Los Angeles – After a brief search, US authorities arrested 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 also working as an entertainment entrepreneur on Wednesday, officials announced.
Eugene Henley Jr., also known as “Big U,” was one of 18 Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips members charged in a federal complaint with a slew of federal crimes, including drug trafficking, conspiracy, and firearms offenses, according to a statement from the United States Attorney’s Office.
Ten gang members were arrested this week, with Henley, 58, and one other initially considered fugitives, according to the statement. The FBI announced on X Wednesday evening that both had been arrested. The other defendants were already in custody.
Henley allegedly oversaw a criminal operation known as the “Big U Enterprise,” and he is also accused of embezzling donations to Developing Options, an anti-gang charity he founded but prosecutors say he used “as a front for fraudulent purposes and to insulate its members from suspicion by law enforcement.”
According to prosecutors, he is suspected of killing an aspiring rapper signed to his recording company, Uneek Music, in 2021.
The rapper, identified in court documents as “R.W.,” was allegedly shot and killed by Henley after recording a “defamatory song” about the gang leader in a Las Vegas studio, prosecutors said. R.W.’s body was discovered in a ditch off Interstate 15 in the Nevada desert.
Prosecutors claim Henley ran the business like a mob boss, using his stature and long-standing association with the Rollin’ 60s and other street gangs to intimidate Los Angeles businesses and residents.
“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 a ‘O.G.’ (original gangster) to create fame for — and stoke fear of — the Big U Enterprise, its members, and its associates,” according to the statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.
Henley is accused of organizing criminal activities such as extortion, robbery, trafficking and exploiting sex workers, fraud, and illegal gambling. He is also suspected of submitting a fraudulent application for a COVID-19 pandemic relief loan on behalf of Uneek Music.
It was unclear Wednesday whether Henley has an attorney. If convicted, he faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.
