OJ Simpson’s Fargo friend accused of leading cocaine trafficking ring (2024)

APRIL BAUMGARTENThe Forum

FARGO — O.J. Simpson’s friend and an owner of a now-defunct cigar bar in Fargo has been accused of leading a drug trafficking ring that brought cocaine to the Fargo-Moorhead area.

Barrett Clair Prody, 51, appeared April 16 in North Dakota U.S. District Court on charges of conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute and aiding and abetting in obstruction of justice.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in North Dakota declined to say how much cocaine Prody and his operation allegedly brought to the Fargo-Moorhead area and from which country the cocaine originated.

Prody is being held at Cass County Jail.

A federal indictment alleged Prody led a conspiracy to bring more than 5 kilograms of cocaine from Florida to sell in the Fargo-Moorhead area starting in August 2020. Two other people are named as co-defendants on the conspiracy charge.

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, Florida, to Fargo, the complaint said.

Prody has a condo in Fort Lauderdale, according to court documents. U.S. Magistrate Judge Alice Senechal ruled on April 30 that he will remain in custody during court proceedings. In a written statement of reasons to detain Prody, the judge cited video of an April 15 post-arrest interview in which Prody reportedly admitted to elements of the conspiracy charge.

Prody said cocaine was “pretty harmless” and is easy to obtain in the Fargo-Moorhead area, according to the statement. He also said no one was hurt because of him dealing cocaine, the statement said.

During phone calls on April 17, the day after his first appearance in federal court, Prody asked his mother to “effect transfers of his Florida condominium and his financial assets” from himself to his mother, the statement said. Those assets and his condo may be subject to criminal forfeiture in federal court because of the case, Senechal wrote.

“Those conversations form the basis for the obstruction of justice charge against Prody and are strong evidence against him on that charge,” she wrote.

Prody allegedly made threatening comments regarding officers who arrested him, the statement said.

His attorney, Peter Wold, did not return a message left by The Forum seeking comment for this story.

Prody was a friend of Simpson, an NFL star who was acquitted in 1995 of murder. Simpson was accused of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles.

Prody’s sister, Christine Prody, dated Simpson after the acquittal for more than a decade. Simpson spent time in 2008 at Barrett Prody’s cigar bar, JT Cigarro, at 4554 Seventh Ave. S. in Fargo. He also golfed with Barrett Prody and others that year in Fergus Falls, Minnesota.

Barrett Prody also created a nonprofit and website to raise money to help Simpson appeal a 2008 Nevada conviction for robbing and kidnapping two sports memorabilia dealers in 2007 at a Las Vegas hotel, according to media reports. Simpson, who claimed the memorabilia he took was stolen from him, was sentenced to 33 years in prison but was released in 2017.

Simpson died on April 11 from prostate cancer. He was 76 years old.

In an April 11 interview with WDAY News, Barrett Prody said Simpson’s death was like “losing a part of your family.” Barrett Prody did the interview via video call from Medellin, Colombia.

Federal court documents mentioned he traveled to Colombia, court documents said.

Court documents also mentioned that Barrett Prody previously owned JT Cigarro’s and O’Leary’s Irish Pub at 808 30th Ave. S. in Moorhead, Minnesota.

JT Cigarro’s closed in 2015 and reopened as the African International Restaurant and Night Club, which shut down in 2021 and reopened this year as Cairo Restaurant and Bar.

O’Leary’s closed in 2020 and reopened as Murphy’s Pub the following year. Barrett Prody and O’Leary’s faced an eviction lawsuit in 2018 that alleged he owed $300,000 in rent to the Southmoor Mall, where the bar was located.

Court documents claimed Barrett Prody tried to get a person to “drop money off with an unknown source of supply at Murphy’s.”

This isn’t the first time Barrett Prody has faced criminal charges. In 2014, he was charged in East Central District Court in Cass County with aggravated assault, terrorizing and simple assault after attacking his then-fiancee at their West Fargo home, according to Forum archives. The assault left the woman with two broken ribs.

He pleaded guilty to the assault charge and the others were dismissed. He received credit for a day served in jail and was sentenced to almost a year of probation.