Feds: Murder Inc. Had 50 Shot
Irv Gotti may be CEO of rap label Murder, Inc., home of Ja Rule and
Ashanti, but, according to a newly released I.R.S. affidavit, it is
notorious New York drug kingpin Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff who is
calling the shots. Among the allegations is that McGriff was
involved in a shooting of top-selling MC 50 Cent after 50 dissed
him in a song.
In January, an I.R.S. special agent testified that McGriff, a
convicted drug felon who spent six years in prison from 1989 to
1995, founded Murder, Inc. after his release to launder money from
heroin and crack-cocaine trades. The label is now in a lucrative
partnership with Def Jam, which itself is a division of industry
giant Universal Music Group.
Drawing heavily from evidence gathered from a two-way pager
owned and paid for by Def Jam that McGriff uses, the affidavit
alleges that he now holds a “prominent” but “largely secret”
position within the company. Murder, Inc. pays McGriff large sums
of cash, covers his travel and many of his business expenses, and
its offices — particularly the CEO’s office — on Eighth Avenue in
Manhattan are the venue from which McGriff conducts much of his
criminal empire.
In turn, the label has exploited McGriff’s reputation, resources
and muscle to intimidate its rivals and assert its will in the
industry, including in a scheme to extort a rival executive, the
affidavit alleges.
The testimony was used January to justify a federal seizure of
McGriff’s bank accounts and for a raid on Murder, Inc.’s
offices.
McGriff faces sentencing in June for weapons-related parole
violations.