Drew Findling, a lawyer known for representing Lil Durk and other high-profile clients, likens RICO cases to steroids for “weak-legged” prosecutors in a new interview. During his sit-down with DJ Akademiks, Findling was introduced as one of the “big three” when it comes to lawyers.
During the conversation, Findling was asked about the spate of recent RICO cases involving rap artists. At that point, Findling connected the issue to the impact steroid use had on the world of baseball.
“It made hitting a baseball easier,” Findling recalled. “It just did. … That’s what RICO is. RICO is for the weak-legged prosecutor that’s scared of losing because they know it makes things easier because you don’t have to prove those offenses, you just have to show a pattern of behavior. RICO to a prosecutor is steroids to a baseball player in the ’90s. It just makes their job easier. Then you combine that with this crazy, madness template in Fulton County, Georgia.”
According to Findling, these types of cases—regardless of whether they involve a rap artist or a former president—are all following the same playbook. To drive home his point, he zeroed in on music industry-centered cases, noting what he sees as a “bullshit” approach.
“The reason why, at least in the music industry, it is such bullshit and so unfair,” he said. “Look at some of those ‘overt acts,’ right? A picture. I mean, it would literally be a picture at a gas station. … So a client goes to their old neighborhood, takes a picture, and now they’re going back there and the Instagram picture is an ‘over act’ to support a RICO allegation.”
As for Durk’s murder-for-hire case, his family shared a statement last month calling out the attempted use of his own lyrics against him. The use of lyrics in this manner has been frequently criticized in connection with several high-profile criminal cases in recent years, including the lengthy YSL RICO proceedings in Fulton County.
“The recent developments in Durk’s legal case have brought a harsh truth to light: the government presented false evidence to a grand jury to indict him,” the statement, shared to Durk’s Instagram, reads. “This isn’t justice. That’s a violation of the very system that’s supposed to protect all of us.”
