He attends macroeconomics classes at Baltimore City Community College and maintains a personal library, including a copy of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations.
He attempts to legitimize the Barksdale Organization and insulates himself from direct criminality through money laundering and investments in housing development, aided through his buying of influence from politicians.
To ensure D'Angelo's acquittal, Stringer has enforcers Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice, Anton "Stinkum" Artis, and Savino Bratton intimidate and bribe witnesses over the course of the trial.
While there, Stringer receives word from D'Angelo that two of his crew, Wallace and Poot Carr, have spotted Omar's boyfriend Brandon Wright at an arcade.
When it's time for Avon to clean house, Stringer orders the murder of Wallace, who played a part in Brandon’s abduction and was disconcerted by the sight of his mutilated body.
At the same time, Proposition Joe introduces a purer, more effective heroin line through his connection with The Greek, leading many drug users to migrate to his territory.
He obtains legitimate business fronts for the Barksdales, forms the New Day Co-Op with Proposition Joe and other rival dealers, and runs meetings with his underlings according to Robert's Rules of Order.
Stringer is also shown to have made several donations to local business leaders and politicians, including the corrupt State Senator Clay Davis, to facilitate development of a condominium complex.
This brings McNulty into conflict with Lester Freamon, with Kima Greggs caught in the middle, and Roland Pryzbylewski and Leander Sydnor disenchanted with the less interesting Williamson.
As Avon's war against Marlo begins to draw more police attention, Joe and other Co-Op members threaten to cut Stringer off from the Greek's heroin supply if he can't stop the violence.
Stringer's inroads into real estate are hamstrung by the nuances of a legitimate business world that he doesn't fully understand, with his condominium project repeatedly delayed by bureaucratic obstacles.
Stringer's luck takes a turn for the worse when Williamson joins the New Day Co-Op and McNulty manages to get the MCU to shift focus back to the Barksdales.
McNulty and the police search Stringer's apartment and find it extremely clean, stylishly furnished, and tastefully decorated, far from their expectations of a drug kingpin.
McNulty expresses regret that he could not arrest his archrival before he died, and displays an odd admiration for Stringer's lofty dreams and a grudging respect for his talent as a drug kingpin.
[3] His story bears many similarities to the life of Kenneth A. Jackson, including his crossover from the illegal drug trade to legitimate business ownership and political contributions.
[4] In 2019, political writer Adam Serwer apparently coined the term "The Stringer Bell Rule"[5] for the adage "don't keep notes on a criminal conspiracy".
from the Season 3 episode "Straight and True" was cited as early as 2017[6] to express incredulity at the Trump team's documented interactions with Russia during his 2016 election campaign, and in 2013[7] as advice for JPMorgan after a spreadsheet listing alleged improprieties was found during a criminal investigation.