Notorious Queens, NY crack dealer Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff could be sentenced to death after he was convicted Thursday, Feb 1, of drug dealing and paying $50,000 for the murder of two rivals in 2001.
"The defendant wanted these men dead in part to maintain his reputation as a feared and ruthless gangster," said prosecutor Jeffrey Rabkin during closing arguments in federal court.
According to the sources, the 46-year-old defendant was dressed in a three-piece suit and tie during Thursday’s hearing, and "occasionally smiled and flashed peace signs to supporters, including the rap star Ja Rule."
By 2001, McGriff had been released from jail on a narcotics conviction, and owned the rights to the book, Crime Partners, written by one of his favorite writers, Donald Goines.
McGriff was also supplying cocaine and heroin to drug crews in Baltimore by 2001, and had partnered with Murder Inc.’s head honcho Irv "Gotti" Lorenzo, who agreed to help market and produce the soundtrack for Crime Partners.
Also in 2001, prosecutors say McGriff ordered a hit on two rivals: a rapper named E-Money Bags who had killed his close friend Colbert "Black Just" Johnson in 1999, and another man who, according to a source, "smacked around some of his Murder Inc. friends outside a nightclub."
A hit team from Harlem did the job for $50,000. McGriff allegedly gave them directions via two-way pager. A criminal associate testified that McGriff was thrilled to learn E-Money Bags was dead, saying "it was like the Fourth of July."
A raid on an Owings Mill, Md., house where McGriff stashed his drugs produced a surveillance videotape of one of the victims. Another tape offered behind-the-scenes footage from Crime Partners showing the executive producer "stuffing what appears to be large amounts of cash down his pants."
McGriff went on the run in 2002, authorities said. Investigators caught up with him in a Miami hotel, where he had checked in using a $1,000 cash deposit and an alias. Inside a room with McGriff were a younger woman and a small stash of Ecstasy and Viagra.
Authorities also suspect a drug beef led to McGriff ordering the 2000 shooting of Queens rapper 50 Cent, who survived nine bullets. No charges were brought in the case. The rapper later based the villain in his autobiographical movie, Get Rich or Die Tryin', on McGriff.
The guilty verdict apparently didn't rattle McGriff who smiled and blew kisses to his supporters in the gallery. Before leaving the courtroom, he flashed the victory sign with both of his hands.
A jury will decide whether he receives death or life in prison
"The defendant wanted these men dead in part to maintain his reputation as a feared and ruthless gangster," said prosecutor Jeffrey Rabkin during closing arguments in federal court.
According to the sources, the 46-year-old defendant was dressed in a three-piece suit and tie during Thursday’s hearing, and "occasionally smiled and flashed peace signs to supporters, including the rap star Ja Rule."
By 2001, McGriff had been released from jail on a narcotics conviction, and owned the rights to the book, Crime Partners, written by one of his favorite writers, Donald Goines.
McGriff was also supplying cocaine and heroin to drug crews in Baltimore by 2001, and had partnered with Murder Inc.’s head honcho Irv "Gotti" Lorenzo, who agreed to help market and produce the soundtrack for Crime Partners.
Also in 2001, prosecutors say McGriff ordered a hit on two rivals: a rapper named E-Money Bags who had killed his close friend Colbert "Black Just" Johnson in 1999, and another man who, according to a source, "smacked around some of his Murder Inc. friends outside a nightclub."
A hit team from Harlem did the job for $50,000. McGriff allegedly gave them directions via two-way pager. A criminal associate testified that McGriff was thrilled to learn E-Money Bags was dead, saying "it was like the Fourth of July."
A raid on an Owings Mill, Md., house where McGriff stashed his drugs produced a surveillance videotape of one of the victims. Another tape offered behind-the-scenes footage from Crime Partners showing the executive producer "stuffing what appears to be large amounts of cash down his pants."
McGriff went on the run in 2002, authorities said. Investigators caught up with him in a Miami hotel, where he had checked in using a $1,000 cash deposit and an alias. Inside a room with McGriff were a younger woman and a small stash of Ecstasy and Viagra.
Authorities also suspect a drug beef led to McGriff ordering the 2000 shooting of Queens rapper 50 Cent, who survived nine bullets. No charges were brought in the case. The rapper later based the villain in his autobiographical movie, Get Rich or Die Tryin', on McGriff.
The guilty verdict apparently didn't rattle McGriff who smiled and blew kisses to his supporters in the gallery. Before leaving the courtroom, he flashed the victory sign with both of his hands.
A jury will decide whether he receives death or life in prison
