Guy Fisher

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Ten things you may not know about Wikipedia •

Jump to: navigation, search

The DVD cover to Fisher's documentary, The Guy Fisher Story.

Guy Fisher is a former New York City drug dealer who became the first black man to own and operate the Apollo Theater in Harlem when he purchased it in 1977.^[1] Along with Frank Lucas and Nicky Barnes, the three were the most notorious drug figures in the New York drug trade. Fisher and Barnes, named "Mr. Untouchable" by the NY Times, were at once friends, competitors, and allies in the struggle to control the lion's share of the Tri-State area's heroin trade.

[edit] Arrest

After years of circumventing the law, cohort Nicky Barnes was eventually arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment, without the eligibility of parole. The prosecutor in the case was the soon to be mayor of New York City, Rudolph Giuliani. Eleven months after his incarceration, in exchange for a reduction in his sentence, Barnes telephoned Federal prosecutors indicating that he would agree to become a government informant in their case against Fisher and a number of other people.

Barnes claims that he decided to testify due to the fact that Fisher was having an alleged affair with his wife. This claim by Barnes remains unproven. Fisher was a member of "The Council" with Barnes. "The Council" as it was called, was an organization of drug dealers that was created by Nicky Barnes.^[2]