Nicky Barnes
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| Nicky Barnes | |
|---|---|
| Born | Leroy Nicholas Barnes October 15, 1933 Harlem, New York City |
| Other names | Nicky Barnes; "Mr. Untouchable" |
| Criminal charge | Convicted drug trafficker |
Contents
[hide]Early career[edit]
Leroy Barnes was a good student in his youth but left home early to escape an abusive, hard-drinking father. Turning to drug dealing for income, Barnes was himself addicted to heroin for several years in his 20s until spending time in jail, where he gave up his habit Barnes was sent to prison in 1965 for low-level drug dealing. While in prison he met Colombo crime family member "Crazy" Joe Gallo[4] and Lucchese crime family heroin dealer Matthew Madonna.[3] Gallo wanted to have more of a stake in the Harlem heroin market but didn't have any personnel to deal in the mostly black Harlem. It is believed Gallo passed on his knowledge of how to run a drug trafficking organization to Barnes and asked Barnes to assemble the necessary personnel.[4] When Gallo got out of jail, he provided a lawyer for Barnes. The lawyer got Barnes' conviction overturned on a technicality and he returned to New York City.[5] Once home, Barnes began to assemble his personnel and began cutting and packaging heroin. To deal more efficiently with other black gangsters, he created The Council, a seven man organization modeled after the Italian mob families. The Council settled disputes, handled distribution problems and other drug-related issues.[5] In addition to Barnes, The Council included Joseph "Jazz" Hayden, Wallace Rice, Thomas "Gaps" Foreman, Ishmael Muhammed, Frank James, and Guy Fisher.[citation needed]Rise to drug lord[edit]
By 1976, Barnes' operation spread throughout all of New York State and into Pennsylvania and Canada. According to DEA records, Barnes' operation in 1976 consisted of seven lieutenants, who each controlled a dozen mid-level distributors, who in turn supplied upwards of forty street level dealers each. During this time Barnes was given the name "Mr. Untouchable", after successfully beating numerous charges and arrests. It is believed while under surveillance, Barnes would often make pointless stops and go on high speed chases with little purpose other than to aggravate those following him.[4]Barnes set up front companies to protect some of his assets, such as numerous car dealerships, which appeared to be rented through those companies. The DEA eventually discovered the true ownership of the companies and seized the cars, including a Mercedes-Benz, a Bentley, a Citroën SM, a Maserati, several Thunderbirds, Lincoln Continentals, Cadillacs and a yellow Volvo. Nicky Barnes' net worth was well over one-hundred million dollars at the height of his career. A New York Times article estimated Barnes purchased hundreds of tailor made suits, Italian shoes, coats, and jewelry, which alone was estimated at over one million dollars.[4]
"Mr. Untouchable" and arrest[edit]
The New York Times Magazine cover, June 5, 1977
Barnes’ posture of smug invulnerability so affronted President Jimmy Carter that the President ordered his attorney general to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law.[1] The Justice Department did just that. Barnes was prosecuted for his drug-related crimes and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on January 19, 1978. The chief prosecutor in the case was Robert B. Fiske, then the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Prison[edit]
According to Barnes, while in prison, he discovered that his assets were not being taken care of, The Council had stopped paying his attorneys' fees, and one of his fellow council members, Guy Fisher, was having an affair with Barnes' mistress.[6] The Council had a rule that no council member would sleep with another Council member's wife or mistress. In response, Barnes became an informant. He forwarded a list of 109 names, five of them Council members', along with his wife's name, implicating them all in illegal activities related to the heroin trade. Barnes helped to indict 44 other traffickers, 16 of whom were ultimately convicted.[6] In this testimony, he implicated himself in eight murders. While in prison, he also won a national poetry contest for federal inmates, earned a college diploma with honors, and taught fellow inmates English.[1]Release and life after prison[edit]
After Barnes cooperated with the government by working as an informant, Rudolph Giuliani sought a reversal of Barnes' life sentence. Eventually, he was resentenced to 35 years and housed in a special Witness Security Unit at Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville in Otisville, New York. By working in jail, he earned two months off and was released in August 1998. Work was something Barnes seemed to thrive on during the more than 15 years he spent at Otisville.| “ | He worked all the time ... He worked in the kitchen, in the dining area, separating the recycle stuff from the regular garbage. You name it he did it. He seemed obsessed. | ” |
— Prison official
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