The federal government
has charged Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff with the murder of a Queens, New
York drug dealer adding to a list of charges the Murder Inc. associate faces in
his upcoming March trial.
McGriff and five
associates were arraigned today (Jan. 26). McGriff has officially been charged
with the murder of a Southeast Queens drug dealer named Troy Singleton, a man
50 Cent mentions on his song "Ghetto Qu’ran."
/I’m forgettin
Lefty and Jazz, Pretty Tony and Lance Head Lou, Mel son, Troy and E Money Bags/
50 Cent raps.
Singleton was murdered
execution style on Oct, 28, 2001. He died from four shots to the body and one
to the head outside a sports bar, the Club Van Wyck.
Prosecutors allege
McGriff ordered Singleton’s slaying as revenge for an earlier double homicide
Singleton allegedly committed.
According to Ethan
Brown’s book "Queen’s
Reigns Supreme: Fat Cat, 50 Cent, and the Rise of the Hip-Hop Hustler
,"Singleton and an unknown accomplice allegedly murdered two men named Pierre
Mitchell and Jamal Adams, during a basketball game near the Baisley Park Houses.
Prosecutors also
claim Singleton was murdered for pistol whipping Ja Rule’s manager Ron "Gutta"
Robinson outside a Queens, New York nightclub.
"The feds
were going to introduce the Troy Singleton murder as so-called ‘uncharged evidence’
in Preme’s trial," Ethan Brown told AllHipHop.com. "But clearly, given
their loss in the Murder Inc. case they are taking no chances and firming up
whatever allegations they have against ‘Preme [McGriff] into actual charges."
The charges are
the latest against McGriff, who could be charged with the death penalty if convicted.
In Dec. of 2005, the U.S. Attorney’s office confirmed they will introduce evidence
that McGriff orchestrated the May 2000 shooting of rapper 50 Cent.
Prosecutors have
already charged McGriff with the slaying of Queens, New York rapper Eric "E
Money Bags" Smith. Prosecutors claim McGriff ordered the murder of E Money
Bags in retaliation for the murder of his closest associates, Colbert "Black
Just" Johnson.
E Money Bags was
murdered in May 2001. He was shot 10 times after gunman open fire on the rapper’s
SUV, as he sat parked on a Queens street.
The government
attempted to introduce 50 Cent’s May 200 shooting during the federal money laundering
charges of The Inc.’s Irv and Chris Lorenzo.
Prosecutors accused
the Lorenzo brothers of helping McGriff launder millions in drug proceeds, but
a jury acquitted the brothers of all charges in Dec. of 2005.
During the trial,
the government accused Ja Rule’s bodyguard, Robert “Sun” Lyonsof
shooting 50 Cent at McGriff’s behest.
50 Cent has stated
in numerous printed interviews and in songs that the person who shot him was
Darryl “Hommo” Baum.
In addition to
the murders, McGriff is charged with racketeering and various narcotics charges.
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