Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond's lawyer is categorically denying that his client ever admitted to involvement in the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur, refuting statements by a prosecutor that came to light last week in an article in the Village Voice. The article contained a transcript from Rosemond's recent drug trial in which U.S. attorney Soumya Dayananda states that the embattled hip hop mogul had previously implicated himself in the shooting.
"The statement by the prosecutor that Jimmy Rosemond had confessed or admitted to being involved in the 1994 shooting of Tupac is totally false," Rosemond's attorney Gerald Shargel told MTV News. "He categorically and emphatically denied that he had participation or role in that shooting and that was clear from the outset."
Dayananda's comments came after Shargel had denounced a 2008 story in the Los Angeles Times that first implicated Rosemond in the Tupac shooting as part of a smear campaign. The prosecutor maintained that the article was actually accurate, and attempted to admit statements Rosemond allegedly made during a proffer session with the government. Such sessions are ordinarily confidential and allow those charged with a crime to admit to previous wrongdoing in order to receive reduced sentencing.
"If Mr. Shargel 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," the prosecutor said during the trial. "In saying it is not true, when in fact it is true, the government should be able to rebut that argument that he's making, [and introduce] that the defendant actually admitted to this 1994 shooting."
Dayananda's request was denied and Rosemond's statements during the proffer sessions remain sealed. His attorney, who was present during the session, says Dayananda is mistaken about what took place there.
"Her statement was positively and absolutely false whether intentional, or not intentional. I think not intentional," he said. "She was not the prosecutor who sat in on any of the proffer sessions with Mr. Rosemond."
Rosemond is currently awaiting sentencing after having been found guilty on 14 counts of drug trafficking and related charges. Last weekend, he was formally indicted for a separate charge that he ordered the fatal shooting of 50 Cent associate Lowell "Lodi Mack" Fletcher in 2009.

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