Skip to main contentHis MySpace page says, "Free Smurf Luchiano," and his photo floats over a background of 100-dollar bills. But the Portland record producer born Jonathan Demetrius Norman, and formerly known as the gangster Big Smurf, will stay behind bars for some time to come.
Norman has survived shootings and once beat a federal racketeering charge. But now, despite years without criminal charges and remaking himself as a local hip-hop mogul, Norman faces a year and a day in prison for a plea deal reached Tuesday, May 26, on charges of robbing his ex-girlfriend.
Norman—a.k.a. Big Smurf, a.k.a. Smurf Luchiano—faced trial in Multnomah County Circuit Court for robbery, burglary and assault charges stemming from the incident last fall. The trial was set to begin May 26, but after Judge Marshall Amiton ruled in the morning that prosecutors could play Norman's ex-girlfriend's tearful 911 call for the jury, Norman agreed to plead no contest to some charges in return for a reduced sentence.
"You're fucked," defense attorney Russell Barnett whispered to Norman after Amiton made his ruling to allow the 911 call.
Norman, 37, gained notoriety as the older cousin of Lil Smurf, who for years was Portland's most wanted gangster by both police and rivals—until he was shot dead at age 20 outside a Northeast strip club in 1997. At the height of Portland's gangland days, one gang cop estimated Lil Smurf was involved in about half of all gang shootings in the city, either as the gunman or the intended victim (see "The Legacy of Lil Smurf," WW, Dec. 17, 1997).
Lil Smurf, born Anthony Branch Jr., joined the Kerby Blocc Crips in 1989 under the sponsorship of Norman, his older cousin, who was already a member, according to police at the time. Local law enforcement officials described the extended Branch family at the time as famously criminal, piling up felony convictions for theft, drug possession, prostitution and assault.
Lil Smurf's fearlessness and aggression soon marked him as one of the Kerby Blocc Crips' most powerful members. When a California gang called the Richmonds came to Portland in the mid-1990s gunning for Lil Smurf, who'd ripped them off in a cocaine deal, some members of his own family reportedly turned against him. But Norman was considered one of the few who stood by his younger cousin.
While the Richmonds hunted Lil Smurf, Big Smurf had his own troubles in the 1990s, racking up a string of felony convictions for assault and drug possession. A rival gang fired on him at least once, in 1998. When prosecutors charged several Kerby Blocc Crips with racketeering in 1997, Big Smurf beat the rap in federal court but was found guilty of racketeering in state court in 2001. He was sentenced to 25 months in prison with credit for time served.
Between that conviction and the new charges brought this year, Big Smurf's record has been clean except for traffic tickets. In 1998 he founded 2Real Records, rebranding himself as Smurf Luchiano. Along with an album by Luchiano's own group, GOTM (Gangstas on the Move), the label put out the 2003 compilation Double Jeopardy featuring Messy Marv and Mac Dre.
Smurf also dabbled in film, producing the 2006 documentary Killingsworth about the life of Lil Smurf. Film festivals around the country featured Killingsworth. Smurf even rubbed elbows with seminal rap producer Suge Knight in L.A.
"He has done a lot in the world of music and trying to do positive things," says Portland rapper Cool Nutz, Smurf's childhood friend. "We all have our missteps in life, but I think he's making a point to try to contribute to the community."
But Big Smurf's gangster past was never far behind. His MySpace page still shows him throwing Crips signs and showing off his gang tattoos. Court documents say Portland gang cops believe Smurf is a pimp for three or four women from the Seattle area and that he was shot at sometime around New Year's Day. Smurf was in jail and unavailable for interviews.
"We adamantly deny any gang ties," says his lawyer, Barnett. "There is no truth to these allegations."
Smurf's present legal predicament stems from last fall, when police believe Smurf became enraged at seeing another man driving a 1994 Nissan Maxima Smurf had bought for his girlfriend, Shania Price.
On Nov. 26, court documents say Smurf and a friend, Valdimar Mask, went to Price's Northeast Portland apartment and broke down the door. Smurf beat Price in the face and back with a rock, court documents say, while Mask fired a gunshot into the floor. They allegedly fled with Price's car and her purse.
ONLINE IN HIS PRIME: Photos from Smurf's MySpace page.
Price failed to appear before a grand jury Feb. 12 and has been hiding from police ever since. But after Amiton allowed the 911 call as evidence, Smurf pleaded no contest to first-degree burglary and first-degree attempted robbery.
With credit for time served, he could be released by February next year.
Smurf's alleged accomplice, Valdimar Mask, is scheduled to go to trial on related charges June 23. Mask is represented by Randy Ray Richardson (see
).
WWeek 2015