A Manhattan federal court judge on Wednesday denied rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine’s bid to finish his prison sentence in home confinement amid coronavirus fears, according to court papers.
Judge Paul Engelmayer shot down Tekashi’s request — but added that if the coronavirus outbreak was apparent prior to his sentencing, he would’ve ordered the end of his term to be served at home.
Tekashi, real name Daniel Hernandez, argued in a letter this week that his health is at risk in prison during the coronavirus outbreak because he suffers from asthma.
“At the time of sentencing … the Court did not know and could not have known that the final four months of Mr. Hernandez’s sentence would be served at a time of a worldwide pandemic to which persons with asthma, like Mr. Hernandez, have heightened vulnerability,” Judge Engelmayer wrote in his opinion Wednesday.
“Had the Court known that sentencing Mr. Hernandez to serve the final four months of his term in a federal prison would have exposed him to a heightened health risk, the Court would have directed that these four months be served instead in home confinement,” he added.
The judge added that he could not intervene in Tekashi’s prison term because those matters are typically handled by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Lawyers for the rapper claimed he is at high risk of dying from the coronavirus and already suffering from “shortness of breath” in their effort to get him released.
The rapper — who pleaded guilty to racketeering and other charges — had faced decades in prison before flipping on his former crew and turning government witness.
He was sentenced in December to two years in prison — and is already due to get out early, with his release date now July 31, his attorney wrote.