Six
years after the murder of rapper Eric "E Money Bags" Smith, the man
believed to have orchestrated the crime stood in front a Brooklyn, New York federal
courtroom to answer for the crime.Opening
arguments in the trial of noted drug kingpin Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff
began Tuesday (Jan. 9) as US Attorney Jason Jones presented McGriff as the mastermind
who hired the gunmen responsible for the July 2001 slaying of Smith and Tony Singleton,
a drug dealer. The
men were killed in retaliation for the murder of Colbert Johnson, according to
investigators. Johnson, an associate of McGriff’s, was gunned down two years ago.McGriff
is on trial for racketeering, racketeering murder, drug dealing and money laundering.Prosecutors
argued that Singleton’s death was the result of his status as rival drug dealer.
Some of McGriff’s old associates and co-conspirators are expected to testify,
stated Jones, who added that records of text messages would also be called into
evidence. Text
messaging was the method allegedly used by McGriff to transmit orders to carry
out crimes."He
is a drug dealer and a murderer," Jones said.The
trial is the latest chapter in the saga of McGriff, who gained notoriety in the
1980s as the leader of a drug empire in the Baisley Park area. The
lifestyle eventually landed McGriff in federal prison for eight years. After his
release in the mid-1990s, McGriff tried his hand at success in the music and movie
industries.McGriff,
Jones told jurors, was a man who continued to live a life of crime as he enlisted
teams of hit men to carry out murder plots. Prosecutors
claimed that the 46-year-old laundered drug profits through the rap record label
Murder Inc. The label’s owners Chris and Irv Lorenzo were acquitted of money laundering
charges in 2005.McGriff’s
defense attorney David Ruhnke disputed accusations that McGriff had a hand in
murders and said the violence and deadly atmosphere of the drug life motivated
his client to leave that lifestyle behind him. He
also encouraged jurors to maintain an open mind while critically assessing the
testimony of the witnesses.If
convicted of the murders, McGriff faces the death penalty.
