Latest news with #EugeneHenleyJr.
CBS News
08-04-2025
- CBS News
Big U, alleged Los Angeles gang leader pleads not guilty
An alleged longtime Los Angeles gang leader, known as Big U, pleaded not guilty in a downtown courthouse Tuesday to charges contained in a 43-count federal indictment, including racketeering, fraud, extortion, and embezzlement. Eugene Henley Jr., the so-called rap "godfather," surrendered to authorities last month in connection with a federal complaint that also linked him to the 2021 killing of an aspiring rapper in Las Vegas. According to federal prosecutors, Henley is a leader of the Hyde Park-based Rollin' 60s Neighborhood Crips and runs a vast, "mafia-like" organization that has committed crimes such as murder, trafficking and COVID fraud. Six other people allegedly linked to the case were also arrested. The 58-year-old's charges include a single count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, along with multiple counts of robbery, extortion, wire fraud and embezzlement, among other charges. Prosecutors accuse Henley of killing Las Vegas rapper Rayshawn Williams in Jan. 2021, saying the victim, who had been signed by Henley's Uneek Music record label, had recorded a defamatory song about Henley. Henley allegedly killed him, "then dragged the victim's body off Interstate 15 in Las Vegas and left it in a ditch," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Henley is also accused of defrauding famous athletes, including former Laker Shaquille O'Neal, by persuading them to donate money to charity, then allegedly pocketing the funds himself. He is also accused of fraudulently obtaining funding from the Gang Reduction and Youth Development program supervised by the L.A. Mayor's Office. Authorities also allege Henley submitted a fraudulent application for a COVID-19 pandemic relief loan in which he claimed that Uneek Music was operating at a $200,000 profit in 2019 despite operating at a $5,000 loss that year, which should have disqualified it from loan eligibility. Henley served 13 years in prison for trying to steal cocaine from an undercover sheriff's deputy in 1991. His son, Daiyan Henley, is a linebacker entering his second season with the Los Angeles Chargers. Henley was instrumental in launching the career of the late Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was shot to death in South Los Angeles in 2019. If convicted, Henley could face a sentence of hundreds of years in prison, prosecutors said.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Yahoo
Longtime LA gang leader suspected of murder and human trafficking declares his innocence in video
LOS ANGELES (AP) — An alleged leader of a Los Angeles street gang who's accused of murder, kidnapping and extortion was expected to appear in court Thursday, a day after he posted a video declaring his innocence before surrendering to federal authorities. Eugene Henley Jr., known as 'Big U,' was one of 18 members of the Rollin' 60s Neighborhood Crips suspected of a litany of federal crimes including drug trafficking, conspiracy, and firearms offenses, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement Wednesday. Before turning himself in on Wednesday, the self-described community activist recorded videos denying the accusations. 'This the price of being Black and trying to help somebody, trying to help your community and do what you can," Henley said. "You just guilty because somebody else don't like you.' His appearance in federal court was scheduled for Thursday afternoon, the federal prosecutors' office said. The Associated Press could not locate an attorney for Henley. Henley, 58, and two others are accused of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO. Henley allegedly masterminded a criminal operation that investigators dubbed the 'Big U Enterprise,' and is also suspected of embezzling donations to Developing Options, an anti-gang charity he founded but which prosecutors say he used 'as a front for fraudulent purposes and to insulate its members from suspicion by law enforcement.' He is suspected in the 2021 killing of an aspiring rap musician who was signed to his recording company, Uneek Music, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors said Henley ran the enterprise like a mob boss and used his stature and long-standing association with the Rollin' 60s and other street gangs to intimidate businesses and individuals in Los Angeles. If convicted, he could face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Yahoo
Feds: L.A. Rap Influencer Big U Used His Anti-Gang Activism As Cover For Criminal Empire
Federal prosecutors announced charges against a south L.A. community activist Wednesday saying he used his anti-gang activism as a cover to run a sprawling criminal enterprise that engaged in extortion, human trafficking, fraud and murder. Eugene Henley Jr., 58, a.k.a. 'Big U,' of the Hyde Park neighborhood of South Los Angeles, 'has maintained the image of an entertainment industry entrepreneur running a music label and of somebody who gives back to the community here in Los Angeles,' U.S. Atty. Joseph T. McNally said at the news conference Wednesday. 'The facts alleged in the complaint paint a very different picture. It is one of a murderer, a thief, a liar and a cheat and the criminals that enabled him.'Henley was the leader of a nonprofit known as Developing Options, which was marketed as a youth program that offered teens alternative choices to gang violence, drugs, and other criminal activity. The program is primarily funded by the Gang Reduction and Youth Development program overseen by L.A. Mayor Karen Bass' office. According to the complaint, the nonprofit was awarded $2.35 million in city funds from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2023, even though Henley "allegedly used it as a front for fraudulent purposes and to insulate its members from suspicion by law enforcement." He is also accused of embezzling donations from celebrities, NBA players, and large companies who donated to the nonprofit, only Henley immediately put the monies that were supposed to help his community into his own bank account. "Mr. Henley allegedly duped the County of Los Angeles by running a charitable organization that promoted anti-gang solutions while continuing criminal activity that was directly contrary to his charity," Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher, IRS Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office, said at a press conference Wednesday. He was able to pull off dual roles as a community activist and a purported murderous gang leader because of his past as "a widely known leader within the Rollin' 60s," prosecutors he often didn't try to hide his duality. In a phone call that was captured by a law enforcement wiretap, Henley even referenced his continuing gang bonafides saying: 'I'm retired, nigga? Activist? I'll pull up on your block right now, nigga, and show up and show out, nigga. That's 24 what happened to the last niggas that thought I was retired.'Two other alleged members of Henley's criminal enterprise – Sylvester Robinson, 59, a.k.a. 'Vey,' of Northridge, and Mark Martin, 50, a.k.a. 'Bear Claw,' of the Beverlywood area of Los Angeles – were arrested in the gang sweep dubbed Operation Draw Down which led to the recent arrests of ten alleged Rollin' 60s members. Another four were already in custody. Martin was also listed as the Vice President of Developing Options. Henley is considered a fugitive, prosecutors say. According to an indictment unsealed Wednesday, Henley and his cohorts – identified in court documents as the 'Big U Enterprise' – operated as "a mafia-like organization that utilized Henley's stature and long-standing association with the Rollin' 60s and other street gangs to intimidate businesses and individuals in Los Angeles."FBI Special Agent Andrew Roosa wrote in an affidavit that Henley pretended to be a rehabilitated gang member who learned his lesson after a thirteen-year prison stint connected to the drug rip of an undercover Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy but was, in fact, still using violence to run his enterprise. Henley, Roosa wrote, 'simultaneously attempted to create an air of legitimacy for the Big U Enterprise by promoting himself as a reformed gang member focused on bettering his community." He now stands accused of murdering an aspiring rapper on his own label. According to a complaint, Henley allegedly drove the victim, identified as R.W. in the complaint, to North Las Vegas, shot him in the head, dragged the victim's body off Interstate 15 into the desert, and left it in a ditch. Get the latest news delivered to your inbox daily! Sign up for Los Angeles Magazine's The Daily Brief below or click here.
