Suge files $106m lawsuit
2006-02-20 08:47
Los Angeles - Rap music mogul Marion "Suge" Knight has filed a $106m federal fraud, conspiracy and racketeering lawsuit against a drug dealer he claims tried to extort money from him to curry favour with authorities.
The lawsuit was filed against Michael Harris, who is incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison for narcotics distribution and attempted murder.
Harris claims he provided more than $1.5m in seed money from behind bars in 1991 to start Knight's Death Row Records - a claim the rap entrepreneur has repeatedly and vehemently denied.
Knight's attorney, Dermot Givens, said on Friday that Harris was a federal informant who concocted "a scheme to blackmail various entertainment industry entities" by threatening to sue over his alleged drug money investments.
"There was an effort to silence rap music and specifically Suge Knight, who was its icon," Givens said.
'It's a desperate joke'
The lawsuit claims that Harris and others, including attorneys David Casselman and Steven Goldberg, were behind a lawsuit filed by Harris's wife that led last year to a $107m judgment against the rap entrepreneur.
Givens said she agreed to settle several months later for $1m and certain rights to use Death Row music.
Goldberg said the judgment still stands and called Knight's lawsuit "a last-ditch gasp" to avoid paying.
"It's a pathetic and desperate joke," he said.
Goldberg added that Knight has been ordered to appear at a February 28 hearing in the previous case to give a rundown of his assets.
Casselman called Knight's suit "totally without basis". He has also sued both Lydia Harris - his former client - and Knight, alleging they secretly tried to bypass the $107m judgment.
- AP