Instagram Tekashi with his daughter Saraiyah and her mother Sara Molina (L), Tekashi's brother Oscar (R).
Tekashi 69’s sentencing hearing is set for Wednesday, December 18 this week and the rapper is facing a minimum of 47 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal racketeering and firearms charges. Some legal experts believe Tekashi will be set free for time-served after fully cooperating with the FBI’s investigation into the Nine Trey Bloods. His information and testimony led to 11 Nine Trey members being found guilty.
Prior to his sentencing hearing, Tekashi (real name Daniel Hernandez) and his family submitted letters to Judge Paul A. Engelmayer pleading for leniency and saying Tekashi’s abrasive, aggressive public persona was merely an act and that behind all of the machismo is a kind, good-hearted kid who got taken advantage of by some bad people.
In his letter, Tekashi expresses remorse for his actions and says he “had a feeling of relief when I was arrested by the Government because I felt stuck, like the gang had control of my life and that I would never be able to escape their grip,” and that he “needed to do something before it was too late.”
He takes responsibility for his actions, says he learned some hard lessons, and pleads with the court to give him a second chance.
“I now know that I am remorseful for what happened because I was blessed with the gift of an opportunity that most people dream of but I squandered it by getting involved with the wrong people and misrepresenting myself when I should have been true to myself and my fans. I’m sorry to the victims who were affected by my actions, to my fans who look up to me and were misled, to my family who depends on me and to this courtroom for this mess that I contributed to.” Tekashi admits.
His brother Oscar’s letter says Tekashi is “a loyal family man who has done everything in his power to take care of my mother and I and everyone around him.” and that the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods are a “venomous group that exploited him.”
Tekashi’s immediate family includes his brother, Oscar Hernandez, his mother, Natividad Perez-Hernandez, and his daughter, Saraiyah. His mother and brother currently live in a “big house with a pool” in an undisclosed location according to the letter his mother wrote to the court.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. His Step Father Was Killed in 2010 when Tekashi was 13 Years Old
According to his brother, Tekashi’s stepfather was murdered right next to their home in 2010.
“Growing up was nothing short of difficult.” Oscar wrote in a letter to Judge Engelmayer, “My step-father was killed a block away from our home, and I quickly had to assume the role of man of the house.”
Oscar goes on to say that he was “busy working many odd jobs to try and make ends meet” which left Tekashi without a father figure and with a lot of free time. During these years, Tekashi channeled his anger and pain into his music and became one of the most famous artists in the world. Unfortunately, it also led to some bad decision making including joining the Nine Trey Bloods.
Oscar says his fame “made him a magnet for people with malicious intent” and that Nine Trey was a “venomous group who exploited him”.
Tekashi connected with Nine Trey, specifically Kifano “Shotti” Jordan, to invite extras to his music video for the song “GUMMO”. The video became the viral sensation that propelled Tekashi to superstardom.
2. His Mother Suffers From Diabetes
In his letter to Judge Engelmayer, Oscar Hernandez writes that his mother is diabetic and “hasn’t been the same” since Tekashi went to prison.
His mother Natividad echoes these statements and says that his incarceration “not only affected us emotionally and mentally but also physically as my health (high blood pressure) has declined over the course of this year.”
Tekashi has spoken on his mother’s health problems before and once posted an Instagram photo of him at her bedside after she got surgery to repair four hernias. She says that she was unable to work following the operation but Tekashi “has been there for me every day and took care of me during my recovery time.”
3. Tekashi 69 Has a 5-Year-Old Daughter
Tekashi had his daughter Saraiyah at 17-years-old with his ex-girlfriend Sara Molina. Before he went to prison, he was seen hanging out with his daughter and her mother on a regular basis including Saraiyah’s 3rd birthday party.
After he went to prison, he’s been buying lavish gifts for his new girlfriend Jade but apparently hasn’t been sending money or gifts to his daughter and her mother. According to TMZ, Tekashi bought a $140,000 Mercedes G-Wagon for Jade for Christmas last year but neglected to get gifts for Sara or his daughter. Tekashi also bought Jade a $35,000 Rolex watch for her 22nd birthday while behind bars.
Fortunately, TMZ says that Saraiyah received “a lot of nice Xmas presents from the rest of her family”.
4. Tekashi Is Supporting His Entire Family Financially
In their letters to the Judge Engelmayer, Tekashi’s brother and mother reveal that they are both currently unemployed and completely dependant on him financially. Oscar says that Tekashi is a “loyal family man who has done everything in his power to take care of my mother and I and everyone around him.”
Tekashi 69’s mother says that he became the main breadwinner for the family. “My jobs were not enough to sustain us.” She wrote, “I applied for welfare to assist us but there were still many nights that my boys went to bed without dinner.” She says even before he was famous he “worked hard to give his daughter whatever she needed and to help provide for me and his brother.”
“My son Daniel, while imprisoned, has provided for us financially, for my other son Oscar and also myself.” She said, adding that locking up her son “is an injustice to his daughter who depends on him and adores him.”
She also revealed that Tekashi bought her “a big house with a pool” and has made “all of our dreams come true.”
5. The Mother of his Daughter Alleges that He Abused Her and Raped Her
Tekashi’s ex-girlfriend and mother of Saraiyah, Sara Molina, accused Tekashi of physically abusing her and raping her last October when she visited him in Dubai.
Speaking to The Daily Beast, Molina said she arrived to Tekashi’s hotel room in Dubai when “He punches me out of nowhere.” The punch drove a hair extension clip into her scalp which left her bleeding profusely.
“So I was leaking blood,” she recalled. “There was blood on the hotel pillow cases. He got scared.” Molina threatened to immediately fly home to Dubai but the rapper apologized. “He basically was telling me I can’t, he was sorry,” she said. “He convinced me to stay.”
He accused her over and over again of sleeping with Kifano “Shotti” Jordan and confessed to her that he had slept with over 70 women in the past year and contracted multiple STDs. He was hoping to elicit a confession out of her which never came.
“I’m going to ask you again, has Shotti ever tried to come home to you?’” she says he demanded. Before she could answer, he started beating her for a second time. “He started to punch me again,” she said. “He started beating me for two hours straight.”
“He had the craziest look in his eyes,” she recalls. “I was scared. ‘Why is he acting this way?’ I had never seen him like that. He punched me so hard in my right ear I thought I was deaf.” After the beating stopped, Tekashi “put his arm around my neck and started choking me,” she remembered. “He said, ‘I just have to make an example. I can’t have you out there, making me look stupid.’”
The couple went to sleep after the incident and when Molina woke up, “He woke up, forced me to have sex with him,” she said. “I cried.”
Her face was so swollen that she was unable to open her eyes the following day.
This wasn’t the first incident. The couple and their daughter were coming home from a concert in Middletown, New York back in April 2018 when Molina brought up a woman who had told her she was pregnant with Tekashi’s child. Tekashi grew enraged and started beating Molina in front of their daughter. Shotti then pulled the rapper off Molina and yelled “Are you crazy?”
These were two of several incidents of abuse during the course of their 7-year on-again/off-again relationship.
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