Rapper Fetty Wap, whose legal name is Willie Junior Maxwell II, received a six-year federal prison sentence on May 24, 2023 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine. U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert imposed the term in the Eastern District of New York, along with five years of supervised release to follow.1NBC News. Rapper Fetty Wap Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison in Drug Trafficking Scheme He is no longer behind bars. On January 7, 2026, he was transferred from federal prison to home confinement, about 11 months ahead of his original projected release date.2Billboard. Fetty Wap Released From Prison Early
What He Pleaded Guilty To
Fetty Wap pleaded guilty on August 22, 2022 to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances. Prosecutors identified him as a “kilogram-level redistributor” in a Suffolk County–based trafficking organization that moved more than 100 kilograms of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and crack cocaine across Long Island and New Jersey between roughly June 2019 and June 2020.3U.S. Department of Justice. Willie Junior Maxwell II Sentenced to 6 Years Imprisonment Although the broader indictment covered multiple drugs, his plea specifically concerned cocaine, and prosecutors said he had distributed 25 kilograms of it in New Jersey.4ABC News. Rapper Fetty Wap Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug Charges
The count carried a five-year mandatory minimum and had exposed him to a possible life sentence had he gone to trial and lost.5NBC New York. Rapper Fetty Wap Sentenced to 6 Years in Drug Conspiracy Case Federal agents arrested him at the Rolling Loud festival at Citi Field in Queens on October 28, 2021, after a September 2021 indictment.6Rolling Stone. Fetty Wap Arrested on Federal Drug Charges at Rolling Loud
How the Judge Arrived at Six Years
Defense attorney Elizabeth Macedonio asked the court for the five-year mandatory minimum, arguing that Fetty Wap turned to dealing after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out his live performance income. “This is a kid from Paterson, New Jersey who made it out,” she told the court.7ABC7 News. Fetty Wap Rapper Drug Conviction Guilty Plea
Judge Seybert went a year above the floor and told him why. She said the extra year came from a December 2021 incident in which he threatened a person on FaceTime while on pretrial release, and that he “should’ve hung up the phone instead of engaging.”8Fox 5 NY. Rapper Fetty Wap Sentenced 6 Years on Federal Drug Charges She also said, “Despite your background and all you overcame, you threw it all away,” and told him, “You have a lot going for you; see if you can put it together.”1NBC News. Rapper Fetty Wap Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison in Drug Trafficking Scheme
Fetty Wap spoke at the hearing. “I hurt my community, people who look up to me, my family and myself. I am truly sorry for any pain I caused,” he said, adding, “I only ever wanted to help my family. I never asked myself if it was all-the-way right.”9The New York Times. Fetty Wap Sentenced
The Bail Revocation That Cost Him a Year
After his 2021 arrest, Fetty Wap had been released on a $500,000 bond with GPS monitoring, drug testing, passport surrender, and travel limits.6Rolling Stone. Fetty Wap Arrested on Federal Drug Charges at Rolling Loud According to an FBI affidavit, on December 11, 2021 he pointed a firearm at the camera during a FaceTime call and threatened to kill an individual identified in court papers as “John Doe,” saying, “Imma kill you and everybody you with.”10CNN. Fetty Wap Arrest Bond Revoked He was arrested in New Jersey on August 8, 2022, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Locke revoked his bond.11ABC7 NY. Fetty Wap Bail Jail Arrested Two weeks later he entered his guilty plea, and at sentencing the FaceTime episode became the reason his term ran above the mandatory minimum.
Where He Served and When He Got Out
Fetty Wap served his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Sandstone, Minnesota, a low-security facility.12ABC7 News. Rapper Fetty Wap Released Early From Federal Prison On January 7, 2026, the Bureau of Prisons transferred him to community confinement, moving him out of custody roughly 11 months before his original projected release date of December 2026.2Billboard. Fetty Wap Released From Prison Early
He is now on home confinement supervised by the Bureau of Prisons’ Philadelphia Residential Reentry Management Office. That portion of his sentence is projected to end around November 2026.13CNN. Fetty Wap Released Federal Prison In a post-release interview, he said he had spent three years behind bars and described himself as “rehabilitated.”14People. Fetty Wap Says He Has Clear Mindset After His Prison Release
What Happens After Home Confinement
Once home confinement ends, Fetty Wap will begin the five-year term of supervised release imposed at sentencing. During that period he must abstain from drugs and alcohol, submit to drug testing, report his earnings to the U.S. Probation Department, and get approval before opening bank accounts.15Fox 5 NY. Fetty Wap Released From Prison16Power 99. Fetty Wap Opens Up About Life in Prison, Advice From 50 Cent A violation during supervised release can send him back to federal custody.