Overview

The Second Circuit described The Council as the governing body of a large narcotics ring operating from 1972 to 1983. Its seven members were Leroy “Nicky” Barnes, Joseph “Jazz” Hayden, Guy Fisher, Wallace Rice, Thomas Forman, Ishmael Muhammed, and Frankalphonse James.

Operating Model

The Council pooled resources, shared narcotics sources, allocated sales territories, resolved disputes, and handled the narcotics businesses of incarcerated members. Each member nevertheless maintained a separate narcotics business and employed his own subordinates for dilution and distribution.

Leadership Sequence

LEROY “NICKY” BARNES — founder / organizer / boss
        │
        ├── GUY FISHER — No. 2 position before incarceration
        │
        └── JOSEPH “JAZZ” HAYDEN — promoted to No. 2 in 1976

Other governing members:
WALLACE RICE · THOMAS “GAPS” FORMAN · ISHMAEL MUHAMMED · FRANK JAMES

Supply Layer

Contemporary federal material identified Matthew Madonna and Salvatore Larca as suppliers to major Black narcotics traffickers including Barnes. Madonna is therefore mapped as an outside supplier rather than a Council member.

Violence and Enforcement

The 1985 appellate record states that Council members approved killings of suspected witnesses and insubordinate participants. Individual homicide responsibility should be attributed only where the controlling case record supports it.

Downfall

Barnes’s 1977 conviction removed the organization’s leading figure. Beginning in the early 1980s he cooperated with federal investigators, and his testimony became central to the 1983 prosecution of former Council associates.

Selected Sources