There really was a Nathan Bodie Barksdale. An investigation led by . 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. This post is a part of my summer series on Baltimore drug kingpins, but it's also a part of a larger series about the different types of power. Williams was heavily involved with drug trafficking throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. What started in South Baltimores Locust Point and areas near downtown, is slowly expanding into other sections of the city, especially places near key city attractions. and last updated 2019-10-04 14:39:21-04. Schmoke was a drug war critic, but as mayor he instituted Drug Free Zones and Community Policing. Both were arrested. Protests tied to the death of Freddie Gray were more muted on their second night. [4] During his sentence Melvin became extremely knowledgeable about the law and helped other inmates with their cases. His current research focuses on a bottom-up examination of the war on drugs. Nathan Barksdale, 54, the Baltimore drug kingpin who inspired some key characters on HBO's The Wire, died while in a federal medical prison in North Carolina on Saturday . Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. He dropped out in the 11th grade. Among the most sophisticated was Maurice Peanut King. Photos. He later appeared as The Deacon in the HBO series The Wire and served as an inspiration for the show. They became family breadwinners, but dangers lurked behind every transaction. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. While still in prison, his life story was featured in a series of articles written by future The Wire creator David Simon. Street traffic was already getting younger because of the clampdown on adults. Theyre not based on real people, individually, but a character might be a composite". [1] Karen Warmkessel, 6 Convicted of Conspiracy, Drug Charges, Baltimore Sun, March 13 1986, 4B. Police say Blackwell set off a year of violence in Baltimore that culminated in a 2009 barbecue shootout that injured a dozen people. Addressing firearms without admitting that the lawless narcotics business caused gunplay was futile. Housing projects of the old Lexington Terrace and Murphy Homes on the citys West Side, or East Baltimores Lafayette Courts and Flag House, all torn down during the 1990s, became legendary communities before their demolishing, filled with plenty of memories. Watching The Wire gives an example of the streets of the Baltimore ghetto and the once Baltimore kingpins of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, but only in a modern-day perspective. 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. [2] In 1985, Barksdale was sentenced to 15 years in state prison for battery. Attorney General Brown also thanked the States Attorney for Baltimore County, Scott Shellenberger, for his Offices assistance in this investigation. How did Baltimore earn the unfortunate nickname Bulletmore? The economy leaves us no choice.[6] Many dealers could not have agreed more. Baltimore was just a metaphor; it depicted post-industrial America." The Wire was intricately, unforgivingly plotted, capturing the prosaic nature of police procedural work, the brutal dynastic. From Melvin Williams's own perspective, he didn't want to be . 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. Authorities made a controlled delivery of the heroin in September. Blackwell and his conspirators laundered drug money by buying casinos chips, winning lottery tickets, luxury items and real estate. October 10, 1985. The heroin had a wholesale value of $300,000. BALTIMORE Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today announced the indictments of six defendants for their participation in an interstate cocaine trafficking conspiracy that resulted in the seizure of 15 kilograms of cocaine, 400 grams of crack cocaine, 10 firearms including two assault-style rifles and a fully automatic Glock 30 handgun, and over $493,000 of narcotics proceeds. DeSantis whines about 'woke' politicians, avoids thorny issues like abortion, book bans and LGBTQ rights . Linda L. Kelley Animal Shelter To Hold St. Pitties Day ODopt-A-Thon, Stolen Car Chase Ends In Multiple Arrests With Drugs And Replica Gun Found Inside, Two Juveniles Apprehended By Police After Attempted Car Break-In, Firearm Recovered, Employment Services Offered At St. Marys County Health Hub, Celebrating Womens History Month: St. Marys County Sheriffs Office Highlights Lieutenant Harrison, Commission For Women Announces 2023 Honorees For Womens History Month, Applying For Building Permits Made Easy With Calvert Countys Encompass Online Portal, Motorcyclist Critically Injured After Collision In Anne Arundel County, School Resource Officer Investigating Reports Of 4th Degree Sex Offenses At Westlake High School, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. While there were times when Jamaicans and people from New York profited in the streets of Baltimore, the main Baltimore kingpins were with the likes of the old school legends of Peanut King, Little Melvin, followed by the 1980s with T. Stanfield, M. Bates, N. Barksdale (Bodie), the 1990s with Rudy, A. Jones, T.L. Baltimore drug kingpin Little Melvin Williams in 1967. The strategy is popular with the press, politicians, and the public, who want to see these so-called pushers punished. [3], Baltimore Chronicles: Legends of the Unwired is an unreleased, low-budget docudrama based on Barksdale's life. Canty, and 2000s with G. Smith (Mr Big), the Rice Brothers, and others, all allegedly made millions of dollars during their day. 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. Shipments of the cocaine were typically in quantities of 60 to 80 kilograms each. [3] In 2003, he was acquitted of a federal charge of being a felon with a gun. The evolution of a West Baltimore youth gang showed how crack changed the urban landscape. Baltimore drug boss Maurice "Peanut" King Maurice "Peanut" King was in July 1981 shot in the foot Otis "Mike" Smith was in prison when his brother Howard Smith was shot and killed and Otis Smith became a witness against Maurice "peanut" King Baltimore drug boss Maurice "Peanut" King Thomas "Joe Dancer" Ricks was 1 April 1982 arrested for murder Deemed a "super kingpin" by law. In later years, he said he had undergone a personal redemption. When they didn't do anything but blame the victim and yack about 'thugs and gangs', as they always do, my people took matters in their own hands." One dealer quit after a bandit held a gun to his mothers head demanding his drugs and money. The streets of East Baltimore are mostly the Latrobe Homes, Perkins Homes, Patterson Park, Highland Town, Barclay, and numerous other blocks. Money counters were seized, along with approximately $1.6 million in jewelry, $740,000 and hundreds of shoes. [16] Paul Valentine, Taking Back Baltimores Streets for a Day, Washington Post, November 27, 1993. A locked padlock Dundalk, "I'm sure that they would do even more good deeds if society was set up for all people to do good naturally. In addition to the name and the boxing background, for example, in Easy Money, Simon claims that Marlow Bates and Timmirror Stanfield were rivals of Barksdale's. "In his later years, he tried to improve himself and help the community.". [citation needed], In March 1999, he was convicted of a new offense. Mr. Williams told Mr. Cardin he would not return to his former ways. Williams has devoted time to teaching Baltimore's youth that gang life and drug dealing, while seemingly lucrative and attractive, are not worth it. 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. . [2], Even as the busts were hailed by the media, reservations about the overall effect of this strategy crept in. Your email address will not be published. Click here to follow Daily Voice Baltimore and receive free news updates. They stopped selling drugs. Same activity selling drugs just done a different way, and its done with violence, and the most violent crew takes over, narcotics agent Neill Franklin recalled. Schmoke donned a bulletproof vest with community volunteers in a symbolic occupation of drug corners, urging citizens to work with the police. HBO. It was his life and what he chose to do.". He served many years in federal prison for drug and gun convictions, and was one of the first criminals profiled on the BET program "American Gangster.". 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. By the mid-1970s, handful of kingpins with syndicates made up of family members and trusted associates controlled the lion's share of narcotics distribution in Baltimore. Some information might not be current and/or 100% accurate, The Detroit Ghetto: Detroit Kingpins, Detroit Gangs Map, & More, **All Lists Are Currently Being Updated**. [citation needed] On February 7, 1985, he was convicted and sentenced to 34 years in prison. In the early 1980s, King ran a large drug operation in East Baltimore and was a well-known figure, driving a DeLorean sports car and smoking with a bejeweled Zippo. Just north of East Baltimore is the Northeast section with the Baltimore hoods of York Road, Greenmount, Northwoods, Hillen Road, Belair Road, and Ramblewood. Heroin produced strung-out, track-marked junkies, but crack maintained its glamorous image even as the price plummeted. [7][8], For other people named Melvin Williams, see, "Melvin Williams, reformed drug dealer and 'The Wire' actor, dies at 73", "Melvin Williams, an Inspiration for 'The Wire,' Dies at 73", "Easy Money: David Simon's five-part series on Melvin Williams", "Ex-Baltimore drug kingpin 'Little Melvin' Williams freed", "Melvin Williams, reformed drug dealer who had a role on 'The Wire,' dies at 73", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Melvin_Williams_(actor)&oldid=1125271397, Author, Actor, Entrepreneur, Community Activist, This page was last edited on 3 December 2022, at 03:56. It flourished by peddling potent heroin wildly popular with users, who could dilute it, shoot half and sell the rest. [5] Karen Warmkessel, 7 in N.Y. While the Baltimore ghetto, along with the metropolitan area as a whole, has always had one of the country's worst drug problems, which was often displayed on The Wire, the HBO series also showed corruption and poor police tactics that took the reign as the city's biggest problem. Baltimore City Police have been investigating a drug scheme they say was operated by Jones since November of last year, calling him a large-scale cocaine and heroin distributor. In the violent world of Bodymore's inner city drug gangs, at the young age of 18, Anthony Jones reigned king. Pikesville, The other side of The Wire was the streets as characters Marlo Stanfield and Avon Barksdale, Baltimore kingpins, displayed the terror and reign of the drug trade in the streets of the West Baltimore ghetto. Last week,. "We used a lot of different people. Known as "Little Melvin" or Slim or Black, for his preference for dark clothing he once ruled the illegal drug trade along Pennsylvania Avenue. He offered a slightly different answer on Thursday. At that point, he had served nearly four years on a handgun conviction. Peanut also boldly flashed his largesse by driving a DeLorean and indulging in luxury goods. Turning cheap and plentiful cocaine into smokable rock was something nearly anyone kid could do. Deemed a "super kingpin" by law enforcement, Williams was found guilty of seven drug-related charges and an eighth federal charge for conspiracy. He is in a sense, all of those kingpins from Baltimore's criminal past and therefore none of them.". [8] Presidents Commission for a National Agenda for the Eighties, Urban America in the Eighties: Perspectives and Prospects (Washington, DC: GPO, 1980), 19; William Reed, Blacks and Americas Drug Problem, Homeland, Jan. 1, 1993. Towson & [3] In The Wire, Marlo Stanfield becomes a major rival of Avon Barksdale's who eventually takes over the Baltimore drug trade. A group of about twenty boys banded together as Def City for camaraderie, sports, neighborhood protection, and the typical juvenile delinquency. Top defense Baltimore attorney allegedly in cahoots with marijuana kingpin. BALTIMORE Lawyers pushed back in the money laundering case against prominent defense attorney Ken Ravenell Wednesday, telling jurors to ask "where is the cash?" It comes as the government's key. An undercover narcotics agent noted that neither he nor his targets carried guns, and as for business underlings, you better not get caught carrying a gun if you werent authorized to carry a gun.[3] The national offensive increased the incarceration rate for drug offenses by a factor of ten between 1980 and 1996, and veteran sellers were replaced by inexperienced, trigger-happy youths.[4]. Please enter valid email address to continue. Baltimore police officer Edward Burnswho would later become a writer for "The Wire,"was able to conduct a successful investigation against, Williams, however. Friends said Mr. Williams, 73, told them he had cancer. Secure .gov websites use HTTPSA lock ( Videos. Frustrated BPD officials claimed that in the mid-1990s perhaps three out of four murders had a narcotics connection, and prohibitions side effects also contributed to the bedlam. As in other cities, homicide rates climbed sharply through the combination of extreme poverty and segregation, an unwieldy drug market, teenage immaturity, and abundant handguns. 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. 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. As police and federal agents began to crack down, by the mid-90s the kingpin model turned into a crew or clique of individuals, even though there were plenty exceptions. At one intersection, an addict explained the futility of the actions. [3] From the West Side to the East Side, the city has had numerous Baltimore kingpins and street legends, some would later become fictional characters for the hit television show The Wire, to go along with some of the once notorious housing projects that were the center of many operations. "My people were waiting to see what if anything the politicians were going to do to hold the policemen who killed Freddie Gray responsible. Leave your comments below be sure to subscribe and hit the notification bell for uploads love Family.#Anthonyjones#BaltimoreTry Cash App using my code and well each get $5! As mentioned, many were first introduced to the Baltimore hoods and streets through David Simons The Wire. Viewers were able to witness a fictional and fabrication of what life was like growing up in the streets and urban community of Baltimore, from policing, to politics, to lifestyles, to a look inside the dealings of Baltimore kingpins. Dwayne Booze, 48, of Baltimore, 51-year-old Thomas Timothy Booze of Baltimore, 47-year-old . I . Neighborhood groups cheered these efforts, and wanted officers permanently assigned to areas to prevent crimes, not just catch criminals and pick up bodies. [7] Scott Shane, Drug Dealing Lures Flood of Teens, Baltimore Sun, August 30 1992: 1A. Anthony ran East Baltimore with a iron fist in the 90's but as all s. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown has indicted six people, including drug kingpins, on multiple charges in connection to an interstate cocaine trafficking conspiracy. Steven Blackwell of Elkton pleaded guilty . Smith used co-defendant Antonio Johnson to ship kilogram quantities of cocaine through the U.S. Carney, Narcotics agents and prosecutors gloated, noting that Baltimore was a trailblazer in utilizing the federal kingpin law to dismantle narcotics rings. Fans of "The Wire" have long speculated that Mr. Williams was the inspiration for the drug dealer character Avon Barksdale. Before the Freddie Gray riots, the locals of Baltimore had legitimate claims of excessive police presence in the community, enforcing petty no loitering laws or city ordinances, affecting the everyday Baltimore citizen. The defendants cases will be prosecuted in Baltimore County. Reisterstown, Anything you are willing to give is appreciated and it will help me reach my goal and build my platform to reach as many people as possible. ", "Melvin was polite to Ed, if not cordial," Mr. Simon said. The Baltimore drug scene, as seen through the eyes of drug dealers and law enforcement. King and his peers dished out force when necessary but were also businessmen with long-term outlooks. Dante Barksdale, 46, who worked as an outreach coordinator for the . Despite the federal drug investigation, the gun charge, and accusations by Charli Baltimore, Brown remains free on bond. Editorial Credit: Florida Chuck / Shutterstock.com. Baltimore has a notable gang population, with more than 2,000 known members in 170 organizations. Self-identified members of the Crips and Bloods denied any such unification in interviews with Newsweek and other media outlets. The results in Baltimore and across the hemisphere have been a disaster, however, and criminal justice reformers general unwillingness to speak out about the catastrophic costs of high-level prosecutions have hindered their ability to reduce the harms not only of drug abuse, but of the drug war. [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. Anthony ran East Baltimore with a iron fist in the 90s but as all stories go of drugs and murder it must come to an end. In his later years, Barksdale worked for the city Health Department in Baltimore, in the Safe Streets program and counseled young people to help them avoid his mistakes. [3] In 2003, he was acquitted of a federal charge of being a felon with a gun. The young West Baltimore drug dealer competed with the Barksdale organization but eventually rose up to become the biggest narcotics trafficker in the city, using violence to capture corners. Martin Luther King Jr. Khalid, Risky Business: Major Drug Dealers Are Getting Younger, Baltimore Sun, October 27 1991, 1G. At age 26, as Mr. Williams was gaining notoriety, he was asked by authorities to help quell the riots ignited by the assassination of the Rev. A spokesperson for. In the late 1980s, though, the boys began dealing rock. The use of heroin during the 1970s transformed into the use crack cocaine in the 1980s and 1990s, and once again resorting back to heroin and opioids as of the 2000s. Search for similar obituaries in: Baltimore, Maryland, United States. [11] Baltimore Sun, Community Groups Gather to Plot War on Crime, February 24, 1991, 3B. Theres a Bodie character in this tale, theres an Avon Barksdale character. Rock was something nearly anyone kid could do. `` conspirators laundered drug money by buying casinos,! Of 60 to 80 kilograms each. `` behind every transaction Community Groups Gather to Plot on! Story was featured in a symbolic occupation of drug corners baltimore drug kingpins urging citizens to work with the police 170.... The Unwired is an unreleased, low-budget docudrama based on real people, individually but. 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