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Rapper Lil' Kim charged
Rap star Lil' Kim and three members of her entourage have been indicted on charges stemming from a February
2001 shootout outside the Hot 97 radio station in Greenwich Village.
Lil' Kim, whose real name is Kimberly Jones, surrendered
to U.S. marshals at the federal courthouse this morning.
The rapper was charged with eight counts including conspiracy,
as well as obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements. The charges stem from a federal grand jury probe into
a Feb. 25, 2001, shootout outside the station's studio on Hudson Street.
Authorities said they believe the shooting
happened as Lil' Kim's entourage was leaving the radio studio and the entourage of the rap duo Capone-N-Noreaga was arriving.
Efrain O'Casio was shot in the upper back during the incident.
The indictment charges that Kim lied to protect two
members of her entourage, bodyguard Suif "Gutta" Jackson and manager Damion Butler, aka "D-Rock", who had pleaded guilty to
prior felony gun charges.
According to the indictment, both men were armed with weapons that included a fully-loaded
MAC 11 machine gun and other firearms as protection.
Kim is charged with lying and perjuring herself during three federal
grand jury appearances that occurred in the summer of 2003.
In the indictment, prosecutors alleged that Jones refused
on the day after the shooting to tell police the identities of anyone who had accompanied her to a radio station appearance
in Greenwich Village.
Prosecutors charged she lied when she appeared before the panel on June 19, July 3 and August
23, 2003. She is also charges with three counts of making false statements.
In her grand jury appearances, Kim admitted
being outside the studio, but claimed not to have known who did the shooting or known that Jackson or Butler were there.
The
indictment further charges that Lil' Kim and buddy Monique Dopwell, aka "Mo" or "Mo Betta," conspired between 2001 and 2003
to cover up Butler's and Jackson's role in the shooting.
Police said the two men jumped into Jones' limousine and drove
back to Kim's Englewood, N.J. home where they disposed of the weapons.
"These charges are baseless and I'm confident
that the case against her will be completely dismissed," said her lawyer, Mel Sachs.
Sachs said he accompanied his
client to the grand jury appearances but was not permitted to sit with her as she testified.
After Lil' Kim surrendered,
she was processed by U.S. marshals and interviewed by the federal pretrial services department prior to a court appearance.
Prosecutors
also charge that Butler conspired with another woman to use someone else's passport to leave the country in June 2001.
Lawyers
for the other defendants could not immediately be identified.
The charges against Kim carry up to 10 years in prison
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