Federal prosecutors have bolstered their case against Eugene “Big U” Henry with a series of new public actions that paint him as a violent ringleader who boasted of disciplinary action against Nipsey Hussle and others even as he publicly described himself as a community mentor.
In a new superseding indictment, the government does not accuse Big U of playing any role in Hussle’s 2019 slaying outside a Marathon clothing store in South Los Angeles.
The murder was prosecuted in state court, and Eric Ronald Holder Jr. was found guilty of first-degree murder and subsequently sentenced to 60 years to life in prison.
Instead, federal prosecutors say intercepted phone calls captured messages years later in which the Big U threatened to kill Nipsey Hussle and others and described himself as a “hunter” from Rollin’s 1960s, comments they viewed as part of a racketeering pattern of intimidation and control.
“On December 31, 2022, in an intercepted phone call, [Big U] explain [he was] ‘Bigger’ than late rapper Nipsey Hussle [he] Nipsey Hussle was disciplined, and defendant [he] Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the company is “bigger” than “any other Rollin’ 60.”
“On January 1, 2023, when the phone was intercepted, the defendant [Big U] Said he wasn’t mad at Nipsey Hussle because if someone was mad at him [Big U]”I’m going to kill him. That’s it. I. I’m. Going to. Murder. Him.”
The new disclosures that superseded the indictment go well beyond detailed allegations of murders of Las Vegas studio artists, pharmacy robberies and extortion payments.
It adds to a series of new overt acts aimed at showing the Big U and his associates using fear to tighten their control over Los Angeles streets and wealthy clients.
In a separate episode, the Big U discussed disciplinary action against a Rollin’ 60s member dubbed “OG Crip Cuz,” claiming he beat him over perceived disrespect and warned he could have killed him.
In another article, he allegedly recounted a dispute involving Nipsey Hussle and other neighborhood figures and boasted that if things had gone differently, he “would have had a problem with anybody” and “the problem would have been solved and he wouldn’t be here or I wouldn’t be here to decide,” a line prosecutors cited to show how the Big U tied his status to life and death decisions.
Other new public conduct describes Big U threatening to “mess up” a South Los Angeles business after employees refused to give him a discount and talking about hanging out in the rival Grape Street area while saying he could “kill m############ every day.”
Prosecutors said he bragged about always having “two guns,” or firearms, and being able to pay others to carry out the attacks.
The federal government said that illustrates how he combined direct violence with outsourced power.
The superseding indictment also adds details about smuggling contraband, alleging that Big U arranged for cellphones to be brought into state prisons and then sold the tiny phones for $1,000 each, treating incarcerated people as another source of income.
The new performance aims to deepen the narrative in which he draws on his Rollin’ 60s roots, podcasts and documentaries to project an image of reform.
Federal authorities said privately that he used executions, beatings and armed law enforcement to maintain what prosecutors called “Big U”‘s control of Los Angeles.
For now, Nipsey Hussle’s death remains a state case only. Big U has yet to face homicide charges related to the rapper in federal court.
