Eugene "Big U" Henley helped launch Nipsey Hussle's music career, but now he's facing charges including murder as part of a sweeping racketeering, or RICO, indictment.
As reported by The Los Angeles Times, Henley has been accused of being a gang leader in the indictment, which also accuses him and several others of murder, kidnapping, extortion, fraud, and robbery. Federal authorities have alleged that Henley required professional athletes and musicians to "check in" with him when visiting Los Angeles to get "protection" from his "mafia-like organization."
The 107-page federal complaint, filed on Wednesday, said that he was able to extort his alleged victims thanks to his "stature and long-standing association with the Rollin’ 60s and other street gangs."
He was still at large as of Wednesday afternoon and is considered a fugitive by Los Angeles authorities. More than a dozen others have been named in the indictment, including Sylvester "Vey" Robinson and Mark "Bear Claw" Martin. Rappers Bricc Baby and Luce Cannon, frequent guests on the No Jumper podcast, have also been arrested as part of the gang crackdown.
At a press conference, acting U.S. attorney for the Central District of California Joseph T. McNally said 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."
McNally described Henley as "a murderer, a thief, a liar, and a cheat." The indictment is the result of a years-long FBI investigation.
Among the accusations against Henley is his alleged connection to the 2021 murder of aspiring rapper Rayshawn Williams after he recorded a diss track directed at him. Authorities claim that Henley and Robinson fatally shot the rapper in the head and dumped his body in the desert of Las Vegas.
The indictment also details the robbery of a Los Angeles marijuana dispensary that allegedly paid extortion money to Henley and his organization but later stopped. Among the companies, donors, and celebrities he is accused of defrauding are Draymond Green and Shaquille O'Neal, whom he reportedly pressured to donate to charities only to take the money for himself.
In the doc-series Hip Hop Uncovered, Henley admitted he was a member of the Rollin '60s Crips and said he stole cars before he turned 18. He later worked as a manager for Kurupt but was arrested in 1991 as part of a sting operation when he and an accomplice tried to rob an undercover police officer.
Henley served 13 years in prison and was released in 2004, at which point he founded the nonprofit Developing Options.
