Rapper Lil Durk Wins Severance of Racketeering Charges Ahead of August Murder‑for‑Hire Trial

On July 14, U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald ordered that the racketeering counts added in June be severed from rapper Lil Durk's federal murder‑for‑hire case, preserving the scheduled August 20 trial on the original charges. The racketeering allegations, which cite a 2019 Atlanta shooting and a January 2022 Chicago killing, will be tried later; no date has been set. Prosecutors allege Durk organized a murder‑for‑hire plot against rival rapper Quando Rondo that resulted in the death of Rondo’s cousin Saviay’a Robinson. Durk’s defense team—including Drew Findling, Christy O’Connor, Marissa Goldberg and Brian Steel—argued the late addition prevented adequate preparation. The judge wrote, “The Government chose to withdraw evidence of the ‘Chicago incident’ in the Los Angeles trial,” and granted the request to separate the cases. The August 20 trial will proceed on the remaining federal charges.