Federal prosecutors fighting to keep Lil Durk locked up have a new allegation, and it’s a strange one.
They claim the Chicago rapper got his hands on an Apple Watch inside a Los Angeles federal jail, hid it in his “body cavity” during contraband checks, and used it to make hundreds of phone calls.
The details came out around a November 4 bond hearing before Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald, according to crime and culture reporter Trap Lore Ross. The judge heard heated arguments over Durk’s request for pretrial release but hasn’t ruled yet.
Durk, born Durk Banks, is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, a federal pretrial facility. He was arrested in October 2024 on federal murder-for-hire charges and pleaded not guilty.
On September 11, a jury acquitted him of all charges in that first murder-for-hire trial. He still faces a second trial on a Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering Activity (VICAR) murder charge and a firearms offense tied to Only The Family, the label and crew he built.
That trial was supposed to happen in fall 2026. Fitzgerald pushed it to August 30, 2027 to give the defense more time to work through a mountain of evidence, which means Durk could spend nearly two more years in custody if he doesn’t get bond.
Prosecutors say he’s a flight risk and a danger to the community, and they’re leaning on his behavior behind bars to make that case.
At the hearing, the government accused him of insubordination, of “talking back” to guards and of “facilitating the introduction of contraband” into the facility.
The feds have used those claims to justify searching his cell several times a week. They also say they’ve opened an investigation and have floated adding new charges to the VICAR case.
Earlier reports said Durk was placed in solitary confinement for talking back to officials just two days before the hearing.
His legal team sees it very differently. Brian Steel, Drew Findling, Marissa Goldberg and Christy O’Connor have kept pushing for his release even after four prior bond denials, and they’ve raised the stakes on what they’re willing to put up.
The offer now includes his mother’s home as collateral, plus his music royalties, publishing rights, name, image and likeness, and touring revenue. That amounts to his whole career on the table as a guarantee he’ll show up to court.
It’s a heavyweight defense lineup. Steel is the Atlanta attorney who represented Young Thug through the marathon YSL case, and Findling has long been a go-to lawyer for hip-hop artists facing legal trouble.
None of the Apple Watch allegations have been proven in court, and Durk hasn’t been charged over them. For now, everything hangs on Fitzgerald’s ruling, and fans are waiting to see which version of Durk’s time behind bars the judge believes.
