Rapper Lil' Kim pleads not guilty to perjury, obstruction charges
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Rap diva Lil' Kim pleaded not guilty in federal court Wednesday to various charges stemming from a February 2001 shooting.
The rapper, whose real name is Kimberly Jones, is charged with conspiracy to commit perjury, making false statements and obstructing justice in connection to the shootout between her entourage and associates of a rival hip-hop artist outside a Greenwich Village radio station. One person was wounded.
Jones' business manager, Hillary Weston, was also in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where she entered a not guilty plea on the charge of obstruction of justice.
"Kim has been unfairly accused and unjustly charged," said Jones' attorney, Mel Sachs. "She's been wrongfully targeted and singled out because of who she is in the music industry."
Weston's attorney, Michael Bachner said, "The charges against her have to deal with an alleged obstruction in the grand jury. Hillary didn't obstruct anything. I think she may have obstructed traffic once at a younger age but that's about it.
"These are allegations being made by the U.S. attorney's office purely as a result of the fact that she's affiliated with a very well known and very popular rap star, and the charges against Lil' Kim, as far as we're concerned, are completely meritless. And we're comfortable at the trial that she's going to be acquitted."
A trial date was set for February 28.
