Georgia rapper Quando Rondo was sentenced to more than two years in prison Wednesday after he struck a deal with prosecutors last summer and pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana.
US District Court Judge R. Stan Baker said the Savannah-bred artist, born Tyquian Bowman, must serve 33 months in federal custody followed by three years of supervised release, the Savannah Morning News reported. Bowman also must pay at $40,000 end.
Under the plea deal, prosecutors dropped a more serious charge of conspiracy to possess and distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl, and marijuana. If convicted of that initial charge, Bowman would have been facing up to 20 years in prison. The lesser charge he was convicted of carried a possible maximum of five years in prison. His defense lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Rolling Stone.
After his plea hearing in August, Bowman said he was sorry. “I really want to give an apology to the city of Savannah. And I want to give an apology to my family and friends, loved ones, and most of all my daughters for taking all my family and all my loved ones through this stressful point,” he said.
The “I Remember” and “ABG” rapper remains linked to another criminal case out of California where he's an alleged victim. Prosecutors say Bowman, identified by his initials TB, was the intended target of a murder-for-hire plot allegedly orchestrated by Grammy-winning Chicago rapper Lil Durk.
Lil Durk, born Durk Banks, has pleaded not guilty to allegations he sent a group of masked gunmen to hunt and kill Bowman as he spent time in Los Angeles two years ago. Prosecutors say the men fired at least 18 rounds at Bowman's vehicle at a gas station near the Beverly Center, but it was Bowman's female cousin who was shot and killed.
Prosecutors allege Banks wanted Bowman dead as retaliation for the fatal shooting of rising Chicago rapper King Von, born Dayvon Bennett, outside an Atlanta club on Nov. 6, 2020. Prosecutors say Bowman was involved in an “altercation” with Bennett shortly before Bennett was gunned down. “After the murder, defendant Banks made clear, in coded language, that he would pay a bounty or monetary reward, and/or make payment to anyone who took part in killing [Bowman] for his role in [Bennett’s] murder,” Banks' superseding indictment said.
Banks is due in court in Los Angeles Thursday for a detention hearing. Bowman, meanwhile, is due to begin serving his prison sentence no later than Jan. 10, 2025. In his plea deal, prosecutors agreed that a wire tap picked up a phone conversation in which Bowman said he “wanted nothing to do with” fentanyl pills.
