Community forum yields mixed views on reducing drug kingpin Rayful Edmond’s life sentence
At an unusual public forum Thursday night to discuss whether former DC drug lord Rayful Edmond III deserves a reduced prison sentence, those who came forward to testify included one of Edmond’s cousins and an activist who said his family once felt targeted by the cocaine kingpin.
Federal prosecutors are seeking to reduce Edmond’s life sentence in view of his cooperation with authorities, and a federal judge has tasked DC Attorney General Karl Racine with soliciting public input.
At the forum — the first of three where the public can testify — opinions were mixed.
Several residents who testified blamed Edmond’s drug gang for its key role in the crack cocaine and murder epidemic in the late 1980s and 1990s.
“Lives were destroyed,” said Robert Brannum, a longtime civic leader who, in his Bloomingdale neighborhood, joined community anti-violence patrols in the 1980s. Fearing reprisals from gang members and needing shelter, he said his family at one point moved out of the area “on the advice and protection of law enforcement.”
“Mr. Edmond has not spoken to the people of the District to say he is sorry for the crimes he committed and for the continuing pain he caused,” he said.
A handful of others said Edmond, who has a separate 30-year drug-related sentence in Pennsylvania, deserved release.
“If there’s anybody here that was hurt by Mr. Edmond, his family, or any of his associates, I want to personally apologize for him,” said Dominic Bregenz, who identified himself as a cousin of Edmond.
Harry Sullivan, who was sentenced alongside Edmond in 1990 as a juvenile and spent several years in custody, consistently shook his head when speakers called for Edmond to stay in prison. Sullivan sat in the back row of the auditorium inside One Judiciary Square, which houses the DC attorney general’s office. He was one of the last to testify.
“A lot of people talk about Rayful, don’t even know Rayful,” said Sullivan. “He helped the government, so I think … he should get his fair share.”
In 1990, Edmond was convicted on federal drug charges and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Authorities said his colossal drug operation in DC made $300 million a year in the late 1980s and flourished for several years even after arrests swept up top members in 1989. While imprisoned in Pennsylvania, he was sentenced in 1996 for 30 more years for dealing drugs behind bars.
The Washington Post reported in February that, while behind bars, Edmond cooperated with the government between 1997 and 2014.
Following a February 2019 motion from federal prosecutors for a reduced sentence, U.S District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan gave Racine’s office a perhaps unprecedented duty: Find out what Washingtonians think.
“People want to be heard, and there’s a divergence of viewpoints,” Racine told reporters after the meeting.
Racine said his office has received testimony from more than 300 people through emails, in-person discussions, and messages — some anonymous. He said his office is still determining exactly how the testimony will be presented to the court, but it appears unlikely all comments will be released there. Racine said the aim is to offer the judge the city’s “range of views.”
At Thursday’s forum, Ward 5 resident Timothy Thomas said he does not think Edmond should be released back into society “at this present time,” particularly if it means he would return to DC.
“How do we deal with that?” Thomas said. “Does he come back? … Would he be able to go back to the house he used to live in? [What about] the probation part of it?”
Another man said Edmond should be released, suggesting that he could help turn around the lives of violent criminals today. “Rayful should come and be committed to righting the wrongs he has done,” he said.
Marie Drissel, a native DC resident and longtime civic activist, called Edmond the “most notorious and murderous criminal in my memory.” Drissel said he should be released early only if his return to society would benefit the public.
Ward 8 resident Keeshin Morse, also a native Washingtonian, supports a reduced sentence for Edmond.
“Thirty years is long enough for the crime that he was convicted of,” she said.
The next public feedback session will take place Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Martha’s Table, 2375 Elvans Road SE. The final forum will be held Saturday, June 29, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Reves Center, 2000 14th St. NW. Details are available at RayfulEdmondFeedback.com, a web portal set up by Racine’s office.
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