James Sabatino, an incarcerated 31-year-old hip-hop fan from Florida, has apparently spun one incredibly wild yarn.

According to a new report from The Smoking Gun, Sabatino duped a Los Angeles Times reporter with fake FBI documents, leading to last week's bombshell story that connected Sean "Diddy" Combs and late rapper Notorious B.I.G. to the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur, an incident many believe eventually led to the murder of both Tupac and B.I.G.

The Times report was based in part on FBI documents that Sabatino fabricated to make it appear that he was involved in the incident, the site reported. Sabatino is an "audacious swindler who has created a fantasy world in which he managed hip-hop luminaries, conducted business with Combs, Shakur, Busta Rhymes, and The Notorious B.I.G., and even served as Combs's trusted emissary to Death Row Records boss Marion 'Suge' Knight during the outset of hostilities in the bloody East Coast-West Coast rap feud," the Smoking Gun stated.

The three FBI reports on which the Times' reporter Chuck Phillips based his account do not show up in the bureau's computerized Automated Case Support database, the site said. The documents appeared to have been created with a typewriter, and contain obvious similarities with other court filings created by Sabatino while he has been incarcerated.

The documents bolstered the Times' claim that Sabatino and talent manager Jimmy Rosemond set up Shakur on November 30, 1994 at Quad Studios near Times Square in New York City.

In addition, Florida court documents place Sabatino in his native Florida on the night of the attack.

After being provided with the Smoking Gun's account, the Times launched its own investigation to determine if the FBI documents cited in its story are real. The Times announced today that it will "investigate the validity of the documents."

"There is a lot of lies cirulating arround [sic] right now," Sabatino wrote the Web site in response to its finding. "But this is all going to backfire on Puff. I know him too well."

Combs has not commented on the contradictory story, but had previously called the Times' piece "a lie."

But Rosemond, CEO of Czar Entertainment, issued a statement in response.

"In this peaceful time in Hip Hop, the LA Times' false accusations are as serious as when J. Edgar Hoover deliberately sent false hate letters to chapters of the Black Panther Party to create mistrust, violence, and mayhem amongst them. Chuck Phillips irresponsibly did the same thing by creating a potentially violent climate in the Hip Hop community."

Rosemond's lawyer was less subtle in a separate statement: "I would suggest to Mr. Phillips and his editors that they immediately print an apology and take out their checkbooks--or brace themselves for an epic lawsuit."