Here is a more comprehensive breakdown of the claims.
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Content Section
8 Explosive Finds in Wu-Tang Clan Member Ol Dirty b*stards FBI Files
Jan 13, 2012 4:45 AM EST
The FBI recently released their file on the late rapper Ol Dirty b*stardof Wu-Tang Clan famethanks to the Freedom of Information Act, and its a doozy. The FBI alleges the Wu-Tang Clan was connected to various murders, drug deals, the Bloods gang, and other nefarious dealings. Marlow Stern combed through the rappers FBI file to reveal the eight most explosive finds.
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Ol Dirty b*stard, a.k.a. Russell T. Jones, was a founding member of the New York hip-hop supergroup the Wu-Tang Clan, which rose to prominence in the 90s. Due to his wacky persona, many arrests, bizarre forays into mainstream musicon the hits Ghetto Superstar and the pimp anthem Got Your Moneyand even an outrageous 1995 MTV special that featured the rapper picking up food stamps in a limo, he was viewed as the first jester of rap, and described as something of a folk hero by The New Yorker.
According to a recently released cache of FBI files, he was alsoalong with members of the Wu-Tang Clanallegedly heavily involved in the sale of drugs, illegal guns, weapons possession, murder, carjackings, and other types of violent crimes, lending credence to their celebrated song, Wu-Tang Clan Aint Nuthing ta fukk Wit. The 94-page FBI file, released following a* Freedom of Information Act request, says detectives sought the assistance of the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys Office to attempt to build a case against the WTC Organization that included federal charges and a RICO prosecution.
Ol Dirty b*stard died of a drug overdose on Nov. 13, 2004, but the hip-hop collective lives on, and includes rap luminaries: RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. According to the FBI files, the late ODB and the WTC, which plans to release their sixth studio album this year, are linked to a laundry list of crimes. *
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Here are the most explosive finds from the FBI file on Ol Dirty b*stard
Bob Berg / Getty Images
Gun Running
and Murder
The FBI file alleges that the Wu-Tang Clan purchased numerous guns from the Steubenville, Ohio, area, later claiming that the sellers identified the rappers through a photo spread presented to them. At least one of the guns involved in this purchasea black Glock .40 caliber, model No. 27was* identified as the murder weapon in the killing of Robert Johnson, a.k.a. Pooh, on Staten Island, New York, on December 30, 1997. According to the file, Johnson was an associate of the WTC who had a falling out with the group and it is believed that his murder was ordered by someone within the WTC.
Laundering Money Through Their Label(s)
In the FBI files, claims are made that the Wu-Tang Clan allegedly laundered money through their record label in order to pay for their nefarious dealings. The files indicate that once an individual had proven his or her loyalty to the WTC, they were offered record contracts to record rap type music, and numerous recording companies were incorporated, along with bank accounts established, for this end. According to the files, this allows legitimate monies to flow into these accounts along with the proceeds from [redacted]. The file does, however, offer that the WTC runs a variety of legitimate types of businesses, including its own clothing line.
Gang Affiliations
The FBI files refer to allegations of a laundry list of crimes, including drug trafficking, carjacking, and shootings, sometimes by what law enforcement believed were potential Wu-Tang Clan associates. The evidence that apparently led them to this allegation was the arrest and subsequent testimony of an unidentified individual for the murder of Jerome Estrella, a.k.a Boo Boo, on June 20, 1999. According to the file, It is believed that [redacted] sometimes carry out enforcement actions for the WTC, which include beatings, shootings, and murder. Another piece of evidence allegedly linking the Wu-Tang Clan to such unsavory behavior was a shooting and carjacking that occurred on Staten Island by an associate of the WTC, who goes by the nickname Fife. The incident, which occurred on or about May 21, 1999, in the vicinity of 27 Warren Street, Staten Island,* is described in the report as an angel dust and PCP drug deal gone bad that resulted in a shooting, and alleges that one of the parties involved is also a suspect in an unsolved homicide which was supposedly ordered by the WTC as retaliation for [redacted] robbing an associate of the WTC. The file also alleges links between the Wu-Tang Clan and the Bloods street gang: On 10/5/99, SA [redacted] spoke with SA [redacted] relief supervisor, and advised that he would be traveling to the Allentown RA to provide and compare information relating to the drug business of the Bloods street gang and the Wu-Tang Clan.
The Curious Case of Robert Pooh Johnson
A 10-page document submitted by the NYPD to the FBI on Aug. 17, 1999, detailed the chain of events surrounding the alleged murder of Robert Pooh Johnson, a known Wu-Tang Clan associate who was killed on Dec. 30, 1997. According to the report, on July 1, 1998, Ol Dirty b*stard was the victim of multiple gunshot wounds received when he was robbed by two masked men who entered the apartment, robbed him of jewelry, and shot him. Just over a week later, on July 9, a man named Ishmael Hoody Kourma received six fatal gunshot wounds in Steubenville, Ohio. That same day, police allegedly performed a car stop on a vehicle with New Jersey platesin the same town where the Wu-Tang Clan was alleged to have purchased gunsand a shotgun, ammo, and gun holster were recovered from the vehicles. On Jan. 15, 1999, Ol Dirty b*stard was allegedly involved in a shootout with NYPD officers following a car stop in Brooklyn,* but a Brooklyn grand jury failed to indict him on attempted-murder charges. Lastly, on March 11, 1999, Ol Dirty b*stard was charged by the Los Angeles Police Department as a convicted felon in possession of body armor, and held on $115,000 bail.
Ol Dirty b*stards Bullet-Riddled Testimony*
According to the FBI file, on Nov. 3, 1999, Ol Dirty b*stard gave detectives a description of being robbed and shot* on July 1, 1998. According to ODBs account, he was asleep in bed and awoke to a gun in his face, wrestled with his assailant, and shots went off. ODB was shot in the left arm and back. The jewelryincluding a linked chain with a 7 charm on it and rings valued at about $10,000 totalwas removed from ODBs body by one of the masked gunmen.* Before it all went down, ODB said his sister heard that he was to be hit. The family allegedly knew who committed the robbery, and he plays b-ball always on the street. ODB then drove himself to St. Johns Hospital for treatment. ODB declined to investigate who robbed him because he did not want to cause problems for his family, who still lived in the projects where the robbery occurred. It was also revealed that, two years prior to this incident, ODB was robbed and shot in Brooklyns Kingston projects.
The Diddy Connection?
One of the more curious inclusions in Ol Dirty b*stards file is a Newsday clipping from Dec. 28, 1999, detailing the New York City nightclub shooting that resulted in Sean Puffy Combs and his then-girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez, being arrested. Why this incident would be included in Ol Dirty b*stards FBI file outlining his own criminal activity remains a mystery.* Nothing in the file indicates any connection between the two stars and Jones or the Wu-Tang Clan.
The Rap Robbers
ODBs robbery at gunpoint was, it seems, one of several incidents involving rappers being robbed at gunpoint at various locations, including home invasions, according to the FBI file. Those committing the crimes were allegedly former industry insiders who had banded together, and police interviewed a source who said that he or she sold stolen jewelry in exchange for cash to an associate of the robbers. An undercover police officer then met with the buyer allegedly connected to the rap robbery crime ring and sold him or her jewelry represented as stolen on three occasions in exchange for cash. Despite this development, the U.S. Attorneys Office declined to prosecute the matter, citing a lack of investigative merit, and closed the case.
ODBs Rap Sheet
On Jan. 30, 1999, the FBIs request that Ol Dirty b*stards criminal record be released to them was granted by then-New York Police Department Commissioner Howard Safir. Robert Ol Dirty b*stard Jones was arrested a total of nine times between April 1, 1987, and Jan. 15, 1999, for crimes ranging from petty larceny to attempted first-degree murder. The most curious charges against ODB stemmed from an arrest on Nov. 12, 1997, when he was charged both with contempt and nonsupport of a child, and his arrest on Jan. 15, 1999, when he was charged with attempted murder in the first/second degree, criminal use of a firearm, and
unlawful wearing of a body vest.
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Marlow Stern is the assistant culture editor of Newsweek and The Daily Beast and holds a masters degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He has served in the editorial department of Blender magazine, and as an editor at Amplifier Magazine and Manhattan Movie Magazine.
For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at
editorial@thedailybeast.com.
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I think you do know him cause your fukkin friend Don is down at one-twenty precinct right now singing his fukkin ass like a fukkin bird.
only heard the full track couple days ago
