Fact vs Fiction: Godfather of Harlem season 4 episode 2 — did Frank Lucas work for Bumpy Johnson?

After Godfather of Harlem season 4 episode 1 saw Bumpy Johnson (Forest Whitaker) committed to legitimacy for his new dream for the community, he still has a major problem with Vincent Gigante (Vincent D'Onofrio), who wants a piece of everything Bumpy is building. Sensing a war between the two men brewing, Stella (Lucy Frye) plots against her father to stop it, but needs Bumpy to pull off a risky move. Thankfully for Bumpy, Frank Lucas (Rome Flynn) arrives to town, eager to make a name for himself.

However, in real life, was Vincent actually betrayed by his daughter? Also, what happened when Frank Lucas arrived to town, and how close was he to Bumpy Johnson?

Here’s what we found out as we looked into what was fact and fiction from Godfather of Harlem season 4 episode 2.

Did Frank Lucas work for Bumpy Johnson?

The fiction
Frank Lucas arrives in New York City on the bus and immediately loses money in a card scheme when a Black man hustles him with the help of his white business partner. Not one to be toyed with, Frank later finds the two conmen, stabbing the white man and cutting the Black man’s hand before robbing them of their earnings from the day. With the funds, he winds up paying for an apartment in the city.

Lucas then further dives into his New York criminal lifestyle, choosing to rob the white patrons of Bumpy’s club when they venture off alone outside. Unfortunately for him, Bumpy’s right-hand man, Del (Erik LaRay Harvey), catches Lucas in an attempted robbery and drags him to a room to beat a confession out of him about who he works for. Lucas is adamant he doesn’t work for Gigante or Joe Colombo (Michael Raymond-James), a fact he reemphasizes to Bumpy face-to-face.

Additionally, Lucas tells Bumpy he wasn’t aware that he owned this club, and would have never robbed people there if he had known. Lucas takes things further, begging to work for Bumpy, but the kingpin isn’t interested. That is, until later in the episode when Bumpy calls on Lucas to rob Vincent as part of Stella’s plan to get her father out of Harlem.

The fact
According to the North Carolina government, Lucas was born near La Grange, N.C., in 1930, and started displaying criminal behavior after seeing his older cousin lynched by the Ku Klux Klan in 1936. Then, as shared in the documentary The TRUE Story of 'American Gangster' Frank Lucas, around the age of 17, Lucas got on a Greyhound bus and moved to New York City. Once in the Big Apple, he started robbing bars and stores to make money.

Now since the release of the movie American Gangster starring Denzel Washington in 2007, there has been much debate about what’s true as it pertains to Frank Lucas’ relationship with Bumpy Johnson. In a VLAD TV interview, Lucas stated, “Bumpy Johnson was really close to me.” He also mentioned that he started associating with Bumpy “five to 10” years after he first started getting into crime. In fact, when the two met, Lucas alleged he had several contract hits on him, and Bumpy was able to get them called off. Furthermore, Lucas claimed he worked for Bumpy for “13 years, nine months and eight days,” driving the Godfather of Harlem "wherever he had to go.” By Lucas’ account, Bumpy was like a mentor to him.

Journalists like Diane Dimond questioned the authenticity of Lucas’ story about being Bumpy’s driver due to the fact that Bumpy was sentenced to prison in 1952 and wasn’t released until 1963, and subsequently died in 1968. With all that being said, if Lucas arrived in New York around 1946/1947, he himself admitted not to immediately jumping into crime with Bumpy upon his arrival, and Bumpy having been in prison, it may be improbable for Lucas to have been Bumpy’s driver for 13 plus years.”

Just to add, the real Mayme Johnson alleged in an interview that Lucas was lying about his relationship with Bumpy, and she was adamant that Lucas was not a regular chauffeur for Bumpy. She also disputed several other claims made by Lucas.

Was Vincent Gigante kicked out of New York by the five families?

The fiction
Stella spends the first part of the episode concerned her dad is on the brink of war with Bumpy. Vincent is adamant he’s going to have a part in Bumpy’s plans to build in Harlem, but Bumpy is vehemently opposed to the idea and won’t allow it. With the two men at a stalemate, Stella develops a plan to put a stop to her father. She’s also motivated by her own desire to have a portion of Harlem for herself, a sentiment she shares with Colombo when asking for his help with the scheme.

She later goes to Bumpy’s club and tells Bumpy her father will distribute 60 kilos of heroin between the five families in the coming days. In turn, Bumpy hires Lucas to rob Vincent’s men of the drugs. Immediately, Vincent thinks Bumpy is responsible for the robbery and wants to gather his men to kill him. However, Stella convinces her father to meet with Bumpy and the five families, so Vincent can get a sanctioned hit on Bumpy.

At the meeting, Bumpy says he didn’t take drugs, but found the country boy who did. Bumpy says that if they can all agree that Vincent will leave Harlem, Bumpy will make sure the families get their drugs back. Vincent is outraged by the proposal, and even more outraged when the heads of the other families agree to the deal at Colombo’s urging.

Later, alone with Stella, Vincent tells her he knows it was her who engineered the plan to get him out of Harlem. Shockingly, he doesn’t get upset, but tells her that with him gone for a while, his lieutenant, Pino (Erik Palladino), will be the face of the family in New York, but he needs her to be the brains and report to him.

The fact
We were not able to find any evidence to support the notion that Vincent Gigante had a daughter who was responsible for getting him kicked out of New York City. This storyline appears to be a Hollywood spin.

Godfather of Harlem season 4 continues to air on Sundays on MGM Plus.