It’s been a while since Al Harrington made noise in the NBA, and this probably isn’t the type of return to the spotlight he was hoping for. From the New York Daily News:
A Brooklyn crack kingpin on trial for racketeering and murder wanted former New York Knicks player Al Harrington to bankroll his career as a hip-hop artist rapping about real-life mayhem, a defense lawyer said Monday.
Ronald (Ra Diggs) Herron was hanging with Harrington and rapper Waka Flocka Flame before the feds brought down his alleged career as the leader of a violent drug gang in the Gowanus Houses project.
Harrington appears in several YouTube music videos with Herron — including a party bus scene in which he flashes what appears to be a gang sign, a source told the Daily News.
Herron’s lawyer wanted to investigate a former gang member about his ties to Harrington. The request was denied by the judge, though, who said that Harrington’s potential connection “is not in the scope of cross-examination.”
Herron’s trial began in late May, and, according to the New York Times, he faces a 21-count indictment that accuses him of running a crack and heroin ring as well as committing three murders between 2001-2009. He was acquitted of the 2001 murder of Frederick Brooks after two key witnesses did not testify at his trial, but still went to prison on drug charges. He was released in 2007.
