Big U’s charges are getting heavier after federal prosecutors added seven new felonies accusing the mogul of trying to have a federal witness killed or seriously injured before his case reaches trial.
According to the Los Angeles Times, a second superseding indictment returned Wednesday says Henley allegedly tried to recruit fellow inmates to harm a person expected to testify against him and his associates while Henley remains in federal custody.
The new filing changes the temperature around a federal case that was already loaded with allegations of violence, extortion, fraud, and racketeering. Prosecutors are no longer only pointing to conduct they say happened before Henley was arrested. The government now alleges Henley was still trying to influence what happened outside his cell after being locked up in March 2025.
The newest Big U charges center in part on what prosecutors say happened in June. Henley allegedly asked questions about the layout of a housing unit where he believed a federal witness was being held. Prosecutors claim he then offered payment to two inmates to either kill or seriously injure that person. The government alleges the intended purpose was to stop the witness from testifying against Henley and others in the case. The second superseding indictment adds seven felonies and includes charges involving solicitation to commit a crime of violence and witness tampering, according to the same report. The newly added witness tampering counts carry a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison. Henley’s attorney declined to comment to the outlet about the new allegations. Henley previously pleaded not guilty to the charges he was already facing.
These Big U charges land on top of a case federal prosecutors unveiled more than a year ago. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, a federal grand jury returned a 43 count indictment against Henley in March 2025 accusing him of racketeering conspiracy, robbery, extortion, fraud, tax crimes, misuse of funds, and other offenses. Prosecutors described the alleged “Big U Enterprise” as a “mafia-like organization” that they say used Henley’s standing and longtime connection to the Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips to intimidate people and businesses around Los Angeles.
The Justice Department said that original indictment included one RICO conspiracy count, multiple Hobbs Act extortion and robbery counts, 15 wire fraud counts, five counts involving funds from an organization receiving federal money, bank fraud, tax offenses, and a Mann Act count. Federal prosecutors also accused Henley through the racketeering case of killing an aspiring musician, an allegation that has not been proven in court. The Justice Department has stressed that an indictment contains allegations and that defendants remain presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
What makes the newest Big U charges hit differently is the timing. Henley and his defense team were already preparing for a massive trial with an enormous amount of evidence to review. Defense attorneys told the court earlier this year that discovery included roughly 1.1 million items, with tens of thousands of intercepted calls and thousands of surveillance videos among the material they needed to examine. That workload helped push the trial into 2027.
Prosecutors fought that delay, and witness safety was already part of their argument. The government warned the court about what it characterized as “ongoing witness intimidation,” including an allegation that the home of a cooperating witness was vandalized after the person’s identity appeared on social media. U.S. District Judge Fernando Aenlle Rocha ultimately approved the delay, setting the trial for February 16, 2027.
Now prosecutors are making an even more direct claim. The latest Big U charges accuse Henley himself of trying to get violence carried out against a federal witness from inside custody. Henley and six other defendants in the case are expected to stand trial in February 2027. The outlet reports that Henley could face up to life in prison on the racketeering conspiracy count if convicted, while the new witness tampering allegations bring their own potential life sentence.
None of that makes the allegations proven. The Justice Department states clearly that an indictment is an accusation, and the Los Angeles Times reports that Henley previously entered not guilty pleas in the case. The government will still have to establish its allegations in court, including the new claims surrounding the federal witness.
But the stakes around the Big U charges have clearly moved again. A case that was already built around allegations of a criminal enterprise, violence, fraud, and intimidation now includes prosecutors claiming Henley tried to interfere with the people who could testify against him after he was already behind bars. The fight heading into February 2027 is not only over what prosecutors say happened before Henley’s arrest, but whether they can prove he tried to shape the case from inside federal custody.
