Rapper Lil Wayne has been hit with one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon, stemming from an incident in December 2019, where a private plane transporting the rapper from California to Florida was searched by federal agents at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport. If convicted the rapper faces up to 10 years in prison. A statement from his attorney invoked a dissenting opinion from Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Donald Trump appointed justice, as a defense against the rapper’s weapon charge.
“Although the Supreme Court has not yet decided the constitutional question, Justice Amy Coney Barrett recently wrote an appellate dissenting opinion in which she stated that ‘Absent evidence that he either belongs to a dangerous category or bears individual markers of risk, permanently disqualifying [a convicted felon] from possessing a gun violates the Second Amendment,'” Lil Wayne’s attorney Howard Srebnick described in statement.
Lil Wayne has been arrested numerous times for various drug and weapons charges, but he was convicted on a weapons charge only once, in 2010, where he was sentenced to year on Riker’s Island in New York state. The rapper was kept out of general population as he served his time, and he has not been charged with any crimes since, until this 2019 incident.
The invocation of Coney Barrett follows the rapper’s recent endorsement of Trump for the 2020 election. The rapper engaged in a photo op with the president, and stated he held a meeting Trump where they discussed prison reform. Trump lost his reelection bid to U.S. Democratic President-Elect and former Senator Joe Biden.
The rapper released his latest studio album Funeral in January and appeared on the song “Money Maker” alongside Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz.
Check out the full statement below:
[Lil Wayne] is charged with possessing a gold-plated handgun in his luggage on a private plane. There is no allegation that he ever fired it, brandished it, used it or threatened to use it. There is no allegation that he is a dangerous person. The charge is that because he was convicted of a felony in the past, he is prohibited from possessing a firearm.
Although the Supreme Court has not yet decided the constitutional question, Justice Amy Coney Barrett recently wrote an appellate dissenting opinion in which she stated that “Absent evidence that he either belongs to a dangerous category or bears individual markers of risk, permanently disqualifying [a convicted felon] from possessing a gun violates the Second Amendment.
Photo Credit: Mauricio Alvarado
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