Houston Chronicle Reports: A little over a decade ago, Estell “Hump” Hobbs ran a Houston record label with up-and-coming hip-hop artist, Lil’ Flip, and had a deal with Sony potentially worth millions of dollars.
The agreement quickly crumbled under the weight of legal disputes and the two parted ways.
Hobbs has since worked in remodeling and construction as he seeks to resurrect the label, and now keep his freedom.
The 52-year-old father of four with no criminal record was recently charged with being part of a cocaine-distribution network that over 15 years reached from Mexico, through Houston and on to Chicago, Mississippi and elsewhere.
“It is stressful, it is painful to see my family worried for me after so many years of hard work and dedication to the label, the city and the family,” Hobbs told the Houston Chronicle Friday. “It is crazy. They are trying to take my house.”
Reflecting on his life and passion, he said he’s been influential in helping performers from hip hop’s “Dirty South” to beat the streets, and notes that his label, Suckafree Records, is looking for its next gospel singer.
On the advice of his lawyer, he said he would not discuss the charges or the criminals making accusations against him.
“It is always when you do the work of God that the devil tries to stay busy,” he said.
Hobbs is described by those who have known him as hard-working and active in his community as well as religious rap.
“I hate to see him in that type of trouble,” Lil’ Flip’s father, Wesley Weston Sr. said. The person I know him to be is a very good person,” said Weston, who is no longer in touch with Hobbs.
Alleged trafficking ties
The alleged conspiracy cuts a unique path as it connects what prosecutors said was a predominantly African-American distribution group directly with Mexican traffickers. Defense lawyer Robert Pelton notes Hobbs has never before been prosecuted for a crime.
He points to back to when Suckafree donated 150 bicycles to children for Christmas, and when Hobbs was recognized by the Hip Hop Summit, which has mobilized thousands of youth to vote.
“Mr. Hobbs has done a lot to help his family and people not only in the music industry, but the entirety of Harris County community,” Pelton said.
The man, who also goes by Duane and got the nickname “Humpty Hump” as a child, has not been known to flash cash, and has lived in the same modest house for years.
He is charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine and launder money, and if convicted faces 10 years to life in federal prison without parole.
His supposed role is unclear, but nobody contends he was a kingpin or a killer.
Authorities announced they intend to seize his house, a Hummer and other property on the grounds they are tied to illegal activity.
A judicial buzz saw has already convicted 38 people in the investigation, including one who allegedly told the DEA he delivered more than 100 kilograms of cocaine on multiple occasions to Hobbs.
All pleaded guilty as part of agreements to cooperate with authorities for leniency.
Hobbs, who is free on bail, is scheduled to be back in court at the end of January for a hearing that may reveal whether he and nine remaining defendants are taking deals rather than risking trial.
A hidden past?
Prosecutors contend that Hobbs has a past hidden in a conspiracy that lasted from 1995 to 2010.
Eric Davis, a Harris County sheriff’s deputy assigned to a DEA task force testified that informants have said Hobbs was at the scene of numerous deals.
David also said Hobbs was recorded in “several” phone conversations talking to an associate, Abraham Woods, who shortly after being released from custody following a drug bust in 2009 was found dead in a Houston apartment.
Woods, who was the group’s primary link to Mexican traffickers, was tied up and shot execution style, with two bullets to the back of the head. A pillow case had been pulled over his eyes.
The attack remains unsolved.
The drug investigation has also drawn links to Jaime Zamora, who is serving life in prison after being convicted earlier this year for ordering a Houston drug hit that killed an innocent man in a case of mistaken identity. That bloodshed was part of a back-and-forth feud between Zamora and a rival that claimed lives in Houston and Mexico.
Ron Wilson, a former state representative who served for 29 years, and has been Suckafree’s lawyer, said he was “very close” to the Hobbs family. Hobbs said he considers him a big brother.
Wilson testified he knows Hobbs, his wife and his children, and he’s never known him to carry wads of cash or keep company with drug dealers or other criminals.
“No, I have not seen that,” Wilson said.
Pelton said Hobbs is being framed by desperate criminals willing to lie: “A bunch of guys in the drug business, not any normal citizens, but a bunch of dope fiends.”
Hobbs said he’s taking things day by day and staying close to his family.
It is not easy. I am human. I worry about it, but I know God will not let anything come to me that I couldn’t deal with,” he said. “I am surrounded by praying warriors.”
