, prosecutors plan to argue that Durk used his leadership role at OTF to orchestrate the Rondo incident, a 2019 shooting in Atlanta and a 2022 killing in Chicago. His lawyers call the remaining racketeering count extremely weak and want evidence related to the Rondo shooting excluded under double-jeopardy rules.
