Nicky Barnes

A real-life Mafia kingpin from approximately 1970 to 1975, Nicky Barnes headed an underground organization in New York City known as "The Council," through which he peddled cocaine and heroin <I>en masse to the American public. Barnes surrounded himself with scores of underlings and right-hand men, creating a shield of substantial protection and isolation -- both from the law and from violent intra-organization betrayal. In time, however, one of Barnes' drug runners did snitch, which brought his kingdom tumbling violently to the ground -- and Barnes himself became a turncoat for the FBI, informing on the associates who helped make him a power player. Barnes cropped up in 2007 as the subject of Marc Levin's documentary Mr. Untouchable, in which the former Cosa Nostra giant discusses his life on-camera with his face obscured. The film followed the publication of Barnes' autobiography by approximately one year. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi