Exclusive: 'American Gangster' Slapped by Feds' Lawsuit

Jan. 16, 2008— -- ABC News has learned that a group of former federal drug enforcement agents has filed a class-action lawsuit against NBC Universal today, asserting they were defamed by the blockbuster flick "American Gangster."

As the final credits roll on the flick starring Denzel Washington as Harlem drug thug Frank Lucas, a screen appears that states three-quarters of the drug enforcement agents assigned to New York were convicted as a result of Lucas' cooperation with "outcast cop" Richie Roberts, portrayed by Russell Crowe in the movie.

There were no such convictions, Drug Enforcement Administration officials told ABC News. But the agency had no immediate reaction when told of the lawsuit.

The agents are also seeking a restraining order against further distribution of the movie, $55 million in damages and punitive damages and any profits from a box-office gross that so far has exceeded about $130 million.

The suit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, charges that "the defamation involved the defendant NBC Universal, through its Universal Studios, falsely communicating, in writing, to millions of people in a motion picture called American Gangster that three-quarters of New York City's DEA, from approximately 1973 through approximately 1985, were convicted criminals."

According to former U.S. attorney Dominic Amorosa, who prosecuted Lucas and his cohorts in the federal case and now represents the aggrieved former narcs, the assertion that Lucas' cooperation with "outcast cop" Richie Roberts "led to convictions of three-quarters of the New York City's Drug Enforcement Agency" is baseless and "impugns and damages the reputations of hundreds of honest, decent and courageous agents."

NBC Universal declined to comment in early December when ABC News first reported on the dispute between the former agents and the Hollywood studio.

In a letter to Amoroso dated Dec. 7, replying to his demand that the movie studio "retract and correct" its statements, David Burg, NBC Universal's senior vice president for litigation, said, "The film in no way charges or even insinuates wrongdoing on the part of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Thus, we must respectfully deny the claim of your client and other former federal DEA agents."