Johnny Boone remains in Canadian jail until Thursday’s deportation hearing

NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT

Saturday, Dec. 24, 2016, 7 p.m. — Cornbread Mafia kingpin John Robert “Johnny” Boone will spend another week in a Canadian jail following his arrest Thursday by Montreal Police at a shopping center in Montreal.

JOHN ROBERT “JOHNNY” BOONE

Boone, 73, was arrested by Montreal police Thursday afternoon at a shopping center at the corner of Ste-Catherine St. W. and Atwater Ave. His arrest puts an end to his eight-year flight from police after he was indicted on two counts of large-scale marijuana production in 2008.

Those charges stem from the 2008 police raid of his Washington County farm, where officers discovered more than 1,000 marijuana plants. A conviction on the charges would be a “third strike” for Boone, which under federal guidelines could mean a sentence of life in prison.

Boone is being held at the Rivière-des-Prairies Detention Centre where he had a hearing Friday afternoon before an adjudicator with Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board.

According to the Montreal Gazette, Boone refused to answer any questions after the Montreal police turned him over to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers.

The border patrol said they believe Boone entered Canada illegally and has lived underground ever since. Investigators do not know when he entered the country but they first received information he was in Canada in September.

The Montreal Gazette reported Boone was calm but refused to answer any questions. He was ordered to remain in jail based on his being a flight risk.

Boone’s next appearance in court will be at a detention hearing Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016.

Boone’s involvement with the “Cornbread Mafia” was chronicled in Jim Higdon’s book, “Cornbread Mafia: A Homegrown Syndicate’s Code Of Silence And The Biggest Marijuana Bust In American History.”

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