Brooklyn rapper Ra Diggs, who has been incarcerated since October 2010 on drug charges, has been indicted on new, more serious charges ... ones that could get him the death penalty.
According to the New York Daily News, the rapper (real name: Ronald Herron) has been indicted on three murder counts, including one he alleged bragged about on Twitter.
Herron is charged in the 2001 death of Frederick Brooks, a charge he previously beat in Supreme Court when two witnesses refused to testify against him after his associates threatened them; and the slayings of Richard Russo in 2008 and Victor Zapata in 2009.
The paper reports that Diggs later boasted, via Twitter, that he "beat a body" referring to Brooks, authorities said.
"His Tweets were premature," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told the Daily News this week.
Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch added, "Ronald Herron and his gang terrorized a Brooklyn community for more than a decade and he temporarily got away with murder by threatening and intimidating witnesses only to return to the streets of Brooklyn to kill and kill again."
The aspiring rapper is allegedly affiliated with the "Murderous Mad Dog", a branch of the Bloods street gang.
If convicted of the murders, Diggs could face the death penalty.
Diggs is currently incarcerated, facing federal drug charges. A federal indictment accuses him of running a drug ring based around his Brooklyn neighborhood, and was under surveillance by the Feds for more than two years before his arrest.
For these charges, he could face life in prison.
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