NEW YORK — He was just doing the kidnapping for the ’Gram.That was the argument Friday from an attorney for an accused member of the 9 Trey Bloods charged with kidnapping Tekashi69, whose success was fueled by social media.Attorney Deveraux Cannick said the supposed kidnapping and robbery at gunpoint was actually “a production” meant to promote the rapper’s newly released single with Nicki Minaj, “FEFE.”“No robbery or kidnapping or assault happened. Didn’t happen,” Cannick said after a hearing in federal court in Manhattan.“(Tekashi) trolls every time he’s about to drop a new album. Gotta get that buzz up. That’s how he makes money.”The alleged kidnapping on July 22, 2018, in Brooklyn is a key episode in the case against Anthony “Harv” Ellison. Prosecutors say the alleged 9 Trey Bloods gangster kidnapped and robbed Tekashi69 at Bedford and Atlantic avenues in Brooklyn amid turmoil within the crew. Tekashi, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, claimed he was pistol-whipped and robbed of jewelry.Audio of Tekashi inside a vehicle during the kidnapping shows he feared for his life, according to prosecutors.“Harv, you know I’ll give you everything … Harv, I’ve always done right by you … Harv, I’ve put money in your pocket bro, I’m scared,” Tekashi says, according to documents.But Cannick said the episode was all a ruse. The vehicle was wired by the feds, Cannick noted. He questioned why authorities hadn’t intervened if Tekashi was indeed scared for his life. Instead, Ellison and Tekashi were trying to create publicity for the Bushwick rapper, Cannick said.In videos posted days after the kidnapping, Tekashi shows no signs of being injured.“Go stream ‘FEFE.’ A percentage of that song will go to charity to the community,” Tekashi said in an Instagram video that showed him giving cash to little kids in a playground.Tekashi is cooperating with the feds in the hopes of securing a lenient sentence. He pleaded guilty to crimes carrying a minimum of 47 years in prison. He’ll be the star witness in the trial of Ellison and another alleged 9 Trey Bloods gangster, Aljermiah “Nuke” Mack, starting Sept. 16.———
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