A music executive bigwig who helped launch Nipsey Hussle’s career and was lauded as rap’s “godfather” has been accused of running a “Mafia-like” criminal enterprise involving murder, human trafficking, robbery and extortion on the streets of Los Angeles.
Eugene Henley Jr. — known as “Big U” in the entertainment world — was one of 18 members of the Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips street gang charged in a sprawling federal racketeering complaint, the US attorney’s office said Wednesday.
Henley 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,” US attorney Joseph T. McNally said while announcing the indictment.
“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.”
The 58-year-old, an alleged longtime leader of the notorious Crips gang, is accused of running the vast criminal operation — dubbed the “Big U Enterprise” — like a mob boss, the complaint charges.
Henley, who turned himself in late Wednesday after initially being listed by the feds as a fugitive, posted a video on Instagram before his surrender slamming the charges as “bull crap” and “straight trash.”
He is suspected of being behind the 2021 slaying of aspiring rapper, Rayshawn Williams, who was signed to his recording company, Uneek Music, the feds said.
Williams was allegedly shot and killed by Henley after the budding rapper recorded a diss track about him at a Las Vegas studio, prosecutors said. The victim’s body was later found dumped in a ditch off Interstate 15 in the Nevada desert.
Henley also allegedly used his stature and long-standing association with the Rollin’ 60s and other street gangs to intimidate businesses and high-profile individuals dating back to 2010, according to prosecutors.
“Not only did the enterprise expand its power through violence, fear, and intimidation, but it also used social media platforms, documentaries, podcasts, interviews, and Henley’s reputation and status as an ‘O.G.’ [original gangster] to create fame for — and stoke fear of — the Big U Enterprise, its members, and its associates,” prosecutors said.
As part of his apparent grip on the City of Angels, Henley ordered rap artists, athletes and other visitors to “check in” with him and pay a fee before arriving in LA to receive protection.
Henley, who boasts more than 30,000 Instagram followers, also fronted the enterprise while portraying himself as a self-proclaimed anti-gang activist, the feds said.
He allegedly embezzled donations to Developing Options, an anti-gang charity he founded that prosecutors say he used as a front for the criminal operation.
Through the charity, he allegedly embezzled large donations from celebrities and NBA stars — including Draymond Green and Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal — into his personal bank account, the complaint states.
The non-profit is primarily funded by the LA mayor’s office and receives a chunk of federal funding, prosecutors said.
“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,” Tyler Hatcher, FBI Special Agent in Charge, said.
He’s also suspected of submitting, at one point, a fraudulent application for a COVID-19 pandemic relief loan for Uneek Music.
Henley, for his part, ripped prosecutors in an Instagram video late Wednesday — accusing them of targeting a black man for helping out the community.
In a 2021 “Hip Hop Uncovered” docuseries that he helped produce, Henley detailed how he rose the ranks of the notorious street gang in the 80s before he was nabbed for a robbery in 1991 and served 13 years in prison.
He said he started his charity soon after he was cut loose in 2004.
Henley then delved into the entertainment world after being introduced to an exec and went on to discover Nipsey Hussle, according to the documentary.
In the series, rapper Wiz Khalifa said he didn’t know anyone who has “actually touched as many superstars” as Henley.
“If I was to describe Big U’s role in rap, he would definitely be the godfather,” Khalifa said in the doc. “Can’t do nothing without consulting him. He’s the only guy who does move how he moves.”
Among the others charged in the sprawling complaint are Henley’s alleged right-hand man, Sylvester “Vey” Robinson, 59, and his trusted lieutenant, Mark “Bear Claw” Martin, 50.
All three are accused of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, the feds said.
If convicted, Henley would face a max sentence of life in federal prison.
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