YNW Melly‘s legal woes continue to get worse as the rapper is now facing another six charges in his witness tampering case.
According to NBC 6 South Florida, Melly, his co-defendant YNW Bortlen and a third person, Terrence Mathis, have been charged with directing the activities of a criminal gang and unlawful use of a two-way communication device, as well as solicitation and conspiracy to commit tampering.
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These are in addition to the original count of tampering with a witness in a capital felony that Melly (real name Jamell Demons) and Bortlen (real name Cortlen Henry) were charged with earlier this month, relating to the 2018 murders of YNW Juvy and YNW Sakchaser.
Mathis is an inmate at Broward County Jail who allegedly helped Melly contact Bortlen, who was out on bond at the time of the alleged tampering.
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The state claims Bortlen and Mathis assisted Melly in his efforts to convince his ex-girlfriend, Mariah Hamilton, and her mother, Felicia Holmes, to not testify in his first double murder trial.
An affidavit revealed Bortlen and Mathis had 60 different phone calls between March and August 2023, in which they used various coded language — including references to Rihanna — to hide their intentions.
Melly’s phone privileges had reportedly been restricted for much of 2023, with the rapper being on 23/1 lockdown inside Broward County Jail.
YNW Melly’s initial double murder trial ended in a mistrial in July after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict, despite three days of deliberation.
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His retrial is expected to get underway soon, with jury selection process beginning this week.
The 24-year-old is accused of conspiring with YNW Bortlen in October 2018 to kill their two friends, YNW Juvy (Christopher Thomas Jr.) and YNW Sakchaser (Anthony Williams), and stage their deaths as a drive-by shooting.
