Post by a.k.a on Mar 27, 2008 9:01:34 GMT 3
The website thesmokinggun.com this morning (March 26) published an extensive investigative report on the origin of the documents that L.A. Times reporter Chuck Philips used to source his recent report on the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur at a Manhattan recording studio. In his article, Philips claimed that Biggie, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jimmy “Henchmen” Rosemond all knew that Tupac would be ambushed when he arrived at the Quad recording studios on the night of November 30, 1994. He also implicated James Sabatino, a one time associate of Diddy’s who is alleged to have mafia ties. Philips himself stated that many of the claims made in the report were based on FBI documents and the testimony of an unidentified source.
Now, The Smoking Gun claims that Sabatino himself forged many of the documents that Philips used for his report while incarcerated at the Allenwood federal penitentiary in White Deer, Pennsylvania on unrelated charges.
The following is an excerpt:
The suspect documents contain information supposedly provided to agents in the FBI’s New York office by an unnamed “confidential source.” The records, which Sabatino himself has distributed, conveniently contain black redaction marks covering up the name of the agent (or agents) who prepared the “302s” as well as the corresponding FBI case number. However, since the documents are filled with the names of individuals and corporations, they can be tracked within the FBI system by working backwards (by subjects as opposed to case number or agent name).
And while Sabatino claims to have been provided the FBI reports during the discovery phase of a 2002 criminal case, a federal law enforcement official involved in that successful prosecution told TSG that the probe was headed by Secret Service representatives and that the FBI had no role whatsoever in the case. The official added that, at the time, investigators “had no inkling” of Sabatino’s supposed role in the rap music world and never saw investigative reports detailing his purported involvement with hip-hop’s leading figures or its assorted bloody disputes.
When contacted by the Smoking Gun for comment, L.A. Times managing editor Marc Duvoisin stated that the paper would be launching its own investigation into the allegedly forged documents.
Full Report >>www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0325081sabatino1.html
Now, The Smoking Gun claims that Sabatino himself forged many of the documents that Philips used for his report while incarcerated at the Allenwood federal penitentiary in White Deer, Pennsylvania on unrelated charges.
The following is an excerpt:
The suspect documents contain information supposedly provided to agents in the FBI’s New York office by an unnamed “confidential source.” The records, which Sabatino himself has distributed, conveniently contain black redaction marks covering up the name of the agent (or agents) who prepared the “302s” as well as the corresponding FBI case number. However, since the documents are filled with the names of individuals and corporations, they can be tracked within the FBI system by working backwards (by subjects as opposed to case number or agent name).
And while Sabatino claims to have been provided the FBI reports during the discovery phase of a 2002 criminal case, a federal law enforcement official involved in that successful prosecution told TSG that the probe was headed by Secret Service representatives and that the FBI had no role whatsoever in the case. The official added that, at the time, investigators “had no inkling” of Sabatino’s supposed role in the rap music world and never saw investigative reports detailing his purported involvement with hip-hop’s leading figures or its assorted bloody disputes.
When contacted by the Smoking Gun for comment, L.A. Times managing editor Marc Duvoisin stated that the paper would be launching its own investigation into the allegedly forged documents.
Full Report >>www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0325081sabatino1.html