NEW YORK, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- The jury was removed from a New York federal courtroom while a witness in the Murder Inc. money laundering trial described the shooting of rapper 50 Cent.
Joe Ragin testified Monday now-imprisoned drug kingpin Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff and two other men asked him to provide them with an alibi after the May 2000 shooting, the New York Post reported Tuesday.
Ragin said the three joked about how 50 Cent "squirmed" in the car outside his grandmother's house as bullets riddled his body, the newspaper said.
Prosecutors sought to have Ragin's testimony included in the trial of brothers Christopher and Irving Gotti, who are accused of using McGriff's drug money to launch their recording label, Murder Inc., now The Inc. The government claims the duo continued to launder money through their label for the drug dealer.
Prosecutors said the testimony about the attempt on the rapper's life would help them prove a link between the Gottis and McGriff.
However, the defense won out when the judge ruled Ragin's lurid tale had no direct connection to the money laundering trial and would not be allowed.
