Hip-Hop Figure Gets Life Sentence for Drug Ring
By MOSI SECRET
Published: October 25, 2013
- from nytimes.com
A former rap music executive who for years faced allegations that he was
connected to infamous killings of two rap stars was sentenced to life
in prison on Friday for running a multimillion-dollar drug empire.
¶
The former executive, James Rosemond, known in hip-hop circles as Jimmy Henchman, was convicted
in Federal District Court in Brooklyn last year of overseeing the
distribution of scores of kilograms of cocaine per month and moving
drugs and money from coast to coast in music crates.
¶
But Mr. Rosemond, who is from Brooklyn, is best known for rumors that
have dogged him since the 1990s: that he arranged an attack on the
rapper Tupac Shakur that led to an escalating feud between Mr. Shakur
and Christopher Wallace, better known as the Notorious B.I.G., that
eventually left both rappers dead and the music world stunned.
¶
Mr. Rosemond has always denied involvement with that feud, and he has
never been charged in connection with the accusations. The drug charges
for which he was sentenced resulted from a separate inquiry by the Drug
Enforcement Administration and the Internal Revenue Service.
¶
In the courtroom on Friday, a prosecutor said that Mr. Rosemond had
lived the stereotypical life of a kingpin, with several penthouse
apartments, fancy cars, nice vacations and a sound system that cost more
than $100,000.
¶
Loretta E. Lynch, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of
New York, said in a statement that Mr. Rosemond had only styled himself
a music mogul. “In reality,” she said, “his image as a music impresario
was a cover for the real Jimmy Rosemond — a thug in a suit” who flooded
the streets with cocaine.
¶
Mr. Rosemond, 48, wearing a blue jumpsuit, declined to speak when the judge, John Gleeson, gave him an opportunity.
¶
Judge Gleeson, who was required by law to hand down the life sentence,
called Mr. Rosemond’s crimes astonishing in their breadth, duration and
intensity, and said he would have sentenced Mr. Rosemond to life in
prison even if he had not been required to. Mr. Rosemond also forfeited
$10 million and property worth about $4 million.
¶
A lawyer for Mr. Rosemond, David A. Bythewood, promised to appeal.
¶
The former executive, James Rosemond, known in hip-hop circles as Jimmy Henchman, was convicted
in Federal District Court in Brooklyn last year of overseeing the
distribution of scores of kilograms of cocaine per month and moving
drugs and money from coast to coast in music crates.
¶
But Mr. Rosemond, who is from Brooklyn, is best known for rumors that
have dogged him since the 1990s: that he arranged an attack on the
rapper Tupac Shakur that led to an escalating feud between Mr. Shakur
and Christopher Wallace, better known as the Notorious B.I.G., that
eventually left both rappers dead and the music world stunned.
¶
Mr. Rosemond has always denied involvement with that feud, and he has
never been charged in connection with the accusations. The drug charges
for which he was sentenced resulted from a separate inquiry by the Drug
Enforcement Administration and the Internal Revenue Service.
¶
In the courtroom on Friday, a prosecutor said that Mr. Rosemond had
lived the stereotypical life of a kingpin, with several penthouse
apartments, fancy cars, nice vacations and a sound system that cost more
than $100,000.
¶
Loretta E. Lynch, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of
New York, said in a statement that Mr. Rosemond had only styled himself
a music mogul. “In reality,” she said, “his image as a music impresario
was a cover for the real Jimmy Rosemond — a thug in a suit” who flooded
the streets with cocaine.
¶
Mr. Rosemond, 48, wearing a blue jumpsuit, declined to speak when the judge, John Gleeson, gave him an opportunity.
¶
Judge Gleeson, who was required by law to hand down the life sentence,
called Mr. Rosemond’s crimes astonishing in their breadth, duration and
intensity, and said he would have sentenced Mr. Rosemond to life in
prison even if he had not been required to. Mr. Rosemond also forfeited
$10 million and property worth about $4 million.
¶
A lawyer for Mr. Rosemond, David A. Bythewood, promised to appeal.
Mr. Rosemond still faces separate charges in Federal District Court in Manhattan that he helped arrange the murder of an associate of the rapper 50 Cent. Prosecutors
there said that Mr. Rosemond conspired with five other men to kill the
associate, Lowell Fletcher, in 2009. He is scheduled to go to trial on
those charges on Nov. 18.
WRECKTEAM DOPE
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