Jay-Z, Ja Rule, Fat Joe and more come to support at Murder Inc. Trial Closing
 

As reported y the NY Times, the final phase of the money-laundering trial of Murder Inc. played out in Brooklyn federal court yesterday, as prosecutors and defense lawyers traded bitter and sarcastic barbs before an audience including some of the biggest names in hip-hop.

One of the prosecutors, Carolyn Pokorny, an assistant United States attorney, told the jury that the producer, Irv Gotti, 35, who headed the Murder Inc. record label, and his brother, Christopher Gotti, 38, had used the company to wash drug money "for one of the biggest, baddest, most dangerous drug lords in New York City."

"They took in dirty, filthy, street money," she said in her closing argument, "and they gave Supreme back clean money."

The drug dealer, Kenneth McGriff, who the men acknowledge is a friend, goes by the name Supreme on the streets of Queens, where he led a drug gang in the 1980's; he is in prison for gun possession and faces a racketeering indictment that includes multiple murder charges.

Ms. Pokorny spoke to the jury for about two hours as a constellation of hip-hop figures - including Jay-Z, Ashanti, Ja Rule, Fat Joe and Russell Simmons - sat in the gallery's front row. She outlined the government's evidence, much of it circumstantial, focusing on transactions that she argued showed that the men had washed drug money from Mr. McGriff, including their payments for his travel and hotels and the financing of his straight-to-video movie, "Crime Partners," in 2000.

She gave the jurors what she described as a Cliffs Notes course on money laundering and sought to repair and bolster the credibility of several government witnesses who came under withering cross-examination during the three-week trial.

At one point, she suggested that the defense lawyers in the case - Gerald L. Shargel and Gerald B. Lefcourt - whom she referred to as "men of a certain age" - had misled the jury by suggesting that one of the witnesses in the case was homeless as part of their effort to undermine his credibility.

Later, Mr. Shargel, who represents Christopher Gotti, began his closing argument to the jury, telling the panel, "I may be a man of a certain age, but I'm not going to talk to you like you're in kindergarten."

He noted later that Ms. Pokorny had described Mr. McGriff alternately as the biggest drug dealer in New York City and the biggest drug dealer in Queens, and said that befriending him and doing business with him was not a crime.

"Even if Supreme McGriff was the biggest drug dealer in the world - forget New York - and even if 'Crime Partners' was the worst movie ever made in the history of American entertainment, there is nothing illegal in giving financial backing to the movie," he said.

He argued that Mr. McGriff had provided a service to the brothers, whose real last name is Lorenzo, saying he kept away "the street element" and anyone seeking to extort money from the record label.

He also contended that the government had misconstrued much of the evidence, looking at it "through dirty glasses," and said, "This is a case built on guesswork and speculation, a case out of no case."

During the arguments, the Gotti brothers listened intently, scowling at points during the prosecutor's presentation and smiling slightly when their lawyers sought to make their points. Irv Gotti wore a trim, tan suit with a tan shirt and tie, and his brother wore a dark suit, a blue shirt and a muted striped tie. If convicted, the brothers each face a maximum of 20 years in prison.

The brothers' supporters in the crowded gallery erupted in laughter twice during Mr. Shargel's summation, as he ridiculed the government's arguments and witnesses, prompting Chief Judge Edward R. Korman to bang his gavel and warn spectators to remain silent.

During a recess, Mr. Simmons, the hip-hop mogul who gave Irv Gotti his start in the business, suggested that the prosecution's focus was misguided. "Poverty and ignorance in our community is more of a problem than convicting our poets," he said.

Mr. Lefcourt suggested to the jurors that the case stemmed from the government's misunderstanding of the world of hip-hop. "You know there is a cultural divide between these tables," he said. "They don't like hearing about rap music, they don't like the way they talk, they don't like the name Murder Inc., and they don't like the name Irv Gotti - well, too bad."

He drew a comparison to another entertainer who had rubbed shoulders with criminals. "People used to say that about Frank Sinatra - all his friends in the Mafia," he said. "It wasn't a crime for him even if he was taking pictures with Carlo Gambino of the Gambino crime family."