Rap Sheet

Reign: 1970s

Business: drugs

Region: Harlem

Claim to Fame: Apollo theater's first black owner

Downfall: Nicky Barnes testified against him

Sentence: life without parole

Status: incarcerated

Lesson: A mind is a terrible thing to waste

Case File:

The first Black owner of the Apollo Theater in Harlem was a dashing ladies man, sports fan, bon vivant - and drug lord. Growing up in the rough and tumble Patterson projects of the South Bronx, Fisher became the youngest and most flamboyant member of "the council," a consortium of top drug dealers in Harlem in the 1970s, headed by Nicky Barnes.

Both friends and foes paid tribute to Fisher's sharp intelligence and organizational skills, which kept the council going long after Barnes' own conviction and life sentence for trafficking in 1977. But in the early'80s, Barnes turned state's evidence against his former allies, claiming he was motivated by Fisher's romantic dalliance with a favorite mistress.

Convicted for trafficking and sent to prison for life, Fisher embarked on a remarkable transformation, writing novels, counseling inmates to avoid a criminal life, and earning several academic degrees, including a doctorate in sociology - all the while keeping his own counsel from mainstream media.

Now, for the first time, Fisher, his family members, friends and associates tell their side of the story to "American Gangster."