Frank Sobotka
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Frank Sobotka | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| First appearance | "Ebb Tide" (episode 2.01) |
| Last appearance | "Port in a Storm" (episode 2.12) |
| Cause/reason | Murdered by The Greeks |
| Created by | David Simon |
| Portrayed by | Chris Bauer |
| Episode count | 12 |
| Information | |
| Age | 40s (Deceased) |
| Date of death | 2003 |
| Occupation | Union Leader, Smuggler |
| Title | IBS Secretary/Treasurer |
| Family | Louis Sobotka (brother), Nick Sobotka (nephew) |
| Spouse(s) | Unseen wife |
| Children | Chester "Ziggy" Sobotka |
Frank Sobotka is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Chris Bauer.
[edit] Biography
Frank is a Polish-American secretary treasurer for the International Brotherhood of Stevedores at the Baltimore docks. As the pater familias for the docks' longshoremen population, it was his job to manage the finances of the union and make sure that the workers were taken care of - a task made harder by the decline of Baltimore's shipping industry and the lack of available hours.
Desperate to return prosperity to the docks, Frank began making overtures to lobbyists and politicians to support initatives that would make the port a more attractive shipping location. His two main objectives were to have the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal dredged to increase the depth for incoming ships and to re-open the grain pier. Bruce DiBagio, an old friend and lobbyist, served as the go-between for Sobotka and politicians such as Senator Clay Davis.
To obtain the funds necessary for paying these bribes, Sobotka made an arrangement with Eastern European gangsters "The Greek" and Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos to smuggle illegal goods through the port. Ships with contraband such as drugs and prostitutes would be tagged by Frank's union cohort Thomas "Horseface" Pakusa, the crates disappearing in the computer system and driven out by the Greek's man Sergei "Serge" Malatov. Frank's nephew Nick Sobotka, another union member, acted as go-between for his uncle and Vondas by passing messages and delivering lists of containers to be moved. His son Chester "Ziggy" Sobotka would often accompany Nick to these meetings, a move Frank was unaware of.
Frank's criminal activities became known to the police following a feud with Major Stanislaus Valchek, whose gift of a stained glass window to a local church was eclipsed by Sobotka's more elaborate window (a move to have the priest get Frank closer to a senator in his congregation). Suspicious of how a longshoreman could have so much disposable income, Valchek persuaded Deputy Commissioner Ervin Burrell to put together a detail to investigate Sobotka's activties. The investigation gained further traction with the discovery of 13 dead girls in a shipping can – prostitutes smuggled in by the Greek.
Sobotka became enraged about human smuggling on his port, threatening Vondas and demanding no other live containers come through. With detectives asking questions about the dead girls, some strange goings-on with his cell-phone and his own suspicions about his friend Officer Russell's involvement in the case, Sobotka became increasingly nervous. He demands to meet The Greek and tells him he wants out. The Greek, who needs Frank's system, objects. Nick then asks for more money for them to take on the extra risk. The Greek and Sobotka agree to this arrangement - Frank needs the money — but Sobotka is ever more uneasy — he sees this relationship spiraling out of control.
Near the end of the second season, Frank was arrested on smuggling charges after the detail was pressured into making arrests. Valchek personally escorted Frank out of the union hall in handcuffs, and the resulting media attention led lawmakers to cut their ties. With his efforts to save the port sunk and his family facing legal charges (Ziggy for murder, Nick for selling drugs), Sobotka decided on advice from Beadie Russell to turn informant on the Greek.
However, before testifying, the Greek managed to lure Sobotka into a meeting with a deal that would supposedly guarantee Ziggy's freedom. Originally, the Greek's intention merely focused on securing Frank's loyalty to his organization; however, when his inside man in the FBI tipped him off that Sobotka was being registered as a federal informant, the Greek decided that loyalty was no longer an issue. Frank's body was found in the harbor the next day, stabbed multiple times and with his throat cut.
After his death, he was re-elected as treasurer in defiance of federal warnings, leading to the dissolution of his local union office.
[edit] References
- ^ Character profile - Frank Sobotka. HBO (2004). Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
