Tekashi 6ix9ine Arrest: Rapper Reportedly Moved To 'Safer' Prison

Tekashi 6ix9ine, who was recently arrested on racketeering charges, was transferred to a safer prison after reportedly receiving threats from gang members while in custody, according to TMZ.

The Bushwick-born rapper, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, and five others were arrested Sunday, Nov. 18 on federal racketeering and firearms charges in connection to their involvement in the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods gang, known as "Nine Trey."

The move on Wednesday from Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center, where he was with the general prison population, was for "security reasons," TMZ reports. The new prison, which is typically used to house those who are cooperating with law enforcement, is a unit with "neutral inmates" who are not gang members, according to the publication.

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Hernandez and five others "wreaked havoc on New York City" and engaged "in brazen acts of violence."

"Showing reckless indifference to others’ safety, members of the gang were allegedly involved in robberies and shootings, including a shooting inside the crowded Barclay’s Center, and a shooting in which an innocent bystander was hit," Berman said.

Two of the firearms charges Hernandez faces each have a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted of two sepearate racketeering charges.

Hernandez, 22, has long arrest history. In 2015, he pleaded guilty to the use of a child in a sexual performance, according to Jezebel. He was sentenced last month to four months probation, according to NPR.

Earlier this month, he pleaded guilty and received a lesser charge in connection to the assault of a police officer in Brooklyn in May; He received one month probation, NPR reports.

Hernandez was arrested in New York City on a warrant stemming from a Jan. 6 incident at a Houston shopping mall in which he allegedly choked a teenager, ABC affiliate KTRK reported.

Hernandez told Power 105's The Breakfast Club last week he has spent approximately $500,000 in legal fees this year. He also told the radio show he canceled his tour and fired most of his team after promoters and members of his team were allegedly stealing money from him.

Hernandez's attorney, Lance Lazzaro, said his client is "completely innocent" of the racketeering charges and his "gangster image" does not mean he is part of "Nine Trey," according to The Associated Press.

“Mr. Hernandez became a victim of this enterprise and later took steps by firing employees and publicly denounced this enterprise through a morning show," Lazzaro told AP. "Threats were then made against his life which resulted in this case being brought immediately."

Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images