Jimmy Henchman Drug Ring Tested Shipments By Sending Guns To Rapper
Compton, California rapper Game has been a frequent subject during the trial of James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond, who is on trial for running a multi-million dollar cocaine empire.
Rosemond’s company Czar Entertainment managed Game’s career, by helping to book tours, releasing DVDs and marketing the rapper.
At one point, Game was signed to Dr. Dre’s Aftermath imprint, along with 50 Cent’s G-Unit imprint, all of which were being distributed by Interscope Records.
Federal authorities arrested Rosemond in June of 2011 after a month-long manhunt, and charged him with conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
During testimony this week, federal prosecutors introduced into evidence nine different Proffer Agreements, that contained admissions Rosemond allegedly made, in hopes of ultimately, obtaining a Cooperation Agreement with the government.
During a meeting on October 17, 2011, Rosemond allegedly detailed the method in which the cocaine gang shipped kilograms of the drug to the West Coast.
The drug gang used a New York-based courier service named Rock-It Cargo, to ship millions in money and drugs, in custom-made music crates.
Nas, Jimmy Henchman and Game
The crates were shipped to various rehearsal spaces in Los Angeles and intercepted by members of the drug operation.
According to Rosemond, they first did a test shipment, by sending a few pounds of marijuana to the West Coast.
And then, Rosemond allegedly told authorities that they took their test runs a step further.
IRS case agent Marc Van Driessche testified that Rosemond said the custom music crates were used in a test run, to send a shipment of firearms to Game.
Once the guns successfully arrived, the drug gang began shipping 5 to 10 kilograms of cocaine inside each individual music case.
Rosemond also admitted to investing money into various mailbox shops.
Rosemond and an associate named Lamont Bennett owned interests in a variety of stores in California during 2007-2009.
Testimony resumes on Tuesday.
Editors note: Game has not been charged with any crime relating to this case, these are allegations.
Jimmy Henchman Trial Day 8 – Former Employee Testifies; Government Focuses On Rev. Al Sharpton
The eighth day of testimony continued today (May 29) in the federal cocaine distribution trial of James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond.
Today, a former Czar Entertainment employee named Tony Martin took the stand to testify for prosecutors.
Tony Martin, who folded his hands to pray during testimony, claimed that Rosemond admitted to various illegal activities during his association with Czar Entertainment.
According to Martin’s testimony, he was sucked into the drug ring, without knowing what was actually inside of the music cases, which contained kilograms of cocaine, in addition to millions in drug money.
“Truthfully, since I didn’t have access to the cases or the keys, I thought nothing would ever happened to me,” Tony Martin told the jurors. “I didn’t think I would be prosecuted.”
Martin claimed that after years of shipping or picking up cases, it wasn’t until August 2010, that he finally saw what was being shipped.
He recounted an alleged meeting at an apartment Rosemond owned in Harlem, where he saw the mogul stuffing large amounts of cash into a backpack.
“There was a bunch of money out. He kept putting money in backpacks. He asked me to take it to the London hotel. I kept my cool and said, ‘Damn, this is a lot of money.’ He told me to drop it off to Khalil [Abdullah], so I did.”
Today, the government focused on Rosemond’s business relationships with the Reverend Al Sharpton, Queen Latifah, Shakim Compere, and Mike Tyson.
Tony Martin testified that Jimmy Rosemond became close with Rev. Al Sharpton shortly after a 2007 incident in which an associate of 50 Cent and Tony Yayo struck Rosemond’s son.
The incident occurred at the height of Game and Rosemond’s feud with 50 Cent and G-Unit.
“His son was harmed, so Jimmy was a space in his life where he didn’t want to get in trouble. So he took the political route to protect his son,” Tony Martin said.
According to Martin, Rosemond was an executive producer on an unreleased show for Rev. Sharpton that would have featured the political commentator/activist as a judge on his own TV show.
Rosemond allegedly paid for a number of Rev. Sharpton’s expenses, including plane fare, hotel bills and other costs associated with producing the show, which was never released.
Rosemond also invested money into two Fatburgers with Queen Latifah in 2007, the movie “The Cookout 2″ and attempted to resolve a civil lawsuit between Mike Tyson and Don King, who Martin said only dealt in cash.
Tony Martin claimed that Rosemond, who allegedly invested hundreds-of-thousands into the projects, lost money on the deals, although he made his $250,000 investment back on “The Cook Out 2,” when it was licensed to BET for $1 million dollars.
Like the other witnesses the prosecution has produced, on cross-examination, Tony Martin admitted to meeting with prosecutors at least 11 times, in preparation for testimony.
Rosemond’s attorney, Gerald Shargel, raised a number of questions about Martin’s credibility, in addition to his motives for testifying against Rosemond.
Despite presenting himself as an innocent, unknowing participant, Martin is facing 20 years in prison for his role in drug distribution operation.
He has also signed a cooperation agreement as well, which could help him get a drastically reduced sentence.
But Shargel noted that Tony Martin was not a credible witness.
Shargel revealed that Tony Martin lied to prosecutors after he signed his Proffer Agreement and gave information to the government.
Gerald Shargel noted that Martin actually lied to a judge while he was under oath and embellished his educational credentials.
Tony Martin also admitted to never seeing any of Czar Entertainment’s books, to speak credibly about the business’ profits or losses.
Despite being caught in a lie under oath as recent as last Thursday, Martin, who managed Game, Trillville, and Mario Winans for Czar Entertainment, still has his agreement in place.
Jimmy Henchman Trial Day 9 – Former Drug Associates Cooperate; Wear Wires
The ninth day of testimony in the cocaine trial of James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond continued on May 30, with testimony from a former associate, who set the Hip-Hop mogul up for DEA agents.
Winston Harris, 49, was considered an inside member of the Rosemond Organization, which prosecutors claim dealt tens-of-millions of dollars worth of cocaine annually in the New York area.
Winston Harris was arrested 2010 for his role in the organization, which included purchasing narcotics, arranging shipments and loaning hundreds-of-thousands of dollars in drug proceeds to members.
Harris, who admitted he was flat broke, eventually reached an agreement with the government.
James Rosemond
Harris agreed to wear a video wire in his baseball cap, which allowed agents to monitor a drug transaction between himself, another individual named Jason Williams and James Rosemond.
A portion of the video was played in court, along with audio recorded by another confidential informant working for the government.
Harris also admitted that he made firearm purchases for Rosemond, who allegedly instructed him to drop the guns off in Queens, New York, to a man named Rodney “Torae” Johnson.
Rodney Johnson and Brian Mcleod are charged with the murder of Lowell “Lodi Mac” Fletcher, who was convicted of striking Rosemond’s young son during an altercation with Tony Yayo from G-Unit.
DEA case agent Steven Miller then took the stand and testified that he led the investigation for the agency, since 2008.
Miller said the investigation into the Rosemond Organization started in 2008, with the arrest of a man named Aaron Ferguson.
Ferguson was arrested in 2008, but it wasn’t until a year later that agents would get a breakthrough, with the arrest of a suspect named Muhammad “Teff” Stewart.
Muhammad “Teff” Stewart
Stewart, who hails from Staten island, was arrested in 2009 and began cooperating immediately.
When DEA agents arrested him he was carrying $77,000 in cash and a 9mm pistol.
Before an agreement was even signed, Stewart agreed to call Rosemond and another suspect in the case, Henry “Black” Butler, while agents listened in.
By that time, Stewart was in full cooperation with the government and began recording calls between himself and his former cronies.
The DEA testified that they were going to send Stewart to a Floyd Mayweather fight in May of 2010, in hopes of gathering information on Rosemond, but the plan fell through.
Stewart also went to Los Angeles with agents to make a controlled purchase of cocaine, but he was unsuccessful in his attempt.
On July 3, 2010, DEA agents took pictures of members of the drug gang gathered at a wake for Rosemond’s mother.
Henry “Black” Butler
Like all the previous witnesses, both Winston Harris and Muhammad Stewart have agreements with the government.
Harris admitted that he met with prosecutors 11 times and under the terms of this deal, he will face no charges and will not have to forfeit any drug proceeds.
In regards to the guns, on cross-examination, Rosemond’s attorney Gerald Shargel made Harris admit that it was another conspirator, Khalil Abdullah, who paid for the firearms.
James Rosemond’s publicist Sibrena Stowe de Fernandez said that she believed the government had not connected her client to the conspiracy.
“The government still hasn’t proved Jimmy is guilty. The only thing they’ve proven so far is that Muhammad ‘Teff’ Stewart from Staten island wore a wire to record his conversation with Jimmy. And that Winston Harris wore a hidden camera in his baseball cap to meet Jason Williams,” Rosemond’s publicist Sibrena Stowe de Fernandez told AllHipHop.com.
“What is very clear is that Harris will receive no sentence for his cooperation and maybe deported to Kingston, Jamaica,” de Fernandez continued. “And that Stuart, Butler and Abdullah may be rewarded for their testimony. Seems like these guys are employed by the federal government and Jimmy has been set up by snakes and liars.”
At the height of his career, James Rosemond represented a number of influential artists, including Game, Mario Winans, Mike Tyson, Gucci Mane, Trillville, Brandy, Salt-N-Pepa, Akon and others.
When he was alive, rapper Tupac Shakur accused James Rosemond of setting up an ambush that led to the rapper being shot at the Quad Studios in New York City.
James Rosemond has always denied those allegations and said they helped tarnished his reputation in the music industry, since Pac sold so many records.
Testimony will continue later today.