Rap mogul Irv "Gotti" took his nickname too seriously

Rap mogul, drug kingpin face charges in drug money investigation

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN
Associated Press Writer

January 26, 2005, 7:16 AM EST

NEW YORK -- Federal authorities planned to unveil charges Wednesday that the platinum-selling label behind artists Ashanti and Ja Rule laundered the profits of a drug operation protected by calculated street assassinations.

Label head Irv "Gotti" Lorenzo and his brother Christopher were charged in a murder conspiracy and money-laundering indictment along with their childhood friend, notorious drug kingpin Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, and as many as six associates, law-enforcement sources said.

The Lorenzos were expected to surrender to the FBI at 10 a.m. Wednesday, one of the sources said.

Prosecutors believe that McGriff and the Lorenzos funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in crack and heroin profits through The Inc., a chart-topping label owned partly by Island Def Jam, a Universal Music label.

The Inc. was to be named as a defendant in the indictment, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity while the charges remained under seal.

McGriff, in prison on an unrelated gun charge, was to be charged in connection with three drug-related homicides, the sources said.

Irv Gotti's lawyer, Gerald Lefcourt, said The Inc. _ formerly known as Murder Inc. _ is a legitimate business financed by cash from Island Def Jam. The Inc. has sold about 20 million records behind Ja Rule and Ashanti.

"It's just unfortunate that this investigation has constantly been dragging (Gotti) through the mud," Lefcourt said. "Ultimately, he will be vindicated."

McGriff's lawyer, Robert Simels, accused the government of pushing cooperating witnesses to falsely implicate the ultimate targets of the investigation.

"I'll be curious to see which one of these creative geniuses have been able to weave a tale that the prosecutors want to hear," he said.

Federal agents began to close in on McGriff and the Lorenzos in recent months with arrests that netted Ja Rule's manager and a bookkeeper for The Inc. At least five other defendants, including associates of McGriff, already have been charged.

McGriff, 44, was founder of the Supreme Team, once one of the city's most violent drug crews. Investigators suspect that after he finished serving about nine years for drug conspiracy in 1997, he set about reviving his lucrative _ and deadly _ drug-dealing operation.

Cooperating witnesses have told investigators that McGriff admitted to the 2001 revenge slaying of up-and-coming rapper E-Money Bags in his sport-utility vehicle on a street in Queens. Prosecutors also believe he arranged the Baltimore killing one month later of a suspected informant in his drug organization. Another man also died in the Baltimore shooting.

The Inc. was founded as Murder Inc. in 1997. Gotti changed his label's name last year to deflect negative publicity from the investigation.


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