Godfather of Grass deported from Canada to face pot charges in the U.S.
BURLINGTON, Vt. — A man known as the Godfather of Grass, who escaped the grasp of U.S. federal agents almost a decade ago, was deported from Canada on Wednesday and was being held in a Vermont prison pending his return to Kentucky to face marijuana charges.
John Robert (Johnny) Boone was turned over to U.S. authorities by Canadian officials at the Highgate Springs port of entry. He was then taken to federal court in Burlington, Vt., where he was ordered held until he can be returned to his home state, Deputy U.S. Marshal John Curtis said.
Boone, 73, was convicted in the 1980s and spent a decade in prison for what prosecutors called the “largest domestic marijuana syndicate in American history.” They said he was the head of the Cornbread Mafia, which had 29 farms in Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas and Wisconsin.
Eventually, 70 Kentucky residents were charged with growing 165 tonnes of marijuana.