Posted on 07/01/2003 2:44:18 PM PDT by yankeedame
Charges over rapper's missing jewellery
02jul03
A MAN has been charged with demanding $US25,000 ($37,202) from rapper Lil' Kim to return a necklace that went missing from her luggage at the airport.
John Acheson was charged with attempted grand larceny, attempted grand larceny by extortion and attempted coercion, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement yesterday.
The 31-year-old was being held yesterday pending arraignment, Brown said, and was unavailable for comment. There was no home telephone listing for Acheson, who could face up to four years in prison if convicted.
Lil' Kim, whose real name is Kimberly Jones, was heading to Los Angeles on June 20 from John F Kennedy International Airport. She had a carry-on bag containing about $US250,000 ($372,023) worth of jewellery, including her signature diamond-encrusted Queen Bee necklace. An error at the airline check-in counter caused the carry-on bag to get mixed in with the rest of the rapper's luggage.
When the bag was recovered, the necklace and other pieces were missing, police said. A United Airlines worker found the jewellery last week, wrapped inside a rag in an employee locker room, said the 27-year-old rapper's attorney, Mel Sachs.
The district attorney said Acheson contacted Lil' Kim's attorney last week, saying he had the necklace and demanding money for its return. He said Acheson turned himself in to authorities on Monday.
The investigation of the jewellery's disappearance was continuing, said officials for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs area airports.
About as dumb as someone who checks a quarter of a million dollars worth of jewelry with luggage even by accident.
She's a looker, but that's all she is. She can't sing, she can't rap, she can't dance, she can't write. She's the Britney Spears of rap, and that's being unfair to Britney Spears, who at least can dance a little.
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