He previously had served six months in 1986 for possessing narcotics in Manhattan and had a criminal record including grand larceny and reckless endangerment dating to 1982.

Court records in Washington show that he was placed on four years' probation in 1975, when he was 18 years old, for selling and possessing narcotics.

The death of Mr. Belle, who had been arrested in June for possessing narcotics with intent to sell, was believed to have been gang related, the police said.

Our liberties have many limitations - we are not free to kick others, nor can we possess and use illegal narcotics.

He added that he had a long arrest record for selling and possessing narcotics.

Mr. Holmes had served time in prison for selling and possessing narcotics, according to the New York State Department of Correctional Services.

In June 2003, he pleaded guilty to one count of practicing medicine without a license and one count of conspiracy to possess narcotics, but fled before he was sentenced.

A fourth man, William Jones, 26, of the Bronx, was charged with three counts of selling and possessing narcotics.

The inmates are the roughly 440 so-called A-1 felons, sentenced to at least 15 years to life in prison under the Rockefeller drug laws for possessing or selling narcotics.

Less than a year later, he pleaded guilty to attempting to possess narcotics and was sentenced to two and a half to five years in prison.