Kenneth A. Jackson

Jackson was born in 1957 and raised in the Latrobe Homes in East Baltimore.[2]

When he was seventeen, he committed his first murder when he killed a Baltimore business man during a robbery. With drug and gang influence Jackson was able to secure a high-profile lawyer and gain an acquittal on technicality.[2]

He was convicted in 1978 for manslaughter, in 1979 for resisting arrest, and in 1984 on a drug charge.[3] Jackson took an Alford plea in 1977 on a charge of manslaughter, and his sentence was suspended.[2]

Jackson's name appeared in the Baltimore Sun's 1987 series Easy Money: Anatomy of a Drug Empire, the author of which was David Simon, who went on to be the creator, executive producer, and head writer of The Wire.[2] In the newspaper series, Simon claims that Jackson used to be one of the trusted surrogates of Melvin Williams, a legendary Baltimore heroin dealer whose story influenced The Wire character Avon Barksdale.[3] Jackson explicitly denies any past connection to Williams.[2] Jackson is believed to be responsible for initiating a 1981 drug war for control of the Lafayette Court housing project. In the mid-1980s Jackson was convicted on a federal gun charge, but was acquitted of murder charges in 1991.[2] In 1992, Jackson pled a bribery charge down to one count of giving false information to a state trooper.[3] Federal tax-evasion charges were dropped in 1994.[2]

By 1984, Jackson owned a mini-market, a shoe store, a produce and carry-out stand, rental properties in West Baltimore, and ran his family's business.[2] But his most successful business venture has been the Eldorado Lounge, an adult entertainment club in East Baltimore. In 1978, Jackson's mother, Rosalie, acquired the Eldorado Lounge from Michael Stewart.[4] Rosalie hired Kenny to manage the club; and in 1986, Kenny advanced the Eldorado Lounge's format.[4] The Eldorado Lounge property was sold in 2000 but re-emerged in 2003 at a different location on East Lombard Street, outside downtown.[4] Kenny Jackson continues to run the Eldorado Lounge there. In 2007, Jackson earned a business degree from American InterContinental University in Atlanta, Georgia.[2]

In 1995, Jackson was involved in establishing a political action committee ("PAC") that advocated for convicts' voting rights.[3] The PAC donated a total of $8,000 to the campaigns of various Democratic political candidates, including then-mayor Kurt Schmoke and future mayor Sheila Dixon.[3] Jackson's PAC no longer operates.

After the Eldorado Lounge property was sold, Jackson contributed $2,500 to then-City Council President Dixon. Dixon was criticized for her role in the sale of the property after a story regarding the sale appeared in the Baltimore Sun in 2000. Then-Mayor Martin O'Malley returned $2,000 which he had received from Rosalie. Rosalie also donated $1,000 to Al Gore's 2000 presidential primary campaign.

In Season 5 of The Wire, the show's fictional Sun reports on the sale of a strip-club property owned by a drug dealer, Fat Face Rick. Nerese Campbell, the fictional City Council President is then shown angrily reading a critical newspaper article about her role in the sale.[1] The anecdote appears to allude to Sheila Dixon's part in the sale of the Eldorado Lounge.

Another similarity to Jackson's life is the entrepreneurial impulse of Stringer Bell, the number-two in Barksdale's organization. In Season 1 of The Wire, detective Jimmy McNulty tracks Bell to his business course at a local community college.[1] According to Jackson, Baltimore police actually were present while he took classes at Baltimore Community College.[1] On the show, Bell strives to become a part of the legitimate business world and even gets involved in bribing politicians.

Jackson has collaborated with Nathan Barksdale on an unreleased docudrama titled Baltimore Chronicles: Legends of the Unwired,[5] which purports to be the true story of Avon Barksdale and The Wire.[6]

• http://www.eldoradoloungebaltimore.net/