John “Johnny” Boone, the legendary figure who led Kentucky’s “Cornbread Mafia" — once the largest domestic marijuana producing organization in the nation — and who was apprehended near Montreal in December after eight years on the run, made his first appearance Wednesday in federal court in Louisville.

Boone, wearing a white T-shirt and khaki pants, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Colin Lindsay that he understood his rights, and his lawyer entered a not-guilty plea for him.

Boone was brought to court amid heavy security; the U.S. attorney's office would not disclose his identity before the appearance, citing security concerns.

Background

LJohnny Boone, leader of Kentucky's 'Cornbread Mafia,' back in US

Ex-'Cornbread Mafia' leader nabbed in Canada

Boone, 73, a legendary figure in Central Kentucky, faces charges on a 2008 indictment of growing and distributing marijuana on his farm in Springfield, where over 2,400 marijuana plants allegedly were found by Kentucky State Police and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The government is also trying to force him to forfeit cash, vehicles, a handgun and an AR-15 rifle.

He fled after a warrant was issued for his arrest, and he faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Boone, who was on the lam and previously featured on “America’s Most Wanted,” was detained last month after being extradited. He appeared in U.S. District Court in Burlington, Vermont, about 90 miles south of Montreal.

He has since been held in New York and Oklahoma City before being flown to Louisville on Wednesday by the U.S. Marshals Service.

The Cornbread Mafia, a group of mostly Kentuckians, pooled their money, machinery, knowledge and labor to produce $350 million in pot seized in Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin, prosecutors said in 1989.

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The organization operated on isolated farms in nine Midwestern states, some of which were guarded by bears and lions, and by workers described by the government as a "paramilitary force.”

Boone’s exploits are the subject of a book, “Cornbread Mafia: A Homegrown Syndicate's Code Of Silence And The Biggest Marijuana Bust In American History,” by Kentucky freelance writer James Higdon.

Then-U.S. Attorney Joe Whittle said in 1989 that 182 tons of marijuana had been seized at 29 sites, including 25 farms outside Kentucky. Sixty-four Kentucky residents were charged, 49 of whom lived in Marion County.

The detention motion says Boone’s criminal history extends back to 1969, including a 1985 conviction for possession with intention to distribute pot, for which he was sentenced to five years, and another conviction for unlawful manufacture of 1,000 plants or more, for which he was sentenced to 20 years and paroled in 1999.

Reporter Andrew Wolfson can be reached at (502) 582-7189 or awolfson@courier-journal.com.

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