The Inc. Trial Continues, Government Witness Gives Flawed Testimony

The second day of dramatic testimony took place today (Nov. 17) as the money laundering trial of The Inc.’s Irving Lorenzo, who dropped the “Gotti” moniker from his name and his brother Christopher, continues. Celebrities such as Damon Dash and Ja Rule attended the high-profile trial taking place at Brooklyn U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, […]

The second day of

dramatic testimony took place today (Nov. 17) as the money laundering trial of

The Inc.’s Irving Lorenzo, who dropped the “Gotti” moniker from his

name and his brother Christopher, continues.

Celebrities such

as Damon Dash and Ja Rule attended the high-profile trial taking place at Brooklyn

U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York.

The federal government

accuses The Inc. of laundering over $1 million in drug proceeds from Kenneth

“Supreme” McGriff’s drug operations.

During day two

of the trial, one of federal prosecutor’s star witnesses- Donnell Nichols

– had his credibility severely attacked by The Inc.’s attorney, Gerald

Shargel.

Shargel along with

Gerald Lefcourt is representing brothers Christopher and Irving Lorenzo.

Earlier today,

Nichols testified and implied that Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff was

aided in a laundering scheme by the Ruff Ryders Record label, which allegedly

paid McGriff thousands of dollars in $5 and $10 dollar bill increments.

Some of Nichols’

allegations drew gasps from spectators in the court, as well as the actual jury.

“The

jury was really blown away by all of the misrepresentations that he [Nichols]

made in the court room,” said Ethan Brown, author of the upcoming book

"Queens Reigns

Supreme," which focuses on the Queens, New York drug trade and its

connection to the Hip-Hop industry.

“They were

laughing at some point," Brown said. "They were in shock.”

Shargel cross-examined

Nichols and slammed his comments, claiming that Nichols could not be trusted

because he was a homeless individual who frequently slept at the Greyhound Bus

terminal.

Shargel then brought

out suitcases and demonstrated – with fake cash – how the vast sums

of money Nichols claimed he saw being laundered – would not fit into suitcases

he claimed to have seen laundered.

After a short recess,

Shargel brought out a staggering amount of evidence and implied Nichols was

a serial liar.

Shargel introduced

evidence bad checks Nichols wrote for an office space for a non-profit, a business

that Nichols couldn’t fully explain.

Nichols denied

the claims of bouncing checks until Shargel introduced into evidence the actual

checks. Shargel also brought up Nichols past history.

Shargel said Nichols

served in the United States Navy until 1999, but produced an email that contained

Nichols claiming to be a member as recent as 2003.

Shargel then produced

a resume of Nichols’ that contained Nichols claiming to have supervised

a staff of employees for The Inc.

Nichols – who worked

for the label for six months around 1999 – admitted on the stand: “I was

bluffing a resume.”

Then Shargel brought

up an incident involving a man named Glen Williams, from North Carolina.

Nichols promised

Williams $1500 a week as salary to work for The Inc.

After relocating

from North Carolina to New York and finding out there was no job waiting, Williams

assaulted Nichols in The Inc. conference room.

In more character

damaging evidence, Shargel produced fan site websites that Nichols’ company

allegedly controlled with his name attached to Ja Rule and Ashanti, along with

Christopher Lorenzos.

Shargel pointed

out that Ashanti was not signed to The Inc as an artist during the six months

that Nichols was associated with the label, a hiring that was a favor for Christopher

Lorenzo.

More evidence came

when Shargel introduced a website where Nichols claimed to have worked with

various major label artists.

When questioned,

Nichols could not recall one major artist he had worked with.

Shargel also showed

websites that indicated Nichols owned multi-million dollar state of the art

recording studio equipment which Nichols could not prove he owned.

Nichols even admitted

to sitting home and watching an MTV television special on the federal investigation

of The Inc. when he decided to phone the FBI in 2003.

When Nichols was

grilled about the amount of alleged drug money he saw, he could not offer an

amount, he could only “guesstimate,” and admitted he couldn’t

determine how much money he actually witnessed being laundered.

Prosecutor Carolyn

Pokorny then asked Nichols if it was an experience for him being on the stand.

When asked in various

forms, the line of questioning prompted a series of dramatic objections in rapid

– fire – succession from Shargel, all of which were sustained by

Judge Edward Korman.

Testimony in the

trial is scheduled to resume tomorrow.

Other documents relating

to the trial can be found at https://staging.allhiphop.com/murderinc/