About this episode
Order James Beasley's book "DEEP ROOTED" here: https://jamesbeasleyent.com James Beasley, Jr. describes himself as a third generation criminal, whose notorious family roots in Bayview-Hunters Point go back to the early days of Black migration to San Francisco. His father, great uncles and cousins built their reputation through labor racketeering, heroin dealing, and pimping, but James took advantage of the cocaine boom in the 70s and 80s. He soon became the drug kingpin of San Francisco, associating with Darryl "Lil D" Reed in Oakland and players like Big Dave and Harry-O in Los Angeles. After making millions of dollars, his run came to an end when he became the youngest person charged with tax evasion in United States history and ended up doing 27 years in federal prison. Now that he has been released and transitioned into legitimate business, James is here to tell his story as a cautionary tale to guide other black and brown youth away from the life of crime. -- For promo opportunities on the podcast, e-mail: info@historyofthebay.com -- History of the Bay Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZUM4rCv6xfNbvB4r8TVWU?si=9218659b5f4b43aa Online Store: https://dregsone.myshopify.com Follow Dregs One: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1UNuCcJlRb8ImMc5haZHXF?si=poJT0BYUS-qCfpEzAX7mlA Instagram: https://instagram.com/dregs_one TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@dregs_one Twitter: https://twitter.com/dregs_one Facebook: https://facebook.com/dregsone415 00:00 Introduction 03:06 Crime families in San Francisco 06:22 Bayview-Hunters Point in the 60s-70s 11:02 Getting in trouble in high school 16:04 Following his dad into the dope game 24:59 C*caine hits the hood 28:26 Competing with the A Team 31:56 Gangster mentality in the family 37:18 Starting the B Team 42:02 Lil D 46:33 Crips & Bloods in the Bay? 50:39 Cars as a status symbol 54:44 Colombian connection 59:39 Felix Mitchell 1:00:43 Shrimp Boy & Chinatown connection 1:04:55 Ron Newt & Michael Jackson 1:07:55 Investing in legal businesses 1:11:08 Tax evasion case 1:16:07 Federal prison 1:20:37 Turf violence in Hunters Point 1:25:09 Advice to the youth 1:33:22 Harry-O and Death Row 1:41:23 Freeway Rick Ross