Feds: Druglord Was Behind Rap World Shootings

OCTOBER 24--A music executive who apparently committed suicide last year survived two prior shootings plotted by James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond, a rival hip-hop manager who doubled as a cocaine trafficker, federal prosecutors allege.

A rap world feud between forces aligned with Rosemond and the late Chris Lighty triggered “a series of violent conflicts” that included the assault of Rosemond’s teenage son and the retaliatory murder of an associate of Lighty, who was a partner of the rapper 50 Cent (real name: Curtis Jackson), according to a U.S. District Court filing.

Rosemond has been charged with ordering the 2009 murder of Lowell Fletcher, an associate of both Lighty, who founded Violator Management, and 50 Cent, who heads the G-Unit rap crew. Fletcher, who was convicted of attacking Rosemond’s son, was murdered two weeks after his release from a New York state prison.  

Lighty (left) and 50 Cent are pictured at right.

In advance of Rosemond’s November 18 federal trial, government lawyers have filed a motion seeking a judicial order permitting them to introduce evidence that Rosemond, 48, and some of his codefendants were involved in “multiple actual and attempted shootings” involving Violator and G-Unit targets.

The feud between Rosemond and Lighty and 50 Cent began in 2002 and continued “up until at least 2009,” prosecutors contend. The dispute began when Rosemond, who headed Czar Entertainment, began managing the rapper The Game, who had previously been a member of G-Unit (which Lighty managed).

Investigators allege that Rosemond & Co. fired shots at the front door of Violator’s Manhattan office and pumped bullets into an unoccupied SUV that they believed was owned by Lighty (the vehicle was parked in front of Violator’s West 25th Street headquarters).

Additionally, Rosemond has been accused of targeting G-Unit rapper “Tony Yayo” (real name: Marvin Bernard).  Prosecutors allege that shots were fired into Bernard’s white Bentley as well as the performer’s mother’s home in Queens.

Immediately following the March 2007 assault of his 14-year-old son, Rosemond participated in “an assault with a razor on Chris Lighty’s brother,” according to the October 18 prosecution motion. Rosemond also allegedly participated in a “conspiracy to shoot Chris Lighty in or about 2009.”

Prosecutors cited two separate attempts to shoot Lighty, once at a midtown Manhattan restaurant, and also on a street near his office.  This “escalating pattern of violence committed by Rosemond and his associates against members of G-Unit” was capped by the September 2009 killing of Fletcher, who was nicknamed “Lodi Mack.”

In a June 2010 blog posting, Lighty addressed “rumors and ridiculous stories,” claiming that, “No, I didn’t get attacked” and “No I didn’t see my brother get any stitches let alone 103.” Referring to the “chaos and mayhem hip hop is in right now,” Lighty added, “I cannot stress how we don’t condone any violence.”

Last August, Lighty, 44, died of a single gunshot wound to his head. He was discovered in a pool of blood outside the Bronx home he shared with his estranged wife. A 9mm pistol was found at his side. “Lighty died of an apparent suicide,” prosecutors noted.

Days after Lighty’s death, Rosemond (seen above) issued a statement about his rival’s demise. “Chris, you were my peer in business and in life. We learned the game together. You will be missed.”

Rosemond, who issued his condolences from a federal jail cell, was convicted in June 2012 of heading a cocaine trafficking ring. He is scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow in Brooklyn federal court, where he faces a mandatory term of life imprisonment. (3 pages)