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<!--CMM- From TV documentary series — Article 32, Sean Kingston: Kingston’s Road, Ransom City, American Vice, A&E’s Live PD, MTV: True Life Crime, FOX’s Biggie & Tupac — to hit reality shows, Black Ink Crew, and the spinoff Black Ink Crew: Chicago, and most recently, Undercover Underage for Discovery Plus. Sikorski always has his finger on the cultural pulse.

However, the small screen couldn’t contain his stories. He needed a larger canvas. And with that, Sikorski embarked on his first feature film — The Infiltrator, starring Bryan Cranston, which also met with rave reviews. For his second feature film, Sikorski Exec Produced Labyrinth, starring, Johnny Depp. The film delves into the true story of LAPD detective Russell Poole and the murder of Hip-Hop legend The Notorious, B.I.G.

Currently Sikorski is Showrunning a new Documentary for Alex Gibney and his Jigsaw Productions.

HHW1- For more many years it has been alleged that James Rosemond aka Jimmy Henchman was Hip-Hop’s true super villain. Filmmaker Don Sikorski begs to differ with his new documentary film series Unjust Justice – The Jimmy Rosemond Tapes. It has long been rumored that the former record executive had a fondness for resolving his issues in the streets. The CZAR Entertainment honcho was allegedly connected to the infamous 1994 robbing of Tupac Shakur at Quad Studios. Additionally his name has been tied to several acts of violence against other Rap crews. In 2011, a federal warrant was issued for Rosemond’s arrest for his supposed involvement in a cocaine distribution network. After a month long manhunt, he was apprehended in Manhattan. During his multiple trials it was widely reported that Rosemond confessed to setting up Tupac and implicated himself as a drug kingpin during several proffer sessions. However, director Don Sikorski claims that is all false and brings evidence to prove it; including never heard before Fab 5 Freddy interviews of The Notorious B.I.G., Randy “Stretch” Walker and more. In an exclusive interview with HipHopWired.com, Don Sikorski discusses getting Jimmy’s side of story, the truth about ‘Pac getting shot, wire tappings and more. HipHopWired.com: You are not new to covering Hip-Hop culture and its criminal underbelly with your films. Don Sikorski: I graduated from NYU and I was working at a magazine called Blackbook. I was trying to figure out if I wanted to write. I wanted to be a storyteller but when you are young you are still trying to figure things out. At the time I heard this rumor going around about a small task force in New York called the Hip-Hop police. I thought it was an interesting story for many reasons. So I bought a camera and I sort of learned on my feet with that story in trying to make a documentary. That was my first film and Universal picked it up.

From doing that I always heard about B.M.F. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to do another film within Hip-Hop but I felt their story and the access I got from the DEA made it an easy choice for me. That was a very difficult film to do as I didn’t have much money and I had only one investor. I had to spend a lot of time in Atlanta so it was costing me a lot of money but I thought it came out okay.

HHW: What drew you to Jimmy Henchman’s story?

Sikorski: How I was able to come across Jimmy’s story was interesting because before he got mixed up in his federal case, there was a guy named Tone Boots that I became good friends with. Tone worked for Jimmy. One day he reached out to me and said Jimmy wanted to do a documentary about people who were incarcerated and got out of jail and went on to be successful.

I met Jimmy and spoke to him a couple times. He was very hands off and respected what I did so he secured the money [for] that film. During that midpoint of that film Jimmy fell off the map. I had heard rumors he was being investigated but the thing is with the DEA, they have the luxury of time in investigating you. It’s not like the feds are investigating you and you know it right away. He was investigated for five to six years. It wasn’t until I opened the New York Post where he was on the run and he was arrested that I ultimately knew the narrative. After that I didn’t think anything of it.

Four or five months ago another party reached out to me who was handling some of Jimmy’s affairs and she asked to take a meeting. At that meeting she asked me how I felt about doing a documentary about Jimmy’s story. She put me on the phone and he said, “I really want to tell my story”.

“The government tapped Jimmy’s phone for almost two years and not once did they record a conversation with anyone that discussed drugs or money.” HHW: Based on the first episode of this film, it seems that Jimmy is pleading innocence. But it was alleged that he sat in several proffer sessions with federal investigators where he implicated himself as a co-conspirator in a drug ring.

Sikorski: I will preface everything [in this interview] with that I am still in the middle of going through everything with this piece of evidence and documentation. The government wanted Jimmy to come in under the guise of discussing his financial gains from his clients and businesses. From what I gather these nine proffer sessions is that Jimmy never admitted to anything. He would come down to do the proffer and they would ask him about Puffy, Tupac and stuff from 15-20 years ago. He flat out said to them, “I’m not talking about this, if you want to discuss my finances that’s fine”.

His lawyer Gerald Shargel wrote a letter to the judge on Jimmy’s case outlining the fact Jimmy did not talk about these things in the proffer session. So the idea that these proffer sessions is some place that Jimmy admitted wrongdoing; I can’t find that proof anywhere.

HHW: Where was this narrative created?

Sikorski: False information about the proffer sessions was leaked to a writer I believe who was at the New York Post and the writer did not factcheck or source that article. I think that’s where this idea that he admitted to all these things in proffer sessions comes from. If three months from now a DEA agent who sat in those sessions can provide audio or transcripts of Jimmy confessing; then that’s different. But to date all I have to go on is what I found out. Lastly if Jimmy gave up all this information in these proffer sessions, where are these convictions on the information he gave? I believe these proffer sessions were done under the guise of fishing for information they wanted to give up.

I have had at least three people tell me who were involved in the drug dealing, one guy being Ali “Zoe” Adam, [told] by the government that they could set free from prison if they gave up Jimmy Henchman. Ali was facing a 30-year sentence. Todd Kaminsky, New York State Assembly, told people “as long you say Jimmy did it, you can go home”. And if you look at the case, the people who took the stand in Jimmy’s case are now home.

HHW: So in terms of the evidence you had access to was it just limited to the court documents?

Sikorski: I am talking everything that the government has ever collected on Jimmy. That includes GPS coordinates of his Blackberry, wiretaps and hidden cameras. The government tapped Jimmy’s phone for almost two years and not once did they record a conversation with anyone that discussed drugs or money.

HHW: The first episode also featured never before heard audio footage of Fab 5 Freddy interviewing Jimmy, Notorious B.I.G. and Randy “Stretch” Walker shortly after the infamous Quad Studio robbery. Why was that stuff never published?

Sikorski: I asked Freddy that question and I don’t have that answer and I don’t think he does either. He did the interviews right after when it all happened. He put these interviews in a closet and never had a reason to bring them out until Jimmy called me and told me I needed to get the tapes from Freddy. It took me three weeks to convince Freddy.

When you listen to those interviews [it’s] very compelling. You have people that were there that night who were talking in a very detailed orientated manner and for me just hearing Stetch, who was with Tupac that night, talking about what he saw is compelling to me. Why Fab never released it, I don’t know. I think it is one of those things where he just forgot about it. I know there is an interview with Puffy that is there on that incident but we are not sure we are going to release that.

“If Tupac shot himself and no one shot him, it was not a shooting.” HHW: Your film states the interviews were slated to run in a VIBE magazine article but it got shelved.

Sikorski: Maybe at the time there were some legal ramifications that were going on. At the time this was a very controversial topic. I don’t know; Fab has never given me that answer.

HHW: For years it has been speculated that Jimmy Henchmen set up Tupac to be robbed at Quad Studios. In 2011 Dexter Isaac alleged that Rosemond ordered the beating.

Sikorski: I am still talking to people and digging information up. In my opinion I believe that Dexter Isaac is lying 100%. I don’t believe Jimmy paid him to do it or had any motives to do it. I don’t believe Jimmy and Tupac had any issues. I just don’t buy it; it doesn’t make any sense. Now if you want to talk about King Tut (Walter Johnson) and Jack (“Haitian” Jacques Agnant) and the reasons why they possibly did it, I’d buy that. But I don’t buy that Dexter Isaac had anything to do with it or that Jimmy ordered it.

And to be honest, here is where the story changes. If Tupac shot himself and no one shot him, it was not a shooting. I believe that there were individuals who went there that night that were going to go discipline him. They were not there to shoot him. If you want to talk about Jack and Tut, these were guys who were robbing some of the biggest drug dealers in New York City. They didn’t need to go grab Tupac’s jewelry. Tupac shot himself. Then comes this lore that someone ordered to get Tupac shot but that whole theory falls apart when he has not been shot.

He was talking to the police about the guys he was moving with. I believe he made statements to the press about how Tut and Jack were wannabees and they went to discipline him. And that’s what happened.

HHW2- Amidst rampant allegations of snitching, robbery and murder, filmmaker Don Sikorski is trying to get to the truth regarding James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond.

Currently serving a life prison term, the former record executive has a reputation that has preceded him wherever he goes. Don’s documentary series Unjust Justice – The Jimmy Rosemond Tapes is set to counter several urban myths about the man who has been labeled as the brains behind the 1994 robbery of Tupac.

In part two of this exclusive HipHopWired.com interview, Sikorski discusses the facts behind the infamous Quad Studios robbery, the real evidence presented in Jimmy’s trial, friends becoming foes and allegations that Sean “Diddy” Combs implied 50 Cent is aligned with the feds.

HipHopWired.com: When I spoke to Haitian Jack last year he was very adamant about his innocence regarding the robbery. He pretty much singled out Jimmy without name-dropping.

Don Sikorski: Let me paint a picture for you because I was just talking to him [Jimmy] about this the other night. At that time he’s at a point where he is just getting into the Hip-Hop business. Not only that but he’s going from being a street guy who was making a lot of money, was involved in a lot of violence, almost got killed himself, kidnapped and shot three times in Brooklyn.

Now he is coming out of that and he is making his foray into the music business and he has one of his artists about to record a track with one of the hottest rising Hip-Hop stars. There is no documented problem with Tupac at all. So what’s the motive for him to assault Tupac? I don’t see the motive.

HHW: Rosemond states in your documentary that they did not have any evidence presented in his trial but there were a couple of key people who took the stand against him specifically his former Czar Entertainment employee Tony Martin.

Sikorski: I have someone from the organization that has gone on the record and told me how the drug dealing worked. This is very specific and people need to understand this. When you are charged with the kingpin charge, the government has to prove a number of things.

They have to prove they you are the head of five or more people and that you were trafficking more than 10 million dollars worth of drugs. Here is the fact; there was no Rosemond organization. It was a group of guys who included Henry “Black” Butler, Khalil Abdullah, Tony Martin and Muhammad Stewart. It wasn’t a pyramid; it was a bunch of owner operators. It was more like we are buying a set number of kilos and everyone would buy in. There was no organization.

When the government ultimately got evidence on all them. they told Tony “you’re going to jail for 30 years but if you say Jimmy was your boss and Jimmy sent you to pick up the drugs, then you’re going home tomorrow.” And this is not coming from me; this is coming from people who were a part of it. It was more of an investment group.

Is Jimmy completely innocent? No. Is Jimmy a drug kingpin? Emphatically no. You want to put Jimmy in jail for five to ten years? You want to put Jimmy in jail for the kilo he got caught with? Fine. But to put Jimmy in jail under the kingpin statute, the evidence of the trial does not support that other than some individuals getting on the stand saying Jimmy did it with no hard facts or evidence.

HHW: What else will we learn from this documentary series?

Sikorski: I think you’re going to learn a couple of things if I do my job right. I think you are going to learn how the federal government put a kingpin case against Jimmy and how that case was false. I think you are going to learn there was a US Attorney Todd Kiminski who was obsessed with Hip-Hop and any case that gave him the spotlight. And I think you’ll see how the media wrote stories that were factually inaccurate. Also the last 20 years of Hip-Hop and this nexus of drugs, crime and violence that went on whether it’s Jimmy’s beef with 50 Cent, what happened at Quad [Studios], his relationship with Chris Lighty, Puff Daddy; all this is covered.

HHW: Anything worth noting that will come out of those relationships you discussed?

Sikorski: When everything was going on with Jimmy, 50 [Cent] and Chris Lighty, Puffy made it a point to pull Jimmy aside and tell him point blank that 50 was talking to the feds and that Jimmy should be careful because 50 had a relationship with the police. Puffy wanted Jimmy to know that. This is at the time Chris Lighty was managing both Puffy and 50 Cent. To me that is some explosive information.

HHW: Throughout all the court documentation you have access to is it proven that 50 Cent was scheduled to testify at Jimmy’s trial?

Sikorski: I have not seen any documentation to support that nor do I feel that if he were a confidential informant or a source he would had have to testify. The only reason people get up there and testify is when the government has something on them. I can speak to Jimmy’s legal counsel about this. What you got to understand is that I have about 6,000 pages of documents of information and I have yet to come across anything yet.

HHW: Let’s discuss the assault on his son James Rosemond Jr. in March 2007. It is alleged that this incident led to the death of G-Unit associate Lowell “Lodi Mack” Fletcher.

Sikorski: Here is what I can say and the way I am prefacing the documentary. There were three trials Jimmy was in. The drug trial was first. Then there was his first murder trial, which ended in a hung jury. And then there was the second murder trial. I do know they obviously assaulted his son. I understand there were several back and forth incidents between Tony Yayo, 50 and Mohammed Stewart who at the time was working for Jimmy.

The evidence that was in the murder for hire case is suspect at best in proving Jimmy had anything to do with it. It’s a lot of career life long criminals getting on the stand telling a perfect narrative. So I’ll reserve further comment as we have just been focused on the drug trial; I’m just starting to look into the murder trials.

HipHopWired.com: Lastly what is Jimmy’s involvement in this film?

Don Sikorski: I want to make something very clear. I am paying to produce this film out of my own pocket. I control what goes on the screen. When I went into this project Jimmy told me, “I want you to read all the transcripts, all the documentation and all the sworn affidavits from my legal defense team stating what they said happened in these proffer sessions is not true.”

I have been basing everything I say on clear documentation. Also I am not only speaking to Jimmy, I am also speaking to law enforcement who I have relationships with for 10 or 15 years. I take all of that and present it to the viewer so they can make their own decision. Jimmy going on the record and telling this story is compelling stuff and I think people will be very interested to hear the stuff that he is saying.

Applepodcast CMM- “Good Content is King…and Great Content is Currency.” Criminal Minded Media is focused on creating and developing, original “Access-Driven” content. Our mission is to entertain, enlighten and inform our listeners, with stories that we alone have access to, due to our sources — think ‘Deep Throat’ in Watergate scandal. We are a media network that feature stories, voices and opinions that are all to be found in our current slate of productions ranging from True Crime, to Sports, to Food (a.k.a pissed off chefs,) and everything else in between, that is important for you to know, feel, and ponder. Let’s face it, we’re making the world a better place… Errante bio- Sikorski directed and wrote BMF: The Rise & Fall of a Hip-Hop Drug Empire. The story describes the 15 year period in which the Black Mafia Family or BMF as they were called made close to $300 million trafficking cocaine from Atlanta to Los Angeles. Two brothers, Demetrius “Meech” Flenory and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory, ran a drug enterprise that had 200 members and was connected to one of the major Mexican cartels. In the Hip-Hop music industry, they created a front company called BMF Entertainment, which was a perfect mix of drugs, violence, and street credibility that makes their story Hip-Hop’s version of The Godfather.
 * mic drop

Currently, Sikorski is working with Errante Film Productions to develop their latest documentary which focuses on the epidemic of Autism titled - SCHOOL FOR ONE – Educators & Autism. School for One is a 90 minute, feature-length documentary that will explore, educate and debate an issue that will define public schools, educators and the journey of families who has autistic children.

RS- He explains the impetus for making the film in its opening: "'I was always fascinated by the rumors I heard surrounding hip-hop culture -- about murder, extortion, the laundering of drug money, the connection between criminal activity and hip-hop music. Little did I know at the time, that fascination would take me on a three-year journey into the very complex relationship between hip- hop, violence, and the likes of the LAPD, NYPD, DEA, and the FBI.'" revealed dossier, many said common practice but they were being perpetually followed members of NYPD under surveillance themselves. Anthony Miranda, Director, National Latino Officers Association "The standard is so low now that they can surveil anybody they want to. And justify it." Don: "'Six months into my research of the interaction between law enforcement the hip-hop industry and after filing a total of twelve FOIA requests, I stopped receiving my mail for a period of a month and a half. No letter, no bills, no junk mail, no catalogs, nothing. A few weeks later, all my mail showed up. Coincidence or not, there was a letter from the IRS. I was personally being audited.'"

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ARTICLE 32. The documentary tells the true-life tale of seven Marines and one Navy Corpsman who were charged with a murder in Iraq. The group was coined the Pendleton 8.

"In the summer of 2008, Sony Music contracted Sikorski to direct a documentary on Sean Kingston, a pop sensation. Sony released the film, SEAN KINGSTON: KINGSTON’S ROAD in 2009."

In 2010, Sikorski developed the TV series RANSOM CITY. The show follows an elite unit within the Phoenix Police Department; it focused on Kidnap for Ransom cases in Arizona that directly related to the Mexican drug cartels. Coined the HIKE UNIT (Home Invasion Kidnapping Enforcement), Sikorski spent five months embedded with HIKE investigators. DJSINTEL

In 2017, Sikorski was the Executive Producer for his second, feature film, Labyrinth, starring, Johnny Depp and Forrest Whitaker. The film delves into the true story of LAPD detective Russell Poole and the murder of Hip-Hop legend, The Notorious, B.I.G. DJSINTEL

Don joined the production of the documentary series “Biggie & Tupac” for FOX via Critical Content as the Co-Executive Producer in February 2017. It was an outstanding hit on September 24, 2017 with three million viewers. DJSINTEL 2018 City of Lies instrumental, Brad Furman quote* He is the co-founder of Criminal Minded Entertainment, a creative production house and media distribution network that produces film, television, and podcasts. True Crime, to Sports, to Food consulting producer 2022 announced ‘Hip Hop Homicides’ for WEtv with 50 Cent and Mona Scott-Young

Reception
BMF: The Rise and Fall of a Hip-Hop Drug Empire was selected for presentation at the 16th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival in September 2012.

In 2013, Sikorski received a Black Reel Awards nomination in the Best Independent Documentary category for BMF: The Rise and Fall of a Hip-Hop Drug Empire.

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