Early Career
Leroy Barnes was a good student in his youth but left home early to escape an abusive, hard-drinking father. Turning to drug dealing for income, Barnes was himself addicted to heroin for several years in his 20s until spending time in jail, where he gave up his habit. Barnes was sent to prison in 1965 for low-level drug dealing. While in prison he met Colombo crime family member "Crazy" Joe Gallo and Lucchese crime family heroin dealer Matthew Madonna. Gallo wanted to have more of a stake in the Harlem heroin market but didn't have any personnel to deal in the mostly black Harlem. It is believed Gallo passed on his knowledge of how to run a drug trafficking organization to Barnes and asked Barnes to assemble the necessary personnel. When Gallo got out of jail, he provided a lawyer for Barnes. The lawyer got Barnes' conviction overturned on a technicality and he returned to New York City. Once home, Barnes began to assemble his personnel and began cutting and packaging heroin. To deal more efficiently Barnes and other black gangsters, he created The Council, a seven man organization modeled after the Italian mob families. The Council settled disputes, handled distribution problems and other drug-related issues. In addition to Barnes, The Council included Joseph "Jazz" Hayden, Wallace Rice, Thomas "Gaps" Foreman, Ishmael Muhammed, Frank James, and Guy Fisher.
Read more about this topic: Leroy Barnes/Archive1
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