If the court accepts the plea agreement, Blackwell will receive a 20-year prison term at sentencing in January. Smith will now spend the prime of his life in prison and will not be eligible for parole until he is a senior citizen, added Tuggle. Homicides peaked at a city record of 353 in 1995. ", "Melvin was polite to Ed, if not cordial," Mr. Simon said. Jones, who relied on fear to run his $30,000 a day cocaine and heroin operation. One dealer quit after a bandit held a gun to his mothers head demanding his drugs and money. Smith used co-defendant Antonio Johnson to ship kilogram quantities of cocaine through the U.S. (LogOut/ [17] The busts turned organized crime into disorganized crime. ", Mr. Reid said Mr. Williams was "a man's man who had a serious religious conversion while he was behind prison bars.". [citation needed], Williams died on December 3, 2015, at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Schmoke donned a bulletproof vest with community volunteers in a symbolic occupation of drug corners, urging citizens to work with the police. They enjoyed prized connections with wholesalers and sometimes pooled their buy money to get better rates. Frank Matthews was a Black drug kingpin originally from Durham, North Carolina, who operated from the late 1960s to 1973. The streets of East Baltimore are mostly the Latrobe Homes, Perkins Homes, Patterson Park, Highland Town, Barclay, and numerous other blocks. Other appearances include his cameo in Baltimore hip hop duo Dirt Platoon's video for the song "Pennsylvania Avenue" in 2010. Feb 26, 2010. Today, one of Baltimore's best known criminals is serving life plus 130 years in prison. Kids whose minds should have been on Teddy Ruxpin, Ta-Nehisi Coates recalled, now held in their hands the power to dissolve your world into white.[10] Baltimore, the city of neighborhoods, became the city of drug cliques, and if they controlled turf at all it only extended a few blocks. The heroin had a wholesale value of $300,000. By the mid-1970s, handful of kingpins with syndicates made up of family members and trusted associates controlled the lions share of narcotics distribution in Baltimore. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to remove those who would commit violence from our community." 201 47 r/Mafia Join 28 days ago I've got guys who would eat your fucking eyes out of your head! To make matters worse, in the mid-1980s New York City dealers flooded into Baltimore with deeply discounted products in what felt like an invasion. He later appeared as The Deacon in the HBO series The Wire and served as an inspiration for the show. "Disputes between rival drug gangs lead to many shootings and murders in Baltimore City," said United States Attorney Robert K. Hur. He was in the early stages of writing his autobiography at the time of his death. He spoke against drug use and trafficking. He was matter-of-fact. Members of gangs and the clergy led peaceful demonstrations in the days following Gray's funeral as a show of support for Baltimore. Williams was heavily involved with drug trafficking throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. On Monday, the Baltimore Police Department said it received a "credible threat" that they had unified and aimed to harm law enforcement. Mr. Williams suffered personal tragedy. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Six Suspects Charged, Including Drug Kingpins For Roles In Interstate Cocaine Trafficking Conspiracy. Essex, Postal Service. "He spoke to young men and would teach them self-respect and the law. [citation needed], In March 1999, he was convicted of a new offense. In a video posted on YouTube in 2012, Mr. Williams said he had sold $1 billion worth of illegal narcotics in his lifetime. Melvin Douglas "Little Melvin" Williams (December 14, 1941 December 3, 2015) was an African-American actor, author, entrepreneur, public speaker, educator, community activist, gambler and reformed drug trafficker. The press called him the Puerto Rican James Bond due to his fleet of cars and all the gadgets he accessorized them with. There is no honor. [3] In 2003, he was acquitted of a federal charge of being a felon with a gun. [3] Simon also writes that Barksdale once tortured three people in the Baltimore projects and that his battery conviction was related to the torture incident. After his release he began working as a community activist to help reform the lives of underprivileged minorities and youth. Its different than what Ive seen in the past. 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 [] [3] In The Wire, Marlo Stanfield becomes a major rival of Avon Barksdale's who eventually takes over the Baltimore drug trade. Investigators from the DEAs High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Unit executed warrants on multiple stash locations and vehicles in Maryland that led to the seizure of: The flow of narcotics and firearms into our communities must stop, Brown said. (Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. In later years, he said he had undergone a personal redemption. [5] A major point of contention is Barksdale's claim that his middle name is Avon. Towson & [19] Thomas Frazier, A Message to Citizens from the Baltimore Police Department, n.d. but c. February 1997, box 14, Kurt Schmoke Papers, Baltimore City Archives. Johnson retrieved the vehicle from the car carrier and delivered it to Smith in Baltimore. [3] During that time, Williams was a gambler and states that he was framed by Baltimore police for possession of narcotics. 2014 - 2022 Obituare. He is largely the basis for the Avon Barksdale character in The Wire, and even played a deacon on the show. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. The citys African American population began as newly arrivals were provided opportunities to work in the local Baltimore shipyards. [6][1], "Barksdale, inspiration behind characters on 'The Wire,' dies in federal prison", "Last Word: Nathan "Bodie" Barksdale and Kenny Jackson tell their versions of Baltimore's street life in The Baltimore Chronicles: Legends of the Unwired - page 1", "Last Word: Nathan "Bodie" Barksdale and Kenny Jackson tell their versions of Baltimore's street life in The Baltimore Chronicles: Legends of the Unwired - page 2", "Attention 'The Wire' Fans, 'The Avon Barksdale Story' Has a Trailer - The Moviefone Blog", "Last Word: Nathan "Bodie" Barksdale and Kenny Jackson tell their versions of Baltimore's street life in The Baltimore Chronicles: Legends of the Unwired", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nathan_Barksdale&oldid=1105605238, This page was last edited on 21 August 2022, at 00:33. [2]Legends of the Unwired consists of dramatizations of alleged events in Barksdale's criminal career, interviews with his family and friends, and interviews of Barksdale by actor Wood Harris, who plays drug kingpin Avon Barksdale on The Wire. Despite its horrific track record from Baltimore to Acapulco and points in between, the kingpin strategy soldiers on. Veteran cops believed they could plant the flag while BPD executives pledged to take back the drug corners and hold them.[13] The BPD had been making big busts for years but claimed that this scheme was different because it responded to citizen requests and improved local conditions. These groups operate much of the heroin, cocaine and marijuana trade in Baltimore. One of the oldest black populations in the country has been in the city of Baltimore since the 1800s, and has been constantly growing year by year ever since. In the FX documentary Tapping the Wire about the HBO show The Wire, Williams volunteers the information that he made at least "a couple hundred million [dollars]" through heroin trafficking. "We used a lot of different people. Prosecutors say Blackwell, 27,had led a drug operation in Maryland, New York and the Dominican Republic since 2003. However, he appealed his sentence and it was overturned due to the sentence being outside of the mandatory guidelines. Mr. Williams began attending services at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church more than two decades ago. Smith paid no taxes, structured cash deposits to bank accounts to avoid financial reporting requirements and placed assets in the names of friends and relatives. I . Editorial Credit: Nicole Glass Photography / Shutterstock.com. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Melvin Douglas "Little Melvin" Williams (December 14, 1941 - December 3, 2015) was an African-American actor, author, entrepreneur, public speaker, educator, community activist, gambler and reformed drug trafficker.Considered a drug kingpin in the 1960s, Williams was known for trafficking heroin in Baltimore before he was sentenced to prison in 1985. . Friends said Mr. Williams, 73, told them he had cancer. [4] During his sentence Melvin became extremely knowledgeable about the law and helped other inmates with their cases. A Baltimore Metropolitan Police transport vehicle burns during clashes in Baltimore, Maryland April 27, 2015. Among the most sophisticated was Maurice Peanut King. What's up Family? United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the DEA Baltimore and Los Angeles Field Offices, Maryland Natural Resources Police, the Baltimore Police Department and the Baltimore States Attorneys Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution. Though life in prison is isolating, it was apparent Williams was well aware of the situation surrounding Freddie Gray's death and the ongoing protests and violence in Baltimore. He was released from prison in September 2003. 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. Self-identified members of the Crips and Bloods denied any such unification in interviews with Newsweek and other media outlets. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Ovidio Guzman has allegedly helped to run his father's infamous Sinaloa cartel since El Chapo was handed over to the U.S. in 2017. "They shared some very funny moments. While every city had kingpins and people who controlled the trade, every city also had notorious neighborhoods that gained reputations in their city for the wrong reasons. Melvin Williams, whose life as a West Baltimore drug kingpin in the 1960s and post-prison redemption earned him a recurring role in HBO's "The Wire," died Thursday at the University of Maryland . Some connections between The Wire and Simon's reporting on Barksdale, however, are evident. I've transitioned from this being my hobby to making this a career. [3], Barksdale was a drug dealer in West Baltimore who purportedly survived 21 gunshots, some of which were fired while Barksdale was in the hospital after a prior, failed murder attempt. In Los Angeles, expensive apartments with gated garages were used to store and test the cocaine prior to shipment. . [4] It is directed by Bruce Brown, and Drew Berry is the writer and producer. Most recently, Mr. Williams operated an indoor flea market on West North Avenue near Smallwood Street. An investigation led by . "The real enemy really is the police but at the end of the day people gotta learn when it is time to help the community and when it's time to do the other shit on the side," a Crips member who used the alias "Mugga" told Newsweek. BALTIMORE (AP) -- A Baltimore drug kingpin has pleaded guilty to laundering heroin proceeds and tax fraud. [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. King aggressively marketed heroin and, after adult dealers were imprisoned for longer terms, brought on juveniles to hawk on the streets. 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