Six members of the O-Block gang have been found guilty in the 2020 murder of drill rapper FBG Duck. A jury consisting of five men and seven women reached the verdict on Wednesday in a Chicago court. The anonymous group deliberated for approximately 16 hours before coming to an agreement. The guilty O-Block members include Charles Liggins, 32, Kenneth Roberson, 30, Christopher Thomas, 24, Marcus Smart, 25, Tacarlos Offerd, 32, and Ralph Turpin, 34. All six of them face life in prison.
While the jury found them all guilty of the murder in furtherance of a racketeering scheme, they remain mixed on other lesser counts. During the trial, the prosecution cited Duck's track, “Dead Bitches,” which mocked the defendants' slain associates, as noted by the Chicago Tribune. The attorney for Liggins argued in response that the song was just "good business." "Part of YouTube promotion is clickbait. That’s what this was about. Mr. Weekly knew it … it’s marketing and promotion," attorney Cynthia Giacchetti said in her closing remarks. “This is not fanning the flames of murder, this is fanning the flames of capitalism, making money for everybody."
O-Block Six Found Guilty
The prosecution, on the other hand, argued that most of the defendants weren't rappers and therefore, their beef wasn't to increase album sales. “That’s because O-Block is a criminal enterprise,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Julien said. “It’s not a record label, it’s not Motown, it’s not Graceland. It’s a violent street gang that murders people and sells drugs. That’s the reality.”
FBG Duck's murder went down in a drive-by shooting in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood in August 2020. By April 2023, police arrested all six of the defendants who have now been found guilty. At the time of publishing, a sentencing has not been set. Be on the lookout for further updates on the sentencing of the defendants in the murder of FBG Duck on HotNewHipHop.
[Via]