Ra Diggs
Ronald Herron (born c. 1982),[1] known as Ra Diggs, is an American former rapper and convicted murderer, gang leader, and drug trafficker, formerly based in Brooklyn, New York.
Ra Diggs | |
|---|---|
 Mugshot of Ra Diggs | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ronald Herron |
| Origin | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper |
| Years active | 2008–2010 |
Career
He began a career on November 25, 2008, creating a YouTube blog channel called "RaDiggsTV". It has 178 subscribers and 39,540 views as of December 13, 2017.
On March 10, 2010, he created a YouTube channel called "VANGODENT". It has over 1,000 subscribers as of 2017. He would post music videos to the channel.
On June 11, 2010, he released a song to the channel called "Eulogy”. It has over 500,000 views as of December 2017.
Imprisonment
Ra Diggs was arrested in 2010 on drug charges, and was alleged to be leader of the Bloods-affiliated "Murderous Mad Dogs".[2][3] He was convicted in 2014 of 21 federal charges, including racketeering, drug dealing, and three murders. At trial, several of Ra Diggs songs and music videos were used as evidence because they were "literal recountings of his crimes".[4] The federal prosecuting attorney said:
He styled himself a rap artist, but the jury’s verdict makes clear who Herron really is: a drug dealer and murderer who sought power through fear and intimidation.[4]
In 2015, he was sentenced to 3 life terms plus 105 years in prison. He told the judge that he could give him 10 life terms and that he was only going to die once, after which he was sentenced to 12 life terms plus 105 years in prison. He is being held at ADX Florence in Colorado.[5]
References
- Find an inmate: RONALD HERRON − Register Number: 78527-053; Age: 38 (June 12, 2020); Release Date: LIFE. Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved 12 June 2020
- Bark, Theo (February 14, 2012). "Ra Diggs Murder Charge: Three Killings, Faces Death for Bragging". The Boombox.
- "In Brief: Rap Videos Admissible". Law.com. May 12, 2014.
- Reilly, Dan (June 27, 2014). "Rapper Ra Diggs Convicted of Three Murders After His Videos Are Used as Evidence". SPIN.
- "Ra Diggs Gets 12 Life Sentences".
External links
- Starbury, Alan (9 October 2010). "Uncle Murda Associate Ra Diggs Arrested For Running Drug Ring, Faces Life In Prison". BallerStatus.
- Marzulli, John (13 February 2012). "Brooklyn rapper charged with three murders, including one he boasted about on Twitter". New York Daily News.
- Clifford, Stephanie (27 May 2014). "Artist or Gang Leader? Rapper's Trial Begins". The New York Times.
- "YouTube bragging rapper Ra Diggs found guilty of murder". BBC Newsbeat. 27 June 2014.
- Schweber, Nate (2 April 2015). "Ronald Herron, Brooklyn Rapper Known as Ra Diggs, Gets 12 Life Prison Terms". The New York Times.
- Mosendz, Polly (2 April 2015). "FBI: Bloods Gang Leader Ronald Herron Sentenced to Life". Newsweek.
- Marzulli, John (24 April 2016). "Brooklyn drug kingpin gets 3 life terms in Colorado's Supermax prison". New York Daily News.