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Lawyers for rap / hip-hop mogul Irving ''Irv Gotti'' Lorenzo, the force behind the label Murder Inc., will ask to have his federal money laundering case severed from the murder and racketeering charges surrounding other defendants.

Defense attorney Gerald Lefcourt was given the greenlight Friday by Brooklyn federal judge Edward Korman to ask for Lorenzo's case to be separated from that of accused murderer Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff.

Federal prosecutors said they are considering whether to ask for the death penalty in the case against McGriff, 45, and two associates, Nicole Brown,41, and Dennis Crosby, 38. If that happens Korman said he would sever the non-racketeering defendants.

January indictment accused McGriff of engineering the murder of Eric "E. Money Bags" Smith on July 16, 2001 in Queens.

Lorenzo, 34, whose is widely known as "Irv Gotti," was accused in the indictment with laundering $1 million in drug proceeds through the record company, home to big rap names like Ashanti and Ja Rule. Two Lorenzo companies, IG Records and MI Records, were also charged.

Outside court Lefcourt told reporters that all of the non-racketeering defendants, including Lorenzo and his brother Christopher, will ask to have their cases split away from the more notorious charges surrounding McGriff. He said prosecutors added Gotti and his record company into the indictment to jazz up the press announcement of the charges.

Prosecutors alleged that Lorenzo helped launder some of the drug funds through the film "Crime Partners" with which McGriff was involved. But Lefcourt denied that claim.

"No (drug) money ever," went through the record company, Lefcourt said.

"They have to show the money was drug money and that people knew it was drug money," Lefcourt said about the prosecution's burden, a burden he thinks they won''t be able to prove. A spokesman for the Brooklyn U.S. Attorneys office declined comment Friday.

Lorenzo seemed relaxed after the hearing Friday and held a breezy, impromptu news conference.

"I am a self made man," Lorenzo said. "I helped the company make $250 million."

Lorenzo gushed about his parents who stood nearby and pointed them out for special attention.

"This is my hero," Lorenzo said as he hugged his father, Irving Sr.

"This the one I worship," he then said about his mother, Mary."I am the youngest of eight kids who never committed a crime."

His brother Christopher, 37, is also charged in the money laundering case.

Lorenzo and his brother, as well as several other record company employees are free on bail. McGriff, Brown and Crosby are being held without bail.

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