Earlier today a jury found Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff
guilty of killing two men in
2001. They reached the verdict today after five days of deliberation and found
McGriff guilty of paying $50,000 to gun down rivals Troy Singleton and Eric “E
Money Bags” Smith.
McGriff
was convicted on murder conspiracy, drug dealing and the plot to murder Smith and Singleton, rival drug dealers themselves.
McGriff allegedly ordered surveillance of Smith, who was shot in his SUV in July 2001.
The
government accused McGriff of ordering the hit to avenge the death of Colbert
“Black Just” Johnson as well as an alleged assault on Murder Inc. founder
Irv Gotti.
Singleton
was murdered execution style in 2001. Shot four times in the body and
head outside a sports bar, the Club Van Wyck in Queens.
Prosecutors
allege McGriff ordered Singleton‘s slaying as revenge for an earlier double homicide
Singleton allegedly committed. Officials
have claimed that McGriff secretly controlled rap label Murder Inc, which was
founded by mogul Irv “Gotti” Lorenzo, the label is home to rapper Ja Rule and singer Ashanti.
Gotti
and his brother Christopher Lorenzo were acquitted of laundering millions of dollars
in drug proceeds for McGriff in 2005.
McGriff
was the founder of The Supreme Team, a Queens, NY based drug dealing organization
that was chronicled in Ethan Brown’s book Queen’s Reign’s Supreme: Fat Cat,
50 Cent and The Hip-Hop Hustler.
McGriff‘s
attorneys maintain that he stopped dealing drugs in the 1980’s to pursue a legitimate
career in the music industry.
