Key Takeaways
- Federal prosecutors have added new charges to the massive RICO case against Big U (Eugene Henley Jr.), accusing him of plotting a murder-for-hire against a witness by offering money to two inmates to kill or harm them.
- Henley Jr. and six co-defendants are alleged to have run a mafia-like operation involving extortion, kidnapping, fraud, embezzlement, prostitution, and murder, including claims he forced athletes and musicians to "check in" for protection in Los Angeles.
- The updated indictment also claims he paid a co-defendant to traffic women for prostitution and filed a bogus COVID-19 disaster loan for his Celebrity Socks business, while his RICO trial has been pushed to February 16, 2027, as lawyers sift through 1.1 million pieces of evidence.
Big U has been hit with new federal charges in his massive RICO case Including allegations of a murder-for-hire plot against a witness.
According to NBC4 Los Angeles, federal prosecutors on Thursday (July 30) unsealed an updated indictment against Nipsey Hussle's former manager, whose real name is Eugene Henley, Jr., which accuses him of offering money to two inmates to "kill or harm" the aforementioned witness to stop them from testifying against him.
The original criminal complaint against the 59-year-old — as well six co-defendants — alleges that Henley Jr. was involved in a huge array of criminal activities: extortion, kidnapping, fraud, embezzlement, prostitution, and even murder.
Federal authorities have alleged that Big U required professional athletes and musicians to "check in" with him when visiting Los Angeles to get "protection" from his "mafia-like organization."
Other charges in Wednesday's updated federal indictment include allegations Henley Jr. paid a co-defendant in 2022 to transport women across state lines to engage in prostitution, as well as submitted a fraudulent COVID-19 disaster loan application that contained false statements about his business Celebrity Socks.
In April, it was announced that Big U's impending RICO trial, which had been set to begin In May, was pushed back to 2027 despite his objection.
District Judge Fernando Aenlle-Rocha decided the issue during a hearing on April 17. The hearing took place one week after attorneys for Henley Jr., along with lawyers for his co-defendants Mark Martin and Sylvester Robinson, requested that the trial be moved to next year because they simply didn'tt have enough time to prepare for the massive case. Henley himself, however, wanted to keep the original May 10 date.
In a written ruling issued on April 20 confirming the new trial start date of February 16, 2027, Judge Aenlle-Rocha laid out his reasoning, saying that the defendants had made a "sufficient showing of diligence" in demonstrating their need for a delay. The judge also said that despite Henley’s issues with the move, the delay was "reasonable."
According to attorneys, they have a whopping 1.1 million items to go through, including tens of thousands of wiretapped calls and thousands of surveillance videos.
