A D.C. cocaine kingpin who’s been in prison for more than 35 years has been released.
Rayful Edmond, 59, got out Wednesday and is in a Nashville halfway house, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said.
The notorious gangster’s release from prison came as a bit of a surprise. As recently as last week, a judge in Pennsylvania denied Edmond’s request for a compassionate release, and two weeks ago, D.C. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan denied a request for another sentence reduction.
Edmond 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.
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Edmond was sentenced to life in prison.
In prison, Edmond became an informant
He is out now in part because he cooperated with the government after the FBI learned Edmond was making large drug deals with a Colombian cartel from a federal prison in Pennsylvania. In 1994, he flipped and became an informant.
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.
News4 reached out to Edmond’s attorney for comment but has not heard back.
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