CONVICT ADMITS TO HIS PART IN THE STUDIO SHOOTING OF TUPAC SHAKUR

JIMMY ROSEMOND

A former rap mogul recently convicted of cocaine trafficking admitted to authorities in plea bargain negotiations that he was involved in the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur, which sparked the East Coast-West Coast rap war that eventually took down Shakur and fellow rapper Christopher Wallace, better known as the Notorious B.I.G, according to the reporter who has been tracking the rap rivalry for years.

Reporter Chuck Philips -- whose 2008 Los Angeles Times story pointing the finger at James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond was later retracted after thesmokinggun.com revealed the report was based in part on forged court documents -- now offers up court transcripts from Rosemond's recent trial in which the prosecutor says Rosemond admitted he was involved in the Shakur shooting. Rosemond's former pal Dexter Isaac, serving a life sentence for murder, admitted last year that Rosemond paid him to rob and pistol-whip Shakur. In fact, Shakur was shot five times.

Rosemond, who has always publicly denied involvement in the shooting, won't be charged with Shakur shooting, because it was classified as a robbery, and the statute of limitations ran out 11 years ago.

In 1995, Shakur was shot four times in Las Vegas and died six days later; no one has ever been charged in the murder.