In 1989, William “Billy” Murphy Jr. represented Rayful Edmond III, the man who ran one of the largest drug empires in the nation, here in D.C.
Edmond, who died at 60 on Tuesday, was known as the “King of Cocaine” for a reason, as his operation helped fueled D.C.’s crack cocaine crisis in the 1980s.
“I haven’t had contact with Rayful very much since the trial, but I’ll never forget that trial. I’ll tell you that,” Murphy told WTOP.
Edmond spent 35 years in prison, receiving an additional 30-year sentence after he was caught running his drug operation from inside prison. He would later help the government prosecute over 100 drug dealers.
Edmond died only five months after he was transferred from prison to community confinement. He was set to be released in November of next year.
Murphy said one thing from the trial that sticks with him is one of the most devastating pieces of evidence for the defense team: A secret recording of Edmond’s mother, Constance “Bootsie” Perry, in which she admitted teaching her young son how to sell drugs to government workers and Edmond’s father taught him how to deal on the streets.
“Then she marveled, ‘Just imagine we all work for him now, and he’s one of the biggest ever,'” Murphy recalled from the tape.
Murphy said the conversation, while powerful for prosecutors, also showed Edmond was a product of the environment he lived in — one in which many young people in underserved communities are brought up.
“It shows the tragedy of what happens in our inner cities when kids don’t have the right home training, and they are raised in crime-infested neighborhoods where they don’t understand that they have more choices than what their neighborhoods present them with,” Murphy said.
Murphy said the story of Edmond is a reminder that underserved children need more access to better schools and resources to help them make the right choices in life. Without it, he believes, “the lure of the street” and gangs will continue to draw young people in.
Edmond was said to have made $2 million every week as he moved up to 1,700 pounds of cocaine each month. The operation fueled the crack epidemic and a dramatic spike in homicides in D.C.
Murphy said while it is easy to focus on the evil of the operation Edmond ran, Murphy said he often thinks about what Edmond could have become, had he used his business savvy another way.
“He showed a tremendous talent as a leader and as an organizer, and that talent could have caused him to run a major U.S. corporation, if he had had the exposure to that alternative and was motivated by good parents,” Murphy said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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