A drug kingpin provided "street protection" to hip-hop mogul Irving (Irv Gotti) Lorenzo in exchange for laundering cash through his record company, federal prosecutors allege in court papers.

Lorenzo and his brother, Christopher (Chris Gotti), are seeking a separate trial from co-defendant Kenneth (Supreme) McGriff, who is charged with ordering the 2001 murder of an aspiring rap artist in South Jamaica.

Their lawyers have argued that the Lorenzo brothers would be prejudiced by the grisly testimony about that homicide as well as McGriff's involvement with a double killing in Maryland.

Assistant Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Carolyn Pokorny opposes the severance motion, charging that the Lorenzos not only sought to benefit financially by allegedly laundering McGriff's drug cash through their Murder Inc. record label but had other motives as well.

"Indeed, far from being harmed by the McGriff enterprise's murderous reputation, the Lorenzos' alignment with McGriff afforded a level of protection," Pokorny stated in court papers.

"Would-be robbers and criminals who extort those in the music industry, knew that if they targeted Murder Inc., its employees or executives, they would suffer retribution from the McGriff enterprise," she wrote.

Stars in the Murder Inc. universe include Ja Rule and Ashanti.

Members of McGriff's crew allegedly bragged to the Lorenzos about their acts of violence and the brothers "were aware of McGriff's alleged responsibility for an uncharged 1999 shooting of a prominent rap music artist," according to Pokorny. Published reports have linked McGriff to the shooting of rapper 50 Cent in 1999.

The prosecutor intends to show that the Lorenzos also knew of McGriff's vow of revenge against aspiring rapper Eric (E Money Bags) Smith - the murder in the indictment that makes McGriff eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

Irving Lorenzo's lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.