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Kenneth McGriff

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Kenneth McGriff
McGriff (right) and rapper Ja Rule, 2000.
Born (1959-09-19) September 19, 1959 (age 65)[1]
New York City, U.S.
Other names
  • Supreme
  • Preme
  • Rick Coleman
  • Kevin Long
  • John Simms
  • Lee Tuten
[1]
Occupations
Years active1981–2006
Criminal statusIncarcerated
Criminal charge
PenaltyLife imprisonment

Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff (born September 19, 1959) is an American convicted former drug lord and gangster from New York City. He was the founder of the organized crime syndicate the Supreme Team.

McGriff began serving his life sentence at ADX Florence, a federal supermax prison in Colorado. In 2011, he was transferred to the United States Penitentiary, Lee, a high-security federal prison in Pennington Gap, Virginia.[2] As of 2025, he is housed at USP Beaumont in Jefferson County, Texas.

Criminal career

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McGriff rose to prominence in early 1981 when he formed his own crack cocaine distribution and manufacturing organization which he called The Supreme Team based in the Baisley Park Houses in the South Jamaica section of the Queens borough of New York City, New York. Under McGriff's leadership, the gang's numbers swelled to over one hundred members with more $200,000 daily sold worth of crack cocaine at the 1987 peak[3][4] and came to control the crack cocaine trade in Baisley Park, the neighborhood where McGriff was raised.

In 1987, McGriff was arrested following a joint state and federal investigation and in 1989 pleaded guilty to engaging in a Continuing Criminal Enterprise. He was sentenced to 12 years incarceration and convicted for federal narcotics conspiracy charges.[4] McGriff was released from prison on parole in early 1994.[3][5]

After being released from prison on parole in 1995, McGriff tried his hand at cinematography, seeking help in 1995[6] from Irv Gotti to film a movie based on the Kenyatta series' novel Crime Partners.

He was sent back to prison on parole violations by year's end, and served another 2½ years before being released in 1997. From 1997 to 2002 McGriff's criminal organization expanded into wholesale heroin and cocaine into Maryland and North Carolina.[3] In 1998 McGriff flew to Hollywood to purchase the film rights to another Goines' book titled Black Gangster from publishing company Holloway House, he visited several times over five more years to negotiate a deal but only produced a soundtrack for the book and no movie came to existence.[7]

In July 2001 McGriff was arrested after police pulled over a white BMW near 145th Street in Harlem and found a loaded weapon and nearly $11,000 in cash in his vehicle. Months before the investigation on Irv Gotti was launched, McGriff pleaded guilty to the gun possession in September 2002.[4][8] In 2003 McGriff was jailed in Baltimore for having violated a parole violation for shooting guns at a firing range,[9] and faced a sentencing on a state charge for criminal possession of a weapon with intent to use.[10] He served a 37-month sentence.[1]

McGriff is alleged to have had a hand in the 2002 murder of Run-DMC member Jam Master Jay, and was convicted of ordering the 2001 death of rapper Eric "E-Moneybags" Smith, in retaliation for the death of McGriff's friend Colbert "Black Just" Johnson.[11] Federal authorities also accused him in connection with the attempted murder of 50 Cent related to retaliation for the song Ghetto Qur'an (Forgive Me).[12][13][8]

Due to McGriff's reputation, the FBI soon questioned the intimacies of the affiliation with Murder Inc., culminating in a raid of the Murder Inc. offices in January 2003. McGriff faced accusations of drug trafficking while others with Murder Inc. were indicted on money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering charges.[14]

On February 1, 2007, McGriff was convicted of murder-for-hire at a federal court in the Eastern District of New York on charges that he paid $50,000 to have two rivals (Eric "E-Moneybags" Smith and "Big Nose" Troy Singleton) killed in 2001. The jury deliberated for five days before finding McGriff guilty of murder conspiracy and drug trafficking. On February 9, 2007, McGriff was sentenced to life in prison. Throughout this case he was defended by a court-appointed attorney because nearly all of his assets had been seized.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Eastern District of New York". USDOJ: US Attorney's Office. 2010-08-10. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
  2. ^ "McGriff's entry at the US Bureau of Prisons". Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  3. ^ a b c "Eastern District of New York". USDOJ: US Attorney's Office. 2010-08-10. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
  4. ^ a b c Philips, Chuck (2003-01-04). "Rap Label Offices Raided in Probe". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
  5. ^ Philips, Chuck (2003-05-02). "Rap Label's Use of Intimidation Alleged". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
  6. ^ Philips, Chuck (2003-06-30). "Irv 'Gotti' of Murder Inc. Breaks His Silence". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
  7. ^ Philips, Chuck (2003-06-04). "Case Against Rap Label Is Disputed by Audit". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
  8. ^ a b Feuer, Alan; Sweeney, Matthew (2005-11-20). "A Money-Laundering Case Turns to 50 Cent". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-02-28.
  9. ^ Philips, Chuck (2003-05-01). "Murder Inc. Paid Kingpin, Sources Say". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
  10. ^ Philips, Chuck (2003-05-13). "U.S. Links Murder Inc. to Drug Cash". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
  11. ^ Rashbaum, William K. (February 2, 2007). "Man Convicted in 2 Killings; U.S. to Pursue the Death Penalty". The New York Times.
  12. ^ "Feds Lay Out Alleged 50 Cent Plot". CBS News. September 7, 2005.
  13. ^ Teather, David (2005-09-08). "US investigators uncovered plot to kill rapper 50 Cent". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  14. ^ MTV News Staff (4 January 2003). "Murder Inc. Offices Raided by Feds : Investigation into Irv Gotti Reportedly Leads to Raid". MTV. Archived from the original on June 22, 2014. Federal investigators searched the New York offices of Murder Inc., the record label home of Ja Rule and Ashanti, on Friday as part of an ongoing investigation into label head Irv Gotti, according to The Los Angeles Times. On Saturday, the newspaper reported that a yearlong investigation into an alleged financial link between Gotti and a New York drug gang called the "Supreme Team" led to the raid. Authorities are reportedly investigating whether or not money from drug trafficking helped Gotti, real name Irving Lorenzo, break into the music business. Specifically, authorities are reportedly investigating an alleged link between Gotti and Kenneth McGriff, the convicted head of the Supreme Team.
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