Murder Inc bosses Irv and Chris Lorenzo "Gotti" have been cleared of allegations that they laundered money for New York drug lord Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff. After a second day of deliberations, and repeated requests to review documents submitted as evidence in the trial, the jury ruled that the Lorenzos were not guilty.
As previously reported, prosecutors had accused the brothers of using their Universal Music affiliated record label Murder Inc to launder money for McGriff, which they returned to the drugs lord through cash payments, and by transferring money to what the prosecution referred to as "phony companies". But the Lorenzo's defence lawyer dismissed the whole case against his clients, accusing the authorities of trying to "prove guilt by association" which, he argued, was "absolutely pathetic".
After hearing the jury's decision, some of the large crowd of family, artists and music industry executives in court to support the Lorenzos applauded, and then proceeded to thank and hug jurors as they exited the court. Speaking outside the court, Gerald Lefcourt of the defence team told reporters: "The jurors wanted to hug Irv and Chris and meet their parents. They felt a connection."