This raid on a Sixth Avenue home, which netted Richard’s uncle Dickie, was reported to be the first major crackdown on narcotics in Peoria in many years. The political climate was changing, this time with the help of federal officials.
The man pictured standing second from the right is Richard’s uncle Dickie (known variously as “Dickie Carter,” “Dickie Pryor,” or even “Richard Pryor”); here he was named the “kingpin” of the heroin ring in question.
Several of those arrested on drug charges were reported to be members of Jimmy Bell’s orchestra, which had played at the Famous Door, the Pryor family’s tavern in the 1940s. Bell himself narrowly escaped the raid, but a warrant was issued for his arrest.