Federal authorities apprehend longtime LA gang leader suspected of murder and human trafficking

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — U.S. authorities have taken a longtime leader of a Los Angeles street gang who investigators say ran a “mafia-like” criminal enterprise that included murder, human trafficking and extortion while he also worked as an entertainment entrepreneur into custody Wednesday after a brief search, officials announced.

Eugene Henley Jr., known as “Big U,” was one of 18 members of the Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips charged in a federal complaint with a litany of federal crimes including drug trafficking, conspiracy, and firearms offenses, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement.

Ten gang members were arrested this week while Henley, 58, and one other were initially considered fugitives, the statement said. The FBI announced on X Wednesday evening that both had been taken into custody. Other defendants were already in custody.

Henley allegedly masterminded a criminal operation that investigators dubbed the “Big U Enterprise,” and is also suspected of embezzling donations to Developing Options, an anti-gang charity he founded but which prosecutors say he used “as a front for fraudulent purposes and to insulate its members from suspicion by law enforcement.”

He is suspected in the 2021 killing of an aspiring rap musician who was signed to his recording company, Uneek Music, according to prosecutors.

The rapper, identified in court documents as “R.W.,” was allegedly shot and killed by Henley after he recorded a “defamatory song” about the gang leader at a Las Vegas studio, prosecutors said. R.W.’s body was found in a ditch off Interstate 15 in the Nevada desert.

Prosecutors said Henley ran the enterprise like a mob boss and used his stature and long-standing association with the Rollin’ 60s and other street gangs to intimidate businesses and individuals in Los Angeles.

“Not only did the enterprise expand its power through violence, fear, and intimidation, but it also used social media platforms, documentaries, podcasts, interviews, and Henley’s reputation and status as an ‘O.G.’ (original gangster) to create fame for — and stoke fear of — the Big U Enterprise, its members, and its associates,” the U.S. attorney’s statement said.

Henley is accused of organizing criminal activity including extortion, robbery, trafficking and exploiting sex workers, fraud, and illegal gambling. In addition, he’s suspected of submitting a fraudulent application for a COVID-19 pandemic relief loan for Uneek Music.

It wasn’t known Wednesday if Henley has an attorney. If convicted, he could face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

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The story has been updated to correct that officials were searching for Henley and one other, not two.