Behind A Crime Empire: A Fatal Diss Song, Celebrity Victims, DOJ Says

LOS ANGELES, CA — Alleged Los Angeles Crip leader and so-called rap "godfather" Eugene Henley Jr., known as "Big U," was named in a 43-count federal indictment accusing him of crimes including racketeering, fraud, extortion and embezzlement, prosecutors announced Thursday.

The Federal indictment builds on an indictment announced earlier this month, accusing him of running a vast Crips-linked "mafia-like organization" that committed murder, trafficking and COVID fraud, according to the FBI. Investigators allege, he personally pulled the trigger, killing a rapper signed to his label for recording a diss track about him at a Las Vegas studio.

The latest indictment follows the arrests of multiple people allegedly linked to a South Los Angeles street gang the Rollin' 60s Neighborhood Crips conspiracy, according to the United States Department of Justice.

Henley, 58, has been in federal custody since he surrendered to authorities March 19 in connection with a federal complaint that also linked him to the 2021 killing of an aspiring rapper in Las Vegas.

The newly announced federal indictment charges him with a single count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act; two counts of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and extortion (Hobbs Act); one count of Hobbs Act robbery; nine counts of attempted Hobbs Act extortion; five counts of Hobbs Act extortion; one count of transportation of an individual in interstate commerce with intent that the individual engage in prostitution (Mann Act); 15 counts of wire fraud; five counts of embezzlement, conversion, and intentional misapplication of funds from an organization receiving federal funds; one count of bank fraud; one count of tax evasion; and two counts of willful failure to file a tax return.

He is scheduled to be arraigned April 8 in downtown Los Angeles, with a detention hearing set for April 10.

Before he surrendered to authorities earlier this month, the self- described anti-gang activist from the South L.A. community of Hyde Park posted videos on Instagram denying any wrongdoing.

"I'm looking at all these charges in the news," he said. "I'm heading back to L.A. Ain't going to be no real evidence. Ain't going to be no real nothing ... Now, they're saying all that stuff to assassinate my character."

Prosecutors allege Henley himself was the trigger man in the 2021 murder of an aspiring musician Rayshawn William, identified as "R.W" in the affidavit. The rapper was signed to Uneek Music, Henley and Martin’s music label.

"Shortly before R.W.’s murder, Henley and Uneek Music paid for R.W. to travel to Las Vegas to record music at a Grammy Award-winning music producer’s studio," the Justice Department announced in a written statement. "But R.W. did not record at the agreed-upon rate and instead recorded a defamatory song about Henley.

According to an unnamed Grammy-winning producer cited in the complaint as a witness, Henley used his Las Vegas Studio for free because of his powers of intimidation. After the recording was made, Henley to traveled to Las Vegas to confront him. According to the affidavit, Henley allegedly drove R.W. to North Las Vegas, shot him in the head, and dragged the victim’s body off Interstate 15 into the desert and left it in a ditch."

The U.S. Department of Justice said previously more than a dozen others were in custody linked to the case and law enforcement are seeking additional defendants.

Also named in the indictment announced Thursday were:

-- Sylvester Robinson, 59, a.k.a. "Vey," of Northridge;

-- Mark Martin, 50, a.k.a. "Bear Claw," of the Beverlywood area of Los Angeles;

-- Termaine Ashley Williams, 42, a.k.a. "Luce Cannon," of Las Vegas;

-- Armani Aflleje, 38, a.k.a. "Mani," of Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles;

-- Fredrick Blanton Jr., 43, of South Los Angeles; and

-- Tiffany Shanrika Hines, 51, of Yorba Linda.

All of the defendants are in custody, with arraignments planned in the coming weeks, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

"As the indictment alleges, Mr. Henley led a criminal enterprise whose conduct ranged from murder to sophisticated fraud that included stealing from taxpayers and a charity," Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph McNally said in a statement. "Eradicating gangs and organized crime is the Department of Justice's top priority. Today's charges against the leadership of this criminal outfit will make our neighborhoods in Los Angeles safer."

Henley is also accused of defrauded famous athletes, including Basketball Hall of Famer and former Laker Shaquille O'Neal and Golden State Warriors four-time all-star forward Draymond Green, by persuading them to donate money to charity -- cash that he allegedly pocketed himself.

In addition, Henley is accused of fraudulently obtaining funding from the Gang Reduction and Youth Development program supervised by the L.A. Mayor's Office.

According to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint earlier this month, from 2010 to the present, Henley's 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. Henley is widely regarded as a leader within the Rollin' 60s and rose to prominence in the street gang during the 1980s."

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.

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.

If convicted, Henley could face hundreds of years in prison.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.