Judge Threatens Suge Death Row Records

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A Los Angeles judge threatens to take control of Suge Knight?s assets, including Death Row Records, after the rap mogul neglected to pay off a multi-million debt.

Last year Marion ?Suge? Knight, co-founder of Death Row, was ordered to pay $107 million to former business partner, Lydia Harris. In March 2005, Harris won a civil lawsuit claiming she was cheated out of a 50 percent stake in the West Coast-based label.

LA Country Superior Court Judge Ronald Sohigian told Knight that he could avoid the court order if he discloses his assets in a debtor?s exam by April 1. Otherwise, the judge would appoint a court officer to take over his finances.

"Because he had a long history of deceiving the court and avoiding payment, I asked the court to appoint a receiver to take over," said Harris? attorney, Rex Julian Beaber. "If Knight cooperates in providing the information, he can ask the court to remove the receiver. But I don't think there's a chance in hell Knight is going to cooperate."

Knight's lawyer, Dermot Givens, said the judge has not formally signed the order seizing Knight's assets, and he expects it to be overturned after he provides proof that Knight and Harris had previously reached a settlement in the case.

?In May of 2005, [Lydia Harris] received a million dollars and rights to various music, and she signed a settlement agreement,? said Givens.

However, Goldberg claims there is no agreement. ?I think it?s a death knell for Death Row,? she said.

Death Row Records ? once home to rap superstars Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and the late Tupac Shakur ? dominated hip-hop charts in the 1990s, before its popularity dwindled following Shakur?s 1996 murder and a string of prison stints by Knight.