Frank Lucas
Frank Lucas (September 9, 1930 – May 30, 2019) was an American drug lord who operated in Harlem, New York City, during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was known for cutting out middlemen in the drug trade and buying heroin directly from his source in the Golden Triangle in Southeast Asia. Lucas boasted that he smuggled heroin using the coffins of dead American servicemen, as depicted in the feature film American Gangster (2007), which fictionalized aspects of his life. This claim was denied by his Southeast Asian associate Leslie "Ike" Atkinson.
Frank Lucas | |
|---|---|
Lucas in 1975 | |
| Born | September 9, 1930 |
| Died | May 30, 2019 (aged 88) Cedar Grove, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Occupation | Drug Lord |
| Spouse | Julie Farrait (m. 1967) |
| Children | 7 |
| Conviction(s) | Drug trafficking (1976) Drug trafficking (1984) |
| Criminal penalty | Sentenced to 70 years imprisonment; served five years Sentenced to seven years imprisonment |
In 1976, Lucas was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 70 years in prison, but after becoming an informant, he and his family were placed in the Witness Protection Program. In 1981, his federal and state prison sentences were reduced to time served plus lifetime parole. In 1984 he was convicted on drug charges, and was released from prison in 1991. In 2012, he pled guilty to attempting to cash a $17,000 federal disability benefit check twice, and because of his age and poor health, received sentence of five years' probation.