CIVIC CENTER — Hip-hop podcaster Taxstone has pleaded guilty to weapons charges stemming from a fatal shooting at a T.I. concert at Irving Plaza last year, according to a spokesman for the Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office.
Taxstone, whose legal name is Daryl Campbell, pleaded guilty Thursday to receiving a firearm by interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony and possession of a weapon by a felon, according to Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for the Southern District of New York.
He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for the charges, which each carry a maximum of 10 years, Biase said.
The charges stem from a fatal shooting at Irving Plaza on May 25, 2016, when gunfire broke out in a VIP area of the concert hall, killing Ronald McPhatter, 33, and wounding three others, including Crown Heights rapper Troy Ave, who was also charged in the shooting.
Troy Ave, who is still facing charges of attempted murder and weapons possession, was arrested the day after the shooting after police found the murder weapon in a secret compartment in his car, according to court documents.
Taxstone was arrested in January after investigators tracked the weapon to a straw purchaser in Florida, who bought the handgun and sold it to an associate of Taxstone's, who then passed it along to the podcaster.
No one has been charged with McPhatter’s murder, but in court hearings earlier this year, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagen Scotten repeatedly accused Taxstone of firing the fatal shot.
At one hearing, in which a judge agreed to hold Taxstone without bail, Scotten said prosecutors had spoken with a witness who was prepared to identify Taxstone as the murderer, according to court documents.
Videos of the brawl that surfaced on social media showed people diving for cover as shots broke out, and security footage released the next day by police showed Troy Ave and McPhatter, who sometimes worked as his bodyguard, dashing out of the green room before Troy Ave squeezed off at least one shot from a handgun as bystanders ducked for cover.
A date for Taxstone’s sentencing hearing was not immediately available. He also faces potential fines ranging from $40,000 to $400,000, Biase said.
Lawyers for Taxstone and Troy Ave did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but Troy Ave’s lawyer, John Stella, said at the time of Taxstone’s arrest that the charges against him vindicated the rapper's contention that he was the victim of an attack that night.
