RAYFUL EDMOND III

Rap Sheet
Reign: 1980s
Business: Powder and Crack Cocaine
Region: Washington, D.C.
Claim to Fame: may have supplied crack to D.C.’s mayor
Downfall: top business associate turned government witness
Sentence: life without parole
Status: Federal Witness Protection Program
Lesson: Be cool; stay in school.

Case File
To many in his home town of Washington D.C., he was public enemy No. 1 during his 1980s reign as the city’s biggest cocaine and crack dealer. However, Rayful Edmond III says he was only trying to help his family live a better life and enjoy the finer things life had to offer.  Growing up in the northeast quadrant of D.C., Edmond was all but born into the trade, and despite a short stint in college, by his early '20s he was established as the city’s most notorious kingpin. His rise coincided with the capital city’s unprecedented explosion of street violence and drug addiction. Following an extensive federal investigation Edmond and two dozen members of his organization –including two sisters, and his mother - were convicted and sentenced to long terms in federal prison. Instead of ending his career, prison accelerated it. As Edmond went into business with a fellow inmate with strong ties to the Medellin drug cartel. Busted once more, Edmond agreed to make a deal with federal prosecutors – but only on his own peculiar terms.