THE gangsta rap impresarios behind the chart-topping stars Ja Rule and Ashanti went on trial yesterday, accused of using their Murder Inc record label to launder money for a notorious New York drugs baron. Ja Rule and Ashanti both attended the Brooklyn court to hear prosecutors outline their case against Irv and Chris Lorenzo, who call themselves the "Gotti Brothers" after the infamous New York mafia clan.
Sean Haran, an assistant attorney, accused the pair of laundering drugs profits for Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, who is awaiting trial on murder charges, and his "Supreme Team" crack gang in their home borough of Queens.
"It’s about how they laundered drug money for one of the biggest drug dealers in New York," he said. "It’s about how they took that drug money in cash, bundled up in $5s, $10s, $20s and $50s in shopping bags and shoe boxes, and helped that drug dealer masquerade with a completely sham identity as a big-shot music executive."
The case is the first federal indictment of hip-hop executives in the violent world of "gangsta rap". Although the Lorenzos are charged with money laundering, the evidence could cast light on the murder in 2002 of the Run DMC member Jam Master Jay and the shooting in 2000 of his high-flying protégé, 50 Cent. Both Jam Master Jay and 50 Cent were rivals of Mr McGriff. Ethan Brown, the author of a forthcoming book on the case called Queens Reigns Supreme, said that the trial would expose the relationship between rap music and drugs money. "There are a lot of guys like Kenneth McGriff in the music industry — guys who were street guys and left the street to get into hip-hop," he said. "It has large implications for the music industry."
The prosecution said that Irv "Gotti" Lorenzo was introduced to Mr McGriff, whose drugs gang allegedly made up to $200,000 (£116,000) a day, by a drugs dealer known as "BJ" in the Hollis and south Jamaica section of Queens — considered the "Ground Zero" of rap. Mr Haran said: " ‘Supreme’ could see that Irv had a good ear for music. Irv could see ‘Supreme’ was very powerful."
Prosecutors allege that Mr McGriff used his drugs money to help to get Irv Lorenzo’s career off the ground, and once he had hit the big time he allegedly helped Mr McGriff to use his record label to launder drugs profits.
Bags and boxes of cash were converted into Murder Inc cheques, prosecutors alleged. In a two-week period, Murder Inc paid Mr McGriff $65,000.
The Lorenzos, who come from a family of eight siblings, also paid $135,000 to help to finance a direct-to-DVD film called Crime Partners, written by Mr McGriff, and persuaded leading rappers to donate a soundtrack that they then sold to a record company for $1 million, giving Mr McGriff a legitimate source of money.
The brothers also used their credit cards to fund Mr McGriff’s lavish travel around the country, masquerading as a music executive. "They allowed ‘Supreme’ to turn their company into his own personal travel agency," Mr Haran said.
"At 1.30 in the morning on Christmas Eve, ‘Supreme’ was calling one of the defendants’ assistants, complaining: ‘I am at the Four Seasons in Houston. Where is Irv and Chris’s credit card? They won’t let me check in’."
Irv Lorenzo, 34, and brother Chris, 38, have pleaded not guilty. They are being represented by the same high-profile lawyer who defended the real John Gotti, the boss of New York’s Gambino crime family.
The prosecution told jurors that they would hear evidence about deliveries of drugs cash from Chris Lorenzo’s former personal assistant, as well as Mr McGriff’s driver and one of Mr McGriff’s oldest friends.
The Lorenzo brothers face up to 20 years in jail if they are convicted. Their trial is expected to last at least a month.
Last year Murder Inc changed its name to The Inc.
CRIMINAL RECORDS
Li’l Kim is serving a 366-day prison sentence for perjury and conspiracy related to a 2001 shoot-out outside a New York City radio station
50 Cent spent six months in prison for charges related to selling crack cocaine
Wu-Tang Clan star ODB, now dead, served two years in jail after escaping from a drugs treatment facility and spent a month on the run
Carl Morgan, 24, a member of the London rap group So Solid Crew, was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years for murder last month
A feud between East and West Coast rappers led to the murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G, shot in 1996 and 1997 respectively
