Kodak Black remains jailed in Miami. Is the South Florida rapper getting out anytime soon?
Amid a slew of recent legal troubles, Kodak Black will remain in federal custody — at least for the next month. If released, his attorney says he’s headed to rehab.
The South Florida rapper, whose legal name is Bill Kapri, has been held in a Miami federal detention center since December after violating his probation on a gun-buying conviction dating back more than four years.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez abstained from ruling on whether the 26-year-old artist should continue to be detained on the probation violation. He granted more time for the rapper’s defense lawyer to resolve pending cases in Broward and the prosecutor to subpoena witnesses to testify at the next hearing.
Back in December, Federal Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Becerra left the final decision up to Martinez when declined to release Kodak so that he could attend a drug treatment facility in Arizona. Becerra said the rapper was a “danger to the community.”
READ MORE: Kodak Black won’t be home for Christmas. Judge says he is a ‘danger to the community’
Kodak is accused of violating his federal probation after Plantation police say they found the rapper asleep in a Bentley with drugs on him in early December. The rapper was charged with oxycodone possession, evidence tampering and improperly stopping, standing or parking.
The probation violation stems from a 2019 case in which Kodak pleaded guilty to lying on a background check form when he purchased handguns at a Hialeah weapons store, federal court records show. He was sentenced to 46 months in prison, though it was commuted by former President Donald Trump in January 2021, shortly before he left office.
The rapper, however, was placed on probation for three years, with the period ending in January.
READ MORE: Kodak Black is back behind bars after Broward drug arrest. This time, in Miami
At the time of his December arrest, Kodak was out on bond in connection to Broward drug possession and trafficking charges. In 2022, Kodak was pulled over in his purple Dodge Durango by Florida Highway Patrol. State troopers say they found 31 oxycodone tablets inside the car.
Kodak ready to seek treatment?
Defense attorney Brad Cohen, who has represented Kodak in several cases, urged Martinez to release the rapper with time served. He said Kodak has indicated, in several conversations, that he’s ready to accept help from his support system.
“No one in this courtroom wants to get [Kodak] help more than I do,” Cohen said.
Kodak’s pending cases, the attorney said, aren’t violations because the rapper has a legal prescription for oxycodone. He indicated that he plans to resolve the Broward cases in the coming weeks.
“Giving him jail isn’t going to get him help,” Cohen said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Brown opposed releasing the rapper and rehashed the police narrative of Kodak’s recent arrest. He said he plans to call witnesses at the hearing scheduled for Feb. 21.
“We need to stop telling [Kodak] these aren’t violations,” Brown said.
While Martinez didn’t make a decision Monday, he subtly noted throughout the hearing that he was hesitant to release the rapper.
“I am more concerned about [Kodak] than I am about him being in jail,” Martinez said.
If Kodak is let go from the detention center, he may end up behind bars in Broward. Circuit Court Judge Barbara Duffy in January ruled that Kodak be jailed whenever he’s released from federal custody.
READ MORE: Kodak Black is behind bars in Miami. If he’s released, a Broward judge wants him in jail
Last February, Duffy ordered the rapper to stay at a rehabilitation facility for 30 days after an hours-long hearing.
“All the good deeds I do, all the good things I do, it never goes as viral,” Kodak said at the time. “I don’t know why [they] are so hungry to see me in jail.”
