1. Leroy Nicholas Barnes was an American crime boss, active in New York City during the 1970s.
20 Facts About Nicky Barnes
1. 2.
In 1972, Nicky Barnes formed The Council, a seven-man African-American organized crime syndicate that controlled a significant part of the heroin trade in the Harlem area of New York City.
3.
Nicky Barnes led The Council into an international drug trafficking ring, in partnership with the Italian-American Mafia, until his arrest in 1977.
4.
Nicky Barnes was sentenced to life imprisonment, eventually becoming a federal informant that led to the collapse of The Council in 1982.
5.
Nicky Barnes was living under the United States Marshals Service in Witness protection at the time of his death, and his obituary appeared in The New York Times seven years after his death.
6.
In 2007, Nicky Barnes released a book, Mr Untouchable, written with Tom Folsom, and a documentary DVD of the same title about his life.
7.
Leroy Nicholas Nicky Barnes was born on October 15,1933, in Harlem, New York City, into an African-American family.
8.
Nicky Barnes himself became addicted to heroin for several years in his 20s until spending time in jail, when he ended his addiction.
9.
Nicky Barnes was sent to prison in 1965 for low-level drug dealing, and while in prison he met "Crazy" Joe Gallo, a capo in the Colombo crime family, and Matthew Madonna, a heroin dealer for the Lucchese crime family.
10.
On his return to New York City, Nicky Barnes began to assemble his personnel, and began cutting and packaging heroin.
11.
In 1972, to deal more efficiently with other black gangsters in Harlem, Nicky Barnes founded The Council, a seven-man organization consisting of Nicky Barnes, Joseph "Jazz" Hayden, Wallace Rice, Thomas "Gaps" Foreman, Ishmael Muhammed, Frank James, and Guy Fisher.
12.
Nicky Barnes set up front companies to protect some of his assets, such as numerous car dealerships, which appeared to be rented through those companies.
13.
On June 5,1977, The New York Times Magazine released an article titled "Mr Untouchable", featuring Nicky Barnes posing on the front cover.
14.
Nicky Barnes, who hated mug shots, agreed and took the shot.
15.
The resulting prosecution saw Nicky Barnes convicted for drug-related crimes and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on January 19,1978.
16.
Nicky Barnes discovered that one of his fellow Council members, Guy Fisher, was having an affair with Nicky Barnes' mistress.
17.
The Council had a rule that no council member would sleep with another Council member's wife or mistress, so in response Nicky Barnes decided to become a federal informant.
18.
Nicky Barnes helped to indict 44 other traffickers, 16 of whom were ultimately convicted.
19.
Nicky Barnes became part of the United States Federal Witness Protection Program.
20.
Nicky Barnes died from cancer on June 18,2012; however, because he was under witness protection, his death was not contemporaneously reported under his birth name, and news of his death only became known in June 2019.