Richie Roberts' role in taking down Frank Lucas is seen in American Gangster, but the film leaves out some of the more extraordinary parts of Roberts' life and later friendship with Lucas.
David Howells/Corbis/Getty ImagesRichie Roberts helped take down drug kingpin Frank Lucas — and later represented him in court.
In the 1960s and ’70s, Frank Lucas was one of the biggest names in the New York drug scene. He ruled the city’s heroin market, but he wasn’t infallible. In 1976, he was convicted of drug trafficking, and it was all thanks to prosecutor Richie Roberts — or, at least, that’s what American Gangster would lead you to believe.
While Roberts was a real investigator who worked on Lucas’ case, his role in the kingpin’s demise was somewhat exaggerated for the 2007 Ridley Scott film. Still, while parts of the movie were fictionalized, Roberts’ true life was just as exhilarating as Russell Crowe’s portrayal onscreen.
After rising through his career as a detective with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Roberts earned his law degree and led a narcotics task force that helped put Frank Lucas behind bars. He then became a defense attorney and opened his own firm — and Lucas was his first client.
The two men began an unlikely friendship, and Roberts even became the godfather of Lucas’ son. But later in life, Richie Roberts found himself facing legal troubles of his own.
How Richie Roberts Helped Take Down Frank Lucas
In 1963, 26-year-old Richie Roberts was hired by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office as a detective. He spent most of his time investigating organized crime groups, all while taking night classes at law school. He passed the bar exam in 1971 and was promoted to assistant prosecutor. In his new position, Roberts was chosen to head a task force under the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.
At the time, Frank Lucas was one of the biggest drug traffickers in New York City. He rose to prominence by cutting out the middleman and traveling directly to Southeast Asia to source pure heroin. Even after he cut it with other substances back in New York, Lucas’ “Blue Magic” was one of the most powerful street drugs available at the time — and it made him a fortune.
Left: Public Domain/Right: Universal PicturesDenzel Washington (right) as Frank Lucas (left) in American Gangster.
By 1975, investigators had compiled enough evidence against Lucas to raid his home, and he was convicted of drug trafficking and distribution the following year. “I probably did more damage than I did good,” Lucas said in 2013, per NJ.com.
“At that time,” continued Lucas, “I wasn’t aware of what I was doing. All I knew was, I was making big dollars. A bad business was a good business. It was a horrible business, put it that way. I was in the heroin business… the worst you can get. You can’t get no lower than that, and I was in it. Up to my head. If you wanna put that I was a no good son of a bitch, be my guest. ‘Cause that’s what I was.”
Lucas was initially sentenced to 70 years behind bars, but after he cooperated with prosecutors to take down dozens of other offenders and reveal police corruption, he was released in 1981.
The 2007 movie American Gangster follows these events — but how much of the film is true?
The Real Story Behind American Gangster
In 2008, Sterling Johnson Jr. — a federal judge who helped prosecute Lucas — told the Associated Press that American Gangster was “one percent reality and 99 percent Hollywood.”
Indeed, in interviews following the release of the movie, Richie Roberts admitted that his character, played by Russell Crowe, was a composite of a team of investigators who worked on Lucas’ case. Parts of the film were true, though. Roberts has said that he really did turn in $1 million in alleged drug money that he found during an investigation rather than pocketing it. But while he did get “some heat” for his integrity, he didn’t become a pariah within the police force.
Universal PicturesRussell Crowe as Richie Roberts in American Gangster.
Roberts has also criticized the film’s writers for making him appear less bold than he really was. As he told The Washington Post in 2008, “Russell stuck to what the script wanted to show. I was a little crazier than he showed. There’s a couple scenes where I wussed out on things. That never would have happened. That was nuts… and his choice of shirts was horrible.”
Other parts of the movie were completely fabricated. Roberts wasn’t really going through a custody battle while investigating Lucas. In fact, he doesn’t even have children.
But the twist at the end — in which Roberts becomes a defense attorney and represents Lucas in court — is completely true.
Richie Roberts’ Life After American Gangster
Despite Roberts’ and Lucas’ rocky introduction — and the fact that Lucas once put out a hit against Roberts — the two men formed an unexpected friendship later in life. After Roberts opened a defense firm in 1981, he represented Lucas when he was arrested on additional drug charges. Lucas even named Roberts the godfather of his son Ray.
Their relationship wasn’t always positive, though. As Roberts told The Washington Post, “Since the movie started, he kind of morphed back into Frank Lucas the drug lord. And I got that old narc feeling and I thought to myself, ‘I should have put this guy away for good.'”
Still, Roberts remained in touch with Lucas over the years, speaking with him shortly before his death in 2019. Roberts told NJ.com at the time that his final words to Lucas were, “Bye, Frank. See you at the end of the line.”
“No one is all good,” Roberts said. “No one is all bad. You try to see the good and you try to forget the bad.”
CUNY TV/YouTubeRichie Roberts during a 2016 interview.
Perhaps no one illustrated this idea better than Roberts himself. In 2018, he pleaded guilty to failing to pay payroll and income taxes at his law firm. The following year, he was sentenced to probation for stealing $20,000 from clients’ trust accounts to make alimony payments.
As reported by the ABA Journal in 2019, Judge Donald Collester stated at Roberts’ sentencing hearing, “Mr. Roberts’ fall is pretty dramatic. As we know, there was a major movie made about a portion of his life in which he was a hero and to many, he was a man of integrity… There are different words to describe Mr. Roberts today: Criminal. Thief. Liar.”
In the end, Richie Roberts’ conviction only adds to the turbulent life story that brought American Gangster to the big screen.
“I knew [my life] was crazy,” Roberts told The Washington Post. “I wanted it to be crazy. I enjoyed the adrenaline rush. I enjoyed being on the edge. I always did. But I never for a second pictured anything about a movie.”
After learning about Richie Roberts, read about Frank Lucas’ wife, Julianna Farrait. Then, learn about Frank Serpico, the N.Y.P.D. whistleblower who was shot for uncovering corruption within the force.
