In this gripping episode of Gangland Wire, Gary Jenkins sits down with Ted Pryor, a man whose life story is a rollercoaster of discipline, danger, and redemption. Ted’s journey begins in law enforcement, where his martial arts expertise earned him respect among police departments. But a fateful decision led him down a very different path—one that plunged him into the high-stakes world of South Florida smuggling.

Ted recounts how a family member introduced him to the trade, starting with a seemingly simple marijuana operation. Before long, he found himself entangled in a dangerous underworld, rubbing shoulders with major players in Miami’s drug scene. As a bodyguard for a notorious trafficker, he balanced his life as a kickboxing champion with the risks of organized crime, struggling to reconcile these two identities.

The stakes escalated when law enforcement finally caught up with him. Ted shares the harrowing details of a dramatic police chase and his courtroom battle to reclaim his future. His firsthand insights into the legal system, the pressures of incarceration, and the turning points that led him to change his life make for a compelling narrative.

Ted has now dedicated himself to a new mission—helping at-risk youth break free from the cycle of crime. Through his foundation, he provides educational opportunities for underprivileged children, believing early intervention is key to keeping them off the streets. His story of transformation, resilience, and giving back is inspiring.

Ted’s book, Three Times World Champ, chronicles his extraordinary life, with all proceeds supporting his charitable efforts. Tune in to hear how one man went from the depths of the drug trade to becoming a champion for change.

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Transcript
[0:00] Well, hey, all you wiretapers, welcome back here in the studio of Gagland Wire. It’s great to have you back. I have a very interesting character, if you will, a guy that’s lived more lives than you could believe. You know, I’m Gary Jenkins, a retired Kansas City Police Intelligence Unit detective, and I have this podcast now, and I’ve been putting out these shows for about seven or eight years, guys, and I really appreciate all you guys that have been with me from the start. There’s several of you I know and I’ve gotten to know been with me from the start. So go on to my Facebook group or make comments on my YouTube page. And let me get to know a little more about each one of you, because I always respond to any kind of a comment on that or the Facebook page, Facebook group. So we have Ted Pryor. Ted, welcome.

[0:48] Thank you, Gary. Thanks for having me on. Now, guys, Ted’s written a book. You know, I get a lot of authors on there. Saves me doing the research, Ted. I have to admit, it saves me doing a lot of research. You guys know your stuff. The name of the book is Three Times World Champ, the death-defying true story of a kickboxer turned drug smuggler turned business icon. And believe me, guys, that is J. Ted Pryor. What a hell of a story from the middleweight kickboxing champion of the world to world champion marijuana smuggler down in South Florida and right in the heart of drug smuggling territory, which is, you know, really carved out a niche down there. But later on, businessman and a chef. And I just don’t know, Ted, start telling us about yourself, kind of how you got going and where you’re at.

[1:37] Gary, it’s interesting that you were in law enforcement and you retired as a detective. And, you know, I was in law enforcement my whole life as a young kid. I used to be, I used to be, when I was training, I became a black belt and started training to become a world champion kickboxer. And I used to train all the police departments in West Palm Beach.

[1:58] And I was a tactical commander, teach them how to search and seizure, teach them how to cuff a guy, put him in a till cold without killing somebody. So I was very influential with the police departments in all of South Florida. And then I started teaching the DEA, FBI, Secret Service through a guy named Joe Hess, who was the heavyweight champion of the world.

[2:18] So I was in law enforcement most of my young life, I would say from 17 to my mid-20s.

[2:26] And as I was doing that, I got into the pot smuggling business.

[2:33] I noticed one thing in your book, you became Elvis Presley’s bodyguard for a period of time. Yeah, I did. And I got that through Joe Hess as well. Interesting story. I was working at the police academy. I mean, I was number five in the world kickboxing champion in my division, which was a super middleweight championship.

[2:50] Elvis Presley, Shelton Parker was a martial artist. And Elvis Presley did a little bit of martial arts when he went to the service. And not that he was good at it, but he just loved the martial arts and karate. And he liked the aspect of it. He became an honorary black belt. Shelton Parker was a big martial arts guy. And Elvis said he wanted the best. He wanted the world champion. So he reached out to Joe Hess. And I just won the world title as well. And he wanted us to bodyguard him so we had the privilege of bodyguard him for his last year of his life and it was fantastic because you know i was like 20 years old and i was the last of the defense me and joe for the women to get to him and it’d be a stage and i’ll tell you tell you a funny story is we’re at a concert and mostly women gorgeous women and we’d have about 20 guys in the front anybody that got past those guys had to come up to me and joe and we would put our arms around their waist and lay them down. And, you know, this one particular time, this girl had Elvis’s scarf and put it around my neck and started choking me as I was bringing her down to the floor. It was, you know, she was beautiful. I laid her down and she left the scarf on my neck. And I still have it to this day. And Elvis goes, how’d you get that scarf? I go, one of your fans tried to choke me. He goes, well, you earned it, keep it.

[4:09] But it was a You know, we did it for about a year, and then we got a phone call one day that he passed, and it was kind of bad. But, you know, it was a great experience, and he was a great guy. And he was in his, you know, later years. He was very overweight, and, you know, he didn’t even like to be touched because he was perspiring so much. But overall, it was a great experience, and, you know, it was one of the most fabulous times of my life. I can only imagine traveling with the— All the beautiful 20-year-old women. And he had all the beautiful young girls and what they call his mafia.

[4:44] Mafia, exactly. Elvis’ mafia, all his buddies, his entourage. He’d have a hell of an entourage traveling with him. And he bought everything for everybody. Hell, I understand he would go into a town. If he liked some cops, he might buy some cop a brand new car because he loved cops. Yep. It was nuts. Very generous guy. And he gave so much faith and so much trust in his manager. As we all know, he pretty much took all of his money and gambled it all away. And he was just a generous, beautiful person. So, Ted, how did you end up in the drug dealing business? I see. Well. I’m reading through this, and I see you started out at a young age. As many guys do, somebody said, hey, man, you want to make a run, make some really good money for just a little short run? Too good to be true. Yeah. So as I was training, I was working at a correctional counselor and guys coming out of state prison. I was called the CC1. And basi...

From Smuggler to Redemption