Manhattan, NY – 6ix9ine agreed to be the federal government’s star witness in the 2018 racketeering case against Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods Kifano “Shotti” Jordan and Anthony “Harv” Ellison in exchange for a lighter sentence.
Ellison, who was accused of kidnapping 6ix9ine, was convicted as a result of the rapper’s testimony, but it appears he’s struggling to stay out of trouble while in federal jail. According to Complex, Ellison has been named in an indictment involving an alleged smuggling ring at Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) where he’s incarcerated.
NEW: an employee at the NY Metropolitan Correctional Center tried to influence a federal judge before the sentencing of a Tekashi 6ix9ine associate on behalf of a contraband-smuggling ring operating at the jail, feds say pic.twitter.com/0rubGjoIpx
— Ben Feuerherd (@benfeuerherd) November 4, 2021
The indictment also accuses former Unit Secretary at the MCC, Sharon Griffith-McKnight, of trying to influence a judge prior to Ellison’s sentencing by claiming he was a “model inmate” and had shown “tremendous growth.”
But Griffith-McKnight had allegedly been aiding Ellison and 10 others in a bribery scheme and the smuggling of contraband into the Manhattan facility. The alleged contraband included controlled substances such as Suboxone, Oxycodone and K2, phones, alcohol, cigarettes and more.
“Federal law enforcement officers take an oath to defend the laws of the United States and protect its citizens,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael J. Driscoll said in a press release on Thursday (November 4). “We allege the guards we’ve arrested today acted like nothing more than the criminals in their charge and assisted incarcerated offenders in committing more crimes.
“Our FBI/NYPD Joint Violent Crimes Task Force is working with our partners to root out the corruption we’ve uncovered; they will find everyone who should be held accountable for their blatant disregard for the law.”
Griffith-McKnight now faces an obstruction of justice charge, while Ellison’s charges include include wire fraud conspiracy and narcotics conspiracy. If convicted, they could receive up to 20 years in prison.
6ix9ine was kidnapped in July 2018 after being pistol-whipped and put in the trunk of a car. Speaking to TMZ at the time, he explained how he instantly knew it was an inside job.
“We got hit by a car,” he explained. “Our vehicle got hit by another vehicle from behind. As the driver got out, the gunman came out. I blacked out right there. All I saw was a flash. It just happened so quick. All I saw was the gun in my face and when I woke up, I was in the backseat of a car.
“And I had nothing. I literally had nothing. All I had was a phone and a debit card. I said, ‘Listen, allow me to see my daughter another day. I got some jewelry in the house. Y’all can have that.’ I didn’t tell them where I live. They went to the front of my house. Somebody must have told them where I live and had been following me and watching me. It was like an inside job.”
And it turns out, he was right. Ellison was arrested in November 2018 and indicted by a grand jury on multiple charges, including one count of conspiracy to obstruct commerce by robbery, one count of obstructing commerce by robbery and one count of carrying a firearm to commit a crime.