Jury deliberation is officially underway in the Lil Durk murder-for-hire case. While Durk supporters are obviously hoping for a not-guilty verdict, his legal situation isn’t as simple as winning this case and walking out of jail.
Regardless of what the jury decides, Durk could remain in federal custody for the time being because he still has another trial ahead of him.
Is Lil Durk Free if He’s Found Not Guilty?
In short, no, it’s very likely that Durk will remain in jail, at least for the short term, regardless of which verdict the jury lands on in his murder-for-hire trial. But the long answer is more complicated, which we break down below.
Lil Durk’s current trial deals specifically with charges tied to the alleged 2022 murder-for-hire plot targeting Quando Rondo, which resulted in the death of his cousin Saviay’a “Lul Pab” Robinson. But that isn’t the entirety of Durk’s legal situation.
Federal prosecutors also brought separate racketeering-related charges against Durk and alleged that OTF operated as a criminal enterprise connected to other acts of violence. Those charges were originally supposed to be part of the same case, but a judge ruled in July that they would be handled in a separate trial.
That means even if Durk beats the murder-for-hire case, he still has another federal case waiting for him, and rather than allowing him to walk free in between the two, prosecutors will seek to keep Durk in custody until the second trial is over.
How Will Prosecutors Try to Keep Lil Durk in Jail?
The federal government would likely argue that the same reasons Durk was previously denied release still apply.
First, prosecutors have already portrayed him as a flight risk, which they will remind the judge of. When several of his co-defendants were arrested in October 2024, prosecutors alleged that Durk booked multiple international flights in an attempt to flee the country before ultimately being arrested in Florida.
Prosecutors have also raised concerns about witness intimidation. U.S. Attorney Bilal A. Essayli previously alleged that witnesses and their family members had been threatened, something the government could use to argue that releasing Durk ahead of another trial presents a risk, as he’s prone to witness intimidation.
In simple terms: beating one case wouldn’t make the second one disappear.
Could Lil Durk Get Out on House Arrest?
If the jury finds Lil Durk not guilty, resulting in an acquittal, it would still be a major win and could give his attorneys a much stronger argument for getting him out of jail while he waits for the second trial.
And release doesn’t necessarily mean Durk would immediately go back to living normally. A judge could potentially impose strict conditions like home confinement, electronic monitoring, or regular check-ins while his remaining case plays out.
Durk’s attorneys have already tried to get him released under strict conditions before, without success. An acquittal in the murder-for-hire case could give them a much stronger reason to try again.
If Lil Durk Is Found Guilty, How Much Time Is He Facing?
If Lil Durk is convicted on the most serious charges in his murder-for-hire trial, he faces the possibility of life in federal prison, while still having the separate racketeering case to deal with. The death penalty, however, is not on the table.
A mistrial would create a different situation, but it also wouldn’t automatically mean Durk is free. Prosecutors could pursue another trial with a different jury for the same murder-for-hire charges and would push to keep him incarcerated without bail while both pending trials play out.
