FARGO — Despite his attorney's request for leniency due to "end-stage organ diseases," Barrett Prody, the former metro area bar owner, was sentenced Monday, April 14, to more than 15 years in federal prison for leading a cocaine ring that spanned three states and two countries.
Prody, 52, is the former owner of JT Cigarro’s in Fargo and O’Leary’s Irish Pub in Moorhead. He was also known to be a friend of former felon and NFL player O.J. Simpson.
Prody was charged in federal court with multiple counts of charges relating to cocaine distribution in North Dakota, Minnesota and Florida. Prody’s organization distributed as much as 25 kilograms, or 55 pounds of cocaine, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
On Monday, April 14, Brody appeared before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Peter Welte shackled and wearing an orange Cass County Jail sweatshirt and sweatpants, where federal prosecutors asked that he be sentenced to at least 13 years in prison.
"This case is about greed and taking advantage of people as much as it is about cocaine," Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew P. Kopp said Monday.
Prody's attorney, Tyler Morrow, asked that Welte consider a lesser sentence due to multiple physical ailments Prody is currently suffering from, namely congestive heart failure and sclerosis of the liver. Morrow said Prody's diagnosis of heart failure was the reason Prody was taken to the emergency room Friday, April 11.
Morrow pointed to "end-stage organ disease" of which sclerosis of the liver is considered to be, as a reason the law allows for compassionate release.
Morrow said since Prody's illness could be considered as part of a request to be released early, the judge should consider that prior to sentencing.
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"Why don't we just ask the president to pardon him and I'll sentence him after that," Welte said, prior to denying the request.
Kopp also disagreed with offering a lesser sentence.
"There's nothing to show Prody would not receive adequate medical care," Kopp said.
Prody laundered the money he made through selling drugs through other businesses, according to court documents. Prody used drug proceeds to pay for a condominium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to rent an apartment in Medellin, Colombia, and invested more than $100,000 in an investment account. After his April 2024 arrest, Prody attempted to obstruct justice by directing his mother to transfer his condominium and investment account ownership to avoid forfeiture.
Kopp said Prody made a "very comfortable living" operating the large cocaine operation that included at least 11 "employees" or people who sold drugs for Prody. Morrow refuted that business description.
"This is a low-level organization that just happened to be run efficiently," Morrow said.
The handful of Prody's supporters who attended the hearing Monday declined to speak in court before the sentencing announcement, but Welte acknowledged he had received "many letters" on Prody's behalf.
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Prody, who spent most of the proceeding looking forward at the judge, said he would summarize the letter he previously wrote to the court. He said he abused alcohol and cocaine and while someone is in the midst of an addiction, they don't think about how their actions affect others.
"I let myself and society down," Prody said. "I admonish myself daily for that ... I understand fully the ramifications of what I did."
Prody first appeared in North Dakota U.S. District Court in April 2024 on charges of conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute and aiding and abetting in obstruction of justice. Law enforcement worked with confidential informants who distributed cocaine they received from Prody, according to a criminal complaint. One of those informants was arrested on June 9, 2023, in Illinois during a traffic stop while trying to bring a kilogram of cocaine from Fort Lauderdale to Fargo.
Prody gained notoriety around the metro area as a bar entrepreneur; he owned JT Cigarro's in Fargo and later owned O'Leary's Irish Pub in Moorhead, which he said Monday was forced to close after the COVID-19 pandemic. He became friends with O.J. Simpson, when his sister, Christie Prody was dating Simpson. Prody spoke out in April 2024 when Simpson died of prostate cancer.
Prody was sentenced to serve 190 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for continuing criminal enterprise, money laundering conspiracy, and obstruction of justice and ordered to pay a $300 special assessment fee. As part of his plea agreement, Prody agreed to forfeit all properties he owns related to or purchased with money from the criminal acts, according to court documents.
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