Guy Fisher biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Guy Fisher was born in 1947 in the South Bronx, New York, the eldest of five siblings. Fisher had a close relationship with his mother, a pediatric nurse, who worked hard to raise her children in the low-income Patterson projects. Fisher's father, however, struggled with dependence on alcohol and gambling. After losing the rent and grocery money to his addictions, he often physically abused Fisher's mother and siblings. By the time Fisher was a teenager, his father had abandoned the family. Fisher grew protective of his siblings, and always looked out for his family.

Most children, suffering from a lack of parental supervision, wandered the neighborhood and fended for themselves on the streets. Fisher often found himself holding his own in fights on the block. His penchant for street fighting eventually landed him in Elmyra Reformatory, where he served two years on an assault charge as a teenager. He dropped out of high school shortly thereafter.

After he was released from Elmyra, Fisher began hustling for quick money. He made cash selling bags to people outside department stores, and often pedaling clothes at a discount. During this time, Fisher began dating a young woman named Olive MacDonald. She, in turn, put Fisher in touch with Leroy "Nicky" Barnes, by then a notorious drug kingpin. Barnes saw potential in Fisher, and took the young man under his wing.

Racketeering

By 1973, at the age of 25, Fisher had made it into Barnes's exclusive underground organization, The Council, which consisted of a seven-member circle of trusted associates. Each of the individual partners in Barnes's syndicate had their own crew of men to distribute heroin to smaller dealers. They would then collect the drug money, and distribute the profits accordingly. Through these dealings, Barnes and Fisher became close friends and confidantes. They also began investing in businesses together, including two, multi-million dollar housing complexes.

A year later, local police stopped Fisher for a routine traffic violation. Fisher was using a false driver's license, and attempted to evade arrest by bribing law enforcement agents with $100,000 he had stashed in his trunk. The officials refused the money, and the incident landed Fisher in prison for nine months. While serving his time, The Council was under close investigation by undercover law enforcement agents for their dealings in the heroin trade.

In 1977, sparked by an article in The New York Times magazine naming Barnes "Mr. Untouchable," then-President Jimmy Carter placed further pressure on federal agents to dismantle The Council. That September, Barnes and The Council were placed on trial. Much of the federal law enforcement's undercover surveillance of Barnes and his group occurred while Fisher was imprisoned.