Cannabis Blog

With every "Run Johnny Run!" posted on his Facebook fan page, John Robert Boone, a marijuana-growing outlaw, is becoming more and more of a folk hero.

Boone, a Kentucky fugitive who resembles Santa Claus, vanished like a puff of smoke two years ago as authorities closed in on his farm to seize 2,400 pot plants.

Dubbed the "King of Pot" and the "Godfather of Grass," Boone, 67, has been on the run ever since.

The Facebook page set up for him has more than 1,700 fans.

"He was just a good ol' country boy - a farmer," Joe Pendleton, whose Kentucky shop sells "Run, Johnny, Run" T-shirts, told the Associated Press. "He's not robbing banks or nothing."

But Boone is facing a life sentence in prison if caught and convicted of growing pot for a third time.

Boone was convicted in the 1980s of taking part in what prosecutors called the "largest domestic marijuana syndicate in American history."

The group was accused of growing 182 tons of marijuana and labeled the "Cornbread Mafia." Boone, described as the group's leader, served more than a decade in prison.

Federal authorities aren't calling him violent, but his record dates back to the 1960s and includes charges of wanton endangerment and illegal firearms possession.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/