Kenneth A. Jackson

Kenneth A. Jackson is a businessman in Baltimore, Maryland, with alleged past connections to the illegal drug trade in the city. He is alleged to be one of the Baltimore figures whose stories are dramatized in the HBO series The Wire, but his actual influence upon the show is disputed. The connections among drug trafficking, legitimate businesses, and political donations depicted in The Wire reflect aspects of Jackson's life.

Early life

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

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 a technicality. Jackson took an Alford plea in 1977 on a charge of manslaughter, and his sentence was suspended. Rosalie hired Kenny to manage the club; and in 1986, Kenny advanced the Eldorado Lounge's format. which purports to be the true story of Avon Barksdale and The Wire.