Rap mogul admits to drug smuggling

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK -- The hip-hop label behind music superstars Ashanti and Ja Rule was part of a murderous criminal enterprise that protected its interstate crack and heroin operation with calculated street assassinations, federal authorities charged Wednesday.

Label head Irv "Gotti" Lorenzo and his brother Christopher surrendered to the FBI on money-laundering charges as federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment to confiscate Irv Gotti's real estate and business holdings.

Gotti's childhood friend, Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, one of New York's most notorious drug kingpins, was charged with murder, racketeering and other crimes that prosecutors said were intended to eliminate and intimidate potential witnesses.

McGriff already is in prison on a relatively minor gun charge.

Prosecutors said McGriff and the Gottis funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in McGriff's drug profits through The Inc., a chart-topping label owned partly by Def Jam, a subsidiary of Universal Music.

Recording in a studio dubbed "The Crackhouse," The Inc. has sold about 20 million records behind Ja Rule and Ashanti, who were not charged in the indictment. Ja Rule's current album, "R.U.L.E.," peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard chart. Ashanti is now appearing in the movie "Coach Carter," which debuted two weeks ago.

The charges were not expected to have a major impact on Universal. A source familiar with the Universal/Gotti joint venture said the arrangement would be dissolved if Gotti is convicted. A Universal spokesman declined to comment.

Defense lawyer Gerald Lefcourt said the Gotti brothers had been unfairly targeted for trying to help a respected figure from their rough Queens neighborhood. "I think it's a perfectly legitimate operation," Lefcourt said Wednesday. "Ultimately I expect Irv and Chris to be vindicated."

McGriff's lawyer, Robert Simels, said his client told him from prison Wednesday "that it's a shame that people who tried to help him in a legitimate way are involved in defending themselves in a criminal case."

The indictment charges McGriff and his associates with running a drug operation stretching from New York through Baltimore into North Carolina.

McGriff and his partners HAD delivered hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds to the Manhattan offices of Murder Inc.