View source for Frank Lucas

{{Short description|American drug lord (1930–2019)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{other people||Frank Lucas (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name               = Frank Lucas
| image_name         = FrankLucas.jpg
| image_upright      = 0.85
| caption            = Lucas in 1975
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1930|9|9}}
| birth_place        = [[La Grange, North Carolina]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|2019|05|30|1930|9|9}}
| death_place        = [[Cedar Grove, New Jersey]], U.S.
| conviction         = [[Drug trafficking]] (1976 and 1984)
| conviction_penalty = Sentenced to 70 years imprisonment;<ref name=8.25.84NYTimes>{{cite news |date=August 25, 1984|url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A04E7D71338F936A1575BC0A962948260|title = U.S. Jury Convicts Heroin Informant|work =[[The New York Times]]| access-date = April 9, 2008 }}</ref> served five years<ref name=RollingStone>{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/frank-lucas-american-gangster-drug-kingpin-dead-842740/|author=Kreps, Daniel|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|title=Frank Lucas, 'American Gangster' Drug Kingpin, Dead at 88|date=May 31, 2019|accessdate=September 15, 2021|archivedate=May 31, 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531200319/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/frank-lucas-american-gangster-drug-kingpin-dead-842740/}}</ref><ref name=NBCNews>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/obituaries/frank-lucas-former-drug-kingpin-who-inspired-american-gangster-dies-n1012706|title=Frank Lucas, former drug kingpin who inspired 'American Gangster,' dies at 88|publisher=[[Associated Press]]|via=[[NBC News]]|date=May 31, 2019|accessdate=September 15, 2021|archivedate=June 1, 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601135702/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/obituaries/frank-lucas-former-drug-kingpin-who-inspired-american-gangster-dies-n1012706}}</ref><ref name=9.11.84NYTimes>{{cite news |date=September 11, 1984|url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E3D81038F932A2575AC0A962948260|title = Drug Dealer Gets New Prison Term|work =[[The New York Times]]| access-date = April 9, 2008 }}</ref><br/>Sentenced to seven years imprisonment<ref name=9.11.84NYTimes/><ref name=TheVoice>{{cite web|date = December 9, 2007|url = http://www.voice-online.co.uk/content.php?show=12509|title = The Real American Gangster|publisher = voice-online|access-date = March 8, 2008|last = Janelle Oswald|quote = She spent five years in prison for aiding her husband's narcotic smuggling trade. Having to get used to the public life again after living like a 'ghost' since her release, the making of her partner's life on the big screen has brought back many memories, some good and some bad.|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110515154204/http://www.voice-online.co.uk/content.php?show=12509|archive-date = May 15, 2011}}</ref>
| occupation         = [[Drug lord]]
| spouse             = {{marriage|Julie Farrait|1967}}
| children           = 7
}}
'''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 [[Disintermediation|cutting out middlemen]] in the drug trade and buying [[heroin]] directly from his source in the [[Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia)|Golden Triangle]] in Southeast Asia. Lucas boasted that he smuggled heroin using the coffin pallets of dead American servicemen,<ref name="nym2000">{{cite web|url=https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/features/3649/|title=The Return of Superfly|language=en-US|url-status=live|magazine=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|date=August 14, 2000|access-date=March 16, 2023|archive-date=May 25, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060525040715/http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/people/features/3649/}}</ref><ref name="Chasing">{{cite web|url=http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/americangangster.php |title=American Gangster True Story – The real Frank Lucas, Richie Roberts |publisher=Chasingthefrog.com |access-date=July 2, 2011}}</ref> as depicted in the feature film ''[[American Gangster (film)|American Gangster]]'' (2007), which fictionalized aspects of his life. This claim was denied by his Southeast Asian associate [[Ike Atkinson|Leslie "Ike" Atkinson]].<ref name="cnn_2008">{{cite news|date = January 22, 2008 |url = http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/22/film.american.gangster.ap/index.html|title = Is 'American Gangster' really all that 'true'?|publisher = CNN|access-date = February 24, 2008|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080303045644/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/22/film.american.gangster.ap/index.html|archive-date = March 3, 2008|url-status = dead}}</ref>

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 [[United States Federal Witness Protection Program|Witness Protection Program]]. In 1981, his federal and state prison sentences were reduced to time served<ref name=RollingStone/> plus lifetime parole.<ref name=Complex>{{cite web|url=https://www.complex.com/life/2019/05/american-gangster-frank-lucas-dead-88|title='American Gangster' Subject Frank Lucas Dead at 88|magazine=[[Complex (magazine)|Complex]]|author=Galbraith, Alex|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=May 31, 2019|access-date=March 13, 2023|archive-date=June 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608042022/https://www.complex.com/life/2019/05/american-gangster-frank-lucas-dead-88}}</ref> In 1984 he was convicted a second time for drug offenses, and was released from prison in 1991.<ref name=NYTimes5.31.19>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/31/obituaries/frank-lucas-dead.html|title=Frank Lucas Dies at 88; Drug Kingpin Depicted in 'American Gangster'|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|author=McFadden, Robert D.|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=May 31, 2019|accessdate=February 25, 2022|archivedate=June 1, 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601013539/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/31/obituaries/frank-lucas-dead.html}}</ref> In 2012, he pleaded guilty to attempting to cash a $17,000 federal disability benefit check twice, and because of his age and poor health, received a sentence of five years' probation.<ref name=NBCNews/>

==Early life==
Lucas was born and raised in [[La Grange, North Carolina]], a suburb of [[Goldsboro, North Carolina]], to Fred and Mahalee ({{née|Jones}}) Lucas,<ref name=NYTimes5.31.19/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/frank-lucas|title=Frank Lucas|work=[[Biography (TV program)|Biography]]|publisher=[[A&E Television Networks]]|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=April 2, 2014|access-date=October 18, 2022|archivedate=October 4, 2022|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004143203/https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/frank-lucas}}</ref> He said the incident that motivated him to embark on a life of crime was him witnessing his 12-year-old cousin's murder at the hands of the [[Ku Klux Klan]], for looking flirtatiously at a white woman. He drifted through a life of petty crime until one occasion when he got into a fight with a former employer with whose daughter he had been having an affair. In the fight, Lucas hit the father on the head with a pipe, knocking him unconscious. He then stole $400 from the company safe and set the establishment on fire. Later, Frank fled to New York City at the behest of his mother, who feared that he would either be imprisoned for life or lynched.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/frank-lucas|title=Frank Lucas (1930–2019)|quote=By the 1960s, gangster and drug kingpin Frank Lucas had constructed an international drug ring that spanned from New York to South East Asia.|work=Biography.com|access-date=August 16, 2020}}</ref> Once in [[Harlem]], he quickly began indulging in petty crime and [[hustling|pool hustling]] before he was taken under the wing of gangster [[Bumpy Johnson]].<ref name="nym2000"/> Lucas' connection to Johnson has since come under some doubt; he claimed to have been Johnson's driver for 15 years, although Johnson spent just five years out of prison before his death in 1968. According to Johnson's widow, much of the narrative that Lucas claimed as his actually belonged to another young hustler named Zach Walker, who lived with Johnson and his family and later betrayed him.<ref>{{cite book | last = Mayme Hatcher Johnson| author-link = Mayme Hatcher Johnson| title = Harlem Godfather: The Rap on my Husband, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson| year = 2008|edition= when | publisher = Oshun Publishing Company, Inc.; First edition (February 29, 2008)| isbn= 978-0-9676028-3-7 |pages= 159, 221, 248}}</ref>

==Criminal career==
After Johnson's death, Lucas turned to drug trafficking, and realized that, to be successful, he would have to break the monopoly that the [[Five Families|Mafia]] held over the trade in New York. Traveling to [[Bangkok, Thailand|Bangkok]], he eventually made his way to Jack's American Star Bar, an [[R&R (Military)|R&R]] hangout for black soldiers. There he met former U.S. Army master sergeant [[Ike Atkinson|Leslie "Ike" Atkinson]], who was from [[Goldsboro, North Carolina]], and married to one of Lucas' cousins. Lucas is quoted as saying, "Ike knew everyone over there, every black guy in the Army, from the cooks on up."<ref name="nym2000"/> Atkinson, who was already running heroin for his own profit and had links to local [[opium]] growers, formed a partnership with Lucas.

When interviewed for a ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'' magazine article published in 2000, Lucas denied putting the drugs inside the corpses of American soldiers. Instead, he flew with a North Carolina [[carpentry|carpenter]] to Bangkok and:

{{quote|had him make up 28 copies of the government coffins ... except we fixed them up with false bottoms, big enough to load up with six, maybe eight kilos ... It had to be snug. You couldn't have shit sliding around. Ike was very smart, because he made sure we used heavy guys' coffins. He didn't put them in no skinny guy's"|Frank Lucas<ref name="nym2000"/>}}

As Lucas pointed out in this interview, "Who the hell is gonna look in a dead soldier's coffin?"<ref name="nym2000"/> However, Atkinson, nicknamed "Sergeant Smack" by the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] (DEA),<ref name=Aug08NewCriminologist>Chepesiuk, Ron (January 17, 2008). [http://www.thenewcriminologist.com/article.asp?nid=2019 "New Criminologist Special – Frank Lucas, 'American Gangster,' and the Truth Behind the Asian Connection"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822185808/http://www.thenewcriminologist.com/article.asp?nid=2019 |date=August 22, 2013 }}</ref> has said he shipped drugs in hollowed-out furniture, not caskets.<ref name="cnn_2008"/> Whatever method he used, Lucas was able to smuggle narcotics through this direct link from Asia, thereby bypassing the Mafia's [[French Connection]]. Lucas said that he made $1 million per day selling drugs on [[116th Street (Manhattan)|116th Street]] though this was later discovered to be an exaggeration. Federal judge [[Sterling Johnson]], who was the [[Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York]] at the time of Lucas' crimes, called Lucas' operation "one of the most outrageous international dope-smuggling gangs ever, an innovator who got his own connections outside the U.S. and then sold the narcotics himself in the street." 

Lucas trusted only relatives and close friends from North Carolina to handle his various heroin operations,<ref name="nym2000"/> believing that they were less likely to steal from him and be tempted by various vices in the big city. He stated his heroin, which was sold under the street name "Blue Magic", was 98–100% pure when shipped from Thailand; since he did not cut it like many of his competitors, the product was extremely addictive and could be sold at higher prices.<ref>{{cite web|last=Jacobson |first=Mark |url=http://nymag.com/guides/money/2007/39948/ |title=A Conversation Between Frank Lucas and Nicky Barnes – Money 2007 – New York Magazine |magazine=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|date=October 25, 2007 |access-date=July 2, 2011}}</ref> Lucas also has been quoted as saying that his worth was "something like $52 million", most of it in [[Cayman Islands]] banks. Added to this is "maybe 1,000 keys [kilograms; or, 2,200 pounds] of dope on hand" with a potential profit of no less than $300,000 per kilo (2.2&nbsp;lbs.).

This huge profit margin allowed him to buy property all over the country, including office buildings in [[Detroit]] and apartments in Los Angeles and Miami. He also bought a ranch of several thousand acres in North Carolina on which he ranged 300 head of [[Black Angus cattle]], including a breeding bull worth $125,000.<ref name="nym2000"/>

Lucas rubbed shoulders with the elite of the entertainment, political, and criminal worlds of his time, stating later that he had met [[Howard Hughes]] at one of Harlem's best clubs in his day.<ref name="nym2000"/> Though he owned several [[mink]] and [[chinchilla]] coats and other accessories, he was known to dress in inexpensive suits and clothing so as not to attract attention.<ref name="mtv">{{cite web |date=November 6, 2007<!-- 6:58 PM EST-->|url=http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1573648/20071106/story.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109061512/http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1573648/20071106/story.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 9, 2007|title = Real 'American Gangster' Frank Lucas Talks About Hanging With Diddy's Dad, Possible Sequel|publisher = MTV| access-date=February 24, 2008| last=Jayson Rodriguez }}</ref> When he was arrested in the mid-1970s, all of Lucas' assets were seized, as he later recounted:<ref name="mtv"/>

{{quote|The properties in Chicago, Detroit, Miami, North Carolina, Puerto Rico — they took everything. My lawyer told me they couldn't take the money in the offshore accounts, and I had all my money stored in the Cayman Islands. But that's BS; they can take it. Take my word for it. If you got something, hide it, 'cause they can go to any bank and take it.|Frank Lucas<ref name="mtv"/>}}

==Arrests and releases==
In January 1975, Lucas' home in [[Teaneck, New Jersey]], was raided by a task force consisting of 10 agents from Group 22 of the U.S. [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] and 10 [[New York Police Department]] detectives attached to the [[Organized Crime Control Bureau]] (OCCB).<ref name="crimemagazine">{{cite web |year=2007 |url = http://www.crimemagazine.com/07/teaneck_raid,1014-7.htm|title = The Raid in Teaneck|publisher = pub| access-date = February 24, 2008 | last=Ron Chepesiuk and Anthony Gonzalez |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080220025415/http://www.crimemagazine.com/07/teaneck_raid,1014-7.htm |archive-date = February 20, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> In his house, authorities found $584,683 in cash,<ref name="crimemagazine"/> though Lucas contended that the officers executing the search departed with the full eleven million dollars temporarily stored in his attic, and documented only 5% of the currency seized.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lucas|first=Frank|title=ORIGINAL GANGSTER|publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group|year=2010|isbn=978-0-312-57164-1|location=New York, NY|pages=174}}</ref> 

Lucas was convicted of both federal and New Jersey state drug violations, with the case against him built largely on over two years of investigative work and penetration of his distribution network by the "Z-Team" (Eddie Jones, Al Spearman, and Benny Abruzzo). He was sentenced to 70 years in prison.<ref name=8.25.84NYTimes/> Lucas then cut a deal to provide information that led to over 100 additional drug-related convictions; in exchange, he and his family entered the [[United States Federal Witness Protection Program|witness protection program]].<ref name=NJNewsroom>Cruz, Alicia (May 24, 2010). [http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/nation/julianna-farrait-wife-of-american-gangster-frank-lucas-arrested-for-trying-to-sell-cocaine "Julianna Farrait, wife of 'American Gangster' Frank Lucas, arrested for trying to sell cocaine"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120520051227/http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/nation/julianna-farrait-wife-of-american-gangster-frank-lucas-arrested-for-trying-to-sell-cocaine |date=May 20, 2012 }}. newjerseynewsroom.com.</ref><ref name=TempleNews>Jailal, Sarada (February 25, 2008). [http://temple-news.com/2008/02/25/the-daughter-of-american-gangster-frank-lucas-speaks-at-ambler/ "The daughter of American Gangster Frank Lucas speaks at Ambler"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317121938/http://temple-news.com/2008/02/25/the-daughter-of-american-gangster-frank-lucas-speaks-at-ambler/|date=March 17, 2012}}. ''[[The Temple News]]''.</ref> In 1981, after five years in custody, his 40-year federal term and 30-year state term were reduced to time served<ref name=RollingStone/> plus lifetime parole.<ref name=8.25.84NYTimes/><ref name=Complex/> In 1984, he was caught and convicted of trying to exchange one ounce of heroin and $13,000 for one kilogram of cocaine.<ref name=9.11.84NYTimes/> He received a sentence of seven years and was released from prison in 1991.<ref name=TheVoice/><ref name=NYTimes5.31.19/> In 2012, while living in Newark, he pleaded guilty to attempting to cash a $17,000 federal disability benefit check twice. Due to his advanced age and his poor health, which included his restriction to a wheelchair, prosecutors agreed to a sentence of five years' probation.<ref name=NBCNews/>

==Depictions in media==
===''American Gangster'' (2007)===
Lucas' life was dramatized in the [[Universal Pictures]] crime film ''[[American Gangster (film)|American Gangster]]'' (2007), in which he was portrayed by [[Denzel Washington]].<ref name="ABC/Reuters">{{Cite news|publisher =[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]]/[[Reuters]]|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-02-18/american-gangster-lawsuit-dismissed/1045622|title=American Gangster lawsuit dismissed|date= February 18, 2008}}</ref> Lucas was often on set during the filming providing advice; on how he carried his gun, for example.<ref name="The Guardian">{{Cite news|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/01/frank-lucas-the-drug-lord-who-inspired-american-gangster-dies-aged-88|title=Frank Lucas, the drug lord who inspired American Gangster, dies aged 88|date= June 1, 2019}}</ref>

In an interview with [[MSNBC]], Lucas expressed his excitement about the film and amazement at Washington's portrayal,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://insidedateline.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/10/26/432807.aspx|title=Breakfast with the real 'American Gangster'|publisher=[[MSNBC]]|date=October 26, 2007|author=Bradley Davis|work=[[Dateline NBC|Inside Dateline]]|access-date=February 2, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080202012601/http://insidedateline.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/10/26/432807.aspx|archive-date=February 2, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> though he admitted only a small portion of the film was true, much of it fabricated for narrative effect.<ref name=TheVoice/> In addition, Lucas's former prosecutor [[Richie Roberts]] criticized the film for portraying him in a custody battle while in real life Roberts never had a child. He also criticized the portrayal of Lucas as a seemingly noble individual.<ref name=GangLiesNYPost>{{Cite web |title=GANGING UP ON MOVIE'S 'LIES' |work=[[New York Post]] |url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/11042007/news/nationalnews/ganging_up_on_movies_lies_8968.htm |author=Susannah Cahalan |author-link=Susannah Cahalan |date=November 4, 2007 |access-date=February 1, 2021 |archive-date=July 14, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090714074229/http://www.nypost.com/seven/11042007/news/nationalnews/ganging_up_on_movies_lies_8968.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Judge [[Sterling Johnson Jr.]] described the film as "one percent reality and ninety-nine percent [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]]." In addition, Johnson described the real-life Lucas as "illiterate, vicious, violent, and everything Denzel Washington was not."<ref>{{Cite news|author=Coyle, Jake|url=https://www.thestar.com/article/295102|title=Is 'American Gangster' really all that 'true'?|publisher=[[Toronto Star]]|date=January 17, 2008}}</ref> Former DEA agents Jack Toal, Gregory Korniloff, and [[Louis Diaz]] filed a lawsuit against Universal, saying the events in the film were fictionalized and that the film [[defamation|defamed]] them and hundreds of other agents.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wpri.com/Global/story.asp?S=7734178&nav=F8nI|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208093858/http://www.wpri.com/Global/story.asp?S=7734178&nav=F8nI|archive-date=February 8, 2008|title=DEA agents sue over 'American Gangster' |publisher=[[WPRI]]}}</ref> The [[lawsuit]] was eventually dismissed by U.S. District Judge [[Colleen McMahon]]. McMahon noted the [[intertitle]] at the end of the film was "wholly inaccurate", in that Lucas' cooperation did not lead to the convictions, and admonished, "It would behoove a major corporation like [[Universal Pictures|Universal]] (which is owned by a major news organization, [[NBC]]) not to put inaccurate statements at the end of popular films." She stated the film failed to meet legal standards of defamation because it failed to "show a single person who is identifiable as a [[Drug Enforcement Administration|DEA]] agent."<ref name="ABC/Reuters"/>

Many of Lucas' other claims, as presented in the film, have also been called into question, such as his being the right-hand man of [[Bumpy Johnson]], rising above the power of the Mafia and [[Nicky Barnes]], and being the mastermind behind the [[Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia)|Golden Triangle]] heroin connection of the 1970s. Ron Chepesiuk, a Lucas biographer, said there was no evidence to confirm Lucas' claim that he once (not frequently, as some sources had suggested) used coffins to ship heroin.<ref name="The Guardian"/> [[Associated Press]] entertainment writer Frank Coyle noted, "[T]his mess happened partially because journalists have been relying on secondary sources removed from the actual events."<ref name=Aug08NewCriminologist/>

===''The Many Saints of Newark'' (2021)===
Lucas appears as a minor supporting character in the [[Warner Bros. Pictures]]/[[New Line Cinema]]/[[HBO Films]] co-production ''[[The Many Saints of Newark]]'' (2021). The film, a prequel to the [[HBO]] crime drama series ''[[The Sopranos]]'', features Lucas (Oberon K.A. Adjepong) giving advice to up and coming mobster Harold McBrayer ([[Leslie Odom Jr.]]) while he is on the run in North Carolina, inspiring him to form his own black criminal organization once he returns to Newark.

===Television===
* ''[[American Gangster (TV series)|American Gangster]]'', season 2, episode 5, featured Lucas.<ref>{{cite news|work=American Gangster|title=Frank Lucas|url=http://www.tv.com/shows/american-gangster/frank-lucas-1144398/|date=October 31, 2007|access-date=May 27, 2015|archive-date=January 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128201749/http://www.tv.com/shows/american-gangster/frank-lucas-1144398/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* The ''[[Gangland (TV series)|Gangland]]'' episode "American Gangster" (November 1, 2007) features Lucas, Nicky Barnes, and [[The Council (drug syndicate)|The Council]] drug syndicate.
* Lucas was featured in the third episode of the first season of the [[Netflix]] documentary series ''[[Drug Lords]]'', in which he told his side of the story.
* Lucas is introduced as a character in the second episode of the fourth season of ''[[Godfather of Harlem]]'' (2025), portrayed by [[Rome Flynn]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2024/08/rome-flynn-frank-lucas-godfather-of-harlem-first-look-photo-1236033770/|title=Rome Flynn Teases Frank Lucas Portrayal In ‘Godfather Of Harlem’ & First-Look Photo Revealed; Addresses ‘Chicago Fire’ Exit|first=Rosy|last=Cordero|date=August 7, 2024|website=Deadline}}</ref>

===Gaming===
The rise of the half black, half Italian mob kingpin Lincoln Clay in the 2016 action adventure game ''[[Mafia III]]'' in which he is the protagonist, is heavily inspired by the history and the rise of Frank Lucas.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

==Personal life==
[[File:FrankLucas11.15.08ByLuigiNovi.jpg|thumb|Lucas at the [[Big Apple Comic Con]] in 2008]]
Lucas' wife, Julie Farrait, was also convicted for her role in her husband's criminal enterprise and spent five years in prison. After she was released, the couple lived separately for some years, and Farrait moved back to Puerto Rico. After several years, however, they reconciled, and according to a December 2007 ''[[Village Voice]]'' article, had been married for 40 years at the time.<ref name=TheVoice/>

Lucas fathered seven children.<ref name=TheVoice/><ref name="Breakfast">{{cite news|author=Davis, Bradley|date=October 26, 2007|url=http://insidedateline.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/10/26/432807.aspx|title=BREAKFAST WITH THE REAL 'AMERICAN GANGSTER'|work=Inside Dateline|publisher=[[MSNBC]]|access-date=February 2, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080202012601/http://insidedateline.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/10/26/432807.aspx|archive-date=February 2, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Lucas was known to be eclectic in his religious preferences, having converted to the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] faith while at prison in [[Elmira Correctional Facility|Elmira]], which he stated he did because the prison chaplain assisted inmates being released on parole. He had [[Baptists|Baptist]] affiliations as well.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jacobson|first=Mark|title=From the Archives: The Return of Superfly |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/the-return-of-frank-lucas.html|magazine=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|language=en-us|url-status=live|date=June 3, 2019|access-date=May 5, 2022|archivedate=June 4, 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604025320/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/the-return-of-frank-lucas.html}}</ref>

==Final years and death==
In his last years, Lucas used a wheelchair due to a car accident that broke his legs.<ref name=TheVoice/>{{when|date=June 2019}}

Lucas died at the age of 88 on May 30, 2019, in [[Cedar Grove, New Jersey]].<ref name=NYTimes5.31.19/><ref>Daniel Kreps: [https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/frank-lucas-american-gangster-drug-kingpin-dead-842740/ ''Frank Lucas, 'American Gangster' Drug Kingpin, Dead at 88'']. ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', May 31, 2019</ref>

==See also==
*[[Frank Matthews (drug trafficker)]]
*[[Louis Diaz]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{cite book | last = Mayme Hatcher Johnson| author-link = Mayme Hatcher Johnson| title = Harlem Godfather: The Rap on my Husband, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson| year = 2008|edition= when | publisher = Oshun Publishing Company, Inc.; First edition (February 29, 2008)| isbn= 978-0-9676028-3-7 |page= 248}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080202012601/http://insidedateline.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/10/26/432807.aspx Dateline NBC] Producer describes sitting down for breakfast with Frank Lucas
*[[Susannah Cahalan]], [http://www.nypost.com/seven/11042007/news/nationalnews/ganging_up_on_movies_lies_8968.htm "Ganging up on movie's lies"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090714074229/http://www.nypost.com/seven/11042007/news/nationalnews/ganging_up_on_movies_lies_8968.htm |date=July 14, 2009 }}, ''[[New York Post]], November 4, 2007
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081008051148/http://www.americangangster.net/ ''American Gangster'' movie site]

{{Genovese crime family}}
{{American Mafia}}
{{Organized crime groups in New York City}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Frank}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2019 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American people]]
[[Category:20th-century American criminals]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American people]]
[[Category:African-American Catholics]]
[[Category:African-American gangsters]]
[[Category:American crime bosses]]
[[Category:American drug traffickers]]
[[Category:American male criminals]]
[[Category:American people convicted of drug offenses]]
[[Category:American prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:Criminals from New Jersey]]
[[Category:Criminals from North Carolina]]
[[Category:Criminals from Manhattan]]
[[Category:FBI informants convicted of crimes]]
[[Category:Gangsters from New York City]]
[[Category:People from Harlem]]
[[Category:People from La Grange, North Carolina]]
[[Category:People from Teaneck, New Jersey]]
[[Category:People who entered the United States Federal Witness Protection Program]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of New Jersey]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government]]