Frank Lucas
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Early life
• 2 Criminal career
• 3 Arrests and releases
• 4 Family
• 5 See also
• 6 References
• 7 External links
Early life
Lucas was born in La Grange, North Carolina and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina.[8] He claims that the incident that sparked his motivation to embark on a life of crime was witnessing his 12-year-old cousin 's murder at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan, for apparently "reckless eyeballing" (looking at a Caucasian woman), in Greensboro, North Carolina.[5] He drifted through a life of petty crime until one particular occasion when after a fight with a former employer he fled to New York on the advice of his mother.[5] In Harlem he indulged in petty crime and pool hustling before he was taken under the wing of gangster Bumpy Johnson.[5] Lucas ' connection to Bumpy has since come under some doubt; he claimed to have been Johnson 's driver for 15 years, although Johnson spent just 5 years out of prison before his death in 1968. According to Johnson 's widow, much of the narrative that Lucas claims as his actually belonged to another young hustler named Zach Walker, who lived with Bumpy and his family and later betrayed him.[9]
Criminal career
Lucas ' January 1975 federal mug shot.
After Johnson 's death, Lucas traveled around and came to the realization that to be successful he would have to break the monopoly that the Italian mafia held in New York. Traveling to Bangkok, Thailand, he eventually made his way to Jack 's American Star Bar, an R&R hangout for black soldiers.[5] It was here that he met former U.S. Army sergeant Leslie "Ike" Atkinson, a country boy from Goldsboro, North Carolina, who happened to be married to one of Lucas ' cousins. Lucas is quoted as saying, "Ike knew everyone over there, every black guy in the Army, from the cooks on up."[5]
When interviewed for a magazine article published in 2000, Lucas denied putting the drugs among the corpses of American soldiers. Instead he flew with
[hide]
• 1 Early life
• 2 Criminal career
• 3 Arrests and releases
• 4 Family
• 5 See also
• 6 References
• 7 External links
Early life
Lucas was born in La Grange, North Carolina and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina.[8] He claims that the incident that sparked his motivation to embark on a life of crime was witnessing his 12-year-old cousin 's murder at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan, for apparently "reckless eyeballing" (looking at a Caucasian woman), in Greensboro, North Carolina.[5] He drifted through a life of petty crime until one particular occasion when after a fight with a former employer he fled to New York on the advice of his mother.[5] In Harlem he indulged in petty crime and pool hustling before he was taken under the wing of gangster Bumpy Johnson.[5] Lucas ' connection to Bumpy has since come under some doubt; he claimed to have been Johnson 's driver for 15 years, although Johnson spent just 5 years out of prison before his death in 1968. According to Johnson 's widow, much of the narrative that Lucas claims as his actually belonged to another young hustler named Zach Walker, who lived with Bumpy and his family and later betrayed him.[9]
Criminal career
Lucas ' January 1975 federal mug shot.
After Johnson 's death, Lucas traveled around and came to the realization that to be successful he would have to break the monopoly that the Italian mafia held in New York. Traveling to Bangkok, Thailand, he eventually made his way to Jack 's American Star Bar, an R&R hangout for black soldiers.[5] It was here that he met former U.S. Army sergeant Leslie "Ike" Atkinson, a country boy from Goldsboro, North Carolina, who happened to be married to one of Lucas ' cousins. Lucas is quoted as saying, "Ike knew everyone over there, every black guy in the Army, from the cooks on up."[5]
When interviewed for a magazine article published in 2000, Lucas denied putting the drugs among the corpses of American soldiers. Instead he flew with
References: 1. ^ a b c "U.S. Jury Convicts Heroin Informant". The New York Times. August 25, 1984. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A04E7D71338F936A1575BC0A962948260. Retrieved 2008-04-09. 2. ^ a b c "Drug Dealer Gets New Prison Term". The New York Times. September 11, 1984. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E3D81038F932A2575AC0A962948260. Retrieved 2008-04-09. 9. ^ Mayme Hatcher Johnson. Harlem Godfather: The Rap on my Husband, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson (when ed.). Oshun Publishing Company, Inc.; First edition (February 29, 2008). p. 248. ISBN 0967602831.Pg 159, 221. 12. ^ a b c d Jayson Rodriguez (November 6, 2007). "Real 'American Gangster ' Frank Lucas Talks About Hanging With Diddy 's Dad, Possible Sequel". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1573648/20071106/story.jhtml. Retrieved 2008-02-24. 13. ^ "BREAKFAST WITH THE REAL 'AMERICAN GANGSTER '," MSNBC 14. ^ a b Ron Chepesiuk and Anthony Gonzalez (2007) • Mayme Hatcher Johnson. Harlem Godfather: The Rap on my Husband, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson (when ed.). Oshun Publishing Company, Inc.; First edition (February 29, 2008). p. 248. ISBN 0967602831. • Dateline NBC Producer describes sitting down for breakfast with Frank Lucas • "The real rap on Bumpy", Philadelphia Daily News, November 5, 2007 • Susannah Cahalan, "Ganging up on movie 's lies", New York Post, November 4, 2007 • The Raid in Teaneck - prologue to Superfly: The True Untold Story of Frank Lucas, American Gangster by Ron Chepesiuk and Anthony Gonzalez