Daniel Hernandez, a.k.a. rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine, was sentenced to four years’ probation in Manhattan court Friday afternoon for violating the terms of a plea agreement stemming from his 2015 arrest for the use of a child in a sexual performance, according to Pitchfork. He was credited one year for time served and is not required to register as a sex offender; he is also required to complete 1,000 hours of community service and avoid additional arrests, gang activity and posting or reposting sexually explicit images of women or children.
The sentence is a win for the 22-year-old rapper: The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office argued for him to spend one to three years in state prison and register as a sex offender, and reports earlier this week said he was preparing for prison time.
According to TMZ, at a celebration for Tekashi’s legal win after the verdict was announced, gunfire broke out and one of his bodyguards was hit. The rapper was reportedly meeting with a 10k Projects Records executive at a restaurant, and when a bodyguard for the exec told Tekashi’s entourage that they would not be allowed in, an argument began, with a third party apparently firing the shot that hit Tekashi’s bodyguard in the stomach. The bodyguard was taken to the hospital and Tekashi was not involved in the scuffle, according to TMZ.
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For all his recent success — Tekashi has scored a number of hit singles, including his “Fefe” duet with Nicki Minaj, which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 — the rapper has been plagued with multiple legal problems for the past several years. The case in question dates back to 2015, when Hernandez admitted to using a 13-year-old child in a sexual performance as part of a plea deal. The case would have been closed if he’d remained on good behavior for two years, but he was arrested twice this year: Once in May for allegedly attacking a 16-year-old in Texas, and later that month in Brooklyn for allegedly driving with an expired license and assaulting a police officer.
In a separate incident that remains unclear, in July he was kidnapped, pistol-whipped and robbed of jewelry in his Brooklyn home. He claimed two men got out, forced him into their car, and made him call another man to bring him some personal property, which he did. The rapper said the men took an undisclosed amount of jewelry and left. He “became uncooperative” after filing the report, police reps said, and was then admitted into the hospital.
In court on Friday, Hernandez told the judge, “I have millions of kids, youth, around the world that look up to me as a role model,” he said in a statement. “I’m trying to convince the world that I’m a human being.”