Jakob Laundered Drug Money

A celebrity jeweler who put diamonds on celebrities from Sir Elton John to Kanye West pleaded guilty Wednesday to falsifying records and giving false statements to investigators looking into a multistate drug ring. Arabov, a Russian immigrant also known as the "King of Bling," became popular among hip-hop and R&B artists in the mid-1990s.
 

He Was Connected To Rosenstein

Arabov, 42, was arrested in June 2006 at his Manhattan jewelry shop. Authorities accused him and others of conspiring to launder about $270 million in drug profits for the "Black Mafia Family," a ring that operated out of the Detroit area beginning in the early 1990s.

Most Accomplices Have Fled To Israel

The 7-year investigation resulted in the indictments of Arabov and 41 other people. Twenty-eight have pleaded guilty, eight are scheduled for trial Nov. 19 and the whereabouts of six others are unknown.

Famous New York Attorney

In return for the guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop money laundering charges against the man known in the hip-hop world as "Jacob the Jeweler," said Arabov's attorney, Benjamin Brafman.
 

Judge Vern Cohn Will Pass Sentence

Terms of the plea deal call for Jacob Arabov of New York to serve up to 46 months in prison and pay a $2 million penalty, U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy said in a news release. No sentencing date was immediately set by U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn.