Jeff Fort

Infobox Criminal


subject_name = Jeff Fort
image_size =
image_caption =
date_of_birth = 1947cite book|last=Austin|first=Curtis J. |title=Up against the wall : violence in the making and unmaking of the Black Panther Party |pages=p. 199|publisher=University of Arkansas Press|location=|year=2006|isbn=1557288275]
place_of_birth = Aberdeen, Mississippi, U.S
date_of_death =
place_of_death =
alias = Angel
Black Prince
Prince Malik
Imam Abdul Malik Ka'bahcite book|last=Schatzberg|first=Rufus|coauthors=Robert J. Kelly |title=African American Organized Crime: A Social History |pages=p. 199-202 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year=1987 |isbn=0813524458] cite news |last=McPherson |first=James A. |title=Chicago's Blackstone Rangers (I) |url=http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/196905/blackstone-rangers |work=Atlantic Monthly |date=May 1969 |accessdate=2008-02-10]
charge =
conviction = drug trafficking
conspiracy
murder
penalty = 155 years imprisonment
status = imprisoned at ADX Florence supermax prison in Florence, Coloradocite web |url=http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&LastName=Fort&Middle=&FirstName=Jeff&Race=B&Sex=M&Age=&x=327&y=285 |title=Inmate Locator |publisher=U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons |accessdate=2008-01-30 92298-024]
occupation =
spouse =
parents =
children =

Jeff Fort (born 1947) is a former Chicago gang leader, co-founder of the Black P. Stones gang, and founder of its El Rukn faction. He was convicted in 1987 of conspiring with Libya to perform acts of domestic terrorism.cite news |title=Five Draw Long Sentences for Terrorism Scheme |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5D71F3CF932A05751C1A961948260 |work=The New York Times |date=1987-12-31 |publisher=Associated Press|accessdate=2007-12-21]

Biography

Jeff Fort was born in 1947 in Aberdeen, Mississippi. He moved with his family to the Woodlawn neighborhood in the South Side of Chicago in 1955. He left school after the fourth grade.

Fort spent time at Cook County Temporary Juvenile Detention Center and at the Illinois State Training School for Boys in St. Charles, where he met Eugene "Bull" Hairston. Around 1959, Fort and Hairston formed the Blackstone Rangers gang at St. Charles. The Blackstone Rangers comprised youth from the Blackstone Avenue area of Woodlawn, assembled to defend themselves against other gangs in the South Side. Hairston was the gang's leader with Fort as second in command. The Rangers fought rival gangs, especially the Devil's Disciples.cite book |last=Harris |first=Donnie |title=Gangland |chapter=Black Peace Stone Nation |publisher=Holy Fire Publishing |year=2004 |isbn=0976111241 |page=pp. 71-72]

During the early 1960s, Fort earned the nickname "Angel" for his ability to solve disputes and form alliances between the Rangers and other gangs. By the mid 1960s, Fort assembled a coalition of 21 gangs with about 5,000 members. He organized the coalition under a governing body called the "Main 21", composed of 21 gang leaders or "generals." As the Ranger organization grew, it became involved in community and political activism. The gang also received support from Presbyterian minister Reverend John Fry who advised Hairston and Fort how to manage their organization.

Under Rev. Fry's guidance, Fort obtained a charter from the State of Illinois to form a political organization, Grassroots Independent Voters of Illinois, in 1967. Fort's organization applied for and received a US$1 million federal grant to fund a program to teach job skills to gang members. The Rangers also received grants and loans from private foundations.cite book |last=Jacobs |first=James B. |title=Grassroots Independent Voters of Illinois |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1978 |isbn=0226389774 |pages=pp. 140-142]

Black P. Stone Nation

After Hairston was imprisoned in 1966, Fort assumed command of the Rangers. By 1968 he renamed it to the Almighty Black P. Stone Nation or Black P. Stones. The Stones engaged in robberies, extortion, and forced recruitment while also acting to keep order in the South Side. The Stones also gained control of vice in the South Side, demanding protection payments from prostitution operations and drug dealers.

In 1968 the jobs program came under investigation amid accusations that grant money was diverted to criminal activities. Fort was subpoenaed to testify before a Senate committee. Fort introduced himself at the committee hearings and walked out; for this, he was convicted of contempt of Congress.cite news |last=McPherson |first=James A. |title=Chicago's Blackstone Rangers (II) |url=http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/196906/blackstone-rangers |work=Atlantic Monthly |date=June 1969 |accessdate=2008-02-10]

El Rukn

In 1972, Fort and two others were convicted of misusing federal funds and Fort was sentenced to five years in prison. Fort served two years at the United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth and was paroled in 1976. During his time at Leavenworth, Fort converted to Islam and assumed the name Prince Malik. After his release from prison in 1976, he moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and joined the Moorish Science Temple. Fort established the El Rukn Tribe of the Moorish Science Temple, "El Rukn" being Arabic for foundation. In 1978, Fort returned to Chicago. In a coup, he replaced the Stones' 21 generals with five close allies and renamed the Black P. Stone Nation to El Rukn.

During the 1970s, the gang trafficked in cocaine and heroin. In 1983, Fort was convicted of drug trafficking charges and sentenced to 13 years in prison. He was sent to the Federal Correctional Institution at Bastrop, Texas. Fort continued to lead El Rukn through daily telephone calls from prison. He ordered members of El Rukn to meet with Libyan officials. The gang agreed to commit terrorist acts in the U.S. in exchange for US$2.5 million.cite news |last=Schmidt |first=William E. |title= Chicago Journal; U.S. Squares Off Against Tough Gang |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEEDB1131F936A35752C1A961948260 |work=The New York Times |date=1987-11-05 |accessdate=2007-12-29] cite news |author=Don Terry |title=In Chicago Courtroom, Nation's First Super Gang Fights for Life |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE4D9173CF93AA25756C0A967958260 |work=The New York Times |date=1991-05-19 |accessdate=2007-12-28]

In 1987, Fort was tried and convicted for conspiring with Libya to perform acts of domestic terrorism. He was sentenced to 80 years imprisonment and transferred to the USP Marion, the federal supermax prison in Marion, Illinois.cite news |last=Rossi |first=Rosilind |title=How the Law Won War With El Rukns |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=1992-08-24 |pages= |quote=Jeff Fort, serving 155 years at the federal prison in Downstate Marion ] In 1988, Fort was also convicted of ordering the 1981 murder of a rival gang leader and was sentenced to 75 years in prison to be served after the completion of his terror conspiracy sentence.cite news |title=GANG CHIEF GUILTY IN RIVAL'S SLAYING |work=The New York Times |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE7DA1030F933A15753C1A96E948260 |date=1988-10-20 |accessdate=2007-12-21] [cite news |last=Rossi |first=Rosalind |title=75 more years for Fort 4 other Rukns draw stiff terms |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=1988-11-15 |pages=3] Fort was transferred to the newly opened ADX Florence supermax prison in Florence, Colorado in 1995 and remains there as of 2008. [cite news |title=Crime Elite Moving To Rockies `Alcatraz' |work=The Washington Post |date=1994-12-27 |pages= ] cite news |last=Olson |first=Rochelle |title=Aug. 23: Fort hearing delayed; defense witnesses missing |url=http://www.startribune.com/local/11552411.html |work=Minneapolis Star-Tribune |date=2007-09-14 |accessdate=2008-01-03]

References

*cite book |author=United States |title=Organized crime : 25 years after Valachi : hearings before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundredth Congress, second session, April 11, 15, 21, 22, 29, 1988. |publisher=U.S G.P.O. |pages=p. 1157 |year=1988 |quote=narcotics conspiracy case perfected against Jeff Fort |oclc=19099088
*cite book |author=United States |title=Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993 |pages=p. 1071 |publisher=U.S. G.P.O. |location=Washington, D.C. |year=1992 oclc=27189912
*cite book |last=Useem |first=Bert |coauthors=Peter Kimball |title=States of Siege: U.S. Prison Riots, 1971-1986 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1991 |isbn=0195057112 |pages=pp. 64-65

External links

* [http://chicagogangs.org/index.php?pr=BPSN&nosessionkill=1 Black P. Stone Nation] at ChicagoGangs.org
*cite web |url=http://www.ngcrc.com/bpsn2003.html |title=GANG PROFILE UPDATE: The Black P. Stone Nation (BPSN) |author=George W. Knox |publisher=National Gang Crime Research Center |accessdate=2008-02-11