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. Hernandez is set to testify Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019, as a prosecution witness at the federal trial of alleged members of a violent New York City gang. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Deliberations are underway in the New York trial of two alleged members of the gang that up-and-coming rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine (teh-KAH’-shee sihks-NEYN’) joined to give himself street credibility.
The rapper, whose legal name is Daniel Hernandez, pleaded guilty and took the witness stand in federal court in Manhattan against two alleged fellow members of the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods.
The jury ended its first day weighing the racketeering case Wednesday without a verdict.
6ix9ine testified that he joined the gang to give him street credibility in exchange for a cut of his music industry earnings. He described being abducted and robbed at gunpoint after having a falling out with one of the defendants.
Defense lawyers have denied the allegations against their clients, Aljermiah Mack and Anthony Ellison.
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