Sumith Prasad
In Peacock’s crime drama series ‘Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist,’ Frank Moten arrives in Atlanta, Georgia, to watch Muhammad Ali fight Jerry Quarry. The gangster, who is known as the “Black Godfather,” is welcomed by a bookie named Gordon “Chicken Man” Williams. After the boxing match, he and his entourage arrive at Chicken Man’s house for a party, only to get robbed by a group of local robbers. As the show depicts, Frank was a notorious gangster who became infamous for heading a Black mafia organization in the 1970s. His and his fellow gangster’s presence at the party is believed to have caused tragic consequences!
Frank Moten Was a Towering Figure in New York’s Narcotics Scene
According to Jeff Keating and Jim Roberts’ iHeart podcast series ‘Fight Night’ — the source material of ‘Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist,’ Frank Moten emerged in the world of crime by running numbers in Atlanta, Georgia, in the 1950s and 1960s. However, it was only after moving to New York he made a name for himself. He had become a high-profile drug dealer and distributor in the Empire State by 1970, the year the “million-dollar heist” happened. Frank even had ties with infamous figures such as Frank Lucas, the inspiration behind the Denzel Washington-led Ridley Scott film ‘American Gangster,’ and Nicky Barnes.
“There were a lot of the people who we were both hooked up with, who we both like. Jimmy Terrell, for example, and Turtle and Claude, Peter MacDougal, Frank Moten,” Barnes said in a conversation with Lucas and New York Magazine’s Mark Jacobson. In October 1970, after the boxing match billed as “The Return of the Champion,” Frank wanted to celebrate the birthday of a man involved in his circle. He sought the services of “Fireball,” an alleged cocaine dealer from Atlanta who was also friends with Gordon “Chicken Man” Williams.
At the time, Chicken Man was known for owning several properties across the city, which made him a suitable host for gangsters from New York, New Jersey, and other states. These individuals were supposedly the members of the “Council of Twelve,” a mafia gang that had an unignorable presence in the Black organized crime scene of the period. The group was involved in drug dealing, prostitution, and racketeering in several states in the country, according to the source podcast series. After arriving at Chicken Man’s house for the party, Frank and his group were held hostages and robbed.
Frank Moten Denied Involving in the Heist’s Consequences
After the “million-dollar heist,” Chicken Man was deemed the prime suspect because he was the party’s organizer and the house’s owner. He had to go to New York and meet Frank Moten and the other supposed members of the Council of Twelve to clarify that he had nothing to do with the robbery. Detective J.D. Hudson, one of the lead investigators in the case, believed that Frank’s bodyguard captured a robber named Bookie Brown and an accomplice named Lillian Dabney, as per the podcast series. Their dead bodies were eventually found in Proctor Creek. During the investigation, many more dead bodies were discovered by the authorities.
According to Frank, the aftermath of the heist wasn’t surprising. “Well, people were upset. Their egos were involved. They had been pushed around. A guy got tumbled down the stairs. They got together. They were determined. So, with everyone looking very diligently all day and night long, it wasn’t surprising how it came out,” he told the renowned journalist George Plimpton, according to the latter’s book ‘Shadow Box: An Amateur in the Ring.’ The “Black Godfather” also added that he was not involved in the “consequences,” stating, “It didn’t mean much to me. I lost some credit cards. I’m a cocoa distributor.”
Frank Moten Passed Away While Serving a Prison Sentence
In 1976, Frank Moten was part of a narcotics ring that was tried at the Federal District Court in Manhattan. The group was charged with importing and selling drugs valued at more than $200 million. The prosecution stated that the gang was responsible for distributing 150 pounds of cocaine annually between 1968 and 1974 and 26 pounds of heroin between 1970 and 1973. Robert W. Fiske, the then-U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, stated that Frank supposedly put out a murder contract on a fellow drug dealer named Jack Brown. During the trial, he was also reported to be the leader of the aforementioned Council of Twelve.
As one of the members of the ring, Frank was sentenced to 25 years in prison with a fine of $50,000. He talked to George Plimpton while serving this sentence in the Federal Correction Center behind Foley Square, New York City. According to prison records, Frank passed away on December 23, 1984, at the age of 63. His cause of death hasn’t been publicized. While many of his companions and fellow drug dealers grew to become infamous worldwide, Frank stooped into oblivion after his death. Presently, he is known for being held hostage during the “million-dollar heist” rather than for ruling an organized crime syndicate as the “Black Godfather.”
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