CHICAGO — Popular Chicago rapper Lil Durk was arrested by U.S. marshals in Miami Thursday night before he could board a private plane to Italy — the same day five of his crew were arrested as part of of a murder plot that Durk allegedly hired. they orchestrated.

The 32-year-old rapper, whose real name is Durk Devontay Banks, was arrested on murder-for-hire charges and appeared in court in Florida on Friday. The murder-for-hire charges were filed in federal court in Los Angeles as part of a plan to exact revenge on Durk’s friend, the late Chicago rapper King Von, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday.

In the complaint, authorities said Banks booked three international flights after the arrest of the co-conspirators Thursday morning: a one-way flight from Miami to Dubai, a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Switzerland and a private flight from Miami to Italy.

The flight from Italy was scheduled to depart Thursday at 8 p.m. Central time, but agents caught up with Banks near the airport about an hour before takeoff and arrested him, according to the complaint.

The rapper is expected to be arraigned in federal court in Los Angeles in the coming weeks.

Banks is believed to have given a “monetary reward” to rapper Quando Rondo in retaliation for an associate in Rondo’s shooting and killing of King Von in 2020, according to the complaint. Rondo’s cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, was killed in the Aug. 19, 2022 shooting at a Los Angeles gas station that is at the center of the federal case.

Rondo survived a barrage of 18 rounds fired at him after Durk’s killers “followed” and “ambushed” his car, according to the complaint.

Authorities said Durk flew a private jet to California with one of the alleged shooters the day before the killing, with the crew using money tied to Durk and his music label Only the Family, or OTF, to carry out the attack.

The killer’s flights were paid for using a credit card linked to the banks, despite Banks telling the buyer in an iCloud message: “Do not book any flights under any name involved with me.”

Another indictment unsealed last week charges Durk’s alleged co-conspirators — Kavon London Grant, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, Keith Jones, David Brian Lindsey and Asa Houston — in the murder-for-hire plot, which Banks now refers to as referred to as “Co-Conspirator 1.” Those five men were arrested in Chicago on Thursday morning before Durk’s arrest near the Miami airport.

Grant is believed to have purchased ski masks for the shooters used to kill Rondo’s cousin and paid for hotel rooms in Los Angeles County using a credit card in Banks’ name, according to the criminal complaint.

Earlier this month, the mother of slain Chicago rapper Carlton Weekly, known as FBG Duck, sued Banks and his label OTF, claiming that Lil Durk “was the mastermind of the events leading up to” FBG Duck being shot dead on August 4, 2020, while shopping in the Gold Coast.

In January, a federal jury found six men guilty of racketeering and conspiracy to kill FBG Duck. Prosecutors alleged the men were gang members from the O Block faction of the Black Disciples, acting in retaliation for the rapper’s alliance with the Tookaville faction of the Gangster Disciples, according to the Sun-Times.

Years of diss tracks fueled by FBG Duck and King Von, an alleged leader of the O Block gang, came to a head in July 2020 when FBG Duck released the track “Dead B—-“, a track referencing members of the O Block Block died. , according to the Sun-Times.

The criminal complaint filed Friday also alleges that OTF is a “hybrid organization” that operates as a “music collective and a gang” led by Banks.

Long a star of the Chicago exercise scene, Lil Durk’s stardom has grown in recent years. He was pictured with Mayor Brandon Johnson, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and local aldermen. He was recently invited to join the Chicago Bears on the field for their game in London.

Banks is Johnson’s largest individual donor, giving $150,000 to his campaign in January 2023 through an LLC. according to public funding records.

Last week, the mayors of the suburbs of Broadview and Bellwood presented the rapper with the keys to their villages in partnership with him. Neighborhood Heroes Foundationwhich supports Chicago youth by promoting education and violence prevention.

At an unrelated press conference Friday afternoon, Johnson did not say whether he would return Lil Durk’s donation.

“Here’s another example of a young black man growing up in severe trauma that led to life choices that he was very open and vocal about.” Johnson told the Tribune. “You ask me if I should try a negro before a full trial.”

An 18-year-old was killed on Sunday evening in a shooting near a United Center parking lot minutes before the start of a Lil Durk concert he was planning to attend.

As word of Lil Durk’s arrest spread online, “Damn Durk” was trending Friday morning on social media platform X.

Several reports referenced his song, “Federal Nightmares,” from his 2022 album “7220,” in which the rapper discusses the nightmares he’s had at a federal trial after a friend serves as a witness in a case criminal.

“Wipe my iCloud if I think I’m real,” Lil Durk raps in the song.

Atavia Reed of Block Club contributed.

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