Frank Sobotka
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Frank Sobotka | |
---|---|
David Simon | |
Portrayed by | Chris Bauer |
In-universe information | |
Title | IBS Secretary/Treasurer |
Occupation | Union Leader, Smuggler |
Family | Louis Sobotka (brother), Nick Sobotka (nephew), Three unseen sisters |
Spouse | Unseen wife |
Children | Chester "Ziggy" Sobotka |
Francis "Frank" Sobotka is a fictional character in
Plot
Frank is a respected
In Episode 6, Sobotka lobbies the Maryland state government to promote more employment at the Baltimore shipyards through grants to improve the port. Yet the power of the International Brotherhood of Stevedores (IBS), Sobotka's union, was already diminished. With union membership down, the IBS collaborated with smugglers to offset some of its lost revenue.[1]
Desperate to return prosperity to the docks, he begins making overtures to lobbyists and politicians to support initiatives that will make the port a more attractive shipping location. His two main objectives are to have the
To obtain the necessary funds for paying the
Frank's criminal activities begin to be suspected by the police following a feud with Major Stan Valchek, district commander for the Baltimore Police Department's Southeast District, whose gift of a stained glass window to a local church has been 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 dockworker could have so much disposable income, Valchek persuades Deputy Commissioner Ervin Burrell to assemble a detail to investigate Sobotka's activities.
The investigation gains further traction with the discovery of thirteen dead girls in a shipping container ("can"), who turn out to be prostitutes smuggled in by The Greek and who were killed by the sailors shipping them in for witnessing the death of one of their colleagues (whose body had earlier been tossed overboard and was picked up by Jimmy McNulty).
Frank is enraged that human trafficking is taking place in his port. He confronts Vondas, asking why he wasn't informed about it so that he could have taken extra precautions. Vondas points out that Frank said he did not want to know what the Greeks were smuggling into the country (to distance himself from further criminal liability). Frank says that if anything is breathing inside a container, he needs to know about it.
With detectives asking questions about the dead girls, some strange goings-on with his cell phone, and his suspicions about his friend Officer Beadie Russell's involvement in the case, Frank becomes 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 so they can take on the extra risk. The Greek and Frank agree to this arrangement, but Frank is ever more uneasy, and his world unravels.
Towards the end of the season, Frank is arrested on smuggling charges after the detail is pressured into making arrests. Valchek personally escorts a compliant Frank out of the union hall in handcuffs, and the resulting media attention leads lawmakers to cut their ties. With his efforts to save the port sunk, and with Ziggy arrested for murdering a fence and Nick wanted for selling drugs, Sobotka decides to accept Russell's advice and turn informant on The Greek.
Before passing information to the police, The Greek arranges for a meeting in which Frank will be offered to have a
Frank's body is found in the harbor the following day, with multiple stab wounds and his throat cut. Detectives remark that numerous defensive wounds indicate he died fighting. After his death, his fellow dockworkers, in tribute to Frank, re-elect him as treasurer in defiance of federal warnings, which leads to the dissolution of his local union office.
Miscellaneous
A picture of former
References
- ^ Warren (2011), pp. 201–202.
Bibliography
- Warren, Kenneth W. (2011). "Sociology and The Wire" (PDF). Critical Inquiry. 38 (1). Retrieved February 22, 2024.
Further reading
- Strangleman, Tim; Rhodes, James; Linkon, Sherry (2013). "Introduction to Crumbling Cultures: Deindustrialization, Class, and Memory" (PDF). International Labor and Working-Class History. 84: 7–22. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
- Williams, Linda (2014). On The Wire. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.