Jeff Fort

Jeff Fort (born February 20, 1947) is an American former gang leader from Chicago, Illinois. Fort is the Co–founder of the Black P. Stones gang and founder of its El Rukn faction. Fort is currently serving a total of 155–year prison sentence, 80 year prison sentence after being convicted of conspiracy and weapons charges in 1987 for plotting to commit attacks inside the U.S. in exchange for weapons and $2.5 million from Libya and a 75–year sentence for ordering a murder in 1981. Fort was also convicted of drug trafficking in 1983 and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Fort was born in Aberdeen, Mississippi. He moved with his family to the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago in 1955. He dropped out of Hyde Park High School after the ninth 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 originated as a small youth gang along Blackstone Avenue in the Woodlawn area, 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. 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.