Rules List Spelled Death in Cocaine Ring, Officials Say

Leaders of a South Los Angeles cocaine ring--one which prosecutors claim was so highly organized that prospective employees had to complete job applications and agree to obey 35 written rules that carried penalties ranging from suspension to death--have been charged with murdering three of the ring’s employees.

Gregory (G-Man) Franklin, 28, who authorities say headed the ring known as the “Simply Raw Crew” and operated the Simply Fresh fish market in Inglewood, has been charged in the execution-style deaths of ring members Marcus (Sugar Bear) Byers, 21; Kim Edwards, 20, and Reginald (Slim) Chastang.

Franklin’s lieutenant, Gerald (Smurf) Hardy, 19, has been charged with murder in the deaths of Byers and his girlfriend, Edwards, who was three months pregnant when she was shot in the head last April. Franklin and Hardy were arrested Friday in Kansas City, Mo.

Violation of Rules

Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven M. Barshop, who will prosecute the case, said the three victims were executed for having allegedly broken the rules of the group, which he described as a “reasonably sophisticated” operation--with a morbid twist.

“They run it like a business,” explained Barshop. “However, in a regular business, when you get terminated you get unemployment compensation. Here, when the job terminates, so does the employee.”

Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner termed the ring “an ugly dark mirror image of legitimate business.

“What’s so interesting about this is it’s sort of peeling back and giving a dirty inside look, sort of like pulling the furniture back and seeing cockroaches scrambling around,” the district attorney added.

In a 10-count criminal complaint, eight other members of the ring also have been charged with drug and murder conspiracy counts.

According to Los Angeles police, the Simply Raw Crew operated 15 rock houses in Los Angeles, Compton, Inglewood and Long Beach at its peak in 1986 and early 1987. At least 21 people were allegedly employed by the operation, which paid its workers on a sliding scale ranging from $43 a day for beginners manning rock houses up to $350 a day for the secretary.

List of Regulations

In addition to the job applications, prosecutors said they have recovered a handwritten copy of the 35 rules and penalties. Regulations calling for a two-day suspension included disrespecting each others’ girlfriends and making loud noises while working in rock houses. Three-day suspensions were handed down for sleeping on the job, “excessive getting high while working,” failure to keep “all books . . . correct and accurate,” and spending more than $100 “without permission from chairman.”

Stealing would result in “termination,” prosecutors added, and “any secret documents revealed” called for a penalty of “automatic death.”

Eventually, “the rules were changed to automatic death” for breaking many of the regulations, Barshop said.

Said Reiner: “I mean these imbeciles, these fools sitting people down and filling out an application. It’s all so damn sleazy. You want to laugh at these fools but you don’t because they’re killers.”

Barshop contends that Byers and Edwards were murdered because Franklin believed they had stolen cash and cocaine from the ring. In the days before their deaths April 24, the couple allegedly told several friends that Franklin suspected them because they had purchased a new stove and refrigerator shortly after he found out that drugs and money were missing.

Byers and Edwards, who lived together in an apartment, were found shot through the head with bullets from the same small-caliber weapon. Their bodies, hands bound and wrapped in identical bedspreads containing identification tags from the Imperial Motor Inn in Las Vegas, were discovered in separate cars parked about one-half mile apart.

Blankets Missing

Authorities say they have since determined that in March, Franklin, Byers, Edwards and nine others had checked into the inn and that after they checked out, several bedspreads and blankets were missing.

Barshop said Byers worked for the ring for ten months, delivering drugs to rock houses and recruiting new employees. Edwards, using an alias, rented residences for the crew which were then converted to rock houses.

Although Franklin and Hardy have not been specifically charged with being the triggermen in the shootings, both could still face the death penalty if convicted of the multiple murders, the prosecutor said.

Hardy and Franklin, along with Franklin’s brother, Martin (Cisco) Franklin, 27; his wife, Tonya (Porsha) Slie, 25; Richard (8-Ball) Ridgley, 19, and Dorian (Devo) Pullen, 22, are also charged with conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the three deaths.

The six, along with associates Anthony (Diamond) White, 20; Michael (Soda Pop) Allen, 23; Sean (Shorty) Morris, 23; and Michael (Kool Aid) Walters, 20, are also charged with conspiracy to sell drugs and to utilize a fortified house for drug sales.

Response to Tip

Ridgley and Slie were arrested along with Franklin and Hardy in Kansas City on Friday as the result of a tip from Los Angeles police, the district attorney’s office said.

Martin Franklin was arrested in Houston last week and Allen, Morris and White are already in custody in Los Angeles County Jail on other charges, authorities said.

Ridgley is also charged with murder and vehicular manslaughter in the March hit-and-run traffic accident death of Carrie T. Breaux, 50, head counselor and vice principal at Ramona High School.

Breaux’s car was struck broadside by a vehicle speeding through a red light as it was being chased by sheriff’s deputies. Authorities say Ridgley escaped on foot, eluding officers who were assisted by police dogs in their search of the area around Martin Luther King Jr. and Degnan boulevards in South-Central Los Angeles.

Breaux, who was driving home after teaching a night class at Pepperdine University, died a short time later at Brotman Memorial Medical Center.