NYC Drug Lord Sentenced To Life For Murder
Pope Benedict XVI arrives to celebrate a Pentecost Mass inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Sunday, May 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) / Andrew Medichini
A remorseless drug lord with ties to hip hop and Hollywood was spared the death penalty Friday by a jury that instead sentenced him to life in prison without parole for having two rivals killed.
Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, 46, who had listened calmly as federal prosecutors called for his death, showed no reaction as the jury announced he would not receive a lethal injection.
"The client feels relieved and we feel relieved to have gotten to death's door and not have it open," defense attorney David Ruhnke said.
Before federal marshals led McGriff back to jail, he waved to three rows of his friends and family and gently tapped his chest above his heart. McGriff hugged one of his attorneys, then gave a friendly nod toward the prosecutors.
Jurors, who deliberated about 2 1/2 hours on the sentence, convicted him last week of paying $50,000 for the 2001 killings of an obscure rapper named Eric "E-Money Bags" Smith and Troy Singleton.
Prosecutors said Smith was killed in revenge for his fatal 1999 shooting of a McGriff associate, while Singleton was targeted because McGriff felt he might retaliate on Smith's behalf.
"You missed the party," McGriff text messaged a friend after Smith's slaying.
The jury forewoman said the prosecution's deals with cooperating witnesses — including the actual killers — and McGriff's fear at the time of the slayings that he was targeted for a violent death were mitigating factors against the death penalty.
McGriff was the founder of the Supreme Crew, a brutal drug gang that operated in Queens during the 1980s. At its peak, the Supreme Team's network of dealers was making $200,000 a day, authorities said.
After McGriff did prison time on a drug conviction, he was released in 1997 and aligned himself with neighborhood friend and music mogul Irv "Gotti" Lorenzo. Defense attorneys claimed this was part of McGriff's plan to create movies and music.
The one-time street thugs produced one film, "Crime Partners 2000," a straight to video affair that featured rappers Ja Rule, Snoop Dogg and Ice-T.
Prosecutors said McGriff returned to the drug business in New York and Baltimore. Lorenzo and his brother, Chris, were indicted with McGriff but acquitted at a separate trial of using their label Murder Inc. to launder $1 million in drug money.
McGriff also was convicted of drug dealing but acquitted of lesser drug and weapons charges.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, 46, who had listened calmly as federal prosecutors called for his death, showed no reaction as the jury announced he would not receive a lethal injection.
"The client feels relieved and we feel relieved to have gotten to death's door and not have it open," defense attorney David Ruhnke said.
Before federal marshals led McGriff back to jail, he waved to three rows of his friends and family and gently tapped his chest above his heart. McGriff hugged one of his attorneys, then gave a friendly nod toward the prosecutors.
Jurors, who deliberated about 2 1/2 hours on the sentence, convicted him last week of paying $50,000 for the 2001 killings of an obscure rapper named Eric "E-Money Bags" Smith and Troy Singleton.
Prosecutors said Smith was killed in revenge for his fatal 1999 shooting of a McGriff associate, while Singleton was targeted because McGriff felt he might retaliate on Smith's behalf.
"You missed the party," McGriff text messaged a friend after Smith's slaying.
The jury forewoman said the prosecution's deals with cooperating witnesses — including the actual killers — and McGriff's fear at the time of the slayings that he was targeted for a violent death were mitigating factors against the death penalty.
McGriff was the founder of the Supreme Crew, a brutal drug gang that operated in Queens during the 1980s. At its peak, the Supreme Team's network of dealers was making $200,000 a day, authorities said.
After McGriff did prison time on a drug conviction, he was released in 1997 and aligned himself with neighborhood friend and music mogul Irv "Gotti" Lorenzo. Defense attorneys claimed this was part of McGriff's plan to create movies and music.
The one-time street thugs produced one film, "Crime Partners 2000," a straight to video affair that featured rappers Ja Rule, Snoop Dogg and Ice-T.
Prosecutors said McGriff returned to the drug business in New York and Baltimore. Lorenzo and his brother, Chris, were indicted with McGriff but acquitted at a separate trial of using their label Murder Inc. to launder $1 million in drug money.
McGriff also was convicted of drug dealing but acquitted of lesser drug and weapons charges.
Popular on CBSNews.com
- Long Island police defend Hofstra student killing 295 Comments
- Officials confirm there's only 1 winning Powerball ticket
- Small Fla. town wonders who the Powerball winner is
- Allegedly random murder, "hate crime," stuns NYC
- Powerful thunderstorms rumble through hard-hit Midwest
- Could cop have avoided accidentally killing NY student? 75 Comments
- Winning tickets sought in $588M Powerball jackpot
- The War in Chicago
It's no different from alcohol prohibition in the 1920's which gave us Al Capone, the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre", and severe restrictions on purchasing automatic weapons.
For more information:
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
http://www.LEAP.cc
We have Homeland Security, DEA, FBI, CIA, Border Patrol, Coast Guard and the military- no one can tell me we are not equipped to stop drugs from coming into this country or at least being able to identify and arrest those that bring them here.
Is it because the departments I mentioned turn a blind eye to the people/countries supplying the US?
Either stop these shipments from arriving here or do what I believe will stop the hypocrisy: legalize ALL drugs and tax them sky high. Enough is enough.
It is hard to imagine street drug dealers having enough resources to get past homeland security, customs, DEA, and the FBI.
Grass skirt? As far as we should be concerned that is no different than a suit and tie, baggy pants with sports tank and a giant silver medalion necklace with a "grill" in the mouth, or a skimpy dress and red lipstick. What people wear is no reason to degrade them. Self expression, or better yet, not falling prey to the fashion industry is probably a plus for those grass skirt wearers.
Your point that they have been helped by others to rob the earth of items we consider resources for the human race but really are just being used to destroy humanity and rob us of our individuality.
Back off you Cyborg!! hahaha
Crack may be a "poor mans" drug of choice, and I mean blacks, whites, etc, but cocaine, ecstasy, speed, heroin, %u201Cangle dust%u201D, THC, etc, etc, is a rich white man%u2019s drug.
And don%u2019t be so pompous and arrogant making distinctions between you and them, because you have more in common with them than you realize, after all, the them you so flagrantly refer too are a part of your genetic roots.
All %u201Ccivilization%u201D began in Africa, research the %u201COut of Africa Theory%u201D, you can Google it, which there are over 15,000,000 sites.
The only thing %u201Cwhitey%u201D did for Africa, North America, India, Asia, Australia, etc. was to rape, murder, exploit and confiscate resources, displace native populations, force millions into poverty and starvation, and create the AIDS epidemic in Africa through their tainted research for a polio vaccine using a bad host [monkey] then vaccinating millions of unsuspecting African people with this contaminated vaccine, there is also research on this bit of knowledge as well.
Don%u2019t be so eager to pat yourself on the back, every degenerate amoral deviant behavior blacks learned in this country, well just say, they had good teachers [whitey].
The hip-hop industry is full of this,,,,a never ending suppy of thugs. Thanks for your support.