The Family was an organized crime group known for drug trafficking. The Family was founded by Akbar Pray in Newark, New Jersey in the early 1970s, and collapsed several years after he was sentenced to life in prison in 1990.
The Family was headed by Wayne (Akbar) Pray for nearly 20 years until 1989, when he was sentenced to life in federal prison without the opportunity for parole. Pray was convicted for being the "principal administrator" of a substantial cocaine importing and distribution organization. At its height, Pray's group had about 300 members and associates.
For several years, New Jersey's State Commission of Investigation (SCI or Commission) had developed intelligence on Afro-lineal mobs. These efforts culminated in a public hearing on November 29, 1990. The Afro-Lineal Organized Crime Report summarizes the public hearing. Newark Police Director Claude M. Coleman testified at the SCI public hearing as to the difficulties encountered in investigating Pray:
Director Coleman related how Pray built up The Family through "fear, intimidation and violence," directed primarily against rivals for the drug trade. Although the group has continued after Pray's incarceration, Director Coleman described it as "fragmented" with several of Pray's former lieutenants "now dealing on their own as freelancers" and some having been incarcerated.
DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Ashton detailed the past and current status of The Family in testimony at the Commission's public hearing:
At its height, Pray's network had at least 12 mid-level supervisors classified by the DEA as Class I violators. A Class I cocaine trafficker is defined by the DEA as one who has the capability of distributing at least fifty kilos of cocaine on a monthly basis and manages at least five subordinate drug traffickers.
Not long after Pray's arrest and conviction, The Family became scattered and ceased to exist.
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