Druglord McGriff's Crony Singing To Feds

MAY 3--As federal prosecutors close in on Kenneth McGriff and his cohorts at the Murder, Inc. rap label, a close criminal associate of the feared New York City druglord has begun cooperating with investigators and been tucked in the witness protection program for his safety, The Smoking Gun has learned. Jon Ragin, a 35-year-old narcotics trafficker, has been aiding federal agents for more than six months in the government's sprawling probe of McGriff and his racketeering enterprise, according to the below letter filed under seal by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Pokorny. Ragin, arrested last year on money laundering and credit card fraud charges, pleaded guilty last August to two felonies that could land him in prison from 15 years, eight months to 19 years, seven months, according to a prosecution estimate. Ragin, though, apparently opted to try and work off some of that hard time by flipping on McGriff's organization, which is suspected of engaging in "widespread narcotics distribution and money laundering, and committing homicides and other acts of violence." Ragin, who used the alias Theodore Cayruth, was jailed under that name for several years in a New York State prison, where the mug shot at right was snapped. In a 2003 affidavit, IRS agent Francis Mace noted that McGriff and Ragin co-produced "Crime Partners," a straight-to-video release featuring rappers Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, and Ja Rule (the movie's soundtrack was produced and distributed by Murder, Inc., the label McGriff has allegedly bankrolled). Ragin and McGriff used "Crime Partners" to launder "proceeds of their criminal activities," according to Mace, who added that Ragin, following his arrest last January, told investigators that he sank $300,000 of his own money into the film. As TSG reported last week, McGriff is suspected of ordering several murders, including a double homicide in Maryland and the revenge slaying of a New York rapper. (1 page)