The reason civil lawyers would cooperate is simple: if the FBI makes its criminal case, the civil suit will theoretically be that much easier to win. They checked into a hotel and Carson tailed Muhammad for a few days, trying to establish his daily patterns. Did Amir Muhammad aka Harry Billups aka Ashmir kill Biggie Smalls? After watching the special, I’m convinced that former LAPD officer, David Mack, worked with Muhammad to kill Biggie. Philips further claimed that sources told him, “FBI officials were concerned that Carson might have been influenced by the Wallace lawyers and that his contacts with them could embarrass the bureau.”. “I can prove to you how they not only knew what was going on, but how they obstructed this case, how they derailed it,” said Carson. “That’s when I wrote up the long communication to my boss. A former colleague of his at the Times said, “Sorry, but neither I nor other friends of Chuck’s actually have any working contacts for him right now.”. Frank Lyga was not charged over the shooting, but the LAPD shelled out $250,000 to settle the incident with Kevin Gaines’ family. But Carson provided details of these alleged meetings and he was told by at least two FBI supervisors that Berkow had called them on “numerous” occasions, asking them to shut the case down. “All they thought was Rafael Perez was going to come in and tell them how he was stealing cocaine out of this evidence locker and maybe implicate a few other cases regarding that,” explained Carson. An informant told Miller a man with a name sounding like Muhammad was the shooter, and Miller said he sent out for a driver's license mug shot of the Fontana mortgage broker. “He tells me he’s got good news: one of the Rampart officers that was on our radar screen was just busted trying to buy 10 kilos of cocaine from an undercover DEA agent down in San Diego,” said Carson. The lawsuit contends that then-LAPD officer David Mack and his longtime friend Amir Muhammad (also known as Harry Billups) conspired to murder Wallace in March 1997, and it … Carson said he was able to review the “murder book,” or the complete case files, and “that is when I realized that no further investigation had taken place—it was a cold case for them.”. But like Staves, Palomares tried to ice Carson out. During the Q&A, Phil Carson also explains how he was prevented from testifying against the LAPD’s top brass during the controversial civil trial over Biggie’s death, out of fear that a $500 million judgment in favor of the rap star’s estate would bankrupt the city. The suit claims that the LAPD covered up police involvement in the rapper's death (see "Notorious B.I.G. Carson convinced Psycho Mike to wear a wire and try to elicit another confession from Muhammad. “And that’s when I told Jesse, ‘Lose your job?! With that squared away, Carson and Psycho Mike caravanned down to San Diego with fellow FBI Special Agent Tim Flaherty. READ MORE: L.A. Times Journalist Chuck Phillips: Me Against The World, Instead, both men believe the investigative work of former LAPD officer Russell Poole – who also investigated the murder as an officer on the force – was right the whole time. His murder remains unsolved.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'allhiphop_com-box-4','ezslot_2',672,'0','0'])); In “The Dossier” Don Sikorski argues that there is enough evidence for the FBI to file federal charges against ex-LAPD cops Nino Durden, Rafael Perez, David Mack, and an associated named Amir Muhammad. Carson, disgusted, was now more certain than ever that Philips and Berkow were exchanging information. Carson grew up near Seattle, where he led his high school to the state soccer title. Said Carson, “I don’t think it’s a stretch to think that somebody was basically telling Berkow, or Berkow’s just deciding on his own, ‘I gotta stop this thing.’ And that’s when he goes ahead and inexplicably suddenly takes Roger and Steve off the case completely.”. It’s no reason to have a complete change of heart on everything.” (When asked for comment for this story, LAPD spokesperson Joshua Rubenstein offered, “Unfortunately we have no comment on this.”). READ MORE: Detectives That Hid Evidence Added To B.I.G. That probably is the most popular and likely theories regarding Biggie’s death. A newly hired FBI agent, Jerry Jaeger, started helping Carson run down leads. Cops administered a polygraph test, which Romero failed. At the end of his rope, Carson decided to meet with Philips—with Garcia’s permission—so Philips could “put a face with the name and see that he’s ruining an agent’s career.” Carson and Cathy Viray met Philips at a downtown coffee shop near the Times building early the next morning. I said, ‘Dude, you’re going to federal prison. Berkow signed off on Mora and Sambar’s travel plans, and the three investigators got permission to travel to New Orleans for a second meeting with Sanders. The shooter, in a mid-1990s Chevrolet Impala SS was alleged to be a man named Amir Muhammad (a/k/a Harry Billups). Phil Carson is a Seattle native, who attended the University of Washington, where he majored in business finance.eval(ez_write_tag([[336,280],'allhiphop_com-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_11',653,'0','0'])); According to Phil Carson, he grew weary of Seattle’s weather and packed up for Southern California, where he worked as a financial analyst for a few years. In a deposition, Katz said he hadn’t turned over the evidence to Wallace’s lawyers because he forgot he had it. Psycho Mike quietly explained that he was involved with an FBI undercover operation, and gave Carson’s cell number to a skeptical Rowbotham. In 1991, Rodney King was beaten by LAPD officers, which led to a series of departmental reforms. Over 100 convictions had been thrown out due to the cases having been illegally made by corrupt cops, and 20 officers were either forced out of the department or fired. He had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and had severe learning disabilities, said Richard Valdemar, Mike’s former handler with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. Amir Muhammad, also known as Harry Billups, is longtime friend of former LAPD Officer David Mack. Shooting unarmed people and all sorts of stuff.” – Former FBI Agent Phil Carson told AllHipHop.com. Investigators immediately focused on the bank’s assistant manager Errolyn Romero, who had suspiciously ordered an abnormally large delivery of cash to the bank the day before. Connolly, another FBI agent on the RamFIT team. When Muhammad answered the door, he appeared to recognize Psycho Mike, who brought up Biggie’s killing and got Muhammad talking. Former LAPD Homicide investigator Sergio Robleto was hired by Violetta Wallace and her attorney Perry Sanders. “These transmitters that we used absolutely sucked and they weren’t gonna be able to hear anything anyway, which is exactly how we wanted it,” Carson said. “Well, that pissed Berkow off to no end,” said Carson. He insisted that he be briefed on everything that happened, and forced the FBI to put transmitters in Psycho Mike’s pockets so they could listen into the meet in real-time. “We’re just too low on resources,” Carson said Berkow told him. Lawsuit. With the new evidence now being brought to light by Phil Carson, maybe it will be. Berkow agreed, and Carson said the arrangement was approved by Chief Bill Bratton. One day, he watched The Sting and The Untouchables, back-to-back. If you know something you need to come forward.” Ms. Voletta Wallace to AllHipHop.com, December 2005. According to Carson, the cops weren’t shedding any tears for a “four-hundred-pound-black-male-former-crack-dealer-rapper that’s dead.” And proving an LAPD connection to the killing wouldn’t do the department any favors. When Harn explained this to Muhammad, he became angry, saying he knew Harn was lying to him because he had already gotten the plate run by someone he knew at LAPD. His resembles the round headed bowtie sketch and the other is the long egg head who I believe is actually Kevin Gaines. Mack was arrested in December of 1997, and eventually convicted of bank robbery charges. This time, Muhammad didn’t answer the door and called 911. I was able to put it all together saying no ‘there’s, a pattern here, and it’s not a good pattern. Phil Carson retired from the FBI in 2017, after almost two decades of service to the bureau. He refused to tell investigators who his accomplices were or where he hid the money, and was later sentenced to 14 years and three months in federal prison. Harry Billups) were the … Back in 2001, an eyewitness identified the man who shot Biggie as Amir Muhammad, a man who was former LAPD officer, Death Row associate, and convicted bank robber David Mack's college roommate and the only man to visit him in prison. “But while I’m watching, I’m thinking to myself, ‘Hold on a second here. Well, he throws out a bombshell about Rampart, and about all these corrupt police officers and all the bad stuff they were doing,” Former FBI Agent Phil Carson told AllHipHop.com. Rampart was just another division with an LAPD. He and Viray got up and went back to the office. Wallace and now he's telling all. ), In an FBI memo written by Carson at the time, Valdemar, Psycho Mike’s handler, said it was “unbelievable how bad Phillips and the LA Times is trying to disprove Robinson and the theory that Amir committed the murder.”. “Unfortunately, I am unable to provide you with any assistance in your endeavor,” Palomares said in an email. I don’t get any enjoyment going after these guys, but it’s my job. Special agent Phil Carson’s life and career both began to blow up on the day the attorneys for the plaintiffs’ side in Wallace v.Los Angeles —a wrongful-death suit filed in by the family of the Notorious B.I.G. Carson tried to get Staves to talk, but he wouldn’t say a word. Carson and Sikorski believe Greg Kading’s theory is part of an ongoing disinformation campaign, which at various times had included the LAPD, and the LA Times, through the reporting of former journalist Chuck Philips. Bernard Parks, a 32-year LAPD veteran, was sworn in as the beleaguered department’s 52nd chief on August 22, 1997. “They stole a large amount of money and these drugs and in particular he talks about a gold-plated revolver that they stole,” said Carson. David Mack now works at a green energy company in Southern California. On the afternoon of March 9, 2005, Garcia, Carson, Viray, FBI attorney Steve Kramer, and an assortment of top FBI officials had a 90-minute conference call with Philips during which Carson’s FBI bosses described him as a model agent and explained in no uncertain terms that Carson’s perfectly proper interactions with Sanders had nothing to do with the investigation being shut down. Muhammad was reportedly cleared of suspicion by the LA police and FBI. In the end, only four officers were convicted: Officer Paul Harper, Officer Brian Liddy, Officer Michael Buchanan and Sergeant Edward Ortiz. Psycho Mike drove to Muhammad’s place off Telegraph Canyon Road in the white Mercedes; Carson and Flaherty followed at a safe distance and parked a block away. Mack was arrested one month later, in December of 1997, for his role in the robbery, which netted him and his cronies $722,000. Carson said he heard Berkow tell Philips in one of the recordings that he needed to “make sure” Carson was personally discredited so he wouldn’t be believable on the stand if called to testify in Voletta Wallace’s civil case. He lives on the West Coast. Officer Gaines, who was supposedly connected to the Bloods, moonlighted as security for Marion “Suge” Knight and Death Row Records. FBI Agent Phil Carson completes his story about the operation to wire up FBI Informant Psycho Mike Robinson to meet with alleged triggerman Amir Muhammad. He is pushed out of LAPD he sort of is blackballed out of the LAPD…and that is the first instance of this case where you started to see weird things happening, where he wanted to investigate different things.