Photo by Mark Sullivan/WireImageA Village Voice article reports that convicted drug kingpin James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond has implicated himself in the 1994 robbery and shooting of Tupac Shakur outside Manhattan's Quad Studios. The Village Voice writer, Chuck Philips, previously wrote a Los Angeles Times story pointing to Rosemond as the mastermind behind the attack on Tupac, but the newspaper retracted the story because federal documents supporting Philips' interviews with people claiming to know about the attack were found to be fake.
But new evidence in the attack on Tupac has given Philips vindication. According the Village Voice, Rosemond confessed during proffer sessions with the government that he was involved in the Quad Studios attack on Pac. During proffer sessions, suspects can admit to criminal activity without fear that the information will be used to prosecute them.
Rosemond's admission came up in court after a defense lawyer denied Rosemond's involvement in the Tupac ambush, and berated the L.A. Times story that suggested his client had called for the attack. That's when prosecutors piped up, reportedly saying, "If [Rosemond's attorney] is going to argue that this was a fabricated article, it's the government's position that we can put in the defendant's own admission about that particular shooting."
Rosemond is on trial on charges of running a cocaine ring that smuggled money and drugs between New York and Los Angeles. If convicted he could face life in prison, but he'll never be charged for his part in the 1994 attack on Tupac. The crime was classified as a robbery, and in New York the statue of limitations on robbery is seven years.
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