cavanami Posted September 28, 2010 Report Share Posted September 28, 2010 ...interesting story, soon to be a movie http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2752080,CST-NWS-keene28.article When Jimmy Keene was a teenager, he wanted to play in the NFL. If he didn't make it, he told his dad, he'd settle for Hollywood. Neither happened. But with a cocaine empire stretching from his Kankakee home to the South Side of Chicago, he was soon making too much money to care. Then he was locked up, and it seemed too late. » Click to enlarge image James Keene (left) and co-author Hillel Levin discuss Keene's book, being released today. Now, at age 46, he's almost there. A book telling his life story comes out today, and an Oscar-winning screenwriter is adapting it. It wasn't the cliched lifestyle of a 1980s cocaine kingpin that attracted Paramount to secure the rights -- though Keene had that life, complete with the mansion, the Corvettes, the women and the circle of rich friends. It was the incredible deal federal prosecutors offered him that gave him a shot at redemption, and has stars including Brad Pitt lining up to play him on screen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted September 28, 2010 Report Share Posted September 28, 2010 This was someone who always fascinated me - a likable, non-violent gangster. I remember the shock when he was gunned down. My grandmother also told me about the time my grandfather was investigated by the FBI on suspicion that he was one of the Touhy gang! (He wasn't.) Roger Touhy should have a film made about him. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Touhy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted September 28, 2010 Report Share Posted September 28, 2010 The story of Barry Seal is also a good one...I never met him, nor do I know him, any photos of him and a person resembling myself would be false... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted September 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2010 ...and that photo was not taken in a San Fran bath house! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted September 29, 2010 Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 The Jimmy Keene story has a great hollywood movie in it. There are a few good stories out there. There as a guy from the '70s. A contempory of the Frank Lucas guy of the movie American Gangster named Frank Matthews. A black heroin dealer, he controlled a lot of heroin east of the mississippi. He was making an estimated 20 mil in the early 70s. Even in present day money its a lot, back in those days it was unreal. Anyway, he got arrested got out on bail and skipped town with his gf. He spoke fluent spanish and got a lot of his heroin in south america so it was believed he fled there. As far as I know, and the story is, he's never been caught and he's the only person on the FBI most wanted list never to have been eventually apprehended. Not sure how true that story is but I've heard about it. I knew a guy growing up who rose form street corner dealing to controlling several corners and crack houses. He was making a mint obviously. Never got arrested. Street smart guy. One of those guys who got all Fs but you knew was very intelligent and I'd guess an IQ that was very high. Just wasn't motivated for school work. Anyway, he always asssumed he was being watched and was under investigation and there was some rival dealer operating near one of his spots in an abanodoned house. A lot of the drug spots in Philly were abondoned houses. The city was littered with them. We used to play in those abondoned row homes as a kid. Anyway, he knew if he killed the people there it would bring added attention. Someone told him just buy the house and the city would kick them out for him. So he bought it from the city for a pittance and the cops actually came and evicted them. He didn't know what to do with it, and someone said, well fix it up and rent it out. That person got him a contractor and he did it and the house sold for several times more than he paid for it. Well, you get the idea. He started doing that with some of his own crack spots as well as others and became a paper millionaire in real estate. He left the game for the most part and now owns tens of houses across the city. I caught up with him a couple years ago when I went back for a family reunion. We had a great talk and kept in touch when I came back to California. He told me a lot of stuff. I think it was kinda therapeutic for him. He is stlll worried that one day one of his 'indiscretions' for which there was no statute of limitations (his code word for murder) would come back to bite him in the ass. He also said, the legit world was far more crooked and dishonest than the drug game. He said, yes, there was the odd time someone went back on their word but he said the business operated on trust and reptuation. You didn't deal with anyone who someone else you trusted didn't vouch for. If someone said they had 2 kilos at such and such, their word was their bond. The penalty for lying or cheating was often terminal so it kept everyone honest. He said he had realtors, etc. lie to his face and lie on a handshake and he couldn't handle it the street way with a beatdown or whatever bu had to get a lawyer who he quickly found out were the biggest crooks. He's living the suburban life with wife and kids now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted September 29, 2010 Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 Reminds me of a friend who once saw a used car dealer flashing a big Masonic-Shrine ring on his hand. The friend asked what Lodge he belonged to. The dealer replied that he wasn't really a Mason, but he wore the ring because it made people trust him. The lying SOB! (Of course with used car dealers, that last comment is redundant.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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