Score one for Tekashi-snitch-nine.
A pair of Nine Trey Bloods gangsters were found guilty Thursday of drug dealing and other mayhem around the city — thanks in large part to the testimony of their former friend and fellow Blood, Tekashi69.
Anthony “Harv” Ellison was convicted of kidnapping Tekashi in July 2018 amid a dispute about the rapper’s money and gang bonafides. Aljermiah “Nuke” Mack was found guilty of dealing MDMA and more than one kilo of heroin and fentanyl for the gang.
The jury acquitted Ellison and Mack of using guns during both crimes. Both men did not react as the verdict was read. They each face up to life in prison.
The two gangsters were on trial for two weeks — but the Brooklyn-born rapper stole the show. The self-proclaimed troll testified under a cooperation agreement with the government for three days. He betrayed the gang that made him a commercial success through a mix of street cred, viral trash talk on social media and rowdy music videos filled with Nine Trey members.
Suddenly, the rap world revolved around Manhattan Federal Court as Tekashi’s testimony became fodder for memes. Big names like Meek Mill and 50 Cent cited his downfall as a cautionary tale for aspiring rappers posing as real gangsters. The rapper Troy Ave. attended the trial.
“What did you get from Nine Trey?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Longyear asked Tekashi.
“I would say my career. Credibility. My videos, music, their protection,” the 23-year-old rapper replied.
His signature rainbow-colored hair had been replaced by two tight, dark braids. His face tattoos, of course, remained.
Evidence showed that as Tekashi made Nine Trey more famous, gang members committed more brazen acts of violence. Tekashi filmed as his gangbanging manager, Kifano “Shotti” Jordan, robbed a rival’s backpack at gunpoint in broad daylight inside the lobby of a Times Square hotel.
Tekashi said he then took the gun and rode the subway back to Brooklyn. In another episode, a member of Tekashi’s entourage fired a gun inside the Barclays Center during a confrontation with the crew of a rival rapper, Casanova.
Mack, who played a relatively minor role in the trial, dealt drugs with a heroin dealer who admitted to employing an NYPD sergeant as a courier.
Mack’s attorney Lou Fasulo vowed to appeal. Attorney Deveraux Cannick said Ellison was surprised and disappointed. He was considering an appeal. Both men will be sentenced in February.
Tekashi, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, testified he paid $85,000 to Jordan and Ellison, sharing the wealth from his music with the gang. But testimony revealed that Nine Trey divided into splinter groups. Mack, according to testimony, robbed Nine Trey Godfather Jamel “Mel Murda” Jones.
Ellison came to see Tekashi as a poser.
“Stop picking and choosing when you wanna be gangster,” Ellison texted Tekashi.
The split came to a head when Ellison kidnapped Tekashi. The wild episode was captured on a dashboard camera in the Chevy Tahoe belonging to the rapper’s driver, Jorge Rivera, who also cooperated with the feds. Ellison had argued the kidnapping was a viral stunt meant to promote Tekashi’s new music video with Nicki Minaj. The rapper, Ellison’s attorney said, was a willing participant.
Cannick noted the jury found Ellison guilty of the kidnapping but not of using a gun during the encounter.
“I’m a little confused. If you believe he was kidnapped you should believe there was a gun,” Cannick said.
Ellison robbed Tekashi of his jewelry worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, including a custom-made My Little Pony chain with some of the rapper’s rainbow hair.
Tekashi began distancing himself from the gang. Government wiretaps captured the rapper Jim Jones telling Jamel Jones that he “best get to violating” Tekashi. Prosecutors interpreted the word to mean the rapper faced serious injury.
Tekashi should be “super violated. Super duper,” Jamel Jones said.
“Tell that n—a he’s not a gang member no more. He kicked out the whip. He was never a gang member … He was always a money ploy for the gang members,” Jim Jones replied.
The threats, which continued up to Tekashi’s arrest alongside other Bloods in November 2018, provided extra motivation for him to cooperate.
“I thought it was cool at the time,” Tekashi said of the gang lifestyle.
A female juror who declined to give her name said she found Tekashi’s testimony credible. She had never heard his music before and said it did not weigh heavily in deliberations.
“I thought he was interesting,” she said of the rapper. The juror added that she preferred Green Day.
Tekashi’s rap, she said, “is different, to say the least.”
