20-03-2025
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.
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