Names and faces
■ The rapper G Herbo is in more legal trouble in connection with an alleged scheme to use stolen credit card information to pay for a lavish lifestyle, federal prosecutors said. The Chicago native, whose real name is Herbert Wright III, was charged Wednesday with lying to federal investigators, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston. In December, G Herbo, 25, was among six people, including his promoter Antonio Strong, indicted for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He pleaded innocent to those charges. Authorities said the suspects used text messages, social media messages and emails to share account information taken from dark websites for trips on private jets, exotic car rentals, yacht charters, luxury vacation rentals and even designer puppies. While G. Herbo told investigators that he never worked with Strong, never provided Strong any money or received anything of value from Strong, prosecutors said the two had worked together since at least 2016, had exchanged money and valuable goods and had frequent direct contact through phone conversations, text messages and social media messages. An email seeking comment was sent to G Herbo’s attorney. Strong’s federal public defender said via email he had no comment.
■ Harvey Weinstein is suing his one-time attorney Jose Baez for breach of contract and is seeking a refund on $1 million in legal fees he says he paid the high-profile lawyer for a short stint on his legal team. In a lawsuit filed this week, Weinstein, 69, claims that Baez was regularly preoccupied with other matters, pawned off important work to other lawyers, was often unavailable to speak with him about his New York rape case and later provided fraudulent billing records. Baez, a Florida-based lawyer best known for representing Casey Anthony, joined Weinstein’s defense in January 2019 and left six months later, saying the former movie mogul would communicate only through other lawyers and failed to abide by a fee agreement. Weinstein claims he agreed to pay Baez and another lawyer $2 million in $200,000 monthly payments for their defense work but that Baez violated New York law by stating in his agreement that his retainer was nonrefundable and non-negotiable. Messages seeking comment were left for Baez. Weinstein, now serving a 23-year sentence, was convicted in February 2020 of raping an aspiring actress in 2013 and forcibly performing a sexual act on a production assistant in 2006.