American Gangster is fictionally based on the career of which Harlem-based drug trafficker?
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American Gangster (film) American Gangster is a 2007 American biographical crime film directed and produced by Ridley Scott and written by Steven Zaillian. The film is fictionally based on the criminal career of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War, before being detained by a task force led by detective Richie Roberts. The film stars Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington in their first lead acting roles together since 1995's "Virtuosity". The film also co-stars Ted Levine, John Ortiz, Josh Brolin, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Norman Reedus, Ruby Dee, Lymari Nadal and Cuba Gooding Jr.
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Frank Lucas (drug dealer) Frank Lucas (born September 9, 1930) is an American former drug trafficker, who operated in Harlem during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was particularly known for cutting out middlemen in the drug trade and buying heroin directly from his source in the Golden Triangle. Lucas boasted that he smuggled heroin using the coffins of dead American servicemen, but this claim is denied by his South East Asian associate, Leslie "Ike" Atkinson. Rather than hide the drugs in the coffins, they were hidden in the pallets underneath as depicted in the 2007 feature film "American Gangster" in which he was played by Denzel Washington, although the film fictionalized elements of Lucas' life for dramatic effect.
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Jon Roberts Jon Pernell Roberts (June 21, 1948 – December 28, 2011), born John Riccobono, was a noted drug trafficker and government informant, operated in the Miami area and was an associate of Colombia's Medellín Cartel during the growth phase in cocaine trafficking, 1975–1985. After his arrest, he was able to avoid a lengthy prison sentence by becoming a cooperating witness and proactive informant for the federal government. He was the author with Evan Wright of "American Desperado".
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Joseph DiVarco Joseph Vincent "Caesar" DiVarco (July 27, 1911–January 1986) was a Chicago mobster with the Chicago Outfit who was involved in numerous street rackets.
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Azie Faison Azie Faison (pronounced "A.Z.") is an American former drug dealer, selling cocaine in Harlem, New York, as well as a rapper and founder of the underground hip-hop group MobStyle. His legacy has been referenced by several rap artists, and his life was the basis for the film "Paid in Full" produced by Roc-A-Fella Films.
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Michael Rizzitello Michael Anthony Rizzitello (March 15, 1929 – October 26, 2005), also known as "Mike Rizzi", was an Italian American mobster in the Los Angeles crime family. Rizzitello's criminal record stretched back to 1947. He was also featured in several biography novels by mobsters-turned-informants Jimmy Fratianno ("The Last Mafioso" and "Vengeance Is Mine"), Anthony Fiato ("The Animal in Hollywood"), and Kenny Gallo ("Breakshot").
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Snowblind (book) Snowblind: A brief career in the cocaine trade written by American author Robert Sabbag in 1976 is a non-fiction account about an extraordinary character named Zachary Swan who turned his hand to smuggling cocaine from Colombia into the US. Set in the 1970s before organised crime took over the cocaine trade, it is based primarily in New York City and Bogotá and features a variety of colourful characters. Unlike other smugglers at the time Swan concocted a vast array of scams designed both to evade customs officials and protect his 'employees' from prosecution, all of which are highly imaginative and entertaining.
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Maurice Enright Maurice "Mossy" or "Mossie" Enright (d. February 2, 1920) was an Irish-American gangster and one of the earliest Chicago labor racketeers in the early 20th century.
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Afro-American Patrolmen's League The Afro-American Patrolmen's League, now known as the African American Police League, was established in 1968 after Chicago police officer Edward "Buzz" Palmer witnessed the effects of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's "shoot to kill" order brought on by Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination and the increase of black uprisings that followed his death. Safety of black leaders and citizens from white reactionaries quickly became a pressing issue. Palmer put together a small group of people, consisting of Renault "Reggie" Robinson, Curtis Cowsen, Willie Ware, Wilbur Crooks, Jack Debonnett, Tom Mitchell, and himself, to become the Afro-American Patrolmen's League; the group, with the exception of Mitchell, was made up of police officers and was committed to defending and protecting the people in their local black communities.
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Harry Vallon Harry Vallon was a New York City gambler and mob informant.
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Raymond Martorano Raymond Martorano (born Ignazio Raymond Anthony Martorano; 1927 - February 5, 2002) was an Italian-American mobster based in Philadelphia. He is notable for his role in the methamphetamines trade, as well as his relations with several notable members of the city's underworld. He was also a valuable asset to the Scarfo crime family, due to his connections with the K&A Gang (through John Berkery), Chelsais Bouras, the Pagans MC, and the Junior Black Mafia.
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Emanuel Weiss Emanuel "Mendy" Weiss (June 11, 1906 – March 4, 1944) was a New York organized crime figure who was an associate of the notorious Louis Buchalter and part of Buchalter's criminal organization known as Murder, Inc. during the 1930s and up to the time of his arrest in 1941. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics claimed that Weiss and his partner in crime Philip "Little Farvel" Cohen were heavily involved in narcotics trafficking. Although he was indicted on multiple drug charges, Weiss was never sentenced for any of these crimes.
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Frankie Carbo Paul John Carbo (born Paolo Giovanni Carbo on August 10, 1904 – died November 22, 1976), better known as "Frankie Carbo", was a New York City Mafia soldier in the Lucchese crime family, who operated as a boxing promoter and a gunman with Murder, Inc.
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Meyer Lansky Meyer Lansky (born Meier Suchowlański; July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a major organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the National Crime Syndicate in the United States.
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Vivian Chase Vivian Davis Chase (c. 1902 – November 2, 1935) was a Midwestern gangster of the 1920s and 1930s.
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Jimmy Kelly (saloon keeper) Giovanni de Silvio or Jimmy Kelly (fl. 1900–1914) was an American saloon keeper, political organizer and underworld figure in New York City during the start of the 20th century. He was the owner the Fourteenth Street saloon "The Folly" as well as the popular "Mandarin Cafe" in Chinatown, located in the notorious "Bloody Angle" along Doyers Street, and was a hangout for politicians, gang leaders and other noted criminals of the era. His cafe was also the scene of several violent incidents, especially during the Tong War, which included, in 1910, the fourth attempted suicide of Chinatown character John "Dippy" Rice and the 1912 murder of Hen Ken Yum, the latter a high-level member of the On Leong Tong and a lieutenant of Mock Duck.
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Leonard DiMaria Leonard "Lenny" DiMaria (born 1941), also known as "Prateek" and "the Conductor", is a New York mobster and Caporegime in the Gambino crime family. He is considered by law enforcement to be a close associate of Nicholas Corozzo and has served as his right-hand-man for almost 30 years.
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Vannie Higgins Charles "Vannie" Higgins (1897 – June 19, 1932) was a New York mobster and one of the most prominent bootleggers during the Prohibition era. Known as "Brooklyn's Last Irish Boss", Higgins was notorious for his escapes from law enforcement.
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King Tone Antonio Fernandez, also known as King Tone, is the former head of the Latin Kings (the largest Hispanic street gang in the US). In 1999, Fernandez was sentenced to 12 to 15 years for conspiring to sell narcotics. He is the main figure in the HBO documentary, "Latin Kings: A Street Gang story", which was released in 2007. He is also featured in the book, "The Misfit Economy," by Alexa Clay, which was published in 2015. Upon his release, Fernandez has shared his insights as a former gang leader and political activist, and how that relates to the "legitimate world".
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Eliot Ness Eliot Ness (April 19, 1903 – May 16, 1957) was an American Prohibition agent, famous for his efforts to enforce Prohibition in Chicago, Illinois, bringing down Al Capone, and the leader of a famous team of law enforcement agents nicknamed The Untouchables. His co-authorship of a popular autobiography, "The Untouchables", which was released shortly after his death, launched several television and motion picture portrayals that established Ness's posthumous fame as an incorruptible crime fighter.
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&quot;Freeway&quot; Rick Ross Ricky Donnell "Freeway Rick" Ross (born January 26, 1960) is an American author and convicted drug trafficker best known for the drug empire he established in Los Angeles, California, in the early to mid 1980s. He was sentenced to life in prison, though the sentence was shortened on appeal and Ross was released in 2009.
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James Napoli James "Jimmy Nap" Napoli (November 4, 1911 – December 29, 1992) was a New York mobster who was a Caporegime in the Genovese crime family. From the 1950s to the 1980s, he controlled one of the largest illegal gambling operations in the United States.