The Lords of Plainfield
...continued from part 1 and part 2.
In late 2002, investigators from police departments in Westminster and Frederick, Maryland began to compile evidence that the Money Making Gangster Crips and Outlaw Gangster Crips were a cooperative criminal organization.
The job of gathering evidence did not prove difficult as apparent recruiting drives and territorial expansion caused a dramatic increase in police contacts with the Crips. In September of 2002 Maryland State Troopers investigated the non-fatal shooting of a newly-recruited Crip gang member. Throughout 2003 police in various jurisdictions investigated several street robberies and assaults attributed to Crip members. In April of 2004 the arrest of a member for possession of marijuana led to a near riot in the Charles Street neighborhood of Westminster. Between June and November of 2004 Crip members were responsible for three shootings, had two more handguns seized during traffic stops and continued to sell marijuana and crack cocaine in at least three Maryland Counties (Eways, A. – 2003).
By early 2005, investigators had interviewed dozens of members and associates of the Crips who explained their hierarchy and illegal drug trafficking in detail. Some had purchased drugs directly from Dogg, K-Hard or Krilz while others had been on drug runs with them to New York and New Jersey. Although the intelligence they gathered painted a clear picture of the Crips organization, none of the information was recent enough to act on until a source gave investigators a new cell phone number for Dogg. The source, who had made drug purchases from Dogg in the past, agreed to make a controlled telephone call under police supervision. With the recorded words “Hey, Dogg. Lamar. I need to get up with you”, the investigation became real.
In February 2005 a Title III Wiretap was activated on the cell phone of Crip leader Lamar Wilmore, also known as Dogg. The following month, two more wiretaps were activated on cellular phones belonging to Crip gang members Martin Williams and Alfred Holloway, known to fellow gang members as K-Hard and Krilz. Over the next several months, investigators from various Maryland police departments monitored telephone calls, conducted daily surveillance and continued to recruit informants close to, if not part of, the organization. With the help of these informants, police were able to make nine cocaine purchases directly from some of the senior-most Crip members including both Williams and Holloway. Apart from the Crips, the wiretaps also recorded evidence on several subjects who either purchased drugs from the Crips or spoke openly about drug sales during phone calls with Crips. Prosecutors secured grand jury indictments against seven senior Crip gang members including Wilmore, Williams and Holloway. Coupled with this, two senior gang members were arrested and convicted in Carroll County, Maryland, of serious assaults not related to this investigation. Two more, still, were arrested for assault and robbery after attacking a fellow gang member they believed was a police informant.
By August of 2006, police in Maryland had arrested more than fifty members of the Money Making Gangster Crips, Outlaw Gangster Crips, their associates and customers. Thirty-seven search warrants were served during which investigators recovered crack cocaine, powder cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy and firearms. One police spokesman told suburban Maryland residents that “The investigators believe that these two sets have been effectively dismantled,” while warning that “There is no doubt that there are plenty of other criminal gangs operating” (Hernandez, N. – 2006).
Trial dates, plea agreements and proffers allowed investigators to speak with many Crip members, who often sought to explain away their criminal activities as a result of their childhood, parenting or environment. One founding member of the Money Making Lords, however, made no such claims. While speaking candidly with case investigators during his extradition back to Maryland, the former Plainfield, New Jersey resident told them simply “I was making money. It was easy.”
References:
Maryland State Police (2003)
Westside Crip Historical Summary,
Maryland: Eways, A.
Hernandez, N (August 11, 2006) – Sweeping Crackdown Said to Gut Gang in Maryland
Washington Post
