A crime boss who was notorious for running the New York City marijuana trade for two decades pleaded guilty to a count of racketeering conspiracy that tied him to nine murders, on Tuesday (June 7). With the plea, Manuel Geovanny Rodriguez-Perez, known on the streets as "El Monstro," gave admission to the attempted murder of 10 others in a case that investigated dozens of hits put out by Rodriguez-Perez from the early 90's through to 2010.
The conviction puts the lid on a high profile case that grabbed headlines in 2010 when Rodriguez-Perez was arrested along with "High Times" magazine ad executive, Matthew Woodstock Stang, and Jay-Z's partner and co-founder at Roc-A-Fella Records, Kareem "Biggs" Burke. They were nabbed as a part of a city-wide sting dubbed "Operation Green Venom", which set off a trial that resulted in Stang being let off on time served and Biggs striking a plea bargain for a five year sentence.
Biggs, who has since been released, had been a heavyweight among Hip Hop executives at the time, thus drawing dark publicity to the industry after feds alleged to have caught him loading money from Rodriguez-Perez into his BMW. He was charged with conspiring to distribute over 100 kilos of weed in the $20 million operation.
Rodriguez-Perez' conviction comes nearly four years after that of Stang and Biggs. He faces up to life in prison.
Source: nydailynews.com
