Feds: Lady Gaga’s Music Label Used as Cocaine Drop-Off Station

Rap manager James Rosemond is accused of smuggling cocaine and cash in musical equipment cases via Interscope Records

The federal government is accusing a music manager of smuggling cocaine in tour equipment and musical instrument cases — and using Lady Gaga’s label Interscope Records as a drop-off station.

Documents obtained by TheWrap show that James Rosemond, the founder of Czar Entertainment, a music and management company, is accused of a number of federal crimes between Jan. 1, 2007 and June 21, 2011.

The documents show that Rosemond was indicted on 20 counts of drug trafficking, money laundering, firearm charges and obstruction of justice.

The Smoking Gun has posted documents outlining the alleged logistics. Rosemund supposedly "directed that his organization hide contraband in ‘road cases’ used to transport music equipment. In light of Rosemond’s position as the CEO of Czar Entertainment … Rosemond was able to disguise these shipments as legitimate freight that was ostensibly needed by the performance artists he managed.”

The documents said Rosemond send music cases full of cocaine to music studios in New York, where members of his organization picked up the cocaine for distribution.

His underlings, the documents say, then filled the cases with bundles of money — $100,000 per bundle — in vacuum-sealed plastic and sent them to Los Angeles.

Interscope, owned by Universal Music Group, is not accused of wrongdoing. The label, home to Lady Gaga, Blink-182, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent and others, is mentioned in a Sept. 12, 2011 letter from federal prosecutors.

The instrument cases were sent through Rock-It Cargo, which specializes in shipping musical instruments and equipment. Rock-It did not own the cases and is not accused of wrongdoing.

Representatives of Interscope did not return calls for comment Monday.

Rosemond’s lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, told TheWrap Monday that “we deny and have denied all of the charges.”

He said that the government got its information from confidential informants who are trying to get their criminal sentences reduced.

The allegations, he said, “are based on the word of lifelong criminals who are desparate to get out from under life sentences, and this is just the way t he system works — bad people are rewarded as long as they’re able to support the government’s version of events.”

He called the informants “one lifelong liar after another who the government will admit has lied not only throughout their lives, but also to them.”

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