Lil Durk will have to wait nearly another year before facing a jury in his remaining federal case.
The Grammy Award-winning Chicago rapper, whose real name is Durk Banks, has had his second federal trial postponed until August 2027, extending a legal battle that has already kept him behind bars for nearly two years.
The trial had previously been scheduled to begin October 5, 2026, less than a month after Durk scored a major legal victory when a federal jury acquitted him of all charges in his highly publicized murder-for-hire trial in Los Angeles.
According to court reporting, U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald agreed Wednesday to move the remaining trial to August 2027 following discussions between prosecutors and defense attorneys over scheduling.
The remaining case involves charges of murder in aid of racketeering, commonly known as VICAR, along with a related firearms charge.
Those charges were originally added to the broader federal prosecution against Durk but were severed from the murder-for-hire case before the first trial, allowing them to be tried separately.
That distinction is important.
On September 11, a Los Angeles federal jury found Durk not guilty on every count he faced in the first trial, rejecting prosecutors’ allegations that he orchestrated a 2022 murder-for-hire plot targeting Georgia rapper Quando Rondo.
The August 2022 shooting occurred at a gas station near Los Angeles’ Beverly Center. Quando Rondo, whose legal name is Tyquian Bowman, survived, but his cousin Saviay’a Robinson, also known as Lul Pab, was killed.
Federal prosecutors had alleged the attack was retaliation for the November 2020 killing of Durk’s close friend and fellow Chicago rapper King Von, whose real name was Dayvon Bennett.
Durk’s defense maintained throughout the trial that the rapper did not order or finance the shooting and argued that prosecutors were attempting to connect him to the actions of other people through his music, relationships and status as the leader of his Only The Family collective.
After weeks of testimony and three days of deliberations, jurors acquitted Durk on all charges.
Two co-defendants, Deandre “OTF Dede” Wilson and David “Browneyez” Lindsey, were also found not guilty of the murder-for-hire charge, although both were convicted on stalking-related counts. Their convictions are being appealed.
Despite Durk’s complete acquittal, he did not walk out of the courthouse a free man.
The rapper remains in federal custody because of the separate racketeering-related prosecution that was severed from the first case.
His attorneys have argued that the acquittal dramatically changes the legal landscape surrounding the remaining charges because many of the underlying allegations overlap with conduct prosecutors presented and a jury rejected during the first trial.
Durk’s legal team is expected to seek dismissal of the remaining case and is also attempting to secure his release while the second trial remains pending.
Before the newly scheduled August 2027 trial, Durk is expected back in federal court November 4 for a bond review hearing.
That hearing could become particularly significant.
Durk has remained in federal custody since his October 2024 arrest near Miami International Airport. Federal authorities originally accused him of attempting to leave the United States after learning that associates had been arrested in connection with the Los Angeles shooting.
His attorneys have repeatedly challenged the government’s characterization of his travel plans and have unsuccessfully sought his release on several occasions.
The circumstances are considerably different now.
Durk has been acquitted of the murder-for-hire, conspiracy and stalking charges that formed the centerpiece of the government’s original prosecution, giving his defense attorneys a new argument for why he should not remain incarcerated while waiting almost another year for the second case to reach trial.
Following the September verdict, defense attorney Drew Findling publicly called for Durk’s immediate release.
“Durk is not guilty of all charges,” Findling said following the acquittal. “The shackles must come off, and he must walk free.”
For now, however, the shackles remain.
The postponement means Durk could potentially spend close to three years in federal custody before the second case is resolved if he is not granted bond or the remaining charges are not dismissed beforehand.
The next major battle therefore won’t take place before a jury.
It will come November 4, when Durk’s attorneys return to court seeking his release while the Grammy winner waits for an August 2027 trial that could determine the final chapter of one of Hip Hop’s most closely watched federal prosecutions.
