Kay Flock And 7 Others Indicted On Federal Racketeering Conspiracy Charges

Kay Flock's legal troubles have come to a head now that he's facing federal charges.

On Thursday, February 23, the Department of Justice announced that Kevin "Kay Flock" Perez was indicted on charges of racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, and more. The U.S. government alleged that the New York drill rapper is a member of “Sev Side” or “DOA," which stands for “Dead on Arrival." According to the indictment, the "Outta Luck" rapper and his associates is accused of participating in a slew of robberies, wire fraud, bank fraud, and other acts involving murder and assault.

“Over a span of several years, the members of these gangs allegedly terrorized neighborhoods in the Bronx and Manhattan by killing and shooting other people,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in the DoJ's press release. “Through these charges, we will hold Sev Side and Third Side members responsible for plaguing our communities with gun violence.”

The Bronx native was indicted along with seven other men. In total, Perez has been hit with five charges including racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, use of a firearm resulting in death, attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, use of a firearm for attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon. Perez is already behind bars after he was arrested in 2021 for allegedly murdering Oscar Hernandez outside of a barbershop in 2021. His lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman said that it's "extraordinary" that his murder charge is being used as "a possible death penalty charge."

"We’re not surprised by the federal charges as we’ve been fighting Kevin’s state murder charge for over a year now—and considering the shooting was a clear act of self-defense, it wasn’t a particularly strong charge," Lichtman told Pitchfork. That it’s now being used as a basis for a possible death penalty charge is extraordinary. On video, it is crystal clear that Kevin was about to be shot after attempting to walk away from his attacker. Only then, did Kevin use a weapon to defend himself and another from an armed, violent gang member who was about to pull out the loaded gun in his hand."

If convicted on all the federal charges, Perez could face mandatory life in prison or the death penalty. Kay Flock stamped his name in the streets as one of the most prominent artists to come from New York's drill movement. He dropped his debut mixtape The D.O.A. Tape in 2021 a month before his arrest, and got plenty of praise. While he was behind bars, he also released his collaboration with Cardi B, Dougie B and Bory300, "Shake It" (Remix).