A federal jury found hip-hop mogul James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond guilty Tuesday on all charges that he used his music management company as a front for a huge drug-trafficking ring.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn won convictions on all indictments against Rosemond, including cocaine distribution, conspiracy, money laundering, firearms possession and witness tampering.
Rosemond’s defense had maintained he never had any involvement in running the drug ring.
“James Rosemond never touched a kilo of cocaine,” defense lawyer Gerald Shargel said during opening statements. ”He is not that kingpin that the government says he was.”
Rosemond, whose clients have included Brandy and Salt-N-Pepa, used Beverly Hills hotels as glitzy pit stops and shipped cocaine in music cases.
He even had fans in court, including actor Michael K. Williams, who played the drug-dealer-robbing rogue Omar Little on HBO’s “The Wire.”
“A lot of people don’t end up with an office on 25th Street or appear on an HBO series. Our stories are very rare,” the actor said Monday, explaining why he supported Rosemond. “Having been through the muck and mire, I’ve had my own brush with bad choices. We had a certain camaraderie that we shared.”
Tupac always said Jimmy set him up in this song.
