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Feds: Pot-Growing Firefighter Also Part of "Master Race" Gang
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 3, 2010
Modified Aug 3, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 3, 2010
Modified Aug 3, 2010
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In February 2009, somebody narced out firefighter Patrick Murray as he was allegedly loading marijuana grow lights into a van outside a house in Queens Village. Responding to the anonymous tip, investigators found 100 pot plants valued at $500,000 in the basement of the rented house. Murray, a 6 year FDNY veteran, was arrested, and now the DEA is charging him with drug conspiracy charges, because they say he's part of a decades-old Bayside Queens gang called The Master Race, or "TMR" if you're into the whole brevity thing.
TMR is believed to have started as a graffiti group in the '80s, but according to the DEA's affidavit, it devolved into "more violent crimes such as auto theft, robberies and primarily the manufacture and distribution of hydroponic marijuana." (Typical!) Murray's lawyer tells the Daily News, "He is not a member of any organization except the Fire Department of New York City." But where there's smoke there's fire—that house with all the marijuana plants in the basement? It was owned by another city firefighter connected to the ring, Matthew Cody, who pleaded guilty last year.
Tagged
drugs are bad
fdny
marijuana
Patrick Murray
the master race
tmr
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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