Rayful Edmond III, the long-ago drug kingpin whose army of dealers and mountain of profits made him a symbol of the District’s murderous crack cocaine epidemic in the 1980s, has been moved from a federal penitentiary to “community confinement” and is set to be released late next year, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons said Thursday.
Washington, D.C
Former D.C. drug kingpin Rayful Edmond set to be released next year
Edmond, 59, has been behind bars since his arrest in April 1989. Initially sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole, he became a government informant during his decades of incarceration, providing an “unparalleled magnitude … of cooperation,” a judge wrote in 2021 in significantly reducing his sentence.
Now the city’s bygone “king of cocaine,” as he was dubbed, appears to be inching closer to freedom, with “a projected release date” of Nov. 8, 2025, the Bureau of Prisons said.
A lawyer for Edmond did not return calls seeking comment Thursday.
In a statement, the bureau said Edmond was transferred Wednesday to “community confinement” under the supervision of the agency’s Nashville Residential Reentry Management Office.
The Nashville office is responsible for “providing oversight to halfway houses in Kentucky and Tennessee,” according to its website. The bureau declined to say where Edmond is being confined.
“Community confinement means the individual is either [in] home confinement or a Residential Reentry Center,” meaning a halfway house, the statement said. “For privacy, safety, and security reasons, we do not specify an individual’s specific location while in community confinement.”
Edmond, who was convicted of federal drug-trafficking charges in D.C. and sentenced in 1990, oversaw a sprawling operation that smuggled as much as 1,700 pounds of cocaine into the city each month in the latter part of the 1980s, authorities said. They estimated that Edmond raked in about $2 million per week in those years.
The huge profits available in the crack trade spawned open-air dealing in many areas of the District back then, with competing street crews guarding their turf — and encroaching on others’ territories — through nightly gunfire. As D.C.’s annual homicide toll climbed sharply in the late 1980s and early 1990s, peaking at nearly 500, the city acquired the nickname “America’s murder capital.”
The epidemic of crack dealing and bloodshed ravaged communities all over the country. Edmond himself, though, was never found guilty of any violent crimes.
During his years of imprisonment, authorities said, Edmond cooperated extensively in investigations of drug and homicide cases in the District and elsewhere. In return for his help, federal prosecutors in D.C. asked a judge in 2019 to modify Edmond’s sentence of life without parole, allowing him to someday go free.
“I am very remorseful,” Edmond said at a 2019 court hearing on the government’s motion. It was the first time he had apologized to D.C. residents for the wave of addiction and violence he helped bring to their city. “I am sorry for everybody I hurt, for everybody I disappointed,” he said. “If I ever get the opportunity, I will do my best and whatever it takes to make up for all of my crimes.”
Prosecutors sought an adjusted sentence of 40 years, but U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan went further in his 2021 ruling, reducing Edmond’s sentence to 20 years. While Edmond’s “involvement in the criminal enterprise damaged this community deeply and resulted in the destruction of the lives of many individuals,” Sullivan wrote, the “unparalleled magnitude” of his cooperation warranted a significant reward.
At that point, Edmond already had been behind bars for nearly 32 years, far more time than his new 20-year sentence. But he had another sentence waiting to be served: 30 years in federal prison for dealing drugs in the U.S. penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pa., while he was an inmate there.
Edmond’s lawyers asked a federal judge in Pennsylvania to reduce that pending 30-year term so it would be covered by the extra time that Edmond had served on his modified sentence in the D.C. case.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Harrisburg, Pa., on Thursday declined to comment on Edmond, referring questions to the Bureau of Prisons. In its statement, the bureau said that Edmond’s effort to have his sentence reduced in Pennsylvania was successful and that his remaining period of incarceration can be measured in double-digit months.
“He has now served over 35 years in federal custody,” the statement noted.
correction
A previous version of this article misstated the date when Edmond is projected to be released from “community confinement.” His projected release date is Nov. 8, 2025. The article has been corrected.
Washington, D.C
The director of the Congressional Budget Office—known for its gloomy national debt data—is very optimistic that a crisis will be avoided entirely | Fortune
Dr Phillip Swagel is an optimist, both by nature and when he looks at the U.S. economy.
This fact is perhaps at odds with what one might assume: Swagel is the director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the nonpartisan agency that offers independent budgetary and economic analysis to Congress.
Very often—an inevitable occupational hazard—the subject of national debt and the interest the U.S. Treasury pays to maintain is its central focus. The numbers are eye-watering: Public debt stands at more than $39 trillion. The interest expense on that borrowing now exceeds $1 trillion a year. Indeed, the latest budget update from the CBO highlights that the government—according to preliminary estimates—paid out nearly $530 billion between October 2025, when the fiscal year starts, and March 2026. This equates to more than $88 billion in interest payments a month, or more than $22 billion a week.
The CBO’s figures are routinely cited by policymakers, think tanks, and lobbyists as alarming evidence that the U.S. needs to find a more sustainable fiscal path or risk dire straits.
Swagel doesn’t subscribe to the notion that the U.S. will face a crisis of its own making. His justification is simple: He was at the Treasury during the 2008 financial crisis, and joined the CBO months before the COVID pandemic began. He has watched as the U.S. economy, seemingly against all odds, has clawed its way out of economic crises before.
That’s not to say Swagel isn’t a staunch advocate of setting the U.S. on a more sustainable fiscal path—rather, he trusts the people in power to do so when the time comes.
Why the optimism?
Among those concerned about national debt are notable names: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, and Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is also worried about federal spending and has endorsed a plan floated by Berkshire Hathaway founder Warren Buffett that would render members of Congress ineligible for reelection if they allow deficits to exceed 3% of GDP.
On the other hand, optimistic economists suggest that, despite the value of the debt, it’s not actually an issue: the bond market is holding steady, indicating a reliable market of buyers. Likewise, the U.S.’s own central bank buys huge swaths of the debt, meaning, in the simplest of layman’s terms, the economy can essentially print its own money. There are holes in this argument, not least the fact that Fed chairman nominee Kevin Warsh has suggested he would like to reduce the Fed’s balance sheet and may therefore be less inclined to finance borrowing.
Swagel’s positive outlook doesn’t rely on the argument that a crisis hasn’t happened yet, so therefore it never will: “[My optimism] is rooted in my experience,” Swagel tells Fortune in an exclusive interview in Washington D.C. “First being at Treasury during the financial crisis and seeing very difficult times and the country coming together with an effective response—not saying it’s perfect, lots of controversy—but it was effective.”
“The second thing is policymakers are smart, they’re thoughtful. Interacting with members of Congress makes me optimistic. I know you read about all the squabbles … I’m completely aware of this, but the policymakers that are thinking about these things are thoughtful and effective. Not necessarily always effective at passing legislation, but that’s part of our political system, it was set up to make it difficult ot pass legislation.”
Decisions on the horizon
Swagel’s optimism that Congress will be pushed into action will be tested sooner rather than later, likely at some point in the next six years, he told Fortune. This is partly due to the fact that, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) both Social Security and Medicare will become insolvent within that time period.
“Making progress to address the fiscal trajectory would be a positive for the U.S. economy,” Swagel said. “Credible steps would lead to lower interest rates that would make the subsequent adjustment easier, there is a reward to virtue. It’s a positive thing, we can’t go on [with] the scolding narrative. My sense is that members of Congress understand the fiscal situation, it’s not that everyone single one has looked at our one-pager of numbers and understands the debt to the third decimal point, but they understand something needs to be done.”
“It doesn’t have to be done immediately, but at some point reasonably soon.”
Swagel is of the opinion that bond investors haven’t increased risk premiums not because they’re not worried about a fiscal crisis, but because they have priced in preventative action from Congress—in his mind “a vote of confidence that my optimism is not misplaced.”
“As a country, we face up to these problems. It’s not happening now, I’m not sure it’s going to happen in the rest of this year or even the next year, or the next two years. But we will face up to it, and the market in some sense expects us to, because otherwise interest rates would be higher,” he explained.
The Cheesecake Factory
The role of the CBO, to some extent, is to provide policymakers with their options if and when they do choose to take action on federal deficits. It’s a menu not unlike the Cheesecake Factory, Swagel says: Large, inclusive of a range of modifications and options, and delivered without judgement.
“Right now it’s maybe a pick three, and you’re looking at a six or seven course menu,” joked Caleb Quakenbush, director of fiscal policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, in an interview with Fortune. “The longer you delay, the more you’re gonna have to add to your tab, and those options become more expensive.”
Indeed, economists and analysts aren’t necessarily worried about the absolute level of government debt, rather the debt-to-GDP ratio. Depending on whom you ask, the debt-to-GDP ratio stands at around 122% of GDP at present. This measure demonstrates an economy’s spending versus its growth, and the risk associated with lending to a nation that isn’t growing fast enough to handle its spending. To rebalance that ratio, an economy could either cut spending or increase growth—the latter being by far the less painful option.
The growth option is becoming less feasible, Michael Peterson, CEO of fiscal think tank the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, told Fortune in an exclusive interview: “I think it requires government action because we’ve waited so long. We’ve added so many trillions, and the current deficit is so big at 6% that the level of growth you would need really exceeds what is feasible.
“Growth needs to be a part of it, but it’s sort of a vicious cycle. The longer we delay, the more debt we have, the slower growth is going to be. The more we get this under control, I think the greater optimism there is, interest rates go down, more growth comes from that. It’s sort of a virtuous or vicious cycle depending on your policy response.”
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Seventy-two veterans took a trip Saturday to our nation’s capital to visit memorials honoring their service in the armed forces.
This year marks the 12th trip to Washington, D.C. for Honor Flight Tallahassee.
Early Saturday morning, veterans and their guardians met to take a charter flight up to D.C.
Throughout the day, veterans were taken to the World War II memorial, as well as the Korean and Vietnam War memorials. The veterans also visited Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
More Tallahassee news:
The day ended with a wonderful welcome home celebration.
Our Jacob Murphey, Julia Miller, Taylor Viles, and Grace Temple accompanied the veterans, capturing moments from throughout the day.
The team will have live coverage from Washington, D.C. on Monday to share more from the day’s events.
We will continue to have coverage throughout the month of May, leading up to our Honor Flight special on Memorial Day.
To keep up with the latest news as it develops, follow WCTV on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Nextdoor and X (Twitter).
Have a news tip or see an error? Write to us here. Please include the article’s headline in your message.
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4 things to know about the weather:
- Chances of rain in the morning
- Gusty Sunday
- Chilly Monday
- Temps will rise again through the work week
Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to check the weather radar on the go.
After a nice and warm Saturday, changes arrive for part two of the weekend.
The first half of your Sunday will have a chance for showers. Winds will pick up with our next system and are expected to gust to about 20-30 mph. Cooler air will settle in, and lows Sunday night fall into the 40s.
Highs temps Monday will reach only into the mid to upper 50s.
However, temperatures will rise through the week, so you won’t need your jackets every day.
QuickCast
SUNDAY:
Showers, then partly cloudy
Wind: NW 10-15 mph
Gusts @ 30 mph
HIGH: Lower 60s
MONDAY:
Partly cloudy
Wind: NW 10-15 mph
Gusts @ 25 mph
HIGH: Upper 50s
Stay with Storm Team4 for the latest forecast. Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to get severe weather alerts on your phone.
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