To many in his hometown of Washington, D.C., during his 1980s reign
as the city's biggest cocaine and crack dealer, Rayful Edmond was
public enemy number one. At the height of Dodge City's brutal crack
epidemic in 1987, this 22-year-old man was responsible for
distributing 60 percent of the cocaine that flooded the city's
streets. In the Chocolate City, Rayful was the undisputed king of
cocaine. He was street royalty with a certified gangster resume. At
his peak Rayful sold 2,000 keys a week, reaped gross profits of $70
million a month and ran an operation with over 150 soldiers to
support him. By his early twenties he had established himself as
the city's most notorious drug kingpin. In the high profile and
glamorous life he led, champagne flowed like water, trips to Las
Vegas, New York and Los Angeles were commonplace and $50,000
shopping sprees were the routine. Rayful personified the big city
drug lord and his stature epitomized all the accolades that
position demanded. To the mainstream media, he encompassed all that
was wrong with the city's crack epidemic, but in the streets Rayful
was a hero, an inner-city gangster who made it to the top echelons
of the drug trade. A Lucky Luciano, Billy the Kid-type figure. But
there were consequences to his reign. His volcanic rise coincided
with an unprecedented explosion of street violence and drug
addiction in the capital city. The era is remembered for murder,
mayhem and bloodshed. Historians have blamed the crack storm that
seized D.C. on Rayful, but Rayful maintained he was only trying to
help his family live a better life and enjoy the finer
materialistic trappings of capitalism that were often denied
denizens of the ghetto. To the block huggers, four corner hustlers
and hood mainstays Rayful was beloved, even worshipped. His appeal
crossed boundaries and he was adored by children and adults alike.
But to others he was feared, a man who wreaked havoc on his
community. Neighborhood people saw the effects of his crack
enterprise outside their front doors and it wasn't pretty. A
community divided was in essence, a community destroyed. But
regardless of what people thought of Rayful, he was an enigma, the
president and CEO of what authorities called "the largest network
for cocaine street sales in Washington D.C." He was a gangster
legend of epic proportions, until he tarnished his legacy by
turning snitch.
General
| Imprint: |
Gorilla Convict Publications
|
| Country of origin: |
United States |
| Release date: |
May 2013 |
| First published: |
May 2013 |
| Authors: |
Seth Ferranti
|
| Dimensions: |
216 x 140 x 10mm (L x W x T) |
| Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
| Pages: |
194 |
| ISBN-13: |
978-0-9800687-7-1 |
| Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
True stories >
Crime
Promotions
|
| LSN: |
0-9800687-7-0 |
| Barcode: |
9780980068771 |
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!