FRANK LUCAS — FROM DISCRETION TO DOWNFALL
Next, we want to talk about Frank Lucas. We know Frank Lucas was involved in illegal street activity.
But in the film American Gangster, starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, Lucas built a heroin empire in our communities that made him one of the richest men in America, with more than fifty-two million dollars hidden overseas and a million dollars a day. He owned luxury real estate, farms, land, cattle, and more.
But his downfall wasn’t caused by drugs. It was a chinchilla coat that his wife wanted him to wear to a boxing match, a fight with Muhammad Ali. Lucas wore a $100,000 fur coat and sat ringside next to celebrities. People who also had money saw him sitting there in the front row, and they didn’t like it.
A deep investigation followed, and he was in the crosshairs of law enforcement. Before that, he had been very discreet, wearing simple suits and keeping a low profile. In 1975, Lucas was arrested with more than $540,000 in cash and later sentenced to ninety years in prison. His wife later said the coat excited her. He didn’t even know my name before he saw where I was sitting.
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