The federal government
is officially seeking the death penalty against Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff
in his upcoming murder and racketeering case.
Prosecutor Roslynn
R. Mauskopf filed a death penalty request notice yesterday (March 22) in the
case, which charges McGriff with the murder of Queens, New York, rapper Eric
"E Money Bags" Smith and Smith’s associate, Troy Singleton.
"The defendant
[McGriff] possesses a risk of future dangerousness as manifested by a continued
pattern of violence, lack of remorse and contemporaneous convictions for multiple
murders," Mauskopf said.
McGriff is also
facing charges for a drug-related double slaying in Owings Mills, Maryland,
where police found $30,000 in cash in a stash house allegedly used by McGriff.
Police also confiscated
cocaine, heroin and promotional items from the Crime Partners movie that
McGriff allegedly funded with help from Hip-Hop label The Inc.
Last March, prosecutors
unsuccessfully attempted to combine The Inc.’s heads Irv and Chris Lorenzo’s
federal money laundering case with McGriff’s, but a judge eventually struck
the motion down.
In Dec. 2005, the
Lorenzo’s were eventually acquitted of laundering over $1 million of McGriff’s
drug proceeds through The Inc, which is home to top-selling artists Ja Rule,
Ashanti and others.
The government
accused McGriff of secretly owning and controlling the label, which was distributed
by Island Def Jam Music Group.
"Though the
feds allege ‘substantial planning and premeditation’ on Supreme’s part in the
murders of Troy Singleton and Eric ‘E Money Bags’ Smith it’s still a shock that
they are seeking the death penalty," Ethan Brown told AllHipHop.com. "In
law enforcement circles, these kind of targeted killings are often regarded
as less worthy of a death penalty authorization than murders in which victims
are tortured or maimed."
Brown authored
the best-selling book, Queens
Reigns Supreme: Fat Cat, 50 Cent, and the Rise of the Hip Hop Hustler
,a detailed look into McGriff’s drug dealing crew, other Queens drug dealers
and their connection to the Hip-Hop industry.
Last December,
prosecutors announced that during McGriff’s trial, they would introduce evidence
that he also ordered the May 2000 shooting of 50 Cent, who used the shooting
incident to help catapult himself to fame.
The introduction
of 50 Cent’s shooting means that the rapper may be subpoenaed to testify in
court against McGriff, with whom he has publicly feuded.
McGriff is also
accused of taking surveillance of E Money Bags and having the rapper gunned
down in his SUV in July 2001. The government accuses McGriff of ordering E Money
Bags’ murder to avenge the murder of a friend, Colbert "Black Just"
Johnson.
Last week, McGriff
was charged with a new attempted murder, for allegedly plotting to kill a woman
that was pregnant with his child because she refused to have an abortion. Prosecutors
also motioned to move McGriff’s impending trial to May 1.
In 50 Cent’s movie
Get Rich or Die Tryin’, the character of "Majestic" is loosely
based on McGriff.
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