Rapper Lil Wayne pleads guilty to gun charge after he flew to Miami with a gold-plated pistol
One year after flying to Miami in a chartered plane with a bag packed with a gold-plated handgun and drugs, rapper Lil Wayne pleaded guilty Friday to possessing a firearm as a formerly convicted felon.
Lil Wayne, who had a felony gun-possession record from New York, was charged only with the new firearm offense despite being caught with marijuana, cocaine and other drugs during his holiday trip from Los Angeles to Miami, according to court records.
“Your honor, I plead guilty,” the 38-year-old rapper told U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams during a virtual hearing in Miami federal court.
Local and federal authorities discovered the weapon, which was loaded with six rounds of ammunition, during a search of the jet on Dec. 23, 2019, but they let the famous rapper go with the rest of his entourage. He celebrated the holidays at his waterfront home on upscale Allison Island in Miami Beach.
Lil Wayne, who was charged in mid-November, faces up to 10 years in prison at a Jan. 28 sentencing hearing before Judge Williams.
It’s uncertain whether the rapper, whose real name is
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., will serve much hard time. Generally, sentencing guidelines range from one year to two years with his acceptance of responsibility on the gun charge, but his criminal history will be a potential factor in his punishment.
Before the presidential election last month, Lil Wayne tweeted a photo of himself with President Donald Trump, drawing immediate backlash on social media. Now that he has pleaded guilty to the new gun charge, the rapper might ask Trump to consider a pardon before he leaves office on Jan. 20.
Lil Wayne’s defense attorney, Howard Srebnick, declined to comment on the possible pardon request before Friday’s virtual court hearing.
At the hearing, Srebnick said his client chose to plead guilty and “owned up” to possessing the handgun when questioned by investigators who searched his chartered plane last December. But Srebnick said that had Lil Wayne faced trial, the lawyer would have pursued a motion to suppress evidence of the weapon — a Remington 1911, .45-caliber gun — based on what he called an illegal search by Miami-Dade police and FBI investigators. But investigators said they obtained a search warrant to look inside Lil Wayne’s bag.
During the Friday after
noon hearing, Lil Wayne spoke respectfully to the judge as he described his personal history, including being born in New Orleans, dropping out of high school in 10th grade, obtaining his GED and attending the University of Houston. He did not graduate. When asked about his use of any drugs, he said he was only taking daily medication for his epilepsy.
Judge Williams reminded the rapper, who was granted a $250,000 bond recommended by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the defense, that as a newly convicted felon he has given up certain civil rights, including voting, and cannot possess a weapon or ammunition — “not a single bullet,” she said.
As a convicted felon involving a decade-old case, Lil Wayne wasn’t supposed to have a firearm on him during his travels to Miami a year ago.
He told Miami-Dade police and FBI agents that the gun had been given to
him as a Father’s Day gift, according to a copy of the search warrant obtained in January of this year by the Miami Herald.
The record revealed details surrounding the search of a private jet with Lil Wayne and his entourage on the afternoon of Dec. 23. Inside the rapper’s bag, the warrant shows, law-enforcement agents reported finding the gun, along with bullets, suspected cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana, heroin, painkillers and prescription-strength cough syrup often used to make a concoction called purple drank. Cops also found $25,938 in cash.
The rapper had been convicted a decade ago when he pleaded guilty in New York to possession of a firearm stemming from his arrest in July 2007. A loaded, .40-caliber, semi-automatic gun belonging to him was found on his tour bus.
Three years ago, the rapper was linked to a convicted drug dealer named Harrison Garcia, who got 30 years in prison for dealing marijuana,
Xanax and “lean,” the drink made with potent prescription cough syrup and soda. During Garcia’s trial, a federal agent said Garcia confessed to selling “a lot of narcotics” to the rapper.
Lil Wayne has famously celebrated the powerful soda brew, also known as “purple drank” or “sizzurp.” He even suffered seizures after apparently drinking massive amounts of the cocktail,
TMZ reported.
Five bottles of prescription codeine cough syrup were also found on the rapper’s luxury jet in December 2019.
An anonymous tip led Miami-Dade police and FBI agents to board the Gulfstream V aircraft at Opalocka Airport, which had just arrived from California. The plane’s pilot allowed officers to search the aircraft.