Overview
Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff founded the Supreme Team in the early 1980s in the vicinity of the Baisley Park Houses in Jamaica, Queens. Federal court and Department of Justice records identify Gerald “Prince” Miller, McGriff’s nephew, as his second-in-command in the organization’s original period.
Supreme Team
The Second Circuit described the Supreme Team as a street gang whose principal criminal business was cocaine-base distribution. At its 1987 peak, the court summarized evidence that the organization’s street-level receipts exceeded $200,000 per day and that violence was used to maintain control of its territory.
McGriff and the Supreme Team should be treated as a separate Queens power center from the Harlem network involving Azie Faison, Richard “Rich” Porter, and Alberto “Alpo” Martinez. Their names overlap in later New York street history and popular culture, but that does not make the organizations identical.
1987–1989 Prosecution
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, McGriff was arrested after a joint state and federal investigation in 1987 and pleaded guilty in 1989 to engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise. He received a 12-year federal sentence. During McGriff’s incarceration, Miller assumed operational leadership of the Supreme Team.
Later Criminal Organization and 2007 Conviction
McGriff’s later criminal activity should be distinguished from the original 1980s Supreme Team period. Federal prosecutors alleged that after subsequent release from prison he assembled a new organization. In 2007, a federal jury convicted him of racketeering, two murder-for-hire homicides, narcotics trafficking, and illegal financial transactions involving drug proceeds. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Eric “E. Money Bags” Smith and Troy Singleton
Federal prosecutors proved that McGriff arranged the July 16, 2001 murder of Eric “E. Money Bags” Smith in retaliation for Smith’s suspected involvement in the death of McGriff associate Colbert “Black Just” Johnson. The government also proved that McGriff’s hired killers murdered Troy Singleton on October 21, 2001 to prevent retaliation for Smith’s death.
The later Singleton case creates a documented Brooklyn connection: federal prosecutors in the Cash Money Brothers case identified Aaron “E-Bay” Granton as a participant recruited by a separate gang called the Supreme Team for that contract murder.
Network Connections
- Gerald “Prince” Miller — nephew, second-in-command, and later operational leader of the Supreme Team.
- Supreme Team — organization founded by McGriff.
- Lorenzo “Fat Cat” Nichols — the Second Circuit described the Supreme Team as allied in 1987 with Nichols’s organization, which supplied powder cocaine.
- Eric “E. Money Bags” Smith — 2001 murder victim in McGriff’s later federal case.
- Troy Singleton — 2001 murder victim; his killing provides a documented connection to CMB enforcer Aaron Granton.
- McGriff Enterprise — Later Period — post-incarceration organization distinguished from the original Supreme Team.
Historical Significance
McGriff is important to the crime history of Queens because his organization provides a well-documented example of a neighborhood-based narcotics enterprise developing a layered distribution structure, enforcement component, and durable cultural reputation. His history also illustrates why the Queens network must be documented independently from Harlem and Washington.
Evidence Status
A. Core organizational, prosecution, conviction, and sentencing facts are supported by federal appellate and Department of Justice records.