Ex-Pot Smuggler Seeks Employment

March 15, 2001 -- As a convicted felon, Brian O'Dea is keenly aware of the potholes on the road to gainful employment. So he's taken the unconventional step of putting his conviction for drug smuggling on his résumé.

"Former marijuana smuggler, having successfully completed a 10-year sentence, incident free, for importing 75 tons of marijuana into the United States, I am now seeking a legal and legitimate means to support myself and my family," read the Toronto resident's classified ad in the employment section of Canada's National Post newspaper.

Appearing today on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America, the 52-year-old O'Dea said he took out the ad "to cut through all the negative response, believing any response [to the ad] would be positive."

"I've been out of prison for a while, working as a venture capitalist," he added. "But the money hasn't been regular enough. To look for work the traditional way would be too time-consuming."

O'Dea, who is married and has a four-year-old child, went to prison in the United States in 1990. He was transferred to a Canadian prison under terms of a U.S.-Canada treaty. He was paroled in 1995 and his sentence officially ended in late January.

Busted, But Not to Blame

O'Dea said he didn't graduate from college but believes his experience running drugs gave him the training that exployers seek.

He told the Post that he started as a small-time drug dealer in Newfoundland and graduated to importing pot and hashish from England in the early 1970s. He moved to Los Angeles after serving a short sentence related to a bust when he was caught in a sting operation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

While in the United States, he told the newspaper, he began importing pot from Thailand and later joined a group of international investors that had purchased two 100-foot vessels to deliver drugs from Southeast Asia.

O'Dea said a disgruntled member of the syndicate blew the whistle on the operation, leading to his arrest and prison sentence.

So, in O'Dea's version, getting caught was not a sign of failure. Indeed, he's openly telling prospective employers that through the drug ring he commanded a fleet of trucks, boats and an airplane. His ad characterized O'Dea as an executive with a staff of 120 people.

"I've paid my dues," he said, "and there were certain real-world assets I learned. Why hide them?"

So far, he says, he's received "a couple of dozen" replies from employers and about 150 inquiries from the media. No job offers yet, however.

"I'm looking to do anything," he said. "I feel fairly confident in doing a number of things. What I'd really like to do is a radio talk show."