A jury
has found Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff guilty of killing two rivals in
2001. The
jury reached a verdict today (Feb. 1) after five days of deliberation and found
McGriff guilty of paying $50,000 to gun down rivals Troy Singleton and Eric "E
Money Bags" Smith. McGriff
was convicted of murder conspiracy and drug dealing charges for masterminding
the 2001 slayings of Smith and Troy Singleton, reputed rival drug dealers.McGriff
ordered surveillance of Smith, who was gunned down in his SUV in July 2001. The
government accuses McGriff of ordering the murder to avenge the death of Colbert
"Black Just" Johnson and for allegedly assaulting Murder Inc. mogul
Irv Gotti. Singleton
was murdered execution style in 2001. He was shot four times, in the body and
head outside a sports bar, the Club Van Wyck in Queens. Prosecutors
allege McGriff ordered Singleton’s slaying as revenge for an earlier double homicide
Singleton allegedly committed. Officials
have claimed that McGriff secretly controlled rap label Murder Inc, which was
founded by mogul Irv "Gotti" Lorenzo and is home to superstars like
rapper Ja Rule and songstress Ashanti. Gotti
and his brother Christopher Lorenzo were acquitted of laundering millions of dollars
in drug proceeds for McGriff in 2005. McGriff
was the founder of The Supreme Team, a Queens, NY based drug dealing organization
that was chronicled in Ethan Brown’s book Queen’s Reign’s Supreme: Fat Cat,
50 Cent and The Hip-Hop Hustler.McGriff’s
attorneys maintain that he stopped dealing drugs in the 1980’s to pursue a legitimate
career in the music industry. A
jury will decide if McGriff will face the death penalty for his crime, although
Federal Judge Frederic Block said that it was unlikely McGriff would get the death
penalty. "There’s
no chance in the world there would be a death-penalty verdict in this case,"
Judge Block wrote in a letter. "This is an absurd prosecution, based upon
what I have heard…If I’m wrong, I will have egg on my face, but I will not be
incorrect."McGriff’s
attorneys maintain that he stopped dealing drugs in the 1980’s to pursue a legitimate
career in the music industry.