Rapper with Dayton ties indicted in $5M Kentucky drug conspiracy

A rapper with Dayton-area ties was federally indicted in Eastern Kentucky as part of a $5 million drug distribution conspiracy.

Malik M. Dillard-Cribbs, 24, who goes by the name “Leek Hustle” in online rap videos, reported Monday to federal officials in Dayton.

Dillard-Cribbs — who attended Central State University and has local contacts — voluntarily surrendered upon the advice attorney Jon Paul Rion.

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“When Mr. Dillard-Cribbs realized he had a warrant for his indictment, he turned himself in out of respect for the law,” Rion said. “From the indictment and from the limited information that the government’s provided so far, it appears as if his role is somewhat limited.”

Dillard-Cribbs is scheduled for a detention hearing Thursday in Dayton’s U.S. District Court. Rion said he’ll argue his client should be released from the Butler County Jail on his own recognizance.

Dillard-Cribbs is one of 10 defendants named in a two-count indictment alleging a conspiracy from October 2010 until July 27, 2017, the day an arrest warrant was filed for all 10.

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The conspiracy was to knowingly and intentionally distribute a quantity of pills containing oxycodone and to conduct illegal financial transactions.

The indictment said defendant Roland K. Johnson unlawfully imported thousands of dosage units of oxycodone pills each month in the Eastern District of Kentucky from a supplier in Texas. The indictment doesn’t tie Dillard-Cribbs to any specific criminal activity.

The conspiracy had gross proceeds of $5 million, according to the indictment. Each count carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years and millions of dollars in fines.

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Some of Leek Hustle’s online videos reference drug-dealing activities — as do those of another Rion client, Clarence “Chaos” Winn aka CCSERVA — but Rion said they are just songs.

“They’re meant to be an imaginary lifestyle or things that they’ve seen or things that they’ve experienced second hand,” Rion said.

“Issues within a certain community are often talked about, and so I don’t think the music itself can be any indication as far as the person’s involvement or lack of involvement in an activity.”

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