News

Archeologists unearthed a 1,800-year-old silver amulet in Frankfurt, which features an 18-line inscription that could reshape our understanding of the history of Christianity in Europe.

“It will force us to turn back the history of Christianity in Frankfurt and far beyond by around 50 to 100 years,” Mike Josef, mayor of Frankfurt, told the New York Post.

Rayful Edmond III, a drug lord best known for catalyzing a crack cocaine epidemic in Washington, D.C. in the 1980s, has died. He was 60.

According to The New York Times, Edmond’s death was confirmed by Kristie Breshears, a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Per the Bureau, Edmond had been living at a halfway house in Miami at the time of his death.

#NEWS – Rayful Edmond III (born November 26, 1964) is an American former dr*g tr*fficker in Washington, D.C. in the 1980’s has died earlier today after recently being released. Edmond was largely responsible for having introduced cr*ck coc*ine into the Washington, D.C. area… pic.twitter.com/VyeYdbZt5q— HOT 97 (@HOT97) December 17, 2024

What was Rayful Edmond’s cause of death?

At the time of publishing, Breshears did not provide information on his cause of death.

Rayful Edmond’s work in the drug game

Edmond is known as one of the most prolific drug lords in Washington D.C. in the 1980s, earning the nickname the “king of cocaine” in the area, Time reported. He spearheaded a expansive drug empire that contributed significantly to the crack epidemic in D.C., which, in turn, saw a rise in homicides in the city. Edmond’s operation was impenetrable (the 150-member drug ring was protected by guards armed with Uzi submachine guns, The New York Times reported) and lead to at least 30 murders. Those attacks were not linked to Edmond.

It took authorities until 1989 to arrest a 24-year-old Edmond, who was later sentenced to life in prison for running his drug empire, which was estimated to distribute up to 1,700 pounds of cocaine per month and millions of dollars each week. Edmond’s income matched his lifestyle— he was well known in D.C. for living a glamorous lifestyle, including sponsoring local basketball tournaments and traveling to Las Vegas often for acclaimed boxing matches.

Edmond believed he and others shouldn’t have been found guilty

“I think that me and my family and my friends all should have been found not guilty,” Edmond told The Washington Post (as the New York Times reported) after his conviction. “All of us are loving, caring people who have kids. We’re just like everyone else in Washington, D.C.”

But prison didn’t stop Edmond’s operation. Edmond’s influence pushed the Justice Department to create a task force to put a stop to drug trafficking in prisons. In 1996, Edmond pleaded guilty to leading deals between D.C. dealers and Colombian drug cartels from a Pennsylvania prison. And in 1997, the Deputy Attorney General at the time, Eric Holder, said on 60 Minutes that he pushed more cocaine while in prison than when he was out. According to Time, he received an additional 30-year sentence.

Later, Edmond became an informant for authorities. He was a government witness in several cases that helped convict other cocaine traffickers, and he played pivotal roles in covert sting operations. Edmond also provided the government with information on the murder of two inmates in a Pennsylvania prison.

According to The New York Times, information on his survivors has not been shared.

One person is dead, and nine others are injured after a shooting and a fiery crash in Towson, Maryland on Tuesday night, police said.

Carter’s lawyer points out inconsistencies in Jane Doe’s story According to The Hollywood Reporter, Carter’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, said Monday that the 38-year-old Jane Doe’s story “never happened” and accused her of pursuing financial gain rather than “truth and justice.” […]