Lil Shine, an up-and-coming rapper from Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been charged after allegedly hacking the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) system to gain access to codeine prescriptions.
Lil Shine is accused of enacting a scheme to hack the DEA's practitioners and physicians' system to order 300 pints of promethazine with codeine. No patient's data were affected.
Shine, born Jasper William Johnson, Oscar Becerra-Ruiz, and Raujaun Keon Varner, have been formally charged with conspiracy to acquire and obtain controlled substances by fraud, 11 counts of wire fraud, and four counts of aggravated identity theft, according to the indictment obtained by 'HipHopDX.'
The trio allegedly stole information from practitioners between December 2022 to August 2023, setting up accounts with pharmaceutical wholesalers. Once those alleged orders were placed, they were shipped to fake doctors with the intention to sell them.
The promethazine allegedly had a street value of $750,000.
Per the outlet, Lil Shine addressed his charges on social media in a since-deleted Instagram Story, "IM INNOCENT!"
"Basically, I've been given the opportunity to fight this s**t and it could take anywhere from six months to a year and I can drop music and s**t," he said during an Instagram Live. "I just want you to know I appreciate all the love. I'm free, though. That federal s**t is different, it's not like a state case but I'm gonna be fighting this s**t from outside the walls."
He added: "Without God I'd be having to fight this s**t from inside. I'ma take this s**t to the chin and stay strong for sure. This s**t definitely is crazy. I did expect this s**t. I did get a target letter in the mail. It was expected."
Shine, who began making music in 2017 at just 12 years old, released his first song "DROP THE TOP" in September of that year.
He gained recognition as a 14-year-old rapper after releasing "Stop!" and "Relax!" in 2019. Shine, who often raps about his drug habits and relationships, joined Reptilian Club Boyz in 2020, but they disbanded the year after.
-- Originally published on Enstarz
