The Lords of Plainfield
While the impact of the crack cocaine epidemic was somewhat apparent, in the 1990s no one could have predicted the impact that three young men from Plainfield, New Jersey would have on rural Maryland. The Money Making Lords had evolved into the Money Making Gangster Crips and were now well-entrenched in Frederick County, Maryland.
Their membership grew with seemingly little unwanted police attention until May of 2000 when MMGC member Andrew Devon Wilmore was arrested for murder. Because of this his gang was now exposed. In 2002 as law enforcement officers began to monitor the MMGC and look for avenues of investigation, the gang suffered another complication that would cause a permanent division. As MML member K-Hard struggled with an addiction, his ability to make sound decisions became questionable. The possibility that his personal demons would damage to the reputation of the MMGC began to cause dissention and distrust in the ranks. As stated by actor Edward James Olmos in his portrayal of a prison gang leader “It’s not about being weak. We know we’re not. It’s about people even beginning to think that we’re showing weakness.” (American Me, 1992).
To protect the reputation he had helped the Crips to build, MML member Dogg chose to separate his business interests and form the Outlaw Gangster Crips (OLGC), taking with him a handful of Crips and recruiting new members in neighboring Westminster, Maryland. Despite this split, the two sets remained connected, often acting as a single organization under the original MML members. As the gang expanded its influence, younger, more localized gangs including the Charles Street Boys, Bottom Six and the Mastermind Mafia Crips also formed and served as recruiting pools for OLGC and MMGC, similar to the relationship between “duck clubs” and outlaw motorcycle gangs.
With the expansion of the Crips to a new community came added attention from the police. By spring of 2002 the Outlaw Gangster Crips had thrust their identity and criminal activity on the city of Westminster. They openly wore gang colors, recruited and committed crimes ranging from drug sales to the assault of a police officer with little regard for the consequences. Their belief that they were beyond the reach of the law was never demonstrated so clearly as in January of 2003 when Dogg sat outside a Westminster courtroom and spoke at length with a detective about his gang. Overflowing with confidence that he was untouchable, Dogg even gave the detective the name of another gang member who would be his “second in command” in the county should there be any pressing issues (Eways, A – 2003).
Whether he did not know or did not care, all of Dogg’s statements were carefully documented. Lines of communication were also opened between the detective, who continued to gather information in Westminster and interview Crip members at every opportunity, and detectives in Frederick County who were familiar with the MMGC and OLGC through the investigation of their illegal drug sales. For more than a year these investigators compiled enough information to show that the three original members of the Money Making Lords were now operating a growing drug distribution network that sold crack cocaine, marijuana and other drugs in western Maryland. Investigators interviewed sources who had purchased drugs from them, sold drugs with them and even made out-of-state drug runs for them. The sum total of their work could not bring them any closer to their targets, however, until early 2005 when a consensually monitored telephone call captured a brief exchange that began with “Hey, Dogg. Lamar. I need to get up with you.”
-- to be continued –
References:
Adler, L. & Olmos, E. (1992), American Me.
United States: MCA/Universal Pictures
Maryland State Police (2003)
Westside Crip Historical Summary,
Maryland: Eways, A.
