Rap Artist Manager Is Jailed Without Bail

An artist manager for Death Row Records was jailed without bail Wednesday after showing up late for his sentencing in Santa Monica Superior Court on charges of cocaine possession.

Roger Sinclair Williams, 33, known in rap circles as Neckbone, was due in court at 8:30 a.m. but did not appear until 11, forcing Judge Rex Minter to postpone the proceeding.

Minter incarcerated Williams, who has a prior armed robbery conviction and has been identified by authorities as a gang member, until his rescheduled sentencing Jan. 12.

Police stopped Williams in January when officers saw him driving erratically through Beverly Hills.

Police said an undisclosed amount of cocaine was found in his car and that he was driving with a suspended license, a charge that was later thrown out. He was booked and released on $25,000 bail.

Williams was formerly employed as manager for Death Row rapper the Lady of Rage. Law enforcement sources say he was also a part of Death Row owner Marion “Suge” Knight’s private security force during 1995 and 1996.

Williams was identified by police as one of the men in Knight’s entourage who attacked a rival gang member in the lobby of the MGM Grand Hotel on Sept. 7, 1996--just hours before Death Row rapper Tupac Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting.

The assault in the MGM lobby was captured on a hotel surveillance camera, but Las Vegas prosecutors did not charge Williams.