What did Jimmy do with the Lufthansa $6M cash?

Question

In Goodfellas, Jimmy Conway masterminds the Lufthansa heist which yields $6M in cash (as per the narrator at 1:38:05).

Jimmy "kicked some money upstairs to Paulie" (at 1:48:21). Then, he gave apparently several dozens of thousands to Johnny Roastbeef (who bought a Caddy) and to Frankie Carbone (who bought a $20K mink fur coat), both of whom he later "whacked" for being so flashy with the money.

Henry Hill, one of his best friends and partners in crime who gave him the tip about the Lufthansa opportunity (which he got tipped off about by Morris Kessler), only gets "some Christmas money" looking like only a few thousand dollars:

The rest of the $6M apparently remained in Jimmy's vaults: "I knew Jimmy. He had the cash. It was his." (at 1:48:16)

Still, they both continue to risk the jail by dealing drugs.

That just doesn't make any sense:

1. Why would Jimmy give only a few grand to Henry out of the $6M? Why would Henry not be pissed off by it?
2. Why would Jimmy continue to deal drugs if he could just call it quits and retire?

Answer 1

That just doesn't make any sense:

1. Why would Jimmy give only a few grand to Henry out of the $6M? Why would Henry not be pissed off by it?

In the context of the story told in the film, Jimmy did not want the conspirators to go out and spend the money they had stolen in a noticeable way because eventually that would lead to suspicion and investigation by the police. The way (film) Henry describes this notion, it seems that Henry is on board with it. It also seems like Henry sees it as Jimmy's heist and therefore Jimmy's rules. And he might realize that asking for more money right away might anger Jimmy.

2. Why would Jimmy continue to deal drugs if he could just call it quits and retire?

I wasn't able to easily find information about the real life James Burke dealing drugs after the heist, but I can think of some reasons why it makes sense to keep up the exact same life he had before the heist:

1. Just as spending a lot of money that appeared from nowhere arouse suspicion, so might suddenly ceasing all other money-making activities. It's reasonable to assume that police knew Jimmy dealt drugs and did not have evidence to arrest and convict him, wanted to gather more intelligence before using him to get evidence on someone else, or were bribed to let him conduct business. In the latter case, if he stopped paying the bribes, the bribed police would be both suspicious and without a part of their usual income, so bringing in the Luftansa mastermind would be a great way to make an example of Jimmy and also maybe get a promotion.
2. Athletes don't retire at the end of their first multi-million dollar contract. Musicians don't retire after their first multiplatinum album and world tour. CEOs don't retire right after their company goes public with a $100 million valuation and their stock options vest. Legitimate or not, dealing drugs was Jimmy's career (in the film at least). It could be part of his self-image, his main source of social contact, something that he enjoys, etc.

What did Jimmy do with the Lufthansa $6M cash?

Neither history nor the movie have an answer. The stolen cash and jewels have never been recovered. It makes sense that the movie does not spend screen time speculating or inventing a final destination for the money, since it would not serve the theme or larger plot very well. In real life, James Burke may have slowly distributed and spent all of the money, or hidden it very well and never had a chance to recover it (he died in prison), or he may have had it eaten away by "costs" such as bribes, extortion, etc. The crime family he was associated with prohibited drug dealing, so perhaps he had to pay off mafia bosses to continue to deal drugs (which doesn't make a lot of sense but real life people don't always make sense).