Frank Lucas

E65185

Frank Lucas was a notorious Harlem drug kingpin in the late 1960s and early 1970s, known for building a heroin empire and later becoming a key government informant.

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Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf American criminal
drug trafficker
government informant
organized crime figure
person
ageAtDeath 88
areaOfOperation Harlem
surface form: Harlem, New York City, New York, United States
arrestedFor drug trafficking
federal narcotics violations
associatedWith Bumpy Johnson
causeOfDeath natural causes
convictedOf conspiracy to distribute narcotics
drug trafficking
cooperatedWith United States federal officials
surface form: United States federal authorities
countryOfCitizenship United States of America
criminalActivity heroin trafficking
money laundering
dateOfBirth 1930-09-09
dateOfDeath 2019-05-30
dateOfParole circa 1981
ethnicGroup African American
familyName Lucas
fullName Frank Lucas self-link
givenName Frank
hasChild Francine Lucas-Sinclair
inspiredBy Bumpy Johnson
notableFor building a large heroin trafficking empire in Harlem in the late 1960s and early 1970s
directly importing heroin from Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War era
occupation drug trafficker
gangster
government informant
placeOfBirth La Grange, North Carolina, United States
placeOfDeath Cedar Grove, New Jersey
surface form: Cedar Grove, New Jersey, United States
placeOfResidence Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan
surface form: Harlem, New York City, New York, United States
placeOfUpbringing Greensboro, North Carolina
surface form: Greensboro, North Carolina, United States
portrayedBy Denzel Washington
portrayedIn American Gangster
surface form: film American Gangster
reArrestedFor drug-related charges in the 1980s
resultOfCooperation sentence reduction
roleAsInformant provided information on corrupt law enforcement officers and other drug traffickers
sentence 70 years in prison (initial federal and state sentences combined)
spouse Julianna Farrait
subjectOf numerous newspaper and magazine articles about heroin trafficking in Harlem
true-crime books about American drug kingpins
timePeriod early 1970s
late 1960s

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Frank Lucas fullName Frank Lucas self-link
American Gangster mainCharacter Frank Lucas
American Gangster portrays Frank Lucas