A D.C. cocaine kingpin who spent more than 35 years in prison has died at 60, just months after his release from prison, the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed.
Rayful Edmond, 60, was convicted in 1990 of running a cocaine ring that racked up millions of dollars in sales and sent the murder rate so high the District was dubbed the “murder capital” of the nation. The crack epidemic had the District in a vice grip for years with countless murders linked to it.
Edmond operated 60% of the crack cocaine that moved through D.C., prosecutors said. At the time of his arrest, it was one of the most profitable drug operations in the nation.
Edmond was sentenced to life in prison.
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The notorious gangster was released from prison and moved to a halfway house over the summer.
In prison, Edmond became an informant
Edmond cooperated with the government after the FBI learned he was making large drug deals with a Colombian cartel from a federal prison in Pennsylvania. In 1994, he flipped and became an informant.
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For the next 20 years, Edmond provided information to the feds that led to the convictions of at least 100 people, court records show.
Federal prosecutors have said Edmond helped jail dozens of other drug dealers, break up distribution rings and even taught prison authorities how to better prevent trafficking inside the prison system.
His assistance previously resulted in the early release of his mother, Constance "Bootsie" Perry, who was sentenced to 14 years for her part in her son's operation. It also prompted authorities to put Edmond under witness protection.
Retired undercover officer recalls Edmond’s cocaine operation
In D.C. during the late 1980s, Edmond ran his cocaine operation from a house in Northeast where a young police recruit successfully infiltrated the gang.
“I was in there for, like, three days and was asked did I want to do undercover work,” the now-retired undercover officer told News4’s Jackie Bensen in 2019.
Known to the gang as Jimmy, the undercover officer remembered cocaine shipments being delivered by the truckload.
“And a guy sitting on the back with an Uzi, with two Uzis,” he said.
At one point, Edmond became close with some of Georgetown University’s top basketball players. Coach John Thompson met with Edmond and asked him to leave his players alone.
“Rayful respected that because Rayful was a big basketball fan,” the officer said.
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