by James Higdon
Harold Brown was the head DEA agent in Louisville from 1971 until he resigned in 1981 during an investigation into allegations that he participated in the sorts of large-scale drug trafficking operations that he should have been preventing. After police determined he sold poison to a teenager in Florida, Brown turned up dead from a gunshot wound to the head, an incident that was ruled a suicide. PUBLIC DOMAIN
When the cops spotted a marijuana farm from the air, the growers were frequently steps ahead of the police and often able to harvest some of a crop even after being spotted and just before the cops arrived on the scene. A truckload of pot could be worth $30,000. PHOTOGRAPH BY STEVE LOWERY, AUTHOR'S COLLECTION
Johnny Boone (front row, second from left) with his arm around Jimmy Bickett (front row, first on left) and other friends inside Manchester FCI. Joe Keith Bickett is standing in the center of the back row. The photo is damaged because it was saved by its owner for nearly a decade as one of his few possessions. PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF JOHNNY BOONE
In an undated photo, Jeffrey Boone visits his father, Johnny, in prison. PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF JOHNNY BOONE
Jimmy Bickett (right) in prison in April 2004 with his buddy, Leon Hershel Coffelt, from Tennessee, who was released from prison in 2011 after serving a thirty-year sentence for pot. PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF JIMMY BICKETT
To discourage visitors to his farm, Johnny Boone built these elaborate bone sculptures on his property, extending down the entirety of his mile-long driveway. It's more effective than a KEEP OUT sign and illustrates the methodical nature of Boone's creativity. PHOTOGRAPHS © JAMES HIGDON
In the 2000s, Johnny Boone was often spotted cruising around Marion and Washington Counties in his truck, whose dashboard was filled with feathers, bones and other examples of his interest in natural and Native American artifacts. Can you find the suction-cup tipped arrow? PHOTOGRAPH © JAMES HIGDON
This photo, taken by the author in 2007, landed the author in the crosshairs of a federal manhunt when Johnny Boone became a fugitive in 2008. Where was the photo taken? That's a good question. PHOTOGRAPH © JAMES HIGDON
This photo was taken on March 21, 2008, during the author's final visit with Johnny Boone before he became a fugitive. PHOTOGRAPH © JAMES HIGDON
* "Fifty thousand pounds? That's nothing," said one Marion County grower.
Table of Contents
Preface: Tina Tells Ike: "It's Gonna Work Out Fine" . .
I: A County Is Born: Catholic Migration, the Civil War, Prohibition and John Dillinger . .
The Hot Air-Conditioner Incident, the Lebanese Mayor of Lebanon and the Killing of Charlie Stiles
The Dark Side of Cornbread, Starring Garland Russell . . . . . . . . . .
"This Is Some Absolutely Dynamite Pot Here," the Police Said . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTERS: Cornbread in the Tropics, the Cops Don't Trust the DEA and Jimmy Bickett Sees Johnny Boone
Growers versus the Drought of 1983, a Rash of Raywick Killings and a Drug Investigation Gone Wrong .
How the Jesuit College at St. Mary's Became the First Private Prison in America . . . . . .
Johnny Boone Becomes "Mr. Grass" . . . .
The DEA Wants to Know, "Where Did You Get This Lion?" . . . . . . . . . . .
Io: The "Cornbread" Press Conference . . . . .
I I: "Welcome to the Gladiator Arena" . . . . .
The US Marshals versus James Higdon . . . .
Notes and Sources . . . . . . . . . . . .
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Acknowledgments and About the Author . . . . . .
By 1980, the government estimated that Shewmaker sold forty thousand to fifty thousand pounds of hom
