It’s a new day for Lil Durk as he beat his murder-for-hire case, but there are still ways to go before he’s released from federal custody. The rapper, whose legal name is Durk Banks, faces a separate trial centered on a broader allegation of murder in aid of racketeering, commonly known as a VICAR charge. Federal prosecutors allege that he led a criminal organization that used money, violence, and the opportunities associated with his music career to facilitate criminal activity.
At the center of that case is what prosecutors call the “Banks Gang Enterprise.” The government alleges that the organization grew out of Only The Family (OTF), the collective the Chicago rapper founded, and that some OTF members and associates became part of a criminal operation that extended beyond music. The allegations include violence, drug trafficking, robbery, witness intimidation, and other criminal activity. Most importantly, prosecutors allege that Durk used money and opportunities available through OTF to reward members and maintain their standing in the enterprise.
What The Government Is Alleging Against Lil Durk
The indictment describes Durk as someone who allegedly funded parts of that operation, including providing money, cars, and travel. It also alleges that members could receive financial rewards, jewelry, music opportunities, and placements in Durk or OTF's videos for acts carried out on behalf of the group.
The indictment points to several incidents as examples of how the alleged enterprise operated. In one alleged incident in Atlanta in February 2019, prosecutors say the rapper and others attempted to kill a man following a dispute over a stolen vehicle. After the November 2020 killing of King Von, whom prosecutors identify as a member of the alleged enterprise and a close friend of the rapper, the indictment says Durk and others discussed retaliating against people they believed were responsible.
Prosecutors then connect that alleged retaliation to two separate incidents involving Quando Rondo, the rapper who was the intended target of the 2022 Los Angeles shooting. They connect that alleged retaliation to an attempted killing of Rondo in Georgia in May 2021, as well as a separate killing in Chicago in January 2022.
Lil Durk is not charged with those additional killings as separate murder counts. Instead, those incidents are included in the indictment as alleged examples of the activity surrounding the Banks Gang Enterprise.
Racketeering Allegations & The Los Angeles Shooting
Prosecutors allege that Durk and others wanted Rondo killed and that the attack was connected to the alleged enterprise's effort to retaliate for King Von's death. The attempted killing ultimately resulted in the death of Rondo's cousin Saviay’a “Lul Pab” Robinson.
The first trial centered on the alleged murder-for-hire and stalking scheme surrounding the Los Angeles shooting. The jury ultimately found Durk not guilty on all five charges.
The government's main racketeering count alleges that Robinson was killed as part of the Banks Gang Enterprise, with the violence intended to help Durk and the other defendants maintain or strengthen their standing within the group, or in exchange for financial benefits. There is also a separate racketeering-conspiracy charge, along with a firearm-related count tied to the alleged Los Angeles violence.
Why Durk Is Facing Another Trial After Being Acquitted
The fact that the Los Angeles shooting appears in both cases doesn't automatically mean the two prosecutions are legally identical. The murder-for-hire case centered on the alleged scheme to have Rondo killed, including the use of interstate travel and communications, which resulted in Robinson's death. The racketeering case places that same event within a set of alleged activity involving Atlanta, Georgia, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
That distinction became important before the first trial even began. Prosecutors attempted to add the racketeering allegations to the existing case, but U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald ultimately separated the new charges and scheduled them for a second trial. As LA Magazine's Taylor Parise reported, Fitzgerald questioned why prosecutors had waited so long to bring the new allegation and described the situation as the “Chicago tail” wagging the “Los Angeles dog.”
The result is that Durk's next trial is not another trial over the same five charges. Ultimately, it centers on a separate set of racketeering allegations concerning the alleged Banks Gang Enterprise, with Robinson's death included as one of the alleged acts connected to that organization.
What The Government Has To Prove
For the racketeering murder charge, the government has to prove more than that Durk was connected to the people involved in the Los Angeles shooting. As LA Magazine explains, prosecutors must establish that Robinson was murdered under California law and that the killing was carried out for the purpose of helping Durk and his alleged co-defendants gain entrance to, maintain, or increase their positions in the Banks Gang Enterprise, or in exchange for economic value from the enterprise. The case also includes a racketeering-conspiracy charge, plus a separate federal firearm charge tied to the alleged Los Angeles violence.
Durk’s September acquittal does not resolve those separate allegations, which is why he remains in custody ahead of the October 5 trial. His former co-defendants Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey, meanwhile, were convicted of three stalking-related charges in the first trial but acquitted of the two murder-for-hire charges.
