Lil Durk Trial: FBI Agent Says 17 Phone Changes Fit Celebrity Privacy Pattern

Lil Durk’s defense challenged one of the government’s alleged signs of a cover-up by showing jurors that the rapper regularly changed his telephone number years before Saviay’a “Lul Pab” Robinson was killed.

FBI Supervisory Special Agent Cody Burke testified Wednesday that investigators identified approximately 17 numbers used by Durk between December 2017 and October 2024.

Prosecutors focused heavily on two numbers connected to Lil Durk around the August 19, 2022, shooting that killed Lul Pab near the Beverly Center.

The government’s theory is that Lil Durk switched his numbers shortly after the attack to conceal his communications.

Prosecutors say the shooting was a failed murder-for-hire operation targeting Tyquian “Quando Rondo” Bowman. They allege Lil Durk ordered and financed the attack as retaliation for the November 2020 killing of Dayvon “King Von” Bennett.

Quando Rondo survived, but his cousin Lul Pab was fatally wounded.

Burke testified that one number connected to Lil Durk, ending in 9595, was active around the time of the shooting. The subscriber was listed under the generic name “John Doe.”

Investigators determined that Lil Durk started using another number, ending in 3853, on August 22, two days after prosecutors say it was purchased and three days after Lul Pab was killed.

The new number was saved in Jason Smith’s iCloud account as “Durk B4L New New.” Lil Durk allegedly sent the number to five other contacts with the message, “New Number Durk.”

Records showed that the telephone was purchased from a Verizon store in Woodland Hills on August 20. It was registered to “Prepaid Customer” and paid for with an American Express card bearing Lil Durk’s name.

That same corporate account was allegedly used for flights, hotels, Uber rides and other expenses connected to the alleged operation.

However, defense attorney Marissa Goldberg used Burke’s own seven-year timeline to offer jurors a different explanation.

The first number on the FBI’s chart dated back to December 2017, nearly five years before the Los Angeles shooting.

A message announcing that number read, “Keep this number close, gang. This is Durk new number. Don’t give to nobody.”

The same pattern appeared again in January 2021.

“This is the number y’all can call and text me on,” Lil Durk allegedly wrote. “This Durk. Keep it low.”

Another message from September 2021 announced, “Smurk new number. Don’t give to nobody at all.”

Goldberg asked Burke whether those messages demonstrated that Lil Durk routinely changed numbers and distributed them to a limited circle.

“I agree with you, yes,” Burke answered.

The concession allowed the defense to argue that secrecy surrounding the 3853 number was not unusual behavior that began after Lul Pab’s murder.

Goldberg specifically asked whether the 2022 change followed the same pattern seen throughout the FBI’s records since 2017.

“Yes,” Burke testified. “From the messages we saw, yes, he would send it to a small group of people.”

Goldberg then asked why a celebrity might avoid allowing a personal number to circulate widely.

“So that they don’t receive calls from people they don’t know,” Burke replied.

When Goldberg suggested that a celebrity would have greater privacy concerns than an ordinary person, Burke answered, “That makes sense.”

The defense also established that Kavon “OTF Vonni” Grant personally purchased the prepaid phones and selected the generic customer names.

OTF Vonni had access to the Astronaut Soundz American Express account and used it to book hotel rooms, Uber rides and other purchases during the relevant period.

Burke agreed that OTF Vonni, not Lil Durk, decided to register the numbers under “John Doe” and “Prepaid Customer.”

That testimony supports the defense’s broader attempt to separate Lil Durk from transactions made in his name. OTF Vonni previously admitted controlling Lil Durk’s wallet, banking credentials, PINs and Social Security number.

OTF Vonni testified that Lil Durk instructed him to obtain new phones after the shooting.

Prosecutors also connected the purchase to the rapper’s Encino residence and the corporate card allegedly used during the operation.

However, the telephone records do not independently establish why the number changed. That explanation depends largely on whether jurors believe OTF Vonni, a cooperating witness hoping to reduce his punishment.

The federal indictment charges Lil Durk with conspiracy, murder-for-hire resulting in death and firearm offenses. He has pleaded not guilty and denies ordering or financing the attack.

Jurors must now decide whether the new number was evidence of a post-shooting cleanup or another example of a privacy practice Lil Durk had followed since 2017.