An infamous drug lord who helped turn Washington,DC into the 'murder capital of America' has been released into a Nashville halfway house after 35 years in prison, to the horror of his new neighbors.
Rayful Edmond, 59, sparked a crack epidemic in the nation's capital when he swamped DC with the then relatively unknown cocaine derivative in the 1980s, supplying up to two tons a week to the city's dealers.
His 150-strong organization was directly implicated in up to 30 murders a year as the city descended into deadly turf wars before he was handed a life sentence without parole in 1990.
A judge in Pennsylvania denied his request for compassionate release as recently as last week, but the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed that he was moved to a residential re-entry center in Nashville on Wednesday.
'Why dump him in Nashville?' demanded one resident of the Tennessee city. He should be DC's problem not Nashville's.
Rayful Edmond was earning up to $2 million a week after flooding DC with crack cocaine, helping turning it into the 'murder capital of America' in the late 1980s
He continued importing cocaine after being convicted and was sentenced to another 30 years in 1996, but by that time he had turned informant on his former associates
'Let me gaze into the future,' suggested another. 'Ex DC drug kingpin operating huge drug business here in Nashville. Victim's mother speaks out.'
Edmond was earning an estimated $2 million a week before he was busted in April 1989 and sentenced with a dozen of his co-conspirators.
'He was a young, likable guy, good-looking, with a good personality, and a lot of his friends he played basketball with had no idea that he was involved in drug selling,' former DC Mayor Marion Barry recalled in his autobiography.
'He was basically pulled into it from his family. That doesn't make it right, but Rayful had a lot of people who liked him and were very loyal to him.'
The jury at his trial was protected by bulletproof glass, and Edmond would be brought daily by helicopter to the Federal Court House in DC from a maximum security facility at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.
Sentenced in September 1990, he continued striking deals from his cell in Pennsylvania's Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary, sometimes spending several hours a day on the phone with his Colombian cartel contacts.
He was handed another 30-year sentence but turned informant in 1994, providing information that led to the conviction of more than 100 associates.
He ran his operation from a house in DC's Northeast district with help from his mother Constance 'Bootsie' Perry, who was sentenced to 14 years for her role in the enterprise.
His trial in 1990 saw the jury protected by a bulletproof screen, andEdmond was brought daily by helicopter under military guard from the Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia
Edmond's operation was implicated in up to 30 murders a year as the capital's homicide rate headed for an all-time high
He ran his operation from a house in the DC's Northeast district with help from his mother Constance 'Bootsie' Perry, who was sentenced to 14 years for her role in the enterprise
Edmond used his influence to befriend members of the Georgetown Hoyas basketball team, including John Turner and Alonzo Mourning, before being warned off by then-coach John Thompson.
He was immortalized by rap stars including Jay-Z in his 1996 song Can I Live with the line 'No more Big Willie, my game has grown prefer you call me William Illin' for revenues, Rayful Edmond like Channel 7 New'.
DC's murder rate spiraled to nearly 500 a year but Edmond himself was never convicted of any violent offense and provided an 'unparalleled magnitude of cooperation' after his turning on his associates, a judge wrote in 2021.
'I am very remorseful,' Edmond said during a 2019 application against his sentence.
'I am sorry for everybody I hurt, for everybody I disappointed. If I ever get the opportunity, I will do my best and whatever it takes to make up for all of my crimes.'
His original sentence was reduced to 20 years in 2021, and his lawyers had applied for his 30-year sentence to be served concurrently.
'We worked diligently to get his sentences reduced in DC and PA,' lawyer Tiffani Collins told The Washington Post.
'I believe his release was overdue. Rayful is a wonderful person and I have no doubt he will make tremendous contributions to our community. He's a voice the youth needs to hear.'
Edmond is now under a witness protection program with a 'projected release date' of November 8 next year, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
He was immortalized by rap stars including Jay-Z in his 1996 song Can I Live
'He was a young, likable guy, good-looking, with a good personality, and a lot of his friends had no idea that he was involved in drug selling,' former DC Mayor Marion Barry recalled
A former police officer who successfully penetrated Edmond's operation recalled in a 2019 interview that cocaine shipments were being delivered by the truckload to the gang's HQ.
'And a guy sitting on the back with an Uzi, with two Uzis,' he told News4.
'The task force always had my back on the street and would always watch me.
'And I would do it again. As long as you could live in a city like this is now, I would do it again.'
