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Bill Tompkins Boxing Archive

Source: Bill Tompkins / Getty

Alleged California Crip leader Eugene “Big U” Henley‘s entertainment ties run deep.

Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Times published an article revealing how much his influence was used around circles filled with the rich and famous and how he used it to pad his own pockets.

One of the most damning stories in the 107-page federal complaint — resulting from a yearslong FBI investigation— came chalked full of intimidation accounts, both with full names; some were initials, while others went unnamed.

Still, some seemed pretty easy to decipher, like a professional boxer who only identified as A.B. For boxing fans, Adrien Broner immediately popped into their minds, and a quick look at his social media proved it could be true.

He refers to himself as AB on Instagram, and the two letters also serve as an acronym for his About Billions promotion company. Even on the company’s Instagram —with over 20,000 followers— are shots of Broner rocking a glittering jacket with the letters AB stitched onto the front as he appears to do a ring walk.

Now, the boxer is being accused of taking his dice hobby a little too seriously, according to a cooperating witness who spoke to the FBI regarding Henley’s arrest on murder, kidnapping, robbery, extortion, and fraud charges.

Only known as CW-1, the person says A.B. engaged in a dice competition alongside very popular NBA players but used teased dice, which are often heavier and more likely to roll in the user’s favor.

“According to CW-1, A.B. and his associates fixed the game, cheating the NBA players out of millions of dollars using ‘teased’ dice,” the LA Times writes.

Afterward, Henley reportedly directed his crew to “rough up” A.B. because he hadn’t checked it nor asked for safety after arriving in Los Angeles. Needing to check in or sanction dice games was familiar for Henley with CW-1, adding “because he was involved in and/or would approve of any dice games or similar events, such as parties, involving large sums of money and prominent NBA players and celebrities.”

The professional boxer’s dice stunt was corroborated by someone known as Victim-1, who had a monitored meeting with Henley when the gang leader said he “got into it” with A.B. for cheating a current and former NBA All-Star out of $1.5 million and the other $5 million.

The LA Times adds, “Henley also talked about charging the players $100,000 to get their money back.”

See how social media is reacting after running with the idea that A.B. must be Adrien Broner below.

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