Dime Bag Kingpins: How Two Grams Can Get You Twenty Years in Missouri

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Voice Media/Adria Fruitos.


Michael Mayo was on his way to get some new braids. He didn’t know he would end up spending the next two decades in prison. Police were watching as Mayo, then in his early twenties, made his way through his north St. Louis neighborhood back in July 2001. And Mayo, a street-level drug dealer, decided to do a little business before getting his hair done. That’s when police say they saw Mayo make a hand-to-hand transaction with somebody in the middle of the road. Without hesitation, the cops jumped out of an unmarked vehicle and placed Mayo in handcuffs.
On his person, police found roughly two grams of crack, a joint’s worth of marijuana and $176 in cash. Mayo said the money was for the braids he was on his way to get, not profits from drug sales. Besides, what kind of legit drug dealer has only a couple grams of crack? Riverfront Times has more in their cover story this week.

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