John De Plume attended Boston University in the early 1990’s. He maintained a 3.93 GPA his first 2 years there. He rarely went out clubbing or partying, but did go to the gym 6 days a week. He often traveled home on the weekends to spend time with his High School sweetheart. In his junior year, he moved off campus into an apartment with some friends. They threw keg parties every few weeks to pay the rent. Then, John got mono. Through a strange string of events, and due to the bureaucracy of the school, John lost his National Merit Scholarship. John was mad, and decided that rules existed to keep him from getting ahead in life. “Any fool can make a rule, and every fool will follow it” he said to himself. And he started making his own rules. He and his partner created a coast to coast pot distribution ring, selling “Commercial Grade” Mexican brick weed, or Mersh.

By the time they were arrested, the DEA estimated that John had earned $24 million dollars. They had attorneys on retainer, full time body guards, a network of people working for them and with them. They gave their employees medical insurance! According to the ATF Special Agent in Charge who was part of the task force that brought them down, John had created “The most sophisticated operation I have seen in over 20 years on the job.”