Federal prosecutors have sharpened their case against Eugene “Big U” Henley with a slate of new overt acts that depict him as a violent shot-caller who boasted about disciplining Nipsey Hussle and others, even as he publicly branded himself a community mentor.
In a new superseding indictment, the government does not accuse Big U of playing any role in Hussle’s 2019 killing outside the Marathon Clothing store in South Los Angeles.
That murder was prosecuted in state court, where Eric Ronald Holder Jr. was convicted of first-degree murder and later sentenced to 60 years to life in prison.
Instead, federal prosecutors say intercepted calls captured Big U years later threatening to kill Nipsey Hussle and others and describing himself as the “hunter” of the Rollin’ 60s, rhetoric they frame as part of a racketeering pattern of intimidation and control.
“On December 31, 2022, on an intercepted call, [Big U] said that [he was] was “bigger” than deceased rapper Nipsey Hussle, that [he] disciplined Nipsey Hussle, and that defendant [he] was “bigger” than “any other Rollin’ 60,” according to Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche.
“On January 1, 2023, on an intercepted call, defendant [Big U] said that he was not beefing with Nipsey Hussle because if anyone beefs with [Big U], “I’m a kill him. Period. I. Am. Going. To. Murder. Him.”
The superseding indictment’s new overt acts expand far beyond the already detailed allegations about a Las Vegas studio artist’s murder, dispensary robberies and extortion payments.
It adds a series of fresh overt acts that aim to show Big U and his associates using fear to tighten their grip on Los Angeles streets and on wealthy clients.
In one added episode, Big U discusses disciplining a fellow Rollin’ 60s member identified as “OG Crip Cuz,” claiming he had him beaten for perceived disrespect and warning that he could have had him killed instead.
In another, he allegedly recounts a dispute involving Nipsey Hussle and other neighborhood figures, boasting that if things had gone differently, he “would’ve had a problem with any man” and “the issue would’ve been resolved, and he wouldn’t be here, or I wouldn’t be here,” a line prosecutors cite to show how Big U linked his status to life-or-death decisions.
Additional new overt acts describe Big U threatening to “mess up” a South L.A. business after employees refused him a discount and talking about hanging out in rival Grape Street territory while saying he could “kill m############ every day.”
Prosecutors say he bragged about always having “two blowers,” aka guns and being able to pay others to carry out assaults.
The feds say this illustrates how he allegedly blended direct violence with outsourced muscle.
The superseding indictment also adds detail about contraband smuggling, accusing Big U of arranging to get a cellphone into a state prison and then selling miniature phones for $1,000 each, treating incarcerated people as another revenue source.
Together, the new acts are designed to deepen the narrative that he leveraged his Rollin’ 60s pedigree, podcasts and documentary appearances to project an image of reform.
The feds say privately, he was invoking executions, beatings and armed enforcement to maintain what prosecutors call the “Big U Enterprise’s” grip on Los Angeles.
For now, Nipsey Hussle’s death remains solely a state case; in federal court, Big U faces no homicide charge tied to the rapper, yet.
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