The Bluegrass Conspiracy: An Inside Story of Power, Greed, Drugs and Murder

by Sally Denton

When Kentucky Blueblood Drew Thornton parachuted to his death in September 1985 carrying thousands of dollars in cash and 150 pounds of cocaine, the gruesome end of his startling life blew open a scandal that reached to the most secret circles of the U.S. government. This story of Thornton and The Company he served, and the lone heroic fight of State Policeman Ralph Ross against an international web of corruption is one of the most portentous tales of the 20th century.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Crime, History, Book Club, Audiobook, Mystery

407 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this story because I am from Kentucky. I thought the topic of the book was interesting, and the story line was good. However, this book is hard to read and the majority of it moves slow. There are so many people that are introduced that it's hard to keep up with everyone. At the end of the book, updates were given for certain people. I'll be honest, some of these I don't remember! I felt like I should have been taking notes as I read!

The story itself is very interesting. Showing Kentucky, specifically Lexington-area, upper class and their shady dealings. From the high class to law enforcement officials. Links are shown between the Bluegrass State to Vegas and Florida to Columbia, South America. From politicians, to the mafia, to NFL players, to the DEA. The listing of people involved is massive.

However, at the same time that the story is interesting, I find it saddening. To know of the shady doings of people who are there to protect the interest of others, are simply there protecting themselves. To see how the justice system is used to their advantage. And the horrible knowledge that the system isn't always for the people.

[Cwn_annwn_13 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book delves into the life of a Kentucky blueblood who apparently had an adventurish streak and evolved from being a Lexington narcotics detective to being found dead on a rural Kentucky farm with a malfunctioning parachute and multiple kilos of cocaine strapped to his body. (I can't remember the exact number but it was well over a hundred pounds if I remember right, and in case you can't figure this out on your own the parachute malfunctioned because it couldn't handle the weight of the coke) Apparently, this guy was a big part of a drug ring that included other cops, most likely other Kentucky bluebloods and political figures, organized crime figures based in Las Vegas and probably people within the DEA itself. Whose to say this spider web didn't go up even higher? In my opinion the author of this book didn't ask hard enough questions in that direction. Also another police officer involved probably murdered his ex-girlfriend or had knowledge that she was going to be killed because she was possibly going to spill the beans and name names but he was never charged with the murder because a body was never found. I recomend books like Dope Inc., Dark Alliance, former DEA agent Cellie Castillos book, or a book called Barry and the Boys to learn that who the average persons cartoonish vision of who controls the illegal drug trade is not reality.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Lexington area bluebloods (Old Lexingtonians) were/are struggling to keep their land and horse farms due to the encroachment of development and the offers from developers to buy (yes, we do need several more Walgreens on every corner in Bourbon, Woodford and Jessamine Counties, don't we?) their land. This book details Drew's attempt to hang onto the family farms. I, for one, am more than happy when Sheik Mohammed, his brothers and the Irish horse conglomerates purchase and run the Bluegrass farms. If they don't maintain the farms and horse industry, Lexington and environs will be just like Indianapolis with useless commercial crap suburban real estate everywhere...now that's something to strive for, don't you think? It is an interesting story of an attempt to keep an ideal "pure" via crime. Nothing's free, so I hear. If you have ties to KY, this is an interesting book.

[Chrissie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a terrible book, but it's so slow...I kept glazing over, and then couldn't quite keep up with the huge cast of characters! The narrator often reads the second half of a sentence, which is also very distracting! It is a shame, as the true story sounds really interesting.

[Tanya Hurst · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to quit this book a little over halfway through. Just awfully written, and after so many reprints, I don't know how there can be that many typos left throughout. It was really distracting. Also, a book like this with so many players involved in the story really needs to have some photographs included. Half the time, I was trying to find pictures of these people on-line. It just became really old. The writing is disjointed, the story all over the place, and it was a real disappointment. I'm still very interested in the story - the conspiracy, all of it - I just think someone else needs to write it.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

3-3.5 stars if you’ve never lived in Kentucky but easily 4 if you have. I spent 13 years in the Bluegrass including a couple in the mid 70’s when some of this story line was apparently unfolding nearby.

They say truth is stranger than fiction .... the scandal & conspiracy presented in this investigative work rivals anything you’ll watch in prime time.

I did find it challenging to keep track of the extensive list of characters especially as layer upon layer of the story unfolded but overall it held my interest and had me wide eyed as many of the highlighted locations hit very close to my old Kentucky home.

[Nancy Barker · Rating 2 out of 5]

SO MANY characters. I’m from Kentucky and was interested in the story but didn’t realize the events of the book inspired COCAINE BEAR!! Plus there were multiple typos which provokes me.

[Stefanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the topic / subject matter, but it is a hard book to read. It is like reading a text book. Surprised how many typos were missed in the editing process.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Locally infamous book about drug smugglers originally from Lexington Kentucky in the early 1980s. Only of interest to locals. The author doesn't quite fit all the pieces into an overarching conspiracy, but many of the local politicians, businessmen, law enforcement, and socialites who were tarred by the author's brush should have known better and not associated with or defended unsavory characters.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blew my mind. Hard to believe this went on in Kentucky at one time but apparently it did.

[Johnathan Rowe]

Audio version....there was about an hour left when my library loan expired... don't feel inclined to re-borrow it.

[Leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting, but horribly written.

[Melissa Gilbreth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whoa. Absolutely insane true story of the Kentucky wealthy intersecting with Colombian cocaine and guns for drugs and criminals in Texas, Florida, Vegas, Savannah, New Orleans all coming back to Lexington, Kentucky politics. Stop whatever you are doing and read this!!! I hope they make a movie of this book!!!

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book turned out way more interesting than I thought. I was interested to read its content but assumed it would be a boring documentary. It reads like a crime/murder mystery. I live in Lexington so I was able to visualize a lot of the locations mentioned in the book. This book pretty much tells what happens when money, drugs, power and intimidation infect government agencies and politicians. It's hard to believe how corrupt these people were! As for the politicians, I'm not surprised. Politicians can be snakes.

This book isn't that political but I wasn't surprised that the corrupt politicians mentioned were all Democrats. At the end of the book, in the afterword section, the Democrat politicians involved in the drug running were also friends of the Clintons. You've heard the saying "all roads lead to Rome"? Well, I have a saying: "All corruption leads to the Clintons." I'm not saying they were involved in this story, but they were friends of those that were. That's bad enough. A sitting Kentucky Democrat governor that was involved with drug lords didn't see a day in prison. Why? Because power, influence and the Democratic Party can get you out of anything!

The reason I gave it four stars is because although the book keep me interested, its riddled with typos, grammar errors, and terminology misspellings. The one that made me have to stop was the word "numb-chucks". They're called nunchaku! So I have to point out that some military, martial art, tactical items in the book weren't fully researched. It's still a good read but needs an editor to give it the business.

[Erin Chandler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sally Denton’s book caused irreparable damage to many family members and friends. I can’t speak to all of her characters, I have never met Henry Vance or Mike and Bonnie Kelly, never crossed paths with Melanie Flynn or Bill Canan. I can only speak of those foreign to her that I have known my whole life, Brad Bryant, Larry Bryant, Dan Chandler, Lee Chagra, Preston and Anita Madden, Jimmy Lambert, and former Kentucky governor John Y. Brown, and many more who were demonized in this book. Part of me doesn’t blame her, these are fascinating characters and shit was hitting the fan in the seventies and politicians were dirty and cops were dirty, people were living high on the hog. A federal judge got murdered as did a prosecutor as did a beautiful young girl. There was drug smuggling among two of Kentucky’s sons that had access to a world not easily penetrated. Lexington was a tightly sealed society in the 1970s and 80s, and it still is, not accessible to someone like Sally Denton or Ralph Ross. It may have taken decades for the truth to come out but I am glad to finally share an insider's point of view with my new book, and let people know the truth.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible history of a few very crooked Kentuckians who established a very sizable gun/drug smuggling operation in the 1970s-80s. Very sad to hear how corrupt multiple agencies working around Lexington, KY were in those times in addition to rather high level politicians. I hope this is not the case today, but when that much money is involved some people chose $$ over doing what's right. Was also sad to hear that the long term investigator of this case was personally targeted and ruined professionally late in his career as the crooks/politicians set him up. Sometimes it's very hard to do what is right knowing that you and your family will be targeted. Overall, a book worth the time of any Kentuckian to learn about some of the dark sides of the beauty of our state.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for a book club. I did not care for it. It is a true story; and it is very depressing to learn about all of the corruption that existed (s?) in the state of Kentucky. There are so many people and so much detail in the book - it is almost overwhelming and could have been better organized. I'm glad someone dug in and told the story - but it is hard to slog through.

[Ben Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great story in need of even greater editing. Don't misunderstand me, I finished the book. But it could be trimmed by 1/3 and still be a stellar true crime book; but at least it helped provide a plot thread for Justified Season 4 with the Andrew Thompson (actually Andrew Thornton from BGC) character.

[dean fisher]

So far I feel like it's a bit poorly written, making it a slow read for me. I'm interested in the subject and the story, but I'm just not drawn to it like I want to be!

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting stuff. Really kinda weird to read all about when you have lived in the area and recognize everything...

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story, but too many characters introduced. The flow of the story was also hard to follow.

[B. R. Reed · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book opens with a rather shocking event. In Sept 1985 a seasoned citizen in Knoxville, TN wakes up early one morning to find a dead man lying in his driveway. The dead man turns out to be a Lexington, KY based drug smuggler/pilot/ex-cop in possession of 34 kilos of cocaine. It further appears that the man fell out of the sky without deploying his parachute. Ouch. A crashed $250k Cessna airplane (w/o pilots) was found in the NC mountains east of Knoxville on the same morning.

At the time of this “falling man” incident in Tennessee I was a DEA street agent in Los Angeles fighting the “war on drugs” in the city of angels. I was hired due to all the drug-related insanity in south Florida in the late 70s-early 80s which quickly spread across the country. In the 1980s the drug scene in Los Angeles was out of control. In 1989 an intelligent and hardworking DEA agent in my group (squad) executed a search warrant at a Sylmar, CA warehouse which resulted in the seizure of 21 tons of cocaine and $12 million cash. Trucked in from El Paso. The 80s were also a time when pilots like Barry Seal were running guns to the Contras in Central America and returning to the states with large quantities of marijuana & cocaine. The Miami Federal Reserve Bank and other banks in Miami were overflowing with cash (drug money). Miami was the murder capitol of America. The Medellin & the Cali Cartels were on the rise.

The incident in Knoxville sounds very interesting: 34 kilos of coke, an identified dead man & known smuggler, guns, some cash, interesting phone numbers etc. Case closed. Not exactly. The pilot, Drew Thornton, was part of a network of dirty ex-Lexington cops turned gun runners/drug traffickers with the support of dirty politicians in Lexington. The “plot” includes a murdered federal judge in Texas, a murdered prosecutor in FL and murdered girlfriends in KY. Throw in Gov John Y Brown of KFC fame and his wife, Phyllis George, for a little comedy. Kentucky, the state run like a business. Right. Was this KY criminal enterprise protected by elements of the CIA, DEA, Customs and the Lexington establishment? I don’t know. It certainly appears that the DEA boss (RAC Harold Brown) in Louisville was a member of and supporter of a continuing criminal enterprise known as “the Company.” No doubt several players in Lexington were involved.

Enter Kentucky State policeman Ralph Ross, the J Edgar Hoover of Kentucky. The good guy who probably had a file on anybody in Kentucky involved in any sort of shady activity. It was his business to know the players in his state. Ross is the star of the story on the investigative side of things. He was smart, analytic, dogged and possessed the ability to connect the dots. He was also much more politically savvy than the good old boy persona he projected. He had recruited numerous sources, ran surveillance teams, utilized pen registers and more to keep in the know. He was also a big thorn in the side of “the Company” (the members of the Bluegrass Conspiracy).

Being a fan of football from my father’s generation (he was a ‘52 UK grad and played football for Bear Bryant), I was very interested in the involvement of Paul Hornung & Lance Alworth with the Company. Not much really, unless I missed something. Thornton’s partner, Bradley Bryant, asked Alworth in Vegas if he’d be interested in investing in a drug load, the returns would be high. Paul Hornung (from Louisville) was involved in some business activities with some of the Lexington politicians & businessmen and was a known gambler. However, if Hornung or Alworth committed any criminal acts with the Lexington group it was not reported in the book. I assume Alworth was interviewed, perhaps Hornung was too. I get the feeling that Sally Denton brought up the Alworth and Hornung names to help sell books.

In the book there is reference to an airplane broker in south Florida by the name Bertram Gordon. He was a documented DEA informant who was supposed to be controlled by and working for DEA. He was supplying planes & pilots for traffickers. Great source if utilized correctly. He is a prime example (from what I know about him) of an informant “snitching” on one group and doing a deal with another group behind DEA’s back. These kind of informants can cause major problems for DEA or any other agency. They’re slick talkers who are always looking out for #1. If they ever get caught committing a crime they always have someone to give up. I wonder if Thornton was playing the same game? I don’t know.

All in all a very interesting story. What exactly happened on that September night over Tennessee is open for speculation. Dumping kilos of cocaine over wooded mountains w/o crews immediately picking them up makes no sense. Was Thornton being chased in the sky or not? Customs says no. Was there a co-pilot? It seems to me Thornton was in a pretty big hurry to bail. Somehow he must have been injured in the process of bailing out and did not pull the primary rip chord during free fall. The legend in his own mind bites the dust. Anyway, some shady activity in Lexington was finally exposed.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Bluegrass Conspiracy by Sally Denton (Avon 1990) (363.45). So this is the state of nonfiction? Nobody could make up a story like this one with a straight face, but this is apparently all true. In September of 1985, a local television station in Knoxville, Tennessee (my home town) reported on the evening news that a resident of Knoxville sat at his kitchen table that morning drinking coffee when he noticed a strange heap in his backyard. When he went to see about it, he found a dead parachutist laying on his driveway. The dead man had several thousand dollars in his pockets as well as a duffle bag filled with close to a hundred pounds of cocaine strapped to his leg. It was ultimately discovered that the dead man was one Andrew Thornton of Lexington, Kentucky. Thornton was a member of a venture known as “The Company” which was an affiliation of wealthy drug smugglers who all hailed from the Bluegrass State. It was later learned that on the fatal trip Thornton and a copilot had tossed duffel bag after duffle bag of cocaine from their plane into the Chattahoochee National Forest for later recovery. A truly odd sidebar to this smuggling conspiracy occurred the following year when an agent of the Tennessee Wildlife Commission stumbled upon the carcass of a black bear in the national forest that had found and feasted upon one of the cocaine-filled duffels. They recovered the bear's remains on top of the cocaine bag. He literally ate until it poisoned him, and he died on the spot. You can look it up. My rating: 6/10, finished 5/13/17.

[Richard Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I grew up in Lexington. There are many familiar locations here. I learned to swim at the Stoner Creek Country Club in Paris at the same time that this book says that Drew Thornton was hanging out there as a teenager. I had more than a few drinks at the Library in its heyday. All of the neighborhoods, street names and schools are familiar to me. But Sally Denton completely failed to capture any sense of place for me. Her words never for a minute took me back to my childhood. This is a beautiful place with many traditions, but she never makes it sing.

And then there are her characters... I found them flat. It's true that there are a lot of boorish louts in the Bluegrass, including many of the people in law enforcement and a lot of the people who claim to be part of the local aristocracy. But the Bluegrass is also filled with colorful and interesting people who are largely absent from this book, or at least they don't come across as being interesting. The only partial exception is Drew Thornton who is a raging asshole, but sometimes manages to be an interesting asshole. Ms. Denton tries to impart an air of glamour to Lexington society that it just doesn't have and that didn't work for me.

Fortunately, I was never personally acquainted with any of these people. I never hung out with horsey people or cops or big drug dealers. I suppose I could have. But why would I have wanted to? I would have needed the cocaine just to keep from nodding off from boredom.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I debated how to rate this book. As a native Kentuckian, I wanted to like it and considered 4 stars however it is too flawed for that. 3 stars is about the best I could do . I’m just not sure how much appeal it offers to a non-Kentuckian.

I know the Lexington area quite well and have family there. I don’t question the existence of some debauchery and deception portrayed. However, Lexington is a wealthy little town in the timeframe of the book with good people —- not one dominated by the minority of bad actors despite the way the author portrays the area.

The story is still quite compelling, even if that appeal is weighted toward those with interest in KY and can relate to the locations and in some cases to the names involved.

The writing is convoluted and drawn out. This did not warrant a 450 page book! The story involved a lot of people - too many to keep up with in fact. It lacked competent editing with multiple examples of spelling, grammar and story flow involved. In the most simple sense, these should have been caught.

The severity and nature of the crimes and those involved create a buildup in expectations that are hardly resolved in the disappointing concluding chapters. It makes one wonder what the word “conspiracy” relates to in the title - the nature of the crimes/criminals themselves or the dishonesty among the government entities and officials providing the coverups.

Overall I still enjoyed the book but I wished this story had been in the hands is more competent author and publishing staff.

[Zay Pinto · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is phenomenal.

Surprisingly, The Bluegrass Conspiracy lives up to the cover quote by the Wall Street Journal, “Larger than real-life thriller.” Journalist Sally Denton explores an endless drug ring that’s larger than anyone could’ve imagined through the heart of Kentucky, which is Lexington.

There’s a bevy of people with long titles and places of power, this book isn’t cut out for the weak. It’s hard to follow everyone and their roles in the book because there’s an exhaustive list of involved subjects. However, that shouldn’t deter someone from this great read.

Unfortunately, this book is very much imperfect. There’s numerous unexplainable grammatical errors, one page contained three of them. This is especially odd given that it’s a revised edition- maybe I have a bad print. Also, there does seem to be some decent flub in between midway through the first book to the back half of the second book. This could’ve very well been sectioned off into three separate installments, for better or worse.

Nonetheless, I’m astonished at the level of research and dedication the book exemplified. It felt truly journalistic by its objectivity despite the author’s obvious rapport with the lead investigator that practically plays the main character. I’m extremely shocked to never hear of this book before, I can see that it’s a New York Times Best Seller. It’s fantastic.

[Michele · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I really wanted to be "all in" on TBC. I'm a lifelong Kentuckian, lived/worked decades in Lexington. I gave it a good shot.

Drew Thornton certainly had my attention after realizing he went to one of the schools as I in my hometown. After that, characters were introduced right and left and read more like a summary of events and not like a novel.

So I broke up w the book 😱 I hated (#sorrynotsorry) to do this-but life is too short and there are too many books out there waiting to be devoured. I did come away wanting to learn more about my state's former governors (I'm looking at you, Julian Carroll & John Y. Brown). 😳🤔

If it hasn't been already-w the right screenwriters and actors, I could see TBC being made into a suspenseful movie (the bones/truth are there) that is more quickly and clearly executed in pace and character/plot development.

[Ursula Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Convoluted Conspiracy

This was an account of corruption in Kentucky, including drugs, smuggling and murder. A convoluted story, you need notes to keep up with all the players. The main protagonists are Drew Thornton, a well heeled Kentucky former military and police officer who became a drug smuggler and his nemesis Ralph Ross a good cop trying to catch bad guys who got blindsided along with way. It also included corruption in the Lexington, Kentucky police force and drama with the feds as well. A number of other readers have noted the mispronounced words and lack of authentic dialect in the audio book version. I have to agree. The narrator Kate Mulligan sounded like she was reading from a script. The rote and dull tone could put you to sleep. An interesting read. The afterward gave a follow-up about the major players. The book didn't really end, it just stopped.

[William Sariego · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had been in Kentucky just two years when Drew Thornton parachuted to his death, so the story was but a footnote to my college woes at the time. I would settle in Kentucky after school, and pay more attention as I learned how Kentucky had been a smuggling focal point for weed in the 70's and cocaine in the 80's. The book came out in 2016 and I thought about getting a copy but never did. Then I saw that silly but cool movie, Cocaine Bear a couple weeks ago, and finally got a copy!

It makes for fascinating reading. How this tale of drugs and detective work has not been made into a major motion picture I have no idea. It was fascinating reading about activities in localities of which I have become well familiar, and the involvement of some of the Bluegrass elite; John Y. Brown and Anita Madden for example. Highly recommended.

[Rae’s Reads & Recs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nonfiction is still not my jam, but this was interesting. Being from the area it was cool to know all the landmarks and places that were being discussed. It’s crazy to learn just how tangled up and corrupt the Lexington police/attorneys/politics were in the 70s/80s. I do feel that the “good ole boy” mentality still runs strong in smaller KY towns.

There were also a LOT of people to keep up with throughout the book and I felt like some parts dragged. So many people were intertwined in this web with how many different crimes occurred around the country. Also sad we only got a one-liner about cocaine bear….

If you like politics, crooked cops, murder, mystery, kentucky, or a whole lot of cocaine you should read I guess😂