A federal judge Monday denied accused gang kingpin Eugene Henley Jr.’s request for temporary release from custody to participate in funeral rites for his son, who was killed last month in South Los Angeles.
Henley, also known as “Big U,” faces federal racketeering charges for running what investigators say was a “mafia-like” criminal enterprise that included murder, human trafficking and extortion.
He was also allegedly linked to the 2021 killing of an aspiring rapper in Las Vegas, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Police said Henley’s 34-year-old son, Jabari — who was not a defendant in his father’s case — died after being shot just after 11 p.m. Oct. 31 outside a smoke shop in the Vermont-Slauson neighborhood of South Los Angeles. No one has been arrested for his murder, court papers show.
The defendant’s motion for temporary release to attend the ceremony on Friday proposed numerous conditions, including continuous electronic surveillance and an independent private security detail to guard Henley, but U.S. District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha was not swayed during the hearing Monday in downtown Los Angeles.
Henley’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to witnesses, Jabari was approaching a vehicle when someone inside the car shot him, police said. Firefighters pronounced him dead at the scene.
Prosecutors allege the victim’s father is a leader of the Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips and runs a vast, “mafia-like” organization that has committed a host of crimes. A 43-count indictment filed in March in Los Angeles federal court charges him with a single count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, along with multiple counts of robbery, extortion, wire fraud and embezzlement.
A half-dozen others are also charged in the case.
Before he surrendered to authorities, Henley, a self-described anti-gang activist from the South L.A. community of Hyde Park, posted videos on social media denying any wrongdoing.
“Ain’t going to be no real evidence,” Henley posted. “Ain’t going to be no real nothing … Now, they’re saying all that stuff to assassinate my character.”
A magistrate judge in April ordered Henley to remain in federal custody while awaiting trial. Prosecutors successfully argued that the defendant would present a threat to the community, the victims and witnesses if allowed to go free.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, for decades Henley “has put on a public facade, masquerading as a reformed gang member and legitimate businessman whose only ambition was to better his community. But defendant wasn’t helping Crenshaw. He was helping himself.”
In their argument for pretrial detention, prosecutors wrote that Henley was “secretly operating as kingpin of a criminal enterprise that has ruled Los Angeles through violence, fear, and intimidation. Now, he seeks pretrial release under the guise of his `reformed’ persona even though his criminal activities have included murder, extortion, robbery, wire fraud, bank fraud, and human trafficking. The court should see through defendant’s farce and keep him in custody for the safety of the community.”
Federal prosecutors contend Henley killed Las Vegas rapper Rayshawn Williams in January 2021, saying the victim — who had been signed by Henley’s Uneek Music record label — had recorded a defamatory song about the rap entrepreneur. Henley allegedly killed him “then dragged the victim’s body off Interstate 15 in Las Vegas and left it in a ditch,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Henley is also accused of defrauding famous athletes, including Basketball Hall of Famer and former Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal and Golden State Warriors four-time all-star forward Draymond Green, by persuading them to donate money to charity — cash that he allegedly pocketed himself.
In addition, Henley is accused of fraudulently obtaining funding from the Gang Reduction and Youth Development program supervised by the L.A. Mayor’s Office.
According to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint, from 2010 to the present, Henley’s Big U Enterprise “operated as a mafia-like organization that utilized Henley’s stature and long-standing association” with gangs to intimidate businesses and individuals in Los Angeles.
Henley was instrumental in launching the career of the late Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was shot to death in South Los Angeles in 2019. He served 13 years in prison for trying to steal cocaine from an undercover sheriff’s deputy in 1991. Another son, Daiyan Henley, is a linebacker with the Los Angeles Chargers.
A status conference as to all defendants in the racketeering case is set for Dec. 3, with trial scheduled for May in downtown Los Angeles.
If convicted as charged, Henley could face decades behind bars, prosecutors noted.