Two Former 'Suge' Knight attorneys indicted on bribing potential witnesses and other charges

LOS ANGELES (Fox 11) - Two former attorneys of rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight have been indicted on charges of conspiring to bribe potential witnesses and obstruct justice, prosecutors announced Monday.

Matthew Fletcher, 53, and Thaddeus Culpepper, 44, were charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit subornation of perjury, conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and accessory after the fact, according to the Los Angeles Country District Attorney's Office.

Culpepper also faces two other conspiracy counts and a charge that he violated a court order that restricted Knight's phone privileges and prohibited phone calls with three people on the line.

Fletcher is charged with one additional count of perjury.

If convicted, Fletcher and Culpepper face a possible maximum sentence of three years and eight months in jail.

The defendants appeared in a downtown courtroom Monday and were released on their own recognizance.

They are set to be arraigned March 16.

Knight, 52, is charged with murder, attempted murder and felony hit-and-run.

He is accused of using a pickup truck to run down 55-year-old Terry Carter and Cle"Bone" Sloan in the parking lot of Tam's Burgers on West Rosecrans Avenue in Compton on Jan. 29, 2015.

Carter died and Sloan survived his injuries.

Prosecutors said that in the weeks following Knight's arrest, Fletcher tried to pay off potential witnesses.

According to the indictment, he allegedly told Knight it would take about $20,000 to $25,000 to secure his freedom.

Fletcher is also accused of telling Knight that Sloan should be paid for his testimony.

In 2016, a confidential informant told Culpepper he would be willing to testify that he saw weapons at the murder scene, even though the informant wasn't there when the crime occurred, according to the indictment.

"So you weren't there, but you know what's going on?" Culpepper allegedly said to the informant before agreeing with Knight to use the informant as a defense witness at trial.

Both attorneys have denied any wrongdoing.