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James Rosemond often known as Jimmy Henchman or sometimes Jimmy Henchmen, is an American entertainment record executive and convicted drug trafficker.


Early life

Rosemond was born in 1965, in
Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...
, New York and grew up in
Flatbush, Brooklyn Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood consists of several subsections in central Brooklyn and is generally bounded by Prospect Park to the north, East Flatbush to the east, Midwood to the south, ...
, New York, in an apartment complex called Vanderveer Gardens. His parents migrated from Haiti in the 1960s. They divorced when he was young, leaving his mother to raise five children alone.


Entertainment career

Rosemond and several friends founded the music conference "How Can I Be Down" in 1992. In 2002, Rosemond negotiated the Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson boxing match. It was the first time that a boxer demanded that after a million buys on pay-per-view, the boxers would split the purse 50–50 with
Showtime Networks Showtime Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company that oversees the company's premium cable television channels, including its flagship service Showtime. It is a subsidiary of media conglomerate Paramount Global under its networks un ...
/ HBO. In 2003, Rosemond, along with
Chris Lighty Darrel Steven "Chris" Lighty (May 8, 1968 – August 30, 2012) was an American music industry executive. He co-founded Violator, a record label, management and marketing company, which represented hip hop and R&B artists such as Busta Rhymes ...
, joined Russell Simmons in his campaign to end New York's draconian
Rockefeller Drug Laws The Rockefeller Drug Laws are the statutes dealing with the sale and possession of " narcotic" drugs in the New York State Penal Law. The laws are named after Nelson Rockefeller, who was the state's governor at the time the laws were adopted. Ro ...
. Rosemond along with Shakim Compere and Mona Scott, executive produced
BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...
's ''SOS Saving Ourselves: Help for Haiti'', a
telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons f ...
held at
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
's
American Airlines Arena FTX Arena (known as American Airlines Arena from 1999 to 2021) is a multi-purpose arena located in Miami, Florida, along Biscayne Bay. It was constructed beginning in 1998 as a replacement for the Miami Arena and designed by the architecture f ...
on February 5, 2010, to raise money for the devastated victims of the
2010 Haiti earthquake A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's c ...
that killed over 100,000 people. Circa 1996, Rosemond founded Henchmen, the company that would later become the rap management company Czar Entertainment. He was the CEO of Czar, when it managed The Game, Sean Kingston, Brandy,
Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and record executive. He helped pioneer the hip hop subgenre of trap music alongside fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Young Jeezy, ...
,
Guerilla Black Charles Williamson (born 1977), better known by his stage name Guerilla Black, is an American rapper from Compton, California. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he came to fame after releasing his debut album '' Guerilla City'' (2004), which feature ...
, Salt-n-Pepa and
Akon Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (; born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of " Locked Up" (featuring Styles P ...
. He was a known figure in the hip hop music industry, described in a 2012 ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' article as "a prince at the royal court, whose ties to rap music’s biggest stars were known far and wide." Rosemond was behind Salt-n-Pepa's " Shoop" and he was The Game's manager during a feud with 50 Cent when The Game recorded the
diss track A diss track, diss record or diss song (diss – abbr. from ''disrespect'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feud between the ...
"300 Bars and Runnin." In 2006, Henchman and 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) settled a lawsuit regarding a DVD that Czar Entertainment released about 50 Cent's namesake, Kelvin "50 Cent" Martin, in which interviews with Jackson were alleged to have been inappropriately used. In the settlement, a charity was created with funds going to support Martin and his children.


Criminal charges and conviction


Drug trafficking, money laundering and witness tampering convictions

In June 2010, Rosemond was arrested on charges of cocaine trafficking, money laundering, and witness tampering. He went on trial in May 2012, represented by
Gerald Shargel Gerald "Jerry" Lawrence Shargel (October 5, 1944 – July 16, 2022) was an American defense attorney who was based in New York City and generally considered one of the best criminal defense lawyers in the country. Early life and education S ...
. On June 5, 2012, Rosemond was convicted in
Federal District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...
in Brooklyn of drug trafficking, obstruction of justice, firearms violations and other financial crimes associated with his position as head of a multi-million-dollar transnational cocaine-selling organization. At trial, it was alleged that Rosemond led the large scale, bi-coastal narcotics-trafficking organization that transported cocaine from
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
,
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
to the
New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass, at , and one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. The vast metropolitan area ...
. The group, known as the "Rosemond Organization," in turn shipped cash proceeds from the narcotics sales back to Los Angeles using a variety of methods as part of its operation. Millions of dollars in cash and narcotics were sent through
Federal Express FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...
and
United Parcel Service United Parcel Service (UPS, stylized as ups) is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializing in telegraphs, UPS has grown t ...
, often covered in
mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...
to avoid discovery by
detection dog A detection dog or sniffer dog is a dog that is trained to use its senses to detect substances such as explosives, illegal drugs, wildlife scat, currency, blood, and contraband electronics such as illicit mobile phones. The sense most used by ...
s. In the indictment, prosecutors noted that Rosemond made over $11 million a year since 2007 through his drug trafficking scheme. On October 25, 2013, Rosemond was sentenced to life imprisonment. As part of his sentence, Rosemond forfeited approximately $14 million in cash and property.
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in five New York counties: Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, Richmond (Staten Island), Nassau and Suffolk. The current U.S. Attorney is Breon Pe ...
Loretta E. Lynch Loretta Elizabeth Lynch (born May 21, 1959) is an American lawyer who served as the 83rd attorney general of the United States from 2015 to 2017. She was appointed by President Barack Obama to succeed Eric Holder and previously served as the Un ...
said that Rosemond's carefully crafted image as a music mogul was in reality "a cover for the real Jimmy Rosemond - a thug in a suit." Presiding Judge John Gleeson remarked that he would have sentenced Rosemond to life even if it were not legally required as his crimes were "astonishing in their breadth, duration and intensity." On March 10, 2016, Rosemond filed a
habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
appeal with the same federal court seeking a new trial along with a complaint to the U.S. Justice Department
Office of Professional Responsibility The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), part of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and supervised by the FBI, is responsible for investigating lawyers employed by the Department of Justice who have been accused of misconduct ...
against former U.S. Attorney Todd Kaminsky citing actions taken with regard to securing testimony from the government's lead witness Henry "Black" Butler. In 2019, the court denied the writ and dismissed his appeal.


Murder for hire

In June 2012, Rosemond was charged with four crimes in connection with the death of
G-Unit G-Unit (short for Guerilla Unit) was an American hip hop group formed by longtime friends and East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks. After amassing a string of self-released mixtapes in the early 2000s, the group released t ...
affiliate Lowell "Lodi Mack" Fletcher, including
murder-for-hire Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...
and conspiracy to commit murder. Rosemond is alleged to have arranged a murder as payback for the alleged assault on his son by
Tony Yayo Marvin Bernard (born March 31, 1978), better known by his stage name Tony Yayo, is an American rapper. He is best known as a member of G-Unit, a hip hop group he formed with his childhood friends 50 Cent and Lloyd Banks. Yayo released his deb ...
. The trial began on February 10, 2014 in a New York federal court. More than 35 witnesses testified at the trial. Closing arguments finished on March 4, 2014. The jury deliberations resulted in a hung jury on the four counts for both Rosemond and co-defendant Johnson. Rosemond came before a jury again in December 2014 and on December 11 the jury found him guilty on all charges for the murder of Lowell "Lodi Mack" Fletcher. On March 23, 2015, Rosemond was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years by Judge
Colleen McMahon Colleen McMahon (born July 18, 1951) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Education and career Born in Columbus, Ohio, McMahon received a Bachelor of Arts degree f ...
. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd circuit overturned the conviction in 2016. The case was tried for the third time in 2017. Rosemond was again convicted and sentenced to life plus 30 years. He is assigned BOP#17903-054 and is at USP Hazelton.


Personal life

Rosemond has a son. In 2008, the '' LA Times'' retracted and apologized for a story which had alleged that Rosemond had been involved in a criminal event. The story was based on documents created by a person convicted of fraud that had been falsely believed to be from an FBI file.


Cultural influence

Rosemond is profiled by filmmaker Don Sikorski in the documentary video series ''Unjust Justice: The Jimmy Rosemond Tapes'' released in 2016 and podcast ''Unjust Justice: The Jimmy Rosemond Story'' released in 2020 and hosted by
Michael K. Williams Michael Kenneth Williams (November 22, 1966 – September 6, 2021) was an American actor. He rose to fame in 2002 through his critically acclaimed role as Omar Little on the HBO drama series ''The Wire''. He has been described as a "singular pr ...
. The series take an investigative look into Rosemond's life, criminal cases, and portrayal by the media. Rosemond was mentioned by name (as "Henchman") by
Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...
in his song "Against All Odds" on his album '' The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory'', on which Shakur raps "promise to payback Jimmy Henchman in due time." Tupac believed that Rosemond was involved in setting up the shooting and robbery of Shakur at the Quad Recording Studios in New York in November 1994. In 2012, a man named Dexter Isaac, serving a life sentence for unrelated crimes, claimed that he attacked Shakur that night and that the robbery was indeed orchestrated by Rosemond. American rapper Rick Ross acknowledges Rosemond as a mentor in his song "Ghostwriter" from the album '' Black Market'': "Remember receiving words of wisdom from Jimmy Henchman I lit a blunt in his honor when he received his sentence."


Further listening


References


External links


Supporters' website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosemond, James Living people 1965 births American chief executives American drug traffickers American people convicted of murder Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century criminals Musicians from Brooklyn Tupac Shakur American people of Haitian descent