The alleged gang member who kidnapped rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine in 2018 was sentenced to 24 years in prison on Thursday
The alleged gang member who kidnapped rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine in 2018 was sentenced to 24 years in prison on Thursday, according to reports. Anthony "Harv" Ellison, 33, and Tekashi, born Daniel Hernandez, became friends around the time the rapper rose to fame in 2017 –– but anger over the artist's image and fights over money increased tensions between Ellison and Tekashi, the New York Daily News reported.
After a three-week trial in October 2019, Ellison was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy, kidnapping in aid of racketeering, and maiming and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, the outlet reported.
A U.S. District Judge sentenced Ellison after he was convicted in the July 2017 kidnapping of the rapper –– he was also charged for slashing a man's face in a separate incident from October of that year.
Standing U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said that Ellison was a "high-ranking member of the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods" a notorious New York-based gang known for inciting violence onto the city.
Ellison was called "cruel and vicious" for "slicing open a man's face" which prosecutors said left the victim with a scar from ear to chin, the Associated Press reported.
“I’m not an angel but I’m not a monster,” Ellison told the judge. “I do have faults. I am human.”
At the trial last year, Tekashi testified about his involvement in the gang and described the kidnapping, saying that Ellison and another man forced him into a stolen car at gunpoint. The men drove him around, occasionally stopping to beat and taunt him, the outlet reported.
The men then took him to his home in Brooklyn, where they stole a bag of jewelry before dropping him off a few blocks away.
Among the jewelry stolen included Tekashi’s red presidential Rolex, Cuban Links bracelet, four diamond rings, a spinning 69 diamond chain, a chain of the Jigsaw character from the movie “Saw” and a $95,000 My Little Pony necklace, according to the Daily News.
Tekashi was sentenced to a two-year prison term, which he has served at home for the last four months, in connection for his role in a drive-by shooting in New York
The rapper was initially going to carry out a minimum sentence of 47 years but, as part of his plea deal, the rapper pleaded guilty to nine felony charges, including several firearm offenses. He also admitted in January 2019 to his involvement in the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods.
Tekashi has also admitted to robbing a rival at gunpoint with other acquaintances in April 2018 and helping attempt to kill another man March 2018, as well as selling a kilo of heroin in 2017, according to the New York Post.
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