NEW YORK (AP) — Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine He tried to persuade a federal judge Tuesday not to send him to prison, calling him “bro” and insisting he never wanted to violate the terms of his parole for the felony conviction.

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer in Manhattan ordered him detained for at least two weeks, citing allegations of misconduct such as failing drug tests and refusing to obtain required travel authorization; He said these actions would reflect a lack of respect for the law.

The judge also noted that the artist left the Dominican Republic this year in violation of a court order after he was arrested in January on domestic violence charges and detained in October 2023 after being accused of assaulting a local music producer. His lawyers say he has been treated unfairly by a corrupt judicial system.

In 2019, Engelmayer sentenced him to two years in prison in a racketeering case. The musician, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, pleaded guilty in 2019 to charges accusing him of participating in the gang known as Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods and directing violent incidents.

Tekashi 6ix9ine was supposed to appear in court Tuesday morning. When he did not do so, Engelmayer signed an arrest warrant. When the rapper showed up later that morning, he was arrested and charged with repeatedly violating probation in what the prosecutor described as a “pattern of noncompliance.”

Engelmayer, who released Tekashi 6ix9ine in early April 2020 by agreeing to a compassionate release request due to the dangers the coronavirus posed to him, was stern as he sat across from the rapper.

Tekashi 6ix9ine seemed to soften a bit after he insisted on addressing him directly.

The rapper apologized for arriving late to court.

“I’m not a bad person,” he said, noting that he had completed four and a half years of his five-year probation but ran into problems after his supervision was taken away from court officials in New York in July. York will be arraigned before officers in the Southern District of Florida, where he currently lives.

He disputed prosecutors’ claims that he did not request the necessary permits to travel to Las Vegas for a show in front of 20,000 people in early September and later said he skipped two drug-testing appointments because he didn’t think it was necessary. A previous positive test for marijuana use turned out to be erroneous.

“I feel like I didn’t do anything wrong,” he said, but quickly added that he knew he did a few things that were “technically” wrong.

Otherwise, he said, it would be “creaky.”

He also said that his life was difficult and that “the last four years have been bad, bro.”

He added: “For me, freedom is everything.”

Tekashi 6ix9ine then addressed the judge in a more typical manner, saying that his failure to show up for several drug tests was “just a misunderstanding, Your Honor.” He emphasized that he had never used drugs and that a drug test showing the presence of methamphetamine was due to prescription medications containing traces of this substance.

At another point, he told Engelmayer, “I’m not a piece,” then paused, apparently to choose the right words, before saying: “I’m not a bad person.”

The judge acknowledged that some of his actions may have been justified, but said he felt the rapper “cut a corner.”

After the hearing, the rapper’s attorney, Lance Lazzaro, said in an email that his client was charged with three “technical violations” of his supervised release and that he was “confident that each specification will be denied.”

The musician’s next hearing will be held on November 12.

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