LOS ANGELES - Prosecutors have requested that a judge set bail for former rap music mogul Marion “Suge” Knight at $25 million in his murder case and cited his history of violence in a lengthy motion filed on Thursday.
The motion filed by Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Barnes cites 31 incidents in which Knight is accused of threatening others or using violence since 2004. The motion also claims Knight has been involved in money laundering and extortion schemes targeting up-and-coming rappers in recent years.
An affidavit filed by a sheriff's detective says Knight and an associate have been involved in an extortion scheme that has netted more than $10 million in recent years. “Apparently when a new artist or rapper comes to either Los Angeles or Las Vegas, he is required to pay a 'tax' to defendant Knight,” the motion states.
Knight's 1994 conviction on a federal firearms charge and a 1995 conviction on two counts of assault with a firearm that led to lengthy prison sentence are also cited in the motion to support.
“Since his release from prison custody, defendant Knight has continued his repugnant life of crime,” the motion states before listing alleged crimes that include battery, criminal threats, extortion and assault.
The Death Row Records co-founder is scheduled to appear in a Los Angeles courtroom on Friday morning for a hearing regarding his bail. He is being held without bail on murder, attempted murder and hit-and-run charges filed after he struck striking two men, killing one of them, with his truck during a fight in a Compton, California, parking lot in late January.
Knight, 49, has pleaded not guilty.
Sapa-AP