‘A clean slate’: Former Kansas City Black Mafia boss Eddie Cox talks life and freedom
Eddie David Cox, a former Kansas City mob leader who was released Thursday after spending more than three decades in prison, said he had made many bad decisions in his life.
But he denied taking part in several murders linked to the so-called “Black Mafia” crime ring that he was reputed to have helped lead in Kansas City in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Cox, 86, was granted compassionate release from the federal prison in Pekin, Illinois. During a phone interview Friday, Cox said he was in a state of culture shock.
“Everything has changed,” he said. “People have changed. People are not even courteous anymore.”
Cox was reuniting with his son, daughter and grandchildren on Friday in Springfield, Missouri, where he now resides.
“I’m just thankful this judge gave me a second chance,” he said.
Cox, a white man, was one of the leaders of Black Mafia along with James Eugene Richardson and James Phillip “Doc” Dearborn. The group controlled Kansas City’s East Side for a short time and was active in the drug trade, prostitution and loan sharking.
The organization was said to be responsible for 17 murders.
Cox said if the Kansas City Police Department had evidence he was involved in murder, he would have been charged.
“I’ve never committed a murder, ever,” Cox said. “Those are just suspicions.”
In 1989, Cox was indicted on drug and firearms offenses and other crimes including impersonating an officer.
According to court documents, Cox pretended to be a Drug Enforcement Administration officer, carrying a badge and gun and driving a red Ford Crown Victoria. On several occasions, he presented himself as a federal agent and “confiscated” cash, cocaine and firearms.
After being sentenced to life in prison, Cox believed he was going to die behind bars. As he served his time, Cox said, he “reflected on all the bad decisions I made and I made a number of them.”
“As I became older, I realized that my whole life had been wasted.”
Now a free man, Cox said he plans on working as a paralegal at a law firm helping prisoners.
“I’m just trying to have a clean slate.”
This story was originally published July 2, 2021 at 3:38 PM.
