WASHINGTON — Rayful Edmond, a drug lord once thought to control about a third of the cocaine trade in the nation’s capital during the crack epidemic of the 1980s, has died in federal custody, the Bureau of Prisons confirmed Tuesday.
Edmond, 60, was known as the “King of Cocaine” in Washington, DC, at the height of his criminal empire. He oversaw a sprawling drug network that fueled the city’s devastating crack epidemic, contributing to a dramatic increase in murders and the destruction of countless people. lives. Armed enforcers, wielding Uzi submachine guns, protected Edmond’s territory as he carried out an operation linked to at least thirty murders, although none were directly attributed to him.
The Bureau of Prisons has not released any details about Edmond’s cause of death. Rob Sperling, a spokesman for the agency, said only that Edmond had died, without elaborating on the circumstances.
In 1989, at the age of 24, Edmond was arrested and later sentenced to life in prison for his role in running an extensive drug distribution network. It was estimated that his operation would produce up to 1,700 pounds of cocaine per month, generating millions of dollars every week. Edmond was a household name in DC at the time and led a lavish lifestyle that included sponsoring local basketball tournaments and frequent trips to Las Vegas for high-profile boxing matches.
His trial was marked by unprecedented security measures and the jurors were kept anonymous for their protection. He was given a life sentence without parole and sent to a maximum security prison in Pennsylvania. He continued to run a drug distribution network from prison, and when he was caught, Edmond received an additional 30 years in prison.
He began to cooperate with the authorities. Federal prosecutors said in a motion to reduce his life sentence that Edmond helped lock up dozens of other drug dealers, broke up distribution networks and even taught prison authorities how to better prevent trafficking within the prison system.