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30 years ago: DC's crack kingpin Rayful Edmond arrested at just 24. Here's how he built his empire

30 years ago: DC's crack kingpin Rayful Edmond arrested at just 24. Here's how he built his empire

30 years ago: DC's crack kingpin Rayful Edmond arrested at just 24. Here's how he built his empire

DC's biggest and most destructive drug dealer was sentenced to prison 30 years ago for the rest of his life, but now Edmond may be set free.

RAYFUL-EDMOND

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Should DC's former crack kingpin Rayful Edmond be set free?

Despite the crimes, support has grown for Edmond's early release from prison Edmond is currently 54 years old. Only he and Tony Lewis remain behind bars. Lewis' son, Tony Lewis Jr., won't comment on whether Edmond should be released for time served and his snitching for authorities.

NEWS
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Washington Post reporter covering Rayful Edmond got too close to the story

Rubin Castaneda was a Washington Post reporter assigned to cover the crack epidemic when he became hooked on crack. He describes his work at the time as a roller coaster. "For me, as a reporter covering this was like being on a perpetual adrenaline rush," Castaneda said. "There was non-stop drug dealing, slingers on the street 24/7 and you had violence break out as young men and dealers fought for turf, so it was not safe to live on these blocks."

RAYFUL-EDMOND
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Rayful Edmond's Rise to Washington, DC's crack kingpin

Rayful Edmond, 24, had become D.C.'s biggest, most successful and feared crack-cocaine dealer. He was a D.C. native who grew up on M Street, NE. Like a lot of the young drug dealers around him, Edmond wasn't poor. His mother and his father had government jobs. But by age 9, he had been exposed to the drug life by his father, Rayful Edmond II. The drug business was equal opportunity; a chance to leap over the rest of the working class into a land of riches.

RAYFUL-EDMOND
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Monday marks 30 years since Rayful Edmond was arrested

He was arrested for running the biggest and most destructive drug dealing operations in D.C.

RAYFUL-EDMOND
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Woman shares struggle with addiction during DC crack epidemic

Olivia Chase talks about her struggle with addiction during Washington, D.C.'s crack-cocaine epidemic during the height of Rayful Edmund's drug empire.

RAYFUL-EDMOND
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Former DC drug kingpin, Rayful Edmond, could receive early release from prison

Edmond, 54, had been sentenced to life in prison in 1989 for his role in creating one of the biggest crack cocaine operations in DC history.

RAYFUL-EDMOND
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Exclusive: Judge wants to hear from victims of DC drug kingpin Rayful Edmond

He presided over a massive drug ring in the 1980s that police say was at the heart of the crack-cocaine epidemic. In February, federal prosecutors filed a motion in US District Court asking that Rayful Edmund go free.

RAYFUL-EDMOND
Play

Should DC's former crack kingpin Rayful Edmond be set free?

DC's biggest and most destructive drug dealer was sentenced to prison 30 years ago for the rest of his life, but now Edmond may be set free

RAYFUL-EDMOND
Play

Off Script: Judge wants to hear from victims of DC drug kingpin Rayful Edmond

The federal governments hopes to reduce the prison sentence for one of the city's most notorious crack cocaine dealers, Rayful Edmund. The government says Edmund has helped prosecutors close scores of drug cases and put as many as one hundred other dealers behind bars.

RAYFUL-EDMOND
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Only on WUSA9: Jail conversations with a DC Drug Kingpin

DC Drug Kingpin Rayful Edmond ran a massive crack cocaine ring in the District in the 1980s. Edmond was arrested in 1990, serving a life sentence. Now, he is trying to get out early and the government is backing him up. Bruce Johnson talks to a local filmmaker, Kirk Frasier, who remains in contact with Edmond and even made a documentary about him.

RAYFUL-EDMOND
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Former DC drug kingpin, Rayful Edmond, could receive early release from prison

Edmond, 54, had been sentenced to life in prison in 1989 for his role in creating one of the biggest crack cocaine operations in DC history.

RAYFUL-EDMOND