Alleged Tupac Shooting Mastermind Denies Involvement, Lawyer Calls Accuser "Desperate"

Attorney for James Rosemond says his client "absolutely" did not hire convicted felon Dexter Isaac to attack the rapper in 1994, as Isaac claimed in a statement issue from prison

By Natalie Finn, Claudia Rosenbaum Jun 16, 2011 8:10 PMTags
Tupac SkakurRon Galella/WireImage.com

Almost 15 years after his death, Tupac Shakur is at the center of another major beef.

A day after a convicted murderer confessed to participating in the robbery and nonfatal shooting of Shakur at a New York City recording studio in 1994, an attorney for the man he pegged as the mastermind of the crime is flat-out denying the accusation.

"How anyone can take this animal's word as true without any corroboration at all is frankly beyond me," Jeffrey Lichtman, attorney for music exec James Rosemond, tells E! News in saying that his client "absolutely" did not hire anyone to go after Shakur.

But why did Dexter Isaac say Rosemond hired him, then?

"[Isaac] is a guy who is a convicted psychotic killer, who is currently serving a life sentence without parole," Lichtman says. "And what he failed to mention in his statement where he claims that he is not cooperating, is that he was brought back from a prison in Colorado to Brooklyn solely to cooperate with federal authorities. He has been cooperating for months in a desperate attempt to get out from under his life sentence."

In a statement to AllHipHop.com issued yesterday, Isaac admitted to participating in the shooting and claimed to still have one of the chains stolen from Shakur that day. He alleged that Rosemond hired him to pull the job and that he was speaking out now, 17 years later, to clear his conscience and give Shakur's mother some peace.

"All of a sudden, 17 years later, in a desperate attempt to get out from under his sentence he is making up this story about Jimmy," Lichtman says.

Isaac, who's behind bars in New York for murder, robbery and witness intimidation, also accused Rosemond of falsely naming him as a government informant when the Czar Entertainment founder was indicted last month on drug charges.

As for those drug charges, Lichtman tells E! News that he has seen no copy of an indictment or the warrant that's reportedly out for his client's arrest. The NYPD has not commented beyond a brief statement last night saying police would investigate Isaac's claims and take appropriate action if warranted.

Either way, it doesn't sound like anyone is resting in peace right now.