NEW YORK (AP) — The defense attorney for Brooklyn rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine (teh-KAH'-shee sihks-NEYN') says his client is "completely innocent" of federal racketeering and firearms charges.
The rapper, whose legal name is Daniel Hernandez, is among five people indicted this week on charges he was part of a deadly gang known as the 9 Trey Bloods.
The indictment alleges that 6ix9ine participated in the July shooting of a bystander in Brooklyn and the gunpoint robbery of one of the gang's rivals last spring.
Defense attorney Lance Lazzaro says in a statement on Wednesday that the gangster image 6ix9ine portrays in his music does not make him a criminal.
He says Hernandez was a victim of the criminal enterprise and that threats were made on his life after he publicly denounced the gang.
Disclaimer: This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Associated Press (AP) wire.
