Rap Moguls Plead Guilty

Melvin Vernell Jr. and Marcus Roach of Baton Rouge, La.-based rap music label Trill Entertainment pleaded guilty Oct. 28 to battery charges involving a rival rapper and two other men.

Vernell and Roach pleaded guilty to aggravated battery of rapper Bruce “Beelow” Moore that took place July 4, 2005. Moore was shot in front of Shop Smart Music and Fashion, a store that he owned. He survived the shooting.

Vernell also pleaded guilty to simple battery of Demond Eames outside the store. Roach pleaded guilty to simple battery of Timothy Carter outside a Piggly Wiggley store before the incident.

State District Judge Mike Erwin sentenced the two men to credit for time served on the aggravated battery charge and suspended six-month prison terms on their simple battery charges and put them on probation for two years.