Att'ys gunning for 'pranksta' Tekashi
Defense lawyers took some parting shots at rapper-turned-snitch Tekashi 6ix9ine in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, calling him a “prankster” as they questioned his motives for turning stoolie against two former associates.
The Brooklyn rhymester has testified against Aljermiah Mack and Anthony Ellison at their racketeering and firearms trial, fingering them as high-ranking former fellow members of the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods so he could dodge a minimum 47-year prison sentence in his own racketeering case.
During closing arguments on Thursday, Mack and Ellison’s lawyers painted Tekashi, 23, as a “master of reading the audience.”
“He talked about trolling . . . He likes to get under people’s skin to draw attention to himself,” Mack’s attorney, Louis Fasulo, said, adding, “We know he’s a prankster.”
Ellison’s lawyer, Devereaux Cannick, suggested the rapper cooperated with feds only to avoid prison.
“You don’t think he would do whatever he needed to do to go home?” Cannick asked the jurors.
He argued that Tekashi, whom he branded an “embellisher,” framed Ellison for kidnapping him in July 2018 to drum up publicity for the single “Fefe.”
“He understands marketing very well,” Cannick told the court. “He often knows how to manage people and situations.”
During his testimony, Tekashi admitted he rode the Nine Treys’ coattails to fame but said he flipped on them “the next day” after his Nov. 19 arrest for gang-related activity.
Tekashi’s cooperation has become a punchline on social media, with many mocking him as a snitch.
“Tekashi 6ix9ine is Safe & Secured in Jail Unit With Other Snitches,” Snoop Dogg wrote on Instagram, along with emojis of a rat.
Prosecutors insisted Tekashi wasn’t cooperating to boost his career, pointing to photos of him with his face swollen from injuries he sustained during the July 2018 abduction by former associates.
As a result of his cooperation, the rapper could be out as early as January.
Ellison and Mack have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The jury is scheduled to begin deliberations on Wednesday.