Lil Durk scored a major victory Tuesday when a judge ruled his gang racketeering charge would be severed from his upcoming murder-for-hire trial.

In court filings, the Grammy-winning rapper, born Durk Banks, and his lawyers said prosecutors blindsided them with the “sweeping new charges,” leaving too little time to prepare for trial. Banks has a constitutional right to a speedy trial, they said, and he doesn’t want any further delays. He’s been locked up without bail since his arrest in 2024.

“We are very happy with the court’s order,” Drew Findling, one of Durk’s defense lawyers, tells Rolling Stone. “For 21 months, we have been unwavering in our commitment to Mr. Banks and his innocence, and we look forward to an Aug. 20, 2026, trial.”

During the 40-minute hearing Tuesday, which Banks’ wife, India Royale, attended, Judge Fitzgerald pressed prosecutors on why they had waited so long to file charges related to the Jan. 27, 2022 killing of the alleged “rival gang member” in Chicago. Banks was not charged in that killing and has denied the government’s claim that he brought $1 million in cash to a music studio after the killing as a “monetary reward."

In his ruling Tuesday, Judge Fitzgerald said both sides should confer to come up with a subsequent trial date for Counts One and Six of the third superseding indictment. If the Aug. 20 trial ends with an acquittal for Banks, it’s possible he could fight the second trial in Los Angeles on double jeopardy grounds.

Prosecutors said Tuesday they would ask the court to grant anonymity to the 16 jurors chosen for the Aug. 20 trial, citing security concerns. In his ruling, Judge Fitzgerald said the court would discuss the “precise procedure” for dealing with the jurors at a follow-up hearing.