The Council was a drug and crime syndicate in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 created by Harlem

Harlem

Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...

 gangster Nicky Barnes in the 1970s. The seven man organization was modeled after the Italian mob families. The Council settled disputes, handled distribution problems and other drug related issues. It was connected to the Lucchese crime family

Lucchese crime family

The Lucchese crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The family originated in the early 1920s with Gaetano "Tommy" Reina serving as boss up until his murder...

 through family member Matthew Madonna

Matthew Madonna

Matthew Madonna is a caporegime with the Lucchese crime family who was heavily involved in narcotics trafficking and bribery of government officials.-Narcotics trafficking:...

 who supplied the group with raw heroin which was then diluted and distributed, in New York State but also Pennsylvania, Canada and as far west as Arizona. Barnes was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1978 and in 1982 he became a federal informant

Informant

An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...

. His testimony led to the dissolution of The Council in the mid-1980s.

Members

The Council included seven people:

• Leroy Barnes
  Leroy Barnes
  Leroy Nicholas "Nicky" Barnes is a government informant, former drug lord and crime boss, who led the notorious African-American criminal organization known as The Council, which controlled the heroin trade in Harlem, New York during the 1970s. In 2007 he released a book, “Mr...
  
  
• Joseph "Jazz" Hayden
• Wallace Rice
  Wallace Rice (gangster)
  Wallace Rice is a gangster that was part of the 1970s heroin trade in Harlem, New York. Rice was one of the seven members of The Council that included the infamous "Mr Untouchable," Leroy "Nicky" Barnes, as its leader.-The Council:...
  
  
• Thomas "Gaps" Foreman
• Ishmael Muhammed
• Frank James
• Guy Fisher
  Guy Fisher
  Guy Thomas Fisher is a convicted racketeer who was once part of The Council, a notorious African-American crime organization that controlled the heroin trade in Harlem from 1972-1983. He became the first black man to own and operate the Apollo Theater in Harlem when he purchased it in 1977...