Original Story The "Hip-Hop Police" were scrutinized this morning during a court
hearing involving security for internationally known rap star Young
Jeezy.
Jeezy's head of security, Stephen Helin, was in court
today (September 12th), over an incident after a concert featuring
rapper Jay-Z at Madison Square Garden in March of 2010.
Stephen
Helin and several other members of Young Jeezy's security detail were
arrested after the concert on March 3rd, 2010, around 5:00AM, with at
least five guns.
Each defendant was facing a mandatory minimum
of 3.5 years, under New York's strict anti-gun laws, which have resulted
in jail time for celebrities like Lil Wayne, Ja Rule, Prodigy, Plaxico
Burress and others.
According to Stephen Helin's lawyer Scott
Leemon ESQ., the specific facts of the case forced the New York County
D.A.'s office to reduce the felony gun charges to misdemeanors.
"Today,
right before the scheduled Suppression Hearing in New York County
Supreme Court, the New York County DA's office, because of the specific
facts of this case, offered the defendants an opportunity to plead
guilty to a misdemeanor charge of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the
Fourth Degree with a promised sentence of a Conditional Discharge
(requires no probation supervision) and a $1000 fine," Scott Leemon
ESQ., told AllHipHop.com.
Each man was licensed and had a permit
to carry their guns, but only in the state of Georgia. At the time of
their arrest, the guns were found in locked boxes, not on any one
person.
Leemon said that prosecutors decided to reduce the gun
charges to misdemeanors, due to the questionable tactics by the "Hip-Hop
Police," which AllHipHop.com has learned is now officially known as
"Enterprise Operation Unit.”
"They were facing a mandatory
minimum sentence of 3.5 years in State Prison if convicted of any of the
charges in the indictment before the plea," Scott Leemon ESQ. told
AllHipHop.com. "The defendants accepted the People's offer and the
hearing never went forward. Justice Charles Solomon accepted the plea
and scheduled sentencing for November 29, 2011."
The police
allegedly did not want to jeopardize any ongoing investigations,
although more specifics about who is being targeted was not available.
Leemon
said that during today's hearing, his plan was to expose the "Hip-Hop
Police" and whether or not Young Jeezy's security detail's
Constitutional rights had been violated.
Prosecutors decided to drastically reduce the charges, resulting in the cancellation of the hearing.
"The
hearing was scheduled to focus on the methods and means used by the Hip
Hop Police (a/k/a "Enterprise Operation Unit") in the arrest of the
defendants in this case; and, specifically whether the stop of the van
and seizure of evidence was legal under the law in the State of New
York," Scott Leemon told AllHipHop.com.
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