A rap music mogul and his brother laundered shopping bags loaded with drug money for a notorious crack kingpin who was masquerading as a music executive, a federal prosecutor charged Wednesday.

Irving Lorenzo, the head of Murder Inc., and his brother Christopher "used their corporate bank accounts to clean drug money," prosecutor Sean Haran said in his opening statement at U.S. District Court.

The drug dealer, Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, had shopping bags and shoe boxes full of cash delivered to the label's Manhattan office in 2000, Haran said. The company then cut McGriff $280,000  in checks.

Irving Lorenzo, known professionally as Irv Gotti, and his brother were charged with racketeering in the case. Authorities alleged that McGriff was permitted to funnel more than $1 million in drug money through Murder Inc. in return for serving as the label's protector and enforcer.

In addition, prosecutors intend to introduce evidence that the Lorenzos knew about an assassination plot allegedly planned by McGriff against platinum-selling rapper 50 Cent. McGriff and Irving Lorenzo met on the streets of Queens in the 1980s, when McGriff headed the notorious crack-slinging Supreme Team crew.

McGriff presented himself as a music industry executive, and relied on the Lorenzos t o pay for limos and stays at fancy hotels, the prosecutor told the Brooklyn jury.

"All of it was a fraud," Haran said. "He wasn't a music executive. He was a drug dealer and they knew it."

But defense attorney Gerald Lefcourt, representing Irving Lorenzo, told the jury about his client's rags to riches rise from local DJ to head of a label that boasted stars like Ashanti and Ja Rule. Lorenzo became one of the most influential executives in the hip-hop world.

"This is a man who took no shortcuts," Lefcourt said as Lorenzo, sitting at the defense table, smiled and nodded his head in agreement. "This is a man who followed his dream."

Lefcourt charged that federal agents were so intent on arresting Irving Lorenzo that they ignored exculpatory evidence. And he defended the Lorenzos' decision to associate with McGriff.

"He had a big, bad reputation," Lefcourt told the jury. "It made sense to work with him because he provided a certain street credibility to Murder Inc. He also provided a deterrence to shakedown artists and thugs."

Murder Inc. changed its name to The Inc. last year after executives said the label's image was hurt by the racketeering case.

Source: Associated Press