NEW YORK — A hip-hop mogul wanted by federal authorities on drug charges did not orchestrate a plot to ambush rapper Tupac Shakur outside a recording studio in the mid-1990s, his lawyer said Thursday.
The accusations against James Rosemond, owner of Czar Entertainment, were leveled online and attributed to convicted killer Dexter Isaac, who is serving a life sentence in an unrelated murder-for-hire plot. Isaac says, according to the website , that he was paid $2,500 by Rosemond to shoot and rob Shakur.
Shakur was hit five times in the shooting at the Quad Studios in Manhattan in 1994. He survived but was later gunned down in a slaying that remains unsolved.
New York City police were investigating the claims, though it’s not clear if anyone would face charges, in part because the incident occurred about 17 years ago. Rosemond is wanted by federal authorities in New York on drug charges and as of Thursday remained a fugitive.
His lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, could not comment about the federal case against his client. But he said the accusations posted online were lies fabricated because Isaac is upset he was outed as a government informant.
