News of September 25, 1996
Report: FBI Investigates Death Row Records
Gang ties, drug trafficking, money laundering: in late September 1996, it emerged that the FBI was probing Tupac's label before the shooting.
On September 25, 1996, law enforcement sources reported to the Los Angeles Times that the FBI was investigating Death Row Records. The inquiry reportedly centered on possible ties to street gangs and drug trafficking, as well as the question of whether money was being laundered within the company. According to the sources, the investigation had begun months before the shooting of Tupac. The FBI would neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation.
“Absolutely No Comment”
According to the newspaper, Death Row generated 100 million dollars a year. When asked whether the label would cooperate with investigators, spokesperson George Pryce said, “Absolutely no comment,” and hung up.
The newspaper recalled how Tupac had joined the label: Suge Knight had posted 1.4 million dollars in bail in 1995 while Tupac was in custody awaiting his appeal in the New York case. The label’s success also rested on an uneasy coexistence, the paper wrote: Knight hailed from a Bloods-dominated neighborhood in Compton, while his star Snoop Doggy Dogg was listed in police records as a member of a Crips set in Long Beach.