NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana – A New Orleans rapper and drug dealer, Larry “Lah” Rowel, has pleaded guilty to murder in federal court on Thursday. Rowel admitted to committing a retaliatory, drug-related homicide in 2019 and distributing cocaine and marijuana, among other federal charges. He was affiliated with a gang called “Spazz Gang” that operated in New Orleans East and the 9th Ward.
Rowel was involved in a shooting incident in 2019, where he and two other gunmen fired 48 rounds at a pickup truck, killing its occupant, Terrance Hampton, 26. Prosecutors stated that Rowel and other gang members were hunting Hampton because he had murdered one of their drug associates earlier the same day.
Additionally, on Christmas Eve of the same year, Rowel broke into the apartment of another drug dealer’s girlfriend. He aimed to find $43,000 belonging to the dealer, but a search turned up nothing. Law enforcement was able to link Rowel to these crimes through his cell phone records, as well as the discovery of the rifles used in the murder and the location of the vehicle at Rowel’s apartment.
Following a 13-count indictment in January 2022, Rowel pleaded guilty to a host of federal charges, including conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and causing death through the use of a firearm and conspiracy to commit robberies. Rowel faces life imprisonment for the murder conviction, with his sentencing scheduled for April 24.