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After they filed the lawsuit in early 2002, Perry Sanders said, the first witness they intended to depose was Russell Poole. Suge Knight and Bernard Parks would come later.
On January 9, 2002, the Los Angeles Times published a front-page article written by Chuck Philips that began, “A federal racketeering probe into allegations that Marion ‘Suge’ Knight and his Los Angeles label, Death Row Records, committed acts of murder, drug trafficking, money laundering and gunrunning has resulted in a pair of misdemeanor tax charges.”
While federal authorities “have declined to discuss or even confirm the investigation,” Philips reported, two anonymous “law enforcement sources” had told him the criminal probe of Suge Knight was “over.” According to a pair of plea-bargain deals filed in the U.S. District Court one day earlier, Death Row Records and David Kenner would pay fines of $100,000 and $20,000, respectively, but no criminal charges in connection to the tax violations would be filed against Suge Knight. Kenner faced as much as a year in jail, but would file a request for probation, according to his attorney, Donald Re.
Philips’s article also cited a letter from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles stating that Knight would not be prosecuted for money laundering. Knight hailed this news as a vindication. “I appreciate the fact that, after looking into these lies and finding nothing, [the government] had the integrity to say, ‘OK, this guy broke no law,’ and called it off.”
Neither Knight nor his attorneys commented on the fact that the letter from the U.S. Attorney’s office had not cleared him of murder, drug trafficking, or gunrunning, but Knight did attack Rolling Stone magazine and the VH1 television network for reports that linked him to the deaths of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls. As had been his practice for more than a decade now, Knight accused his accusers of racism. “Do you think they could get away with publishing this kind of crap about a white executive?” he asked Philips. “No way.”
The Times article briefly quoted Russell Poole, who told Philips, “I believe that Suge Knight was involved in the murders of Biggie and Tupac. In my opinion, neither Knight nor Chief Parks have been held accountable for what they’ve done.”
On the morning the Times article ran, Poole took a phone call from two FBI agents who had told him they were launching an independent investigation of Suge Knight’s possible role in the murders of Shakur and Smalls. “They told me they were happy about the Times’ story,” Poole reported. “They said, ‘This is all good. We’d like Suge Knight to think that the federal government is no longer investigating him.’”
LABYRINTH ROSTER
DEATH ROW RECORDS
Marion “Suge” Knight, CEO Death Row Records
Tupac Shakur, rapper, actor
Calvin “Snoop Dogg” Broadus, rapper
Andre “Dr. Dre” Young, rapper, producer, record executive
David “DJ Quik” Blake, rapper and Bloods gang member
Tracy “the D.O.C.” Curry, rapper
Michel’e, singer
David Kenner, criminal attorney for Suge Knight and Snoop Dogg, legal adviser to Death Row Records, executive of West Coast Management
Steve Cantrock, Death Row Records accountant and business manager, federal witness
Norris Anderson, brother-in-law to Suge Knight, Death Row Records executive
Sharitha Knight, estranged wife of Suge Knight, manager to Snoop Dogg
Kevin Lewis, studio manager for Death Row Records
Reggie Wright Jr., owner/operator of Wrightway Protective Services, director of security for Death Row Records, factotum to Suge Knight
Frank Alexander, bodyguard to Tupac Shakur
Kevin Hackie, bodyguard to Tupac Shakur
BAD BOY ENTERTAINMENT
Sean “Puffy” Combs, rapper, producer, CEO of Bad Boy Entertainment
Biggie Smalls aka Notorious B.I.G. aka Christopher Wallace, rapper
James “Li’l Caesar” Lloyd, rapper, associate of Biggie Smalls
Damien “D-Rock” Butler, friend and associate of Biggie Smalls
Gregory “G-Money” Young, friend and associate of Biggie Smalls
Paul Offord, director of security for Bad Boy Entertainment
Kenneth Story, factotum to Puffy Combs
Eugene Deal, New York State Probation officer, bodyguard to Puffy Combs
Faith Evans, singer, estranged wife of Biggie Smalls
Mary J. Blige, singer
Li’l Kim, singer, girlfriend of Biggie Smalls
RUTHLESS RECORDS
Eric “Eazy-E” Wright, CEO of Ruthless Records
Jerry Heller, business manager of Ruthless Records
BLOODS GANG
Jai Hassan Jamaal “Jake the Violator” Robles, Suge Knight’s friend and favorite thug, shooting victim
Roger “Neckbone” Williams, identified by police as one of “Suge’s thugs”
Aaron “Heron” Palmer, identified by police as one of “Suge’s thugs,” murder victim
Crawford “Hi-C” Wilkerson, identified by police as one of “Suge’s thugs”
Ronald “Ram” Lamb, identified by police as one of “Suge’s thugs”
Trevon “Tray” Lane, identified by police as one of “Suge’s thugs”
Henry “Hen Dog” Smith, identified by police as one of “Suge’s thugs”
Alton “Buntry” McDonald, identified by police as the most fearsome of “Suge’s thugs”
Tim and James McDonald, brothers of Alton, identified by police as “Suge’s thugs”
CRIPS GANG
Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, victim of beating by Tupac Shakur, Suge Knight, and assorted Bloods gang members, suspect in murder of Tupac Shakur, shooting victim
Duane Keith “Keffy-D” Davis, uncle of Orlando Anderson, briefly suspect in murder of Biggie Smalls
Jerry “Monk” Bonds, friend of Orlando Anderson, suspect in murder of Tupac Shakur
LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT
Russell Poole, retired LAPD homicide detective
Bernard Parks, Los Angeles Police Chief
Willie Williams, former Los Angeles Police Chief
Daryl Gates, former Los Angeles Police Chief
Dan Schatz, LAPD commander
Jim Tatreau, LAPD captain, commanding officer of Robbery-Homicide Division
Pat Conmay, LAPD lieutenant, Robbery-Homicide Division
Emmanuel Hernandez, LAPD lieutenant, protégé of Bernard Parks, leader of Rampart Task Force
Fred Miller, LAPD detective supervisor, partner of Russell Poole
Kelly Cooper, LAPD detective, investigator of Kelly Jamerson beating death and Biggie Smalls shooting
Rafael Perez, former LAPD detective, liar, thief, and “cooperating witness”
David Mack, former LAPD detective, federal prison inmate
Kevin Gaines, LAPD officer, killed by Frank Lyga in March of 1997
Frank Lyga, LAPD detective cleared in shooting of Kevin Gaines
Derwin Henderson, LAPD officer, friend to Kevin Gaines and Sharitha Knight
Nino Durden, former LAPD detective, partner of Rafael Perez, federal witness
Sammy Martin, suspended LAPD detective, friend to David Mack and Rafael Perez
Brian Hewitt, former LAPD detective, dismissed from department for beating of Ismael Jimanez
Ethan Cohan, former LAPD detective, dismissed from department for failing to report beating of Ismael Jimanez
Richard McCauley, former LAPD sergeant who resigned “in lieu of dismissal” shortly before departmental trial board where he faced charges connected to his employment by Death Row Records
Kenneth Knox, LAPD senior lead officer who initiated original investigation of Death Row Records and police officers employed by rap label
Brian Tyndall, LAPD detective supervisor, Robbery-Homicide Division
John Iancin, LAPD sergeant and Internal Affairs Division investigator
Hurley Glenn Criner, David Love, and Kenneth Sutton, LAPD officers named by Reggie
Wright Jr. as “security employees” of Death Row Records
LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
Gil Garcetti, former Los Angeles County District Attorney
Steve Cooley, current Los Angeles County District Attorney
Richard Rosenthal, assistant district attorney, prosecutor of Rafael Perez
Lawrence Longo, former assistant district attorney, prosecutor of Suge Knight, fired from job in 1997
William Hodgeman, deputy district attorney, prosecutor of Suge Knight
George Castillo, assistant district attorney, friend to Russell Poole
LOS ANGELES CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
James Hahn, former Los Angeles City Attorney, current mayor of Los Angeles
Corey Brente, assistant city attorney in charge of Gaines-Lyga lawsuit
LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT
John Ouderkirk, judge who sentenced Suge Knight to probation
Stephen Czuleger, judge who sentenced Suge Knight to prison
LOS ANGELES MEDIA
Matt Lait and Scott Glover, Los Angeles Times reporters
Chuck Philips, Los Angeles Times reporter
Rick Barrs, editor, New Times of Los Angeles
Charles Rappleye, articles editor, LA Weekly
LAWYERS
Johnnie L. Cochran, former O.J. Simpson attorney who represented estate of Kevin Gaines and assisted in criminal defenses of Puffy Combs and Snoop Dogg
Winston K. McKesson, Johnnie Cochran protégé and attorney for Rafael Perez
Charles Ogletree, Harvard Law School professor and attorney for Tupac Shakur
Oscar Goodman, Las Vegas attorney and self-proclaimed “Mouthpiece for the Mob” who provided legal counsel to Suge Knight, now mayor of Las Vegas
David Chessoff, former U.S. Attorney, partner of Oscar Goodman and attorney for Suge Knight
Donald Re, attorney for both David Mack and Suge Knight
Milton Grimes, former Rodney King attorney who later represented both Kevin Gaines and Suge Knight
Perry Sanders and Robert Frank, attorneys for Violetta Wallace in wrongful death lawsuit against City of Los Angeles
OTHERS
Violetta Wallace, mother of Christopher Wallace aka Biggie Smalls
Afeni Shakur, mother of Tupac Shakur
Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field, owners and operators of Interscope
Ralph Poole, former L.A. County Sheriff’s deputy, father of Russell Poole
Gary Poole, brother of Russell Poole, missing since 1996
Harry Billups aka Amir Muhammed aka Harry Muhammed, friend of David Mack, suspected of involvement in the murder of Biggie Smalls
Kelly Jamerson, Crips gang member, beaten to death by mob at Death Row Records party, March of 1995
Mark Anthony Bell, friend of Puffy Combs, alleged victim of beating and robbery at Death Row Records Christmas party, December of 1995
Michael “Harry-O” Harris, South Central Los Angeles drug lord and businessman known as “Ghetto Godfather,” provided start-up money for Death Row Records
Bruce Richardson, drug dealer, businessman, legendary street fighter, and murder victim
Corey Edwards, friend to Orlando Anderson, alleged member of Southside Compton Crips, police informant
Rev. Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist, friend to Afeni Shakur, delivered eulogy at Tupac Shakur memorial service
Maxine Waters, U.S. congresswoman, friend and supporter of Suge Knight Omar Bradley, former mayor of Compton, California, friend and supporter of Suge Knight
Rob “Vanilla Ice” Van Winkle, rapper
Dick Griffey, CEO of Solar Records, producer of Soul Train TV show, mentor to Suge Knight
Andre Harrell, CEO of Uptown Records and (later) Motown Records, mentor to Puffy Combs
Quincy Jones, musician, producer, publisher of VIBE magazine
Kidada Jones, daugher of Quincy Jones and fiancée of Tupac Shakur
Mustapha Farrakhan, son of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan
George and Lynwood Stanley, music producers and victims of assault by Suge Knight
C. DeLores Tucker, director of Black Women’s Caucus, anti-rap activist
Jacques Agnant, music producer and executive
Albert and Allen Hughes, filmmakers
Yafu Fula, member of Outlaw Immortalz, witness to murder of Tupac Shakur, murder victim
Reggie Blaylock, Inglewood police officer working security for Biggie Smalls on night of his murder
James Green, Compton police officer and Death Row Records “security employee”
Melissa Delgado, girlfriend of Richard McCauley
Jesse Vincencio, alleged drug dealer shot to death by David Mack
Veronica Quesada, nightclub singer, drug dealer, girlfriend of Rafael Perez
Carlos Romero, drug dealer and brother of Veronica Quesada
Sonia Flores, former girlfriend of Rafael Perez, FBI informant
Errolyn Romero, girlfriend of David Mack and accessory in Bank of America robbery
Dale Williams, accessory in Bank of America robbery, police informant
Javier Ovando, 18th Street Gang member, victim of illegal shooting by Rafael Perez and Nino Durden
Ismael Jimanez, 18th Street Gang member, victim of beating by Brian Hewitt
Carlos Oliva, victim of LAPD assault
Mickey Thompson, race car driver, former world land-speed record holder, murder victim
Mike Goodwin, promoter, suspect in Mickey Thompson murder
Erwin Chemerinsky, USC law professor and talking head
Tom Hayden, former California state senator, political activist
Jackie Goldberg, Los Angeles City Council member
Ramona Ripston, head of American Civil Liberties Union in Southern California
Gerald Chaleff, criminal defense attorney and former president of Los Angeles Police Commission
TIME LINE
1987 Suge Knight pleads guilty to battery with a deadly weapon in Las Vegas, sentence suspended
Andre “Dr. Dre” Young signs contract with Eric “Eazy-E” Wright of Ruthless Records
1988 Group N.W.A. (Niggaz With Attitude) records Straight Outta Compton
Suge Knight arrested for assault at Los Angeles International Airport
1989 Suge Knight cut from Los Angeles Rams football team
Ruthless Records reports Straight Outta Compton has sold 2 million copies
1990 Suge Knight pleads guilty to battery in Beverly Hills, sentence suspended
Suge Knight pleads guilty to battery in Hollywood, sentence suspended
Suge Knight arrested for assault with a deadly weapon in Las Vegas
Suge Knight pleads guilty to disturbing the peace in Van Nuys, sentence suspended
Suge Knight persuades the D.O.C. to join new label he will call Funky Enough Records
1991 Suge Knight convicted of giving a false name when arrested in possession of a deadly weapon in Beverly Hills, sentence suspended
Suge Knight persuades Vanilla Ice to sign over song rights to Mario “Chocolate” Johnson
Future Shock Entertainment files articles of incorporation, lists Marion “Suge” Knight as president
Suge Knight persuades Eazy-E to release Dr. Dre from his contract with Ruthless Records
David Kenner arranges meeting between Suge Knight and Michael “Harry-O” Harris at Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles; the three men negotiate a joint venture for record company Harris calls Death Row Records
Tupac Shakur releases first album, 2pacalypse Now
1992 Suge Knight charged with assault with a deadly weapon in
Beverly Hills, eventually pleads guilty to misdemeanor battery, sentence suspended
Suge Knight convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in Las Vegas, sentence suspended
Suge Knight convicted of carrying a concealed weapon in West Covina, sentence suspended
Suge Knight convicted of disturbing the peace in Van
Nuys, sentence suspended
Suge Knight arrested for armed assault of George and Lynwood Stanley at Solar Records studios in North Hollywood
Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field of Interscope agree to invest $10 million in new rap label, Death Row Records, if Dr. Dre is signed
Death Row Records files articles of incorporation, Marion “Suge” Knight listed as president; no mention of Michael Harris
Dr. Dre releases his first record on Death Row label, Chronic; becomes biggest selling rap album of all time
Sean “Puffy” Combs, twenty-two, named vice president for A&R at Uptown Records
1993 Death Row Records releases Snoop Doggy Dogg’s Doggystyle; album goes double platinum
Suge Knight, Dr. Dre, and the D.O.C. arrested after brawling outside Black Radio Exclusive convention in New Orleans; fifteen-year-old fan stabbed during melee
Andre Harrell fires Puffy Combs from Uptown Records
Puffy Combs incorporates Bad Boy Entertainment, signs distribution deal with Arista Records
Tupac Shakur releases second album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., appears in film Poetic Justice with Janet Jackson
Snoop Dogg and two associates charged with the murder of Philip Woldemariam
Dr. Dre convicted of assault for breaking jaw of producer Damon Thomas
Tupac Shakur arrested for shooting an off-duty Atlanta police officer, charges eventually dropped
Tupac Shakur charged with sexually assaulting Ayanna Jackson at the Parker-Meridian in New York City
C. DeLores Tucker founds National Political Congress of Black Women to attack gangsta rap
1994 Bad Boy Entertainment releases first album of Biggie Smalls aka