Rayful Edmond III, a drug lord best known for catalyzing a crack cocaine epidemic in Washington, D.C. in the 1980s, has died. He was 60.
According to The New York Times, Edmond’s death was confirmed by Kristie Breshears, a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Per the Bureau, Edmond had been living at a halfway house in Miami at the time of his death.
What was Rayful Edmond’s cause of death?
At the time of publishing, Breshears did not provide information on his cause of death.
Rayful Edmond’s work in the drug game
Edmond is known as one of the most prolific drug lords in Washington D.C. in the 1980s, earning the nickname the “king of cocaine” in the area, Time reported. He spearheaded a expansive drug empire that contributed significantly to the crack epidemic in D.C., which, in turn, saw a rise in homicides in the city. Edmond’s operation was impenetrable (the 150-member drug ring was protected by guards armed with Uzi submachine guns, The New York Times reported) and lead to at least 30 murders. Those attacks were not linked to Edmond.
It took authorities until 1989 to arrest a 24-year-old Edmond, who was later sentenced to life in prison for running his drug empire, which was estimated to distribute up to 1,700 pounds of cocaine per month and millions of dollars each week. Edmond’s income matched his lifestyle— he was well known in D.C. for living a glamorous lifestyle, including sponsoring local basketball tournaments and traveling to Las Vegas often for acclaimed boxing matches.
Edmond believed he and others shouldn’t have been found guilty
“I think that me and my family and my friends all should have been found not guilty,” Edmond told The Washington Post (as the New York Times reported) after his conviction. “All of us are loving, caring people who have kids. We’re just like everyone else in Washington, D.C.”
But prison didn’t stop Edmond’s operation. Edmond’s influence pushed the Justice Department to create a task force to put a stop to drug trafficking in prisons. In 1996, Edmond pleaded guilty to leading deals between D.C. dealers and Colombian drug cartels from a Pennsylvania prison. And in 1997, the Deputy Attorney General at the time, Eric Holder, said on 60 Minutes that he pushed more cocaine while in prison than when he was out. According to Time, he received an additional 30-year sentence.
Later, Edmond became an informant for authorities. He was a government witness in several cases that helped convict other cocaine traffickers, and he played pivotal roles in covert sting operations. Edmond also provided the government with information on the murder of two inmates in a Pennsylvania prison.
According to The New York Times, information on his survivors has not been shared.
The post Who Was Rayful Edmond And How Did He Die? Drug Kingpin Known As ‘King Of Cocaine’ Was 60 appeared first on Blavity.
