NORFOLK
It's hard to be a heroin dealer.
If you don't agree, just listen to Portsmouth's own Rhadu Schoolfield – one of 12 people listed in a federal indictment unsealed Monday.
In a video posted in January on YouTube, Schoolfield – better known as rapper "Big Face Dolla" – boasted about all the work he was putting in selling drugs.
"I've been going dumb hard all week," he says in the chorus. "In the trap all night, no sleep. Got a new plug, and it's goin' cheap. And I put my dogs on like we gonna eat."
"Trap" is a common term for a place where drugs are sold, and "plug" is a common reference to a drug dealer's source of supply.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney John Butler declined to comment on the video, which had been viewed more than 23,800 times before the indictment was unsealed in U.S. District Court.
Defense attorney Andrew Sacks, Schoolfield's attorney, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The video starts with an interview of Schoolfield by 103 JAMZ DJ "Jack of Spade." It then transitions into sweeping drone shots of Portsmouth's Lincoln Park neighborhood before focusing on Schoolfield rapping in the streets.
Dozens of fans dance around him, many wearing black shirts emblazoned with the song's title: "Dumb Hard." In the mix are several elementary-school-age children.
Schoolfield, who refers to himself online as the "Fresh Prince of VA," sports a black "Bel-Air Academy" jersey, similar to what Will Smith's character wore during some episodes of the NBC comedy "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."
According to the indictment, Schoolfield was part of a large, drug trafficking organization operated by his relative, Leroy Perdue.
Prosecutors said the group was responsible for putting more than 100 kilograms of heroin on the streets of Portsmouth over the past decade. That is more than 250,000 doses, they said.
Breaking News
Police and federal agents served warrants Monday morning in Portsmouth and Suffolk, as well as in New York and Georgia. At least one of the raids occurred in Lincoln Park.
The video, with its high production value, also ties Schoolfield to Perdue, claiming Big Face Dolla was the "flagship artist" of Pipeline Entertainment.
According to the State Corporation Commission, Perdue was the registered agent of a Portsmouth company called "Pipeline Entertainment LLC."
Schoolfield was not among the defendants arrested Monday. He was taken into custody in June after police said he traveled to New York City to meet with a drug supplier. State Police stopped him on his way back to Hampton Roads with about 800 grams of heroin, prosecutors said.
In his rap, Schoolfield seemed to consider the possibility of his eventual arrest. Among the lyrics:
"If the police try to pull me, gotta get me eluding."
Scott Daugherty, 757-446-2343, scott.daugherty@pilotonline.com