My Most-Wanted Marijuana Mom

“You are about to enter a world of drug smuggling, drug greed, and drug murder.” With those words, the West Palm Beach assistant DA began the 1986 murder trial of Judy “Haas” McNelis. The only woman on the U.S. Federal Marshal’s 15 Most-Wanted List, she gained infamy as head of the “Haas Organization,” a reputed $267 million per year marijuana empire. But before her jet-set lifestyle as a drug “queen-pin,” Haas was simply a divorcée with two young children and a penchant for growing pot.
David McNelis’ candid memoir recounts his life with a brash, free-spirited mother determined to achieve success in the male-dominated world of international narcotics smuggling. A studious kid striving for normalcy, McNelis is thrust into an extraordinary adventure where dealers, smugglers, daredevil pilots, federal agents, hitmen, and even an accused KGB spy all become part of “normal” life.

Since his youth as a self-described “bookish Eagle Scout,” David Michael McNelis, author and avid outdoorsman, has been a professional musician, inventor, ship’s captain, world traveler, and teacher. He lives in Chandler, Arizona.

David Michael McNelis
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 214
Bibliographic Info: 20 photos, index
Copyright Date: 2018
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7308-0
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3311-4
Imprint: Exposit Books

Prologue 1
1. Saturday Night in Buckeye 5
2. Kindergarten for Grownups 11
3. El Loco 19
4. South of the Border 30
5. Florida 40
6. The Problem with Sunflowers 51
7. Jammin’ in Jamaica 62
8. “We jammin’, yah?” 73
9. A Parallel Universe 83
10. High Times 88
11. Loose Lips Sink Ships 103
12. Take Down 108
13. Escape 119
14. Cortez 131
15. Coming Up for Air 144
16. Take Down—Part Deux 160
17. Pawn Sacrifice 170
18. A Fight to the Death 176
19. The Hail Mary 187
20. After the Gold Rush 196
21. Seedlings 200
Index 205