Event
Eric “E. Money Bags” Smith was shot and killed in Queens on July 16, 2001. Federal prosecutors stated that Smith was seated in his parked vehicle at a neighborhood gathering when hitmen shot him 11 times at close range.
Motive
The government’s evidence established that McGriff ordered the killing because he suspected Smith of involvement in the December 1999 shootout that resulted in the death of McGriff associate Colbert “Black Just” Johnson.
Legal Significance
The Smith homicide became one of the central murder-for-hire counts in McGriff’s later federal racketeering prosecution and helped expose the violent structure of the later enterprise.