Melvin Williams, whose life as a West Baltimore drug kingpin in the 1960s and post-prison redemption earned him a place in HBO's "The Wire," died Thursday at the University of Maryland Medical Center. The vehicle was intercepted and four kilograms of heroin were found in a hidden compartment. Johnson was sentenced to 156 months in prison. Maurice Peanut King is a former Baltimore Drug Kingpin. From Melvin Williams's own perspective, he didn't want to be . . "Melvin took me under his wing and helped me to see things different," he said. "As a teen I had heard about him and one day, years later, I mentioned from the pulpit there were people selling drugs on Etting Street. The cocaine was often hidden within vehicles loaded on car carriers. By the mid-1970s, handful of kingpins with syndicates made up of family members and trusted associates controlled the lion's share of narcotics distribution in Baltimore. While many liberals have come on board with criminal justice reform, a common refrain is that law enforcers should be focusing on the major traffickers instead of small-time dealers. Catonsville, [citation needed] On February 7, 1985, he was convicted and sentenced to 34 years in prison. Email Us. Investigators witnessed Kinney, Nauls, and Rhodes make regular trips from Houston to Baltimore where they would then offload large quantities of narcotics into a safehouse that was being maintained by the organization. Prosecutors say Blackwell, 27,had led a drug operation in Maryland, New York and the Dominican Republic since 2003. [citation needed], Williams died on December 3, 2015, at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. If this is what people want, they are going to see more of this. The statement may have intended to boost city morale, but the rueful tone indicated that Schmoke knew that giving people what they desired would produce a fleeting victory at best. Turning cheap and plentiful cocaine into smokable rock was something nearly anyone kid could do. Linda L. 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"The riots were started by the police when they killed Freddie Gray," Williams told Newsweek via email. Let me know what yawl think about this story. Nathan Barksdale, 54, the Baltimore drug kingpin who inspired some key characters on HBO's The Wire, died while in a federal medical prison in North Carolina on Saturday . Police pressure destabilized the arrangement, creating mayhem as enforcers tried to claim new turf without the necessary inventory. Lock To be strapped was to grab the steering wheel of our careening lives, Coates noted. Jones ruled over one of the most murderous narcotics organizations in Baltimore history, and was convicted of conspiring to kill rivals, federal witnesses, police informants, and their relatives. Boys Drug Probe Seized Here, Baltimore Sun, April 11, 1987, 5A. Steven Blackwell of Elkton pleaded guilty . 125 67 r/Mafia The defendants cases will be prosecuted in Baltimore County. Baltimore has a notable gang population, with more than 2,000 known members in 170 organizations. Williams was born in Baltimore, Maryland. In this episode we will be discussing Baltimore Kingpin Anthony Jones. Same activity selling drugs just done a different way, and its done with violence, and the most violent crew takes over, narcotics agent Neill Franklin recalled. Baltimore was just a metaphor; it depicted post-industrial America." The Wire was intricately, unforgivingly plotted, capturing the prosaic nature of police procedural work, the brutal dynastic. In this episode we will be discussing Baltimore Kingpin Anthony Jones. [4] Alfred Blumstein and Joel Wallman, The Recent Rise and Fall of American Violence in. Im grateful for the hard work of the DEA teams, Maryland Attorney Generals Office, and our law enforcement partners, with whom we were able to execute these arrests and seize illegal drugs and firearms from this violent drug trafficking organization.. "I call him the Al Capone of Black organized crime, because he was the. Snyde BALTIMORE (WJZ) --Gary Creek, the alleged founder of the "Triple-C" gang has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound following a 3-hour standoff with police in Georgia. Fans of "The Wire" have long speculated that Mr. Williams was the inspiration for the drug dealer character Avon Barksdale. Friends said Mr. Williams, 73, told them he had cancer. Former Baltimore gangster Nathan Barksdale, who inspired several characters on The Wire including drug kingpin Avon Barksdale, died in federal medical prison in North Carolina, The Baltimore Sun . Canty, and 2000s with G. Smith (Mr Big), the Rice Brothers, and others, all allegedly made millions of dollars during their day. Kinney, Lawrence, and Rhodes have been charged with: Smith, who received more than seven kilograms of cocaine while maintaining a Baltimore County safe house, was charged with: Illegal drug distribution affects the very foundation of our families and communities so every time we take cocaine and firearms off the street, lives are saved, DEA Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forgot added. On Monday, the Baltimore Police Department said it received a "credible threat" that they had unified and aimed to harm law enforcement. [15] Baltimore Sun, 13 Arrested After Complaints of Drug Dealing Prompt Raids, September 2, 1994. He was the man in more ways than one- trendsetter, drug dealer, high roller, ladies' man- these were only a few of the titles Peanut King carried. While still in prison, his life story was featured in a series of articles written by future The Wire creator David Simon. Baltimore Police also says its detectives are working diligently to crack down on illegal drug activity and trafficking, citing the recent federal indictment of 29 alleged drug dealers from. [3] During that time, Williams was a gambler and states that he was framed by Baltimore police for possession of narcotics. DeSantis whines about 'woke' politicians, avoids thorny issues like abortion, book bans and LGBTQ rights . Holding court in East Baltimore's gritty neighborhoods and holding fast to his thuglife ideals of "get mine or be mine." The most feared drug dealer and gangster in Charm City, AJ allegedly ordered murders from his prison cell. "Disputes between rival drug gangs lead to many shootings and murders in Baltimore City," said United States Attorney Robert K. Hur. Johnson retrieved the vehicle from the car carrier and delivered it to Smith in Baltimore. [2], Simon denies that Nathan Barksdale or any other individual is the basis for any specific character in The Wire. While the other sections of the West Side are the Northwest hoods of Park Heights and Liberty Heights, or Southwest Baltimore with hoods like Irv Town and Yale Heights. Collins is scheduled to be sentenced on March 6, 2014. To combat crime, the city also placed stricter guidelines towards sentencing convicted felons or rules for citizens on probation and parole, which have made times for the people of Baltimore more difficult. Your email address will not be published. The flow of narcotics and firearms into our communities must stop, said Attorney General Brown. Change). He offered a slightly different answer on Thursday. He laundered his proceeds through Atlantic City casinos and reinvested them in stocks and real estate. Required fields are marked *. If this claim is anything to go by then, these rappers are in deep sh*t. Richard Byrd says that he partied with top stars while at it with his cross-country marijuana distribution and [] Stars: Dominic West, Lance Reddick, Sonja Sohn, Wendell Pierce Votes: 345,854 3. Considered a drug kingpin in the 1960s,[1] Williams was known for trafficking heroin in Baltimore before he was sentenced to prison in 1985. As a result of the ongoing narcotic trafficking, detectives executed search and seizure warrants at multiple stash locations and on vehicles used by the drug trafficking organization, recovering firearms, drugs, and the proceeds from drug sales. Including the cash seizure in Arkansas, approximately $6.7 million dollars in assets have been seized from Smith. And they're loyal as a motherfucker! Last week,. Mr. Williams left prison in 2003 after attorney Michael E. Marr had argued successfully that he didn't meet the technical requirements for the federal career criminal laws that prosecutors had used to send him to prison for what could have been the rest of his life. He was not a bragger. Additionally, detectives recovered a heat sealer, face masks, rubber gloves, a kilogram press, digital scales, kilogram wrappers, and a money counter from stash locations believed to be used for repackaging the bulk narcotics for street-level distribution. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Six Suspects Charged, Including Drug Kingpins For Roles In Interstate Cocaine Trafficking Conspiracy. He spoke against drug use and trafficking. He said Mr. Williams shared with him that he had been diagnosed with cancer. - https://tony2times.bigcartel.com I'm a Videographer, Photographer, and Reporter located in Atlanta, but I was born and raised in Baltimore. Stokes, as well as Maurice Farmer, 47, of Baltimore, have been charged with Participation in a Criminal Organization, Volume Dealer, Possession with the Intent to Distribute, and related charges. The investigation determined that between July 2022 and October 2022, members of the conspiracy from Texas served as couriers for the national drug organization. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. He is in a sense, all of those kingpins from Baltimore's criminal past and therefore none of them.". In the past, these gangsters would have executed outsiders horning in on the valuable commerce. He had been through it all because he had grown up on the streets," he said. [2] His father worked as a cab driver, while his mother worked as a nurse's assistant. When it comes to drug dealing, stolen goods smuggling, and outright murder, no TV show has ever gone . BALTIMORE Sandwiched on the line between three police districts, regular patrols may not have detected the signs of a major drug distribution ring, but people who live there did. "He was a fascinating man in terms of Baltimore and what the drug war was going to do to this country.". The takedowns did not put a dent in Baltimores $900 million heroin market, an amount three times what city spent on its schools. [3] In February 2016, he died from an undisclosed illness at a medical prison in Butner, North Carolina, aged 54. "Sometime in my fifties I became aware that there was a God in charge, and not a Melvin," he said. [2] Kenneth A. Jackson is the executive producer, and singer Troy May of the Manhattans is the narrator. (BALTIMORE) - - U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced Garnett Gilbert Smith, a/k/a Abdule Jones a/k/a Brian Slack, age 44, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 25 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiring to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. There really was a Nathan Bodie Barksdale. Garnett Smith was one of the largest cocaine and heroin dealers to be arrested by the DEA in recent history, stated Gary Tuggle, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office. Two Mexican government sources told Reuters news agency that . A DEA official acknowledged that the influx filled the void created by locking up men like King and Meredith. [5], However, in his director's commentary to the first episode of The Wire, Simon says: "We tend to mix the names up but its our kind of back-handed homage to the reality of West Baltimore. When they didn't do anything but blame the victim and yack about 'thugs and gangs', as they always do, my people took matters in their own hands." I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of the one-dimensional stereotypes about drug dealers. If the court accepts the plea agreement, Blackwell will receive a 20-year prison term at sentencing in January. [8] Presidents Commission for a National Agenda for the Eighties, Urban America in the Eighties: Perspectives and Prospects (Washington, DC: GPO, 1980), 19; William Reed, Blacks and Americas Drug Problem, Homeland, Jan. 1, 1993. Agreement, Blackwell will receive a 20-year prison term at sentencing in January that Nathan Barksdale any. And sentenced to 34 years in prison Coates noted including the cash in. Our careening lives, Coates noted think about this story his proceeds through Atlantic City casinos and reinvested them stocks! Vehicle from the car carrier and delivered it to Smith in Baltimore, Maryland `` Melvin took under... 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