He Lost His Life to Prison And Now He’s Giving Others a Chance | George Martorano | DSH #1878

Summary

Digital Social Hour – Episode DSH #1878

He Lost His Life to Prison And Now He’s Giving Others a Chance | Guest: George Martorano

Host: Sean Kelly
Date: March 22, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of Digital Social Hour features an in-depth, unfiltered conversation between host Sean Kelly and ex-federal prisoner and cannabis entrepreneur George Martorano. Martorano, who spent over 32 years incarcerated for non-violent marijuana offenses, opens up about his extraordinary life—including mob connections, prison survival, regrets, redemption, and his mission to create opportunities through legal cannabis. The discussion balances jaw-dropping anecdotes with personal reflection, offering listeners a candid glimpse into a life shaped by crime, consequence, and renewal.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Early Life & Philly Mob Connections

• Martorano describes his upbringing:
  • His father was a well-known gangster and his godfather, Angelo Bruno, ran Philadelphia for over 20 years ([00:00], [04:00]).
  • “I was in the life, but not in the life. My life was a cannabis guy.” (Martorano, [04:25])

2. Infamous Crimes & Wild Stories

• Venezuelan Kidnapping Scheme ([13:07]–[16:39]):
  • As a young man, Martorano devised a scheme to kidnap an oil executive, sending a severed (morgue-sourced) finger as proof, and demanded $2 million.
  • “Guess what? Like a dope, I forgot to ask for American money. They sent me $2 million in a pickup truck with Venezuelan money.” ([00:39], story repeated [14:32])
  • In the end, the $2 million equated to about $8,000, all spent partying in two weeks.
  • “The hardest slap I ever got, from a woman… She was from the neighborhood.” ([15:34])

3. Cannabis Career & Industry Challenges

• Current focus: Running "The Grow Father," a successful cannabis brand in New Jersey ([01:00]).
  • Products in 153+ dispensaries; “We haven’t got a bad review.” ([01:08])
  • Frustration with New Jersey regulations: “They took all my money for licensing… But I cannot advertise one penny in this state.” ([01:15])
• Martorano’s pride is in job creation: “I’m most proud of… creating jobs for young people. I hope before I leave this world, The Grow Father is the biggest brand in America.” ([02:56])

4. Prison: Time Served and Solitary Confinement

• Martorano did over 32 years ("did more time for weed than anyone in the world"), five of them in solitary ([02:26], [04:00]).
  • "You know what five years in solitary is? My eyes are damaged because of it." ([02:36])
  • "I was a non violent first offender. But once you're targeted... They thought I had the secrets to the Philly mob, which was bullshit." ([04:04])
• Life sentence, no parole: the first non-violent first offender in Pennsylvania to get such a sentence ([08:07]).

5. Prison Violence & Survival

• “There's no fights in prison. There's killings… I've seen guys laying on the floor getting stabbed and sparks come out under her body.” ([20:08])
• Notorious inmates: mentions his workout partner Daryl Holmes who “cut people's heads off in prison.” ([20:33])

6. Appealing Sentences and Never Giving Up

• “I'm the most appealed federal prisoner to date. I did 32 appeals. Nobody has more appeals than me. I never gave up.” ([22:27])

7. Regrets & Redemption

• On regrets: “Anybody thinks they don’t do a lot of time and have any regrets is… inhuman.” ([09:38])
• Saved lives of DEA agents in Jamaica, got no credit for it ([09:54]): “When I got life, no parole. Nobody said a word about me saving those agents.” ([12:04])

8. Mob Documentary & Hollywood

• Discusses being consulted for Netflix/Raw Productions documentary “Mob War”; he refused to lie about his own whereabouts during mob wars ([19:11]).
  • “I don't want to go on film and any falsehood… I knew all the players.” ([19:10], [19:32])
• Has producers interested in TV pilots about his life ([06:03]).

9. Writing as Salvation

• Wrote over 2 million words by hand in prison: "I think I’m the only person in the world that has ever done that." ([21:50])

10. Notable Relationships – John Gotti

• Served over two years with John Gotti, much of it in 22-hour lockdown ([22:45]).
  • “I love John. All I can tell you is… he was the real deal.” ([23:09])
  • Tells untold story of Gotti’s childhood, injury, and hardships ([24:06]).

11. Views on Violence and Women in Prison

• Speaks out strongly against violence: “Violence is the worst thing you can do… Everything’s short lived.” ([19:36], [19:47])
• Emphasizes women suffer as much in the prison system, although their stories are undertold ([21:25]).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Prison & Survival:
  “Five straight years [in solitary]. And I never was in jail in my life. I never even had a parking ticket.” ([04:00])

• On Never Lying:
  “The most important thing that I pride my life in… I will go to my grave without telling a lie.” ([07:00])

• On Regret:
  “I have so many regrets for the people I hurt… In Jamaica, late 70, early 80, I saved 3 DEA agents’ life… Got no credit for it.” ([09:38])

• On Resilience:
  “I’m the most appealed federal prisoner to date. …I never gave up.” ([22:27])

• On Writing:
  “I wrote over 2 million words freehand. …When you do 32 years, you gotta do something.” ([22:07])

• On the True Nature of Prison:
  “There’s no fights in prison. There’s killings… I've seen guys laying on the floor getting stabbed and sparks come out under her body.” ([20:08])

• On John Gotti:
  “...He was the real deal… he had a tough, tough childhood.” ([23:09], [25:06])

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Highlighted Timestamps

• [00:00] — Life in the Philly mob & early crime stories
• [01:00] — Cannabis industry, licensing frustrations
• [02:23] — Prison for marijuana, five years in solitary
• [04:00] — Targeted by authorities, family legacy
• [07:00] — Personal philosophy: “never told a lie”
• [08:07] — Life sentence with no parole as a non-violent offender
• [09:38] — Regret and saving DEA agents in Jamaica
• [14:32] — Full retelling of the Venezuelan kidnapping ransom story
• [19:11] — Role in Netflix’s Mob documentary, commitment to truthfulness
• [20:08] — Brutality in prison: “There’s no fights in prison.”
• [21:25] — Women’s untold suffering in the justice system
• [21:50] — Writing 2 million freehand words in prison
• [22:27] — Legal appeals and resilience
• [22:45] — Living with John Gotti
• [24:06] — Untold stories of Gotti’s traumatic childhood

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Final Thoughts & Takeaways

George Martorano’s journey from the son of a mobster to becoming one of America’s longest-serving non-violent marijuana prisoners—and ultimately, a legitimate entrepreneur—offers a powerful, cautionary, and redemptive tale. By creating jobs for young people and sharing stories from both his criminal and redemptive chapters, Martorano seeks to give others a chance he was denied for decades.

For more about George Martorano’s cannabis work, check for his Grow Father products in New Jersey dispensaries.

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If you enjoyed or learned from this conversation, share the episode with a friend and follow for more unfiltered stories.

Transcript

[A]

They thought I had the secrets to the Philly mob, which was bull. You know, Listen, this got to change. My father was a gangster. Godfather ran the city for over 20 years. Anzel, Bruno. So I was in the life, but not in the life. My cousin that lived in Maracaibo, he had a friend that worked in a morgue and says, listen, go cut me a finger off. That looks Caucasian. I was nuts, Sean. I get the finger and I sent it to the oil company with it and said, if I don't get $2 million, you're gonna have more parts. What they paid. Wow. Guess what? Like a dope. I forgot to ask for American money. They sent me $2 million in a pickup truck with Venezuelan money.

[B]

Word war debate in Atlantic City. Here with a legend today, we got George brought the wine. Let's go, baby. Let's do this thing. You ready?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

You're. You're doing very well these days. You're in the cannabis space now, right?

[A]

Yes, I'm in the cannabis industry in New Jersey. We worked very hard. The grow fathers probably. We haven't got a bad review. We're in 153 dispensaries and growing.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

But I'm a little annoyed personally, because respect you, I'm going to say this on the show. I'm a little annoyed at the state of New Jersey because they took all my money for licensing. Awful lot of money. They take tax money. But I cannot advertise one penny in this state. Okay, I have buses in Center City in Philadelphia, I have billboards along 95 in Pennsylvania, and I even have a billboard just went up on Times Square. But I cannot advertise one penny in Jersey. So. So I'm going to talk to my investors within the next two weeks and I'm going to start stirring the price. That's wrong. Even the planes in the summer, do you have these planes, they go across the beach, you know, with the names on the, you know, the banner or whatever. Banners, whatever. I can't even do that. I mean, it's not fair. It's not fair. What I'm trying to say is still in this industry, it's not where it should be.

[B]

It's come a long way. Who would have thought it'd become legal, right?

[A]

Well, listen, I did. Nobody did more time than weed in the. In the world. I did 32 plus years in a can for conspiracy to marijuana. Never got caught with a joint. And I did five years in solitary. You know what five years in solitary is? What, John, you have any idea no. Well, I'm on your show and I'm happy to be here. But you see these sunglasses? It's not. It's not. What's the right word? It's not because I want to look cool because my eyes are damaged. My eyes have been damaged because I did five years in solitary and the lights were dim. They don't have any lights here. And the lights were dim. And any kind of light after a while. Excuse me, gentlemen. Any light after a while bothers my eyes, so. And that's sad. You know what I like, what I. What I'm most proud of in this state, Sean, is that I creating jobs for young people. That's what I'm most proud of. And I hope before I leave this world, the grow father is probably going to be the biggest brand in America. And I hope there's 3,4000 people a year that have a life paying their bills, you know, raising their families from the grow father.

[B]

Nice. Nice. I grew up in New Jersey, so thank you for doing that.

[A]

Right, right.

[B]

Jersey needs you, man. So you said five years solitary. Was that consecutive or was it split up, bro?

[A]

Five straight years.

[B]

Holy crap.

[A]

Five straight years. Yeah. And I never was in jail in my life. I never even had a parking ticket. I was a non violent first offender. But once you, once you're targeted, Once you're targeted to get some. They thought I had the secrets to the Philly mob, which was bullshit. You know, my. Listen, this got to change. My father was a gangster like my godfather. Ran the city for over 20 years, Angelo Bruno. So I was in. I was in the life, but not in the life. My life was a cannabis guy. And the word cannabis came out recently, the last 10 years. When you went to jail for it, it was marijuana. On your indictment, it said marijuana.

[B]

It changed it. Now it's cannabis, man. It's strong these days too. Yeah, I had to chill with it, man. I used to smoke a lot, but it's strong these days.

[A]

Hey, listen, in this industry, you can't be a phony, you know, I smoke, I enjoy it. We make the best pre rolls. We won the best Pre rolls in 2025 in, in New Jersey. We have vapes, we have gummies. And I'm not going to be in an industry when I'm going to be a hypocrite.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So I go on stage in front of large audiences and I light up and I go right on stage. I love that. I'm not a hypocrite.

[B]

You do the edibles too?

[A]

Oh, yeah. I Do it all. Damn. Do it all.

[B]

That was up, dude. The edibles.

[A]

Well, Take it easy.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get too. I get too ambitious and I get cocky, you know? Yeah. So that's the main focus for you now, the cannabis stuff?

[A]

No. Also, I have other industries. I make my own beer in New Jersey at the Cannabis in New Jersey. I have own medical company in Miami. I got a trucking company. I just keep going, keep going.

[B]

You're working hard.

[A]

But the entertainment stuff, people want me to. I have two producers waiting for me to write pilots for my story. You know, right now, all I care about. I'm 76 years old. I'm in great health. I'm in Atlantic City with you doing a show. And I really appreciate it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But tomorrow morning, probably, when you're probably just rolling over, I'll be on that beach running before this is when the sun comes up. And I'll be cold, plunging. Wow. Yeah. There's a filmer running around the studio. She goes by a Pearl. No, no, she goes by initials. She goes by initials. AK or AJ or something like that. I says, you think. You think? I'm. I'll meet you on that beach in the morning and I'll show you. I'm going to run barefoot. I'm going to run an hour, and after that run, I'm going to jump in that ocean.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Naturally, I'll strip down to my beanie suit, but you're looking at a guy. Sean. The most important thing that I pride my life in, the most important thing is I will go to my grave without telling a lie. I will not lie. I lived through a lot of. Awful lot of violence. I lost my father, I lost my godfather to the streets. I lived 32 years in prison. The worst prisons, prison riots. And I think God had a purpose for me, be an individual. That I will go to my grave without telling a lie.

[B]

You never told a lie.

[A]

That's my whole belief in life. Wow. My whole belief.

[B]

That's impressive, man. I won't believe there's a lot of liars these days.

[A]

Oh, yeah? Yeah. Because they don't know themselves. They haven't found themselves. They have no direction. But me personally, that is my total belief.

[B]

Well done. Well done. To get through some of the toughest prisons without lying is impressive, bro.

[A]

I was in Marion, Illinois.

[B]

That's the worst one, right?

[A]

Well, it started the worst prison ever. It was no joke. It was no joke. It was 370 of the worst prisoners in America. I was the only nonviolent offender In Marion, Illinois. Sean and I had more time than all the killers. I had life, no parole, which is unheard of. I was the fourth person in America to get life, no parole. I was the first person in the state of Pennsylvania to get life note, parole. And the three before me were violent repeat offenders. One was Nicky Barnes, famous drug dealer out of Harlem. He became an informant. One was Herbie Sperling, Jewish gangster, friend of mine, he did not roll. And another gun was named Felix out of la. They had life, no parole before me. But again, they were violent repeat offenders, murders. And what I come along, non violent. And they gave me that. And listen, I really, the suffering that I endured, I, I took. It's the loot, the suffering for the loved ones, the children. You know, my children were young and they suffered my wife and that, that's what really bothers me, what they did to me. I took. It's the suffering of the loved ones that, you know, you took along with the situation. Situation.

[B]

Yeah, I was just going to ask about that because no lies. But what about regrets? Any regrets?

[A]

Oh, ton of regrets. You kidding? A ton of regret. Anybody thinks they don't do a lot of time and have any regrets is they're inhuman. I have so many regrets for the people I hurt, this and that, you know, In Jamaica, late 70, early 80, I saved 3D agents life. Saved their life. They were going to be killed.

[B]

Really.

[A]

I saved their lives.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Got no credit for it. No credit for it.

[B]

They didn't hit you up after? They didn't contact you after. And thank you.

[A]

No, my lawyers, listen, they, they, we were. A plane was coming in real quick. A plane was coming in. You know, after a while in the marijuana industry, you become a broker, which I did. I became a broker. Point A to point B. Get this guy and that guy. Get my end. I made a deal. Plane came in and it was a. Didn't know it was a government plane. Was. The agents on a plane was supposed to be one guy, no arm, no weapons. Anyway, the plane came in, they had a crash and they, they didn't know. These da didn't know they were dealing with Jamaican police. That was my connect. I was dealing with Jamaican police, Jamaican police. And a long story short, when a plane comes in, it crashes. What they do, they always have a bulldozer there. They dig a real pit real quick. They push the plane in. Now they were going to push these three guys in because the stories wasn't matching up. They had guns. Thank God. One of the Jamaican police says, well, we got to call Georgie. Let's call Georgie. And he got a hold of me in Montego Bay. And I says, don't not kill anybody.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

You know, there was no cell phones back then. But you operated in Jamaica with walkie talkies. Walkie talkie, a good walkie Talkie has a 10 mile range.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And I said, do not kill anybody. So I got there to the site and I says, listen, just forget it. Now I know what's coming next from the Jamaican cops. They're going to shake me down. You want these guys to live? You want them out of here? We need money. So it cost me $8,000 US which would been back on the black market. Would have been like a hundred thousand in the Jamaican money. Make sure these D agents had visas and plane tickets out of the country.

[B]

Wow. And they had no idea.

[A]

When I got life, no parole. Nobody said a word about me saving those Asians. Wow. Not a word.

[B]

That's crazy. Maybe they didn't know about you.

[A]

No, they know. They know.

[B]

They knew.

[A]

They know.

[B]

Yeah. Because why were they all the way over there?

[A]

They know. Damn.

[B]

That's crazy. So you've saved some lives out here.

[A]

Three lives, I say. I mean nothing. And you know this country of. I don't know about now with this administration, but back then it was everything about making headlines. If you make headlines, your career advance.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, if you were an FBI agent, D agent, prosecutor, etc. If you make the headlines, your. Your career advance. And I hope it's not like that today.

[B]

Did you have any dealings in Venezuela when you were back in the day? Because you see all the stuff happening now, right?

[A]

Venezuela.

[B]

You're laughing.

[A]

How old are you, son?

[B]

28.

[A]

Okay. When I was in Venezuela, I was about, Christ, 20, 21.

[B]

Wow. You were young.

[A]

And I go down to Venezuela. I had a cousin, a lot of Italians in Venezuela. He lived in Maracaibo. That's where all the oil industry was. All the oil, all the companies. I go down and I'm partying. I meant you go over the mountains to the cable car, down to Makuto. Makuto is a little seashore town. I had the talent, believe me. I had the town. Young, good looking guy, white suit, you know what I mean? Everybody ran out of money. So my cousin, I says, and we're broke. What are we going to do? He says, you know, they're kidnapping a lot of these oil executives. Why don't we kidnap one and we'll make some extra money. I said, I don't Know, let me think about it. So what I did, I. I flew this girl in from Phillies. Real gangster broad. Beautiful, but beautiful. I says, listen, we're going to make a lot of money. We're going to get this guy. He's with this oil company. It has these chalets. When you go from Caracas to Makuto, you have to go over the mountains in these cable cars and. But up in their mountains, there's just chalets you could rent. Beautiful chalets. You know what a chalet is, right?

[B]

What is that?

[A]

That's a mountain cottage.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And so I rented this chalet and I told her name was Barbara. I said, listen, you take this guy into that, spend some time with him. Three, four days. So my cousin that lived in Maracaibo, he had a friend that worked in a morgue in Caracas. I says, listen, go cut me a finger off that looks Caucasian. Which. Caucasian means white. White, like a white guy cut a finger off. So. So I get the finger. I was nuts, Sean. I get the finger. And I sent it to the oil company with it and said, if I don't get. If I don't have $2 million, you're going to have more parts of him, right? Guess what they paid. Wow. Guess what? Like a dope. I forgot to ask for American money. They sent me $2 million in a pickup truck with Venezuelan money.

[B]

How much is that?

[A]

8,000.

[B]

Ah, all that work.

[A]

I got 2 million bucks. Adventist wheel and money. What I was really worried about, I got a. Barbara's doing her job, keeping this guy occupied. I gotta face her. So I got this pickup truck with $2 million in the town of Makubo. I said, sweetheart, I forgot to ask. My Lord, I got the hardest slap I ever said. The guy. From a woman like she was from the neighborhood. You. I'm upstairs. I went to the mountain with this guy. Anyway. Makes long. We had for the two weeks. We spent the whole 2 million in the town. They had the whole town partying. Wow. The whole town. And came up with my bail hearing.

[B]

Oh, they found out about it?

[A]

Yeah. They. The government says, your honor, he's so. He's so criminally. Criminally sophisticated that he can arrange kidnappings.

[B]

Wow, that's crazy.

[A]

I just was a young guy with a lot of stupid ideas.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's a true story. Venezuela. You asked me about Venezuela, and that's what I was. That's what I did in Venezuela.

[B]

Well, yeah, I asked.

[A]

That ain't count Colombia. That ain't counting Costa Rica. That ain't counting Mexico. That ain't counting Jamaica. That ain't counting the. What's that other damn Bermuda you've been all over? That's why I travel the country. I travel the country and I tell stories. Yeah. You know, and people pay me.

[B]

Yeah. That's impressive. You got quite the resume there. Which one. Which one was the most fun out of all those?

[A]

Excuse me?

[B]

Which one was the most fun? Where'd you have the most fun at out of all those countries?

[A]

Oh, my God. Well, in Colombia, I was with Pablo Raymond, the Boss and the Zelda. I was with them. You know, people don't remember. Pablo was. Started with marijuana first and then he went into cocaine. I got away and I went to Jamaica and I did an operation in Jamaica when I was growing the weed and smuggling in Jamaican people were very nice people. So then I got locked up.

[B]

Yeah, the cocaine.

[A]

Last country I was up. No, I didn't never did with cocaine.

[B]

Oh, God. It was too risky for you.

[A]

No, I just didn't like it destroyed. I destroyed it. Just. I seen how people became.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You smoke a joint, you lay back, you drink a little wine, something to eat, you know that cocaine kills you. I seen, I seen it do so much devastation. I don't want to be bothered with it.

[B]

Yeah. So the Netflix documentary Mob War, you were in that, right?

[A]

Oh, well, that was shot by Raw Productions out of London. Raw Productions, they did Fair City 2020. 2023. No, 2022, they did Fair City, which is award winning of for Netflix. Then they did get Gotti 2023. Then they came to Philly 2024 and that's when they got a hold of me. But that, that particular Mob Wars, Stanford Molino was in the early 90s. I was already in prison, so I won't do anything dishonest or falsehood to the media. The media or the public.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I said I wasn't on the streets, but the director, a very good director, she says, no, I still want you in. And I helped him with locations and stuff like that.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

It was a three hour special. Still did very. Still doing very well. So I had a cameo in the first hour and a bigger cameo in the third hour. And I was happy with that. I was happy because I don't want to go on film and any falsehood. Yeah, I wasn't on the street when that war went down, but I knew all the players. Yeah, I knew all the players.

[B]

Yeah. I always wonder like how accurate some of those are, you know.

[A]

Well, listen, violence is no joke. I think violence is the Worst thing you can do. You know, once violence comes into the picture, everything's short lived.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The worst thing. Violence is worst thing.

[B]

Yeah. And Philly had it the worst, right?

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

I mean, you guys are known for that.

[A]

I lost my father to violence. I lost my godfather to violence. You know, I know firsthand about it.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. You saw a lot of it, too. I'm sure you saw a lot in prison. A lot of prison fights, right?

[A]

Excuse me.

[B]

A lot of prison fights.

[A]

There's no fights in prison. There's killings. Prison. When I was at. There's no fights.

[B]

Damn.

[A]

I seen guys. I seen guys laying on the floor getting stabbed and sparks. Sparks come out under her body. That's how hard they were getting stabbed. Holy. In the concrete.

[B]

Jeez. So straight through the body.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

My workout buddy was Daryl Holmes.

[B]

How does that sound familiar?

[A]

He cut people's heads off in prison. Cut three people's heads over what? Daryl Holmes? Yeah. Cut their heads off my workout.

[B]

What happened to him? What happened to him?

[A]

He's probably still in. You never get out.

[B]

Damn. You still. You still talk to anyone you were in there with? Didn't they get out to.

[A]

Hey, listen. Every. Every deranged character is behind bars. Every individual. Individual that should be looked at and saved is behind bars. There's such a cluster of individuals. And, you know, we have a misconception in America. We always talk about prison and men and women has been suffering just as much. Prison. Women. Yes.

[B]

Because the man's in prison and they can't support them.

[A]

Yes, the women suffer, too. But all these stories in these movies are all about men. But a lot of women have suffered.

[B]

Yeah. Because they don't have the father figure.

[A]

Well, no, the stories are not told. The stories are not told.

[B]

Do you want to tell their stories with the films you're making?

[A]

Yeah. There's a good story. I want to do a very good story. I'm a writer. I wrote over 2 million words freehand.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

I think I'm the only person in the world that has ever done that 2 million words document. It's 2 million words freehand. I have books, scripts, stories, and sometimes documented.

[B]

2 million.

[A]

I wrote over 2 million words freehand.

[B]

That is crazy.

[A]

Well, guess what? When you do 32 years, you got to do something.

[B]

A lot of reading and writing. Not a lot of people get out early from that one. Right. You're probably one of. One of very few people.

[A]

It was a death sentence. It was a death sentence.

[B]

Did you give up? No reason at first, did you kind of accept it or did you always try to fight it?

[A]

No, I'm the most appealed federal prisoner to date. I did 32 appeals. Wow. Nobody has more appeal than me. I never gave up.

[B]

So you were filing like one a year.

[A]

Never gave up.

[B]

32 appeals. That's crazy. What was it like with John Gotti?

[A]

Serving time with him, My buddy John being in the cell over two and a half years. Almost two and a half years. And the first year we were in 22 hour lockup. You're in a cell with a guy, 22 hours, you really get to know the guy. I love John. All I can tell you was

[B]

he

[A]

was the real deal. It was a real. He was the real deal. And yeah, as a writer, nobody knows the story about young John. You know, when he was 8, 9 years old, up until he was 15, 16. And he told me all those stories and it's never had been written. I think I'm gonna. For instance, when John was a little boy, they used to jump on buses to go from point A to point B. Jump on the back of a bus or they jump on the back of a trash. Trash truck. So him and his brother Peter, they jumped on a trash truck and John's foot got caught. Mangled his foot. He was only about 9 or 10. So he goes in the hospital. Finally, he's dirt poor, no insurance, and they wanted to cut his. His foot off.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Lego foot off. But you had to have two signatures from the parents. The father signed, his mother wouldn't sign, so they couldn't keep in the hospital anymore. So they shipped him up upstate New York to a Catholic medical retreat. You know how the nuns shaved his

[B]

foot, how

[A]

he put maggots. They put maggots in his leg and the maggots ate all the dead skin. And then they would put him in a bath twice a week. And John said all the maggots would come to the top. Little boy. And he had to go through that for a year all alone by himself. So that's very detrimental to him emotionally growing up.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

That's just one story about John. Wow. I knew John very, very well. I love him. He was a man's man. And like I said, someday when I have the time, I'm going to write about young John.

[B]

Yeah, I think the world needs that because they really portray his adult years.

[A]

They don't know his childhood. He had a tough, tough childhood.

[B]

Yeah. That's crazy.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah. He had a lot of trauma that shaped. That shapes who you are as you get older, you know.

[A]

What a good man. What a good man.

[B]

Shout out to John, man. Well, George, thanks for your time. Where can people find you the dispensaries and all that? How can they support you?

[A]

Well, what I'm most happy about the dispensaries in the Canada is creating jobs for young people. You know, when you go in this state alone, we have over a thousand licensed facilities, Rows, dispensaries, manufacturers, delivery service. It's jobs for young people. So, Tom, tomorrow I have, I'm in four dispensaries right here in Atlantic City with my product. I'm going to give a quick hello, stop in, spend 20, 30 minutes, see all the young people. That's what I really enjoy when I go in there and see these young people having a life on the what I created part, what I partly created.

[B]

Thanks. Thanks for that. Yeah, we'll include a link to the. Thank you for your time. That was fun to do that again one day. Yeah, check them out, guys. Check out the dispensaries in the video. See you next time. Peace. If you learned anything from this episode or got any value at all, please share this episode with a friend. Friend. It helps us grow the channel, it helps us grow the podcast, and it means a lot to us. Thank you so much.