Frank Lucas- Real talk
Career
He claims to have grossed US$1 million a day selling drugs on 116th Street. Federal judge Sterling Johnson, who was special narcotics prosecutor in New York at the time of Lucas' crimes, called Lucas' operation "one of the most outrageous international dope-smuggling gangs ever, an innovator who got his own connections outside the U.S. and then sold the narcotics himself in the street."
Arrest and release
Frank Lucas was arrested in 1975 in New Jersey and was convicted of both federal and New Jersey state drug violations. In 1976, he was sentenced to 70 years in prison. Once convicted, Lucas provided evidence that led to the convictions of more than 100 drug-related criminals. His sentence was reduced and changed to parole, so that he was released from prison in 1981. In 1984 he was arrested again and convicted for new drug violations and a parole violation. He received a sentence of seven years and was released from prison in 1991. Within the movie American Gangster it was said that at the height of his career Frank Lucas was more powerful than any other criminal organization including the "Mafia" when it came to dope dealing (not overall). He paid off an Italian crime family for their "protection" to sell dope on the streets.
Frank Lucas is now wheelchair bound, as seen in the HBO documentary, The Making of American Gangster. Actor Denzel Washington portrays Frank Lucas in the film American Gangster directed by Ridley Scott, which was released on November 2, 2007. Lucas and his former competitor, Nicky Barnes, sat down with New York magazine's Mark Jacobson recently for a historic conversation between men who have not spoken to each other in 30 years
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