Tekashi 6ix9ine was granted an early release from prison today after making a request to return home in order to avoid contracting coronavirus while behind bars.

The rapper, real name Daniel Hernandez, was serving a 24-month prison sentence in New York after pleading guilty to nine charges including conspiracy to murder and armed robbery. He was set to be released in August 2020 because he had already served 13 months of his two-year sentence at the time of sentencing.

However, the ‘Fefe’ rapper has now been released early after Judge Paul A. Engelmayer granted his motion for compassionate release, according to Complex.


“We’re all so pleased with the judge’s decision. Danny will be safe now,” said 6ix9ine’s lawyer Dawn Florio, who applied for his release last weekend and said he was at high risk of contracting the disease after being diagnosed with bronchitis and sinusitis late last year.

6ix9ine will serve his first four months of home incarceration with supervision, which will be enforced by GPS monitoring. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, he will have to stay at his residence unless he asks permission from the probation department to seek medical treatment or talk with his lawyer.

Lawyer Lance Lazzaro said that Hernandez had at one point been experiencing shortness of breath and was not being permitted to see a doctor by prison officials, but it was unclear as to whether or not he had contracted the coronavirus or not. Initially, Judge Engelmayer denied 6ix9ine’s request to serve the rest of his sentence at home, saying, “had the court known that sentencing Mr. Hernandez to serve the final four months of his term in a federal prison would have exposed him to a heightened health risk, the Court would have directed that these four months be served instead in home confinement.” Hernandez pleaded guilty to racketeering and an array of other charges last year, but his prison time was significantly cut after he testified against other members of the Nine Trey Bloods gang.