During the height of Detroit's crack craze, Maserati Rick Carter reigned as the most recognized of all of the flashy, high rolling dealers in the motor city. None could match Rick's flair for the dramatic an attribute he would display even in death. Rick Carter first came to the attention of local authorities when at the age of 18 he drew a conviction for receiving stolen property. It would be five years before Carter became a player in the cities drug trade. Orignally a small timer with big dreams Carter's ascent began with the fall of Sylvester "Seal" Murray in 1982. Murray had been the prime source of cocaine, heroin and maurijauna for scores of inner city dealers for more than a decade. Murray had been the chief supplier for Detroit's first big time crack gang Y.B.I. The conviction of Murray along with the top leaders of Y.B.I provided an oppurtunity for ambitious young men such as Carter and his best friend Demetrius Holloway to move into position as the new generation of drug pushers. After 3 short years in the crack trade Maserati Rick controlled one of the most prominent networks operating on the east side. Carter and Holloway worked the eastside peacefully along with other organizations run by Johnny Curry "whose wife Cathy was the niece of Detroit's mayor Coleman Young," the remnants of the crippled Y.B.I., gang and the Chambers brothers. Following the arrest and conviction of the Curry brothers and 6 of their top lieutenants in 1987, Rick and his partner Holloway began making overtures to secure the east side as their personal kingdom. One of the first steps in consolidating their power was to join forces with teenage drug supplier "White Boy" Rick Wershe while financing the organization of "Rockin'" Reggie Browns murder for hire troop under the umbrella of best friends. With Brown providing much needed protection and muscle and Wershe providing a local source of product, Carter began expanding his operation by providing an alternative to his crack with heroin. Federal agents took note of Carter's frequent trips to Florida and Los Angeles in an attempt they claim to secure a steady supply source. Carter's operation took off allowing him to live and spend lavishly. Carter listed his home address as a bungalow on Birwood Avenue in northwest Detroit but he was known to have kept residence in at least two other locations in the last four years of his life. These two locations were more in line with the image Carter was building for himself as the motor city king of crack. The first was a fortified flat near Alter road and E. Jefferson while the other a plush riverfront condo, provided Carter with an occassional getaway. To mask the proceeds of his drug operation, Carter invested millions in local businesses many of which were eastside carwashes or hair salons which served as drop off or pickup points for his runners. Ivestigator's listed Carter as a kilo man in it's reports on Detroit's many traffickers meaning he dealt in 2.2 lb quantities of cocaine and heroin. This method of dealing signified his wealth and importance demonstrated by the fact that only the important traffickers and wealthy could afford to inventory such quantities without extreme financial difficulty. During his climb to prominence, Carter and his gang as one law enforcement official put it, " made enough enemies to fill Tiger Stadium," but none seemed more determined to destroy Carter than Edward Hanserd, a man who had once bought his marijuana from Maserati Rick. Following a heated argument over a debt owed to Carter in Hanserd's Unisex Hair Salon during the summer of 1987, the two became bitter enemies. Carter and Hanserd publicly squared off on numerous occassions usually resulting in an exchange of automatic gunfire between the combatants. The intial war of words drew the attention of newsmen who wrote often of the exploits of both men whose penchant for violence coupled with a preference for automatic weaponry posed a grave danger to the general public. As Hanserd built and organization which began to cut into the profits of Carter and best friends the upstart was marked for termination a fact best demonstrated by an impromptu meeting which resulted in a wild shootout between the two dealers and a couple of their soldiers which left Hanserd with a nasty scar across his abdomen the result of a wound he received from a confrontation with Carter and his forces. Maserati Rick would try at least three times to kill the troublesome Hanserd without success. The failure of Carter to eliminate Hanserd would be a fatal mistake after yet another conflict on September 10, 1988 outside of one of Carter's busniesses left Rick hospitalized with bullets in his stomach and one of Hanserd's soldiers slightly wounded in the arm. Two days after the initial shooting the same man involved in the initial shooting entered room 307 at Mt. Carmel Mercey Hospital and shot Maserati Rick. Carter was pronounced dead at 6:01 p.m. The next day police announced their prime suspect was Ricky Parker an associate of Hanserds who was fast establishing himself as the single most dangerous man on the eastside of Detroit. Just hours after the death of Carter, it was learned that another man whom he had been having a bitter feud with intended to call Rick as a defense witness in a trial he claimed was the result of a Carter initiated frame up. Following his murder the legend of Maserati Rick Carter received it's finishing touches during a grand funeral in which he lay in a $16,000 silver coffin constructed to resemble a mercedes benz complete with spinning tires. Following the emotional services Maserati Rick Carter was layed to rest in Elmwood cemetery the final resting place of thousands of underworld figures including the royalty of Detroit's powerful partnership.