Decades later, a Whispers member publicly spoke about the day he decided to make a bad decision, and how he ended up paying for it. The year was 1980 and you would have thought that the Whispers had all of the opportunity in the world to continue a successful stay in the music industry, but while we were all jammin’ to the Whispers’ new record, “And The Beat Goes On,” one of their members was jammin’ to the sound of ‘cha-ching’ while carrying out a $1.8 million dollar heist!

That member is LeaVeil Degree, who was 31 years old at the time. He’s now very remorseful about doing this and here is what happened…

The Whispers Singer, LeaVeil Degree, Explains What Happened

According to the legal documents:

When LeaVeil Degree was 31, he and his brother David, whom was 24 at the time, pleaded guilty in a $1.8 million stolen jewelry case after U.S. attorneys agreed to drop some of the most serious charges against them in their 17-count federal grand jury indictment.

LeaVeil’s wife, Kimberly, whom was 24 at the time, pleaded guilty to a felony count of possession of stolen mail and then 19 year old Rochelle Florio, pleaded guilty to obstructing the mail, a misdemeanor charge.

About $800,000 of the stolen goods were retrieved.

In the plea bargaining, the Degree brothers told U.S. District Judge Irving Hill that they would cooperate in an attempt to recover the remaining $1 million in jewels and furs still missing. The million dollar jewels and furs were never recovered.

David Degree also agreed to testify against Edna Delgardo, who was 25 at the time. In exchange, a conspiracy charge against LeaVeil Degree and theft charges against both brothers would be dropped.

The federal indictment stated that Delgardo gave David Degree the key to her postal truck, which was parked in the Jewelry District of Los Angeles. It further charged that David drove the truck to LeaVeils’s home, where the two brothers unloaded the goods.

At the time of his aforementioned case, LeaVeil was facing a possible 15-year prison term and a $6,000 fine, or both on tree counts. That fine sounds really small nowadays in comparison to the crime, but in 1980 that was a pretty decent sized slap on the wrist.

Wow, they had a real life Ocean’s Eleven type of scheme going!

His Prior Health Battle

On a side note, LeaVeil had to face an even bigger hurdle years back at the age of 59 (he’s 73 now). He’d found out he had coronary artery disease, having to get four stints placed near his heart to prevent him from having heart attacks and other heart complications in the future. LeaVeil also always makes it a point to urge men, in particular Black men to make sure that you do not allow your pride to get the best of you and prevent you from waiting to long to go to the doctor, because that’s what he says he did.

He’s doing great now with his health and he’s back on stage performing with his music “brothers”: Walter Scott and Wallace “Scotty” Scott. Their former member, Gordy Harmon is no longer a part of the group, and members, Marcus Hutson and Nicholas Caldwell sadly passed away in 2000 and 2016 respectively.

Where LeaVeil Degree Is Now

Ever since resolving his legal troubles back in the day, LeaVeil has become a changed man who has never made the mistake of getting caught up in the love for quick money again. It’s amazing how one bad choice with tough consequences is sometimes needed in order for us to get the message. Here at ILOSM, we love these Old School entertainers and LeaVeil Degree’s story just further proves what we always say: ‘That great success does not come without great failures.’

The post Whispers Singer Revealed Serving Prison Time For $1.8M Crime Most Fans Never Knew About appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Decades later, a Whispers member publicly spoke about the day he decided to make a bad decision, and how he ended up paying for it. The year was 1980 and you would have thought that the Whispers had all of the opportunity in the world to continue a successful stay in the music industry, but while we were all jammin’ to the Whispers’ new record, “And The Beat Goes On,” one of their members was jammin’ to the sound of ‘cha-ching’ while carrying out a $1.8 million dollar heist!

That member is LeaVeil Degree, who was 31 years old at the time. He’s now very remorseful about doing this and here is what happened…

The Whispers Singer, LeaVeil Degree, Explains What Happened

According to the legal documents:

When LeaVeil Degree was 31, he and his brother David, whom was 24 at the time, pleaded guilty in a $1.8 million stolen jewelry case after U.S. attorneys agreed to drop some of the most serious charges against them in their 17-count federal grand jury indictment.

LeaVeil’s wife, Kimberly, whom was 24 at the time, pleaded guilty to a felony count of possession of stolen mail and then 19 year old Rochelle Florio, pleaded guilty to obstructing the mail, a misdemeanor charge.

About $800,000 of the stolen goods were retrieved.

In the plea bargaining, the Degree brothers told U.S. District Judge Irving Hill that they would cooperate in an attempt to recover the remaining $1 million in jewels and furs still missing. The million dollar jewels and furs were never recovered.

David Degree also agreed to testify against Edna Delgardo, who was 25 at the time. In exchange, a conspiracy charge against LeaVeil Degree and theft charges against both brothers would be dropped.

The federal indictment stated that Delgardo gave David Degree the key to her postal truck, which was parked in the Jewelry District of Los Angeles. It further charged that David drove the truck to LeaVeils’s home, where the two brothers unloaded the goods.

At the time of his aforementioned case, LeaVeil was facing a possible 15-year prison term and a $6,000 fine, or both on tree counts. That fine sounds really small nowadays in comparison to the crime, but in 1980 that was a pretty decent sized slap on the wrist.

Wow, they had a real life Ocean’s Eleven type of scheme going!

His Prior Health Battle

On a side note, LeaVeil had to face an even bigger hurdle years back at the age of 59 (he’s 73 now). He’d found out he had coronary artery disease, having to get four stints placed near his heart to prevent him from having heart attacks and other heart complications in the future. LeaVeil also always makes it a point to urge men, in particular Black men to make sure that you do not allow your pride to get the best of you and prevent you from waiting to long to go to the doctor, because that’s what he says he did.

He’s doing great now with his health and he’s back on stage performing with his music “brothers”: Walter Scott and Wallace “Scotty” Scott. Their former member, Gordy Harmon is no longer a part of the group, and members, Marcus Hutson and Nicholas Caldwell sadly passed away in 2000 and 2016 respectively.

Where LeaVeil Degree Is Now

Ever since resolving his legal troubles back in the day, LeaVeil has become a changed man who has never made the mistake of getting caught up in the love for quick money again. It’s amazing how one bad choice with tough consequences is sometimes needed in order for us to get the message. Here at ILOSM, we love these Old School entertainers and LeaVeil Degree’s story just further proves what we always say: ‘That great success does not come without great failures.’

The post The Whispers Singer Revealed Going To Prison For $1.8M Crime Most Fans Never Knew About appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

That member is LeaVeil Degree, who was 31 years old at the time. He is now very remorseful about doing this, and here is what happened, according to the legal documents:

When LeaVeil Degree was 31, he and his brother David, whom was 24 at the time, pleaded guilty in a $1.8 million stolen jewelry case after U.S. attorneys agreed to drop some of the most serious charges against them in their 17-count federal grand jury indictment.

LeaVeil’s wife, Kimberly, whom was 24 at the time, pleaded guilty to a felony count of possession of stolen mail and then 19 year old Rochelle Florio, pleaded guilty to obstructing the mail, a misdemeanor charge.

About $800,000 of the stolen goods were retrieved.

In the plea bargaining, the Degree brothers told U.S. District Judge Irving Hill that they would cooperate in an attempt to recover the remaining $1 million in jewels and furs still missing. The million dollar jewels and furs were never recovered.

David Degree also agreed to testify against Edna Delgardo, who was 25 at the time. In exchange, a conspiracy charge against LeaVeil Degree and theft charges against both brothers would be dropped.

The federal indictment stated that Delgardo gave David Degree the key to her postal truck, which was parked in the Jewelry District of Los Angeles. It further charged that David drove the truck to LeaVeils’s home, where the two brothers unloaded the goods.

At the time, LeaVeil was facing a possible 15-year prison term and a $6,000 fine, or both on three counts. That fine sounds really small nowadays in comparison to the crime, but in 1980 that was a pretty decent sized slap on the wrist.

Wow, they had a real life Ocean’s Eleven type of scheme going! Since then, LeaVeil Degree has become a changed man whom has never made the mistake of getting caught up in the love for quick money again. It’s amazing how one bad choice with tough consequences is sometimes needed in order for us to get the message. Here at ILOSM, we love these Old School entertainers and LeaVeil Degree’s story just further proves what we always say: ‘That great success does not come without great failures.’

On a side note, LeaVeil had to face an even bigger hurdle some years ago, at the age of 59 (he’s 73 now), when he found out he had coronary artery disease and had to get 4 stints placed near his heart to prevent him from having heart attacks and other heart complications in the future. LeaVeil now makes it a point to urge men – in particular Black men – to make sure that you do not allow your pride to get the best of you and prevent you from waiting to long to go to the doctor, because that’s what he says he did.

He’s doing great now with his health and he’s back on stage performing with his music “brothers”: Walter Scott, Wallace “Scotty” Scott, and Nicholas Caldwell. Former member, Gordy Harmon, is no longer a part of the group. Sadly, members Marcus Hutson, passed away in 2000 from prostate cancer; and Nicholas Caldwell, died of congestive heart failure in 2016.

The post Whispers Singer Confessed Going To Prison For $1.8M Crime Many Fans Never Knew About appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

ILOSM fam,’ we’re sending a big congratulations to comedian/actor, Mike Epps, and his blushing bride, after the two quietly got married on Sunday, June 23, 2019. What we’ve now learned is that the shindig wasn’t a complete ‘secret,’ because Snoop Dogg, T.I., the iconic Whispers, and the legendary Doug E. Fresh, all managed to get an invite and help him usher in the new chapter of his life.

However, his current marital bliss did not come without a somewhat tense journey to get there. So before we share all of his beautiful festivities with y’all, we’ll take a quick trip back down memory lane to the intense divorce tussle with his first wife, Mechelle.

First Up: Where Epps & His EX-WIFE Came From, To Get Where He is Now…

It was back in September 2017, that we reported Mike Epps had just learned a whole new meaning to Johnnie Taylor’s soul classic song, “It’s Cheaper To Keep Her.” That’s when he and his now ex-wife of 12 years, Mechelle Epps, had finally made their divorce final, and the ex-Mrs. came up big time. Matter of fact, Mechelle’s new theme song could very well be Johnny Kemp’s joint, “Just Got Paid…it’s Friday night….” after the hefty payday she received in their divorce.

Epps Ex Is Getting HOW MUCH $$???>>>

The post Congrats: Mike Epps Weds Fiancee’ And The Whispers & Dougie E.Fresh Had The Reception Poppin’ appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Caldwell passed away yesterday (1-5-2016) at the age of 71 years young. He was ill for a while, but 6 months ago his conditioned worsened. (SEE THE OPEN LETTER THAT NICHOLAS CALDWELL POSTED ABOUT HIS HEALTH IN JUNE ON PAGE 2…THAT WAS HIS LAST OFFICIAL UPDATE). We have little info right now, but here is what has been confirmed so far…

Here’s what TMZ reported:

The group’s manager tells TMZ Caldwell was found Tuesday night by his wife at their home in Stockton, CA. We’re told Nicholas has had heart problems in the past and had a pacemaker inserted about a year ago but it’s unclear at this point exactly what led to his death.

Caldwell had also taken a break from the group over the last year to get better in hopes of returning to the stage with the group’s other three members.

Our condolences are with Nicholas Caldwell’s family and the remaining three Whispers members during their time of grief, we will keep them in our thoughts and prayers. Mr. Caldwell is resting peacefully now – no pain, no struggle, just peace, and we thank him for leaving us with precious old school memories that will forever be a part of the soundtrack to our lives. Sleep well Caldwell.

The post R.I.P.: Member Of The Whispers Suddenly Passes Away At 71, Details… appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Sometimes the personal lives of some of our favorite entertainers are just as entertaining as their singing careers. In the case of Whispers member, Nicholas Caldwell, one life choice he made was interesting to say the least.

Wait ’til you see what illegal activity he decided to partake in while the Whispers were at the top of their game…

The post Wait ‘Til You See The Illegal Job This Whispers Singer Had…Wow! appeared first on I Love Old School Music.