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Tag Archives: the “Cornbread Mafia

Johnny Boone,  known as the “Godfather of Grass

By BRETT BARROUQUERE,   AP  and  Chicago Tribune

LOUISVILLE, Ky.— As state and federal investigators came through the front door of a barn in Minnesota during a bust of the “Cornbread Mafia” in October 1987, Les Berry Jr. went out the back with six others and nearly escaped — captured the next day in Wisconsin. Now after a conviction and prison time, his slate has been wiped clean by a presidential pardon this month.

The Loretto, Ky., man pleaded guilty in 1988 to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana and serve three years in federal prison for playing a bit part in what federal prosecutors described as one of the largest domestic marijuana syndicates in the country

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