American Gangster

Black Mafia was the most feared force in Philadelphia’s criminal Black underworld. One of the most ambitious criminal enterprises in the history of Black America, the group extorted, hustled, plundered and murdered with impunity. It also maneuvered skillfully through many worlds, shielding itself inside the Nation of Islam, conning politicians and other leaders, and devising multiple layers of protection and cover.

“King” Larry Hoover is the architect of Chicago’s largest and most powerful street organization, the Gangster Disciples. This installment presents a complex portrait of a complex man, including interviews with federal prosecutors, former associates of the Gangster Disciples, Larry Hoover’s son, his wife - and Hoover himself.

Before he was old enough to shave, “Little Melvin” Williams possessed a genius I.Q. and was a prodigy in the gambling haunts and alleyways along glittering Pennsylvania Avenue. His exploits helped inspire the hit series “The Wire.” On this episode of ‘American Gangster’ he tells his story, his way.

In October, 2002, the ‘D.C. Snipers’ introduced a new kind of terror to the US. public. For three weeks, the killers shot people at random - ordinary citizens doing the most mundane things - shopping, pumping gas, waiting for a bus. John Muhammad, 42, was a deranged dad on a mission to get back his kids. Lee Boyd Malvo, 17, was a homeless juvenile desperate for a father – who John Muhammad methodically transformed into a boy soldier.

Frank Lucas is the subject of a blockbuster movie, also titled "American Gangster," starring Denzel Washington as Lucas and Russell Crowe as the detective and prosecutor Ritchie Roberts, who helped bring him to justice. In this episode of BET's "American Gangster," Lucas faces the camera himself and tells his story – with an assist from the real Ritchie Roberts.

Felix Mitchell, Jr. was Oakland, California’s first major heroin kingpin – and in 1986 he had the funeral to prove it. TV cameras rolled as Felix’s body was transported in a horse-drawn carriage through the streets of East Oakland before awestruck local residents, with 17 Rolls Royces following in procession. Twenty years later, rappers Too Short and Yukmouth, former rival Mickey Moore, former Oakland mayor Elihu Harris, and others help "American Gangster" revisit the life and times of Felix Michell Jr.