A man known as the Godfather of Grass who escaped the grasp of U.S. federal agents almost a decade ago was deported from Canada on Wednesday and was being held in a Vermont prison pending his return to Kentucky to face marijuana charges.
Deputy U.S. Marshal John Curtis says John Robert (Johnny) Boone was turned over to U.S. authorities by Canadian officials at the Highgate Springs port of entry.
He was taken to federal court in Burlington, Vt., where he was ordered held until he can be returned to his home state.
Boone, 73, was convicted in the 1980s and spent a decade in prison for what prosecutors called the ``largest domestic marijuana syndicate in American history.''
They say he was the head of the Cornbread Mafia, which had 29 farms in Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas and Wisconsin.
Eventually, 70 Kentucky residents were charged with growing about 165 tonnes of marijuana.
Boone, who was featured on the TV show ``America's Most Wanted'' and sparked a Facebook page called Run, Johnny, Run, has been described as a tattooed Santa Claus.
U.S. authorities who searched for him said that proved as difficult as ``trying to catch a ghost.''
Boone, also known as the King of Pot, fled to Canada after a 2008 indictment on more federal marijuana charges in Kentucky.
He was arrested in December by Montreal police at a shopping centre.