CornBreadMafiagate: I'm Not Sure How "Ex-Cornbread Mafia Member [Les Berry Jr., Got] Presidential Pardon [From POTUS Barack Obama]." Maybe, He Gave A Lot Of Campaign Contribution.
Ex-Cornbread Mafia member gets presidential pardon
By BRETT BARROUQUERE
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- 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.
Berry, a one-time associate of 68-year-old Johnny Boone, a fugitive known as the "Godfather of Grass" and the "King of Pot," is now free of the legal taint carried by a criminal conviction. President Barack Obama pardoned Berry on Nov. 21, restoring his rights to vote and carry a firearm. No reason was given for granting the pardon.
Berry, 60 and declined to be interviewed about his pursuit and receipt of the pardon. But, the lead investigator in the "Cornbread Mafia" case said "I'm good with it" after Berry was pardoned.
"Fair is fair. The guy made a choice to commit a crime," said 63-year-old Phillip Wagner, who spent 16 years with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension before retiring in 2003. "Let the man get on with his life."
But Wisconsin State Trooper Arden Asp, who arrested Berry after he fled the farm, said a pardon doesn't make any sense.
"I guess I'm rather surprised," Asp told The Associated Press.
Berry, a former U.S. Marine, was a farm worker in west-central Minnesota for the "Cornbread Mafia" for about three weeks when the raid occurred. He slipped out of the barn and made his way to a small Minnesota town, bought a 1972 Chevy Impala and drove east with six others before being caught.
Prosecutors said they found 48 tons of marijuana along with more than a dozen automatic and semiautomatic weapons and sophisticated alarms. The operation included a string of 29 farms in Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas and Wisconsin.
Boone was tagged by prosecutors as the group's leader. Eventually, 70 Kentuckians, including Berry, were accused of growing 182 tons of marijuana. Boone went to prison for more than a decade and many others got six-month sentences.
Jim Higdon, a Lebanon, Ky.-based writer whose book "The Cornbread Mafia" is scheduled for release in April, said prosecutors were tougher with Berry than necessary, in part, because he wouldn't talk about how the growing operation and farm worked.
"Even though he got a raw deal, he accepted it in silence," Higdon said.
Wagner, who lives in northeast Minnesota, said Berry's pardon makes sense now because society has a more relaxed attitude toward marijuana and non-violent people involved with the operation.
"I think society as a whole would say `OK, the guy did his time, he paid the price'," Wagner said.
Based on what he knows of the case, Asp doesn't see any reason for a pardon.
"On the surface of everything we dealt with there, I would have to question the call on granting him a pardon," said Asp, a trooper for 34 years.
The "Cornbread Mafia," a name the group stuck on itself, and Berry were products of central Kentucky, an area dotted with small towns, corn fields, bourbon distilleries - and a colorful history of fostering illegal activities.
The area was home to moonshine runners during Prohibition, who often darted into rows of corn stalks and barns to hide from federal agents. In the early 1980s, as the economy soured and prices for tobacco and farm products dropped, parts of central Kentucky had unemployment rates nearing 14 percent. The rate in the area now is around 9 percent - similar to the national average.
It's also an area that doesn't have much to say to law enforcement or outsiders.
"They're pretty tight-lipped," said Deputy U.S. Marshal James Habib, who is leading the search for Boone.
Boone resurfaced in the eyes of law enforcement in 2008, when federal agents raided his farm in Springfield, about 65 miles southeast of Louisville, and seized 2,400 marijuana plants. Boone vanished and Habib said investigators haven't been able to track Boone's whereabouts since.
"It's been about three years since we had any good leads on where he is," Habib said.
By BRETT BARROUQUERE
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- 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.
Berry, a one-time associate of 68-year-old Johnny Boone, a fugitive known as the "Godfather of Grass" and the "King of Pot," is now free of the legal taint carried by a criminal conviction. President Barack Obama pardoned Berry on Nov. 21, restoring his rights to vote and carry a firearm. No reason was given for granting the pardon.
Berry, 60 and declined to be interviewed about his pursuit and receipt of the pardon. But, the lead investigator in the "Cornbread Mafia" case said "I'm good with it" after Berry was pardoned.
"Fair is fair. The guy made a choice to commit a crime," said 63-year-old Phillip Wagner, who spent 16 years with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension before retiring in 2003. "Let the man get on with his life."
But Wisconsin State Trooper Arden Asp, who arrested Berry after he fled the farm, said a pardon doesn't make any sense.
"I guess I'm rather surprised," Asp told The Associated Press.
Berry, a former U.S. Marine, was a farm worker in west-central Minnesota for the "Cornbread Mafia" for about three weeks when the raid occurred. He slipped out of the barn and made his way to a small Minnesota town, bought a 1972 Chevy Impala and drove east with six others before being caught.
Prosecutors said they found 48 tons of marijuana along with more than a dozen automatic and semiautomatic weapons and sophisticated alarms. The operation included a string of 29 farms in Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas and Wisconsin.
Boone was tagged by prosecutors as the group's leader. Eventually, 70 Kentuckians, including Berry, were accused of growing 182 tons of marijuana. Boone went to prison for more than a decade and many others got six-month sentences.
Jim Higdon, a Lebanon, Ky.-based writer whose book "The Cornbread Mafia" is scheduled for release in April, said prosecutors were tougher with Berry than necessary, in part, because he wouldn't talk about how the growing operation and farm worked.
"Even though he got a raw deal, he accepted it in silence," Higdon said.
Wagner, who lives in northeast Minnesota, said Berry's pardon makes sense now because society has a more relaxed attitude toward marijuana and non-violent people involved with the operation.
"I think society as a whole would say `OK, the guy did his time, he paid the price'," Wagner said.
Based on what he knows of the case, Asp doesn't see any reason for a pardon.
"On the surface of everything we dealt with there, I would have to question the call on granting him a pardon," said Asp, a trooper for 34 years.
The "Cornbread Mafia," a name the group stuck on itself, and Berry were products of central Kentucky, an area dotted with small towns, corn fields, bourbon distilleries - and a colorful history of fostering illegal activities.
The area was home to moonshine runners during Prohibition, who often darted into rows of corn stalks and barns to hide from federal agents. In the early 1980s, as the economy soured and prices for tobacco and farm products dropped, parts of central Kentucky had unemployment rates nearing 14 percent. The rate in the area now is around 9 percent - similar to the national average.
It's also an area that doesn't have much to say to law enforcement or outsiders.
"They're pretty tight-lipped," said Deputy U.S. Marshal James Habib, who is leading the search for Boone.
Boone resurfaced in the eyes of law enforcement in 2008, when federal agents raided his farm in Springfield, about 65 miles southeast of Louisville, and seized 2,400 marijuana plants. Boone vanished and Habib said investigators haven't been able to track Boone's whereabouts since.
"It's been about three years since we had any good leads on where he is," Habib said.
Labels: Crime, Keeping them honest, POTUS Barack Obama, Punishment
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 10:27 AM
1 Comments:
Osi,
Tsk, tsk. Your speculation is incorrect. Doing a quick search on the FEC.gov database would show you that Les Berry has made zero campaign contribution to federal candidates.
Nor did his congressman, a REPUBLICAN, know anything about it.
Perhaps the president pardoned Berry because it was the right thing to do.
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