YNW Melly’s Murder Co-Defendant Takes Plea Deal to Avoid Trial

YNW Melly’s co-defendant in his double-murder case, YNW Bortlen, has taken a plea deal from Florida prosecutors, avoiding a jury trial a day before it was set to begin.

At a hearing Tuesday (Sept. 9) in Broward County court, Bortlen (Cortlen Henry) agreed to plead no contest to four lesser counts in the case, including accessory after the fact and witness tampering. In exchange, prosecutors dropped two first-degree murder charges.

Under the deal, the judge sentenced Bortlen to 10 years in prison followed by six years on probation — far less than the multiple life sentences he was facing if convicted. He will also be credited for time served, which could heavily reduce the sentence after Bortlen spent years waiting for trial.

Along with Melly, Bortlen was charged with murder in February 2019 over accusations that the duo shot and killed Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams and Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas, Jr., two of their companions. Prosecutors say Bortlen was driving the car where the shooting happened, then helped Melly make it look like a drive-by shooting.

Though Melly’s trial has been delayed until January 2027, Bortlen’s was set to kick off on Wednesday (Sept. 10). At the hearing, after accepting Bortlen’s plea, Judge Martin S. Fein expressed outright surprise at the favorable terms of the deal: “I’m not quite sure how your lawyers managed to do this, but I wish you good luck sir,” Judge Fein told him.

Following the plea deal, it’s unclear the extent to Bortlen will cooperate against his former friend. Though the agreement does not require him to testify, it does require him to give a sworn statement, known as a proffer, to prosecutors explaining his role in the shooting, the Broward State Attorney’s Office tells Billboard.

But at Tuesday’s hearing, Judge Fein seemed to indicate that Bortlen was not required to incriminate Melly with that statement: “Your answers to any of those questions, whatever they may be, have no bearing on me and have no bearing on this negotiated resolution,” Fein said. “In other words, the deal you negotiated is the deal you negotiated.”

Bortlen’s attorney, Fred Haddad, and a spokesperson for prosecutors did not immediately return requests for comment.

Once a fast-rising hip-hop star, Melly has sat in jail in Broward County since 2019, awaiting a verdict on the murder charges. That case has been endlessly delayed — first by COVID-19, then by a long-running death penalty appeal, then by a hung-jury mistrial, and most recently by another appeal over evidence. Last month, a judge postponed the trial until January 2027 — nearly eight years after the rapper was first arrested.

Prosecutors say Demons and Bortlen carried out the killings inside a car after an Oct. 26 recording studio session in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. They then allegedly staged a drive-by shooting to make it look like the pair of friends had been murdered by others, including driving around with the bodies, before Bortlen took them to an emergency room.

Melly has long maintained his innocence and has pleaded not guilty. Following the latest delay, he fired his lawyers and replaced them with Drew Findling, a veteran Atlanta criminal attorney with a who’s-who list of powerhouse hip-hop clients including Cardi B, Offset, Lil Nas X, Lil Durk, GloRilla and more.