BCPL

Press release

The Boyle County Genealogical and Historical Society in partnership with the Boyle County Public Library will host an author visit and book signing with Joe Keith Bickett, who will discuss his new book Cornbread Mafia: The Outlaws of Central Kentucky, which explores his real-life experiences with organized crime in Kentucky. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event which will be held on Monday, Feb. 18 at 6 p.m. in the Community Room at the library.

Bickett was born and raised in Marion County, Kentucky. Many years ago he cultivated and distributed marijuana, and in the late 1980s was indicted, convicted, and sentenced to twenty-five years in federal prison along with many others as part of the infamous “Cornbread Mafia.”

While in prison, Bickett wrote several memoirs about his life and personal involvement in the Cornbread Mafia. Bickett was released from prison in 2011, and published his first book in 2016. The Origins of the Cornbread Mafia: A Memoir of Sorts is the untold, true story as to how the term “Cornbread Mafia” was coined many years ago.

Bickett’s latest book, Cornbread Mafia: The Outlaws of Central Kentucky, details members of the Cornbread Mafia and other outlaws during the 1980s. It features a cast of colorful characters recounting unbelievable and sometimes humorous stories of their experiences. The book also tells the chilling story of drug addiction, as well as the prosecution and incarceration of many of those involved. Outlaws includes pictures of many of the “founding fathers” of the Cornbread Mafia that have not been previously published.