Mr. Untouchable - Hardcover

Barnes, Leroy; Folsom, Tom

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 159071041X ISBN 13: 9781590710418

Publisher: Rugged Land, 2007

Synopsis

From inside the Federal Witness Protection Program, the "Black Godfather" chronicles the 1970s New York City underworld and the most devastating urban crime wave in history.

1962 LEROY "NICKY" BARNES walks out of Green Haven State Prison. There are an estimated 153,000 heroin abusers in the United States.

1977 Two million junkies score $100 million worth of Barnes's smack a year. Sporting flashy suits, riding in a Citroën with a Maserati engine and satisfying a wife while pleasuring a harem of mistresses, Barnes presides over a staggering multinational dealership that pushes dope and launders money with the efficiency of a Fortune 500 company. Despite President Nixon's creation of the Drug Enforcement Administration and New York State's adoption of the no tolerance Rockefeller drug laws, Barnes's operation seems impregnable.

How does a small-time hustler and heroin addict end up on the cover of the New York Times Magazine as MR. UNTOUCHABLE, the one gangster the Feds can't touch? And how is the future Mayor of New York City Rudolf Giuliani involved? With Machiavellian pragmatism matched with biblical fury, Barnes lays bare his life's remarkable trajectory--a rise, fall and resurrection defined by brutality, brotherhood and betrayal.

About this title

About the Author:

LEROY "NICKY" BARNES is the most famous black syndicated drug lord in history. Convicted of narcotics conspiracy in 1977 by the nation's first anonymous jury. Released in 1998 with a recommendation for parole from U.S. attorney Rudolph Giuliani in his file, Barnes's landmark cooperation with the U.S. Government served to indict over fifty major drug traffickers. An inspiration for a hit song ("Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown"), a slew of films (Live and Let Die, New Jack City and Pulp Fiction) and a generation of hip-hop artists, he is currently in the Federal Witness Protection Program.

TOM FOLSOM is a producer and director of documentary films. His work has appeared on A&E, MSNBC and Showtime. He lives in New York City.

From Publishers Weekly:

This memoir by a former New York heroin kingpin—reportedly the inspiration for the song "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and the movie New Jack City, among others—pulsates with the criminal street life it depicts so well. In the 1970s, Barnes, a former junkie, built a heroin operation that delivered tens of millions of dollars worth of dope annually to the New York area. He became a street hero for his flamboyant lifestyle. Using a heavy dose of street slang to add flavor, Barnes portrays a dangerous but exciting life, the allure of the money and power he and his associates accrued, even as the drug trade sowed the seeds of their destruction. With documentary filmmaker Folsom's help, Barnes shows how he built his empire, creating a ruthlessly efficient drug organization modeled after the Mafia and known as "The Council." Barnes's ability to elude prison earned him the nickname Mr. Untouchable, but eventually prosecutors caught up to him, and in 1977 he was sentenced to life in prison. Eventually, Barnes turned state's evidence, earned his release in 1998 and joined the federal Witness Protection Program. But even now, Barnes's lack of regret gives this captivating work an added air of authenticity. (Apr.)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Rugged Land
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 159071041X
• ISBN 13: 9781590710418
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 308