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.
