Authorities are focusing in particular on the relationships Row co-founder Marion "Suge" Knight maintained with his lawyer David Kenner and two convicted drug peddlers: Michael "Harry-O" Harris and Patrick Johnson (both of whom were onetime clients of Kenner).
Harris, who's serving 28 years for cocaine pushing and attempted murder, boasts that he put up $1.5 million in late 1991 as Death Row seed money. Johnson, unnamed sources told the Times, is being investigated as a silent partner. He grew up in the same 'hood as Knight and went on to operate one of the largest PCP rings in the country through the late 1980s, the Times said. Johnson allegedly laundered his money through commercial ventures in the Compton area of South-Central Los Angeles.
U.S. Justice Department officials have refused to confirm or deny the existence of a Death Row racketeering probe. But the Times quotes sources as saying federal investigators are looking into Knight and others associated with the record label for alleged tax violations and alleged links to street gangs, drug trafficking, money laundering and violence.
The hulking Knight, 32, is serving a nine-year prison term for violating probation on a 1992 assault. He has repeatedly denied that any money from illegal activity financed Death Row Records. He has suggested the federal probe is racially motivated.
Last month, agents from the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Drug Enforcement Administration reviewed documents at the office of Death Row's accountant, the newspaper said.
Last week, agents interviewed Los Angeles music executives, asking about Harris and his purported connections to Knight and Kenner. Law enforcement sources said investigators are trying to find out whether Kenner's involvement with Death Row extends beyond his role as attorney.
Kenner, a former Los Angeles County prosecutor, has made a mint defending wayward rappers. He has represented Death Row co-founder Andre "Dr. Dre" Young; the label's biggest star, Calvin "Snoop Doggy Dogg" Broadus; and other Death Row associates in everything from assault to murder. He has also denied any wrongdoing.