Lil Durk has suffered a major setback in his ongoing federal murder-for-hire case after a Los Angeles judge denied his motion to dismiss the charges and recuse prosecutors and local judges over undisclosed death threats, keeping the high-profile prosecution fully intact. According to AllHipHop, U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald rejected the rapper’s arguments at a recent hearing in Los Angeles, calling the motion “baseless” and allowing the government’s case to move forward.[1] Hot 97 likewise reports that the ruling marks a critical turning point in Lil Durk’s pretrial strategy, as the court refused to throw out the indictment or alter the judge lineup based on the death threat allegations.[2]
Durk, born Durk Banks, is in federal custody on conspiracy charges tied to an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting rapper Quando Rondo in Los Angeles, a 2022 shooting that left Rondo wounded and his cousin Saviay’a “Lul Pab” Robinson dead.[1][2] Prosecutors allege the hit was ordered in retaliation for the 2020 killing of King Von in Atlanta, a close friend and collaborator of Lil Durk.[1] He was arrested in October 2024 and could reportedly face life in prison if convicted, with trial currently targeted for late April 2026.[1][2][3]
The denied motion centered on four threatening voicemails U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue received in February 2025 and a separate threatening call Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Yanniello received in April 2025, after Donahue had twice rejected Lil Durk’s bids for bail.[1][3] Defense attorneys argued that prosecutors waited until October 2025 to disclose the threats, allegedly depriving them of the chance to pursue earlier recusal efforts or challenge the fairness of the bail process.[1][3] According to legal reporter Meghann Cuniff, Judge Fitzgerald was unmoved, stating in court, “There is just absolutely no basis for this motion. Just none. Absolutely none,” a line also quoted by Hot 97 and HotNewHipHop.[2][4]
Prosecutors maintained that Durk’s team was informed once the threats became legally relevant and insisted there was no strategic concealment or misconduct.[2][3][4] Judge Fitzgerald agreed, reportedly finding no evidence that the voicemails influenced any judicial decision or prejudiced the defense, and noting that there is no suggestion Lil Durk himself had anything to do with the threatening calls.[1][3] He also refused the defense’s request for an evidentiary hearing and declined to recuse the U.S. Attorney’s Office or the entire Central District of California bench, keeping the case on its current track.[1][3]
This ruling tightens the legal pressure on Lil Durk as he and five co-defendants — including Kavon London Grant, Keith Jones, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, Asa Houston, and David Brian Lindsey — head toward a trial window expected to begin around April 21 or April 28, 2026.[1][3] With the death threats motion denied and the indictment intact, the focus now shifts to remaining pretrial battles, including a pending motion over jury anonymity and further challenges to specific counts in the case.[3] For hip-hop, the outcome of this trial will have significant implications, as one of the genre’s most prominent voices fights for his freedom while federal prosecutors press forward in one of the most closely watched rap-related cases in recent years.
