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Former Elvis Presley bodyguard turned drug smuggler releases book dishing on conviction, the real Miami Vice
If ever you’ve looked to crack open a nonfiction book detailing the tales of one man, a former bodyguard of Elvis Presley, who earned himself both a super middleweight kickboxing championship and a drug smuggling conviction, the pages are now hot off the printers.
Ted Pryor, formerly refereed by Chuck Norris and training partner of Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran and Don “The Dragon” Wilson, was hired by Presley following his world championship win. He details the job in his newly released book, “Three-Time World Champ: The Death-Defying True Story of a Kickboxer Turned Drug Smuggler . . . Turned Business Icon.”
Pryor’s stint as Elvis Presley’s bodyguard
“Elvis, when he was younger in the service, he learned a little bit of martial arts, and he was infatuated with it,” Pryor told Fox News Digital.
At the time, Pryor and his friend Joe were training Florida law enforcement, the FBI and DEA on the basics of self-defense to use as anchorage amid a physical encounter with an assailant.
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Ted Pryor, former bodyguard for Elvis Presley, said he was hired due to his kickboxing expertise and Presley’s love for martial arts. (Jack Randall; Getty Images)
The work was steady until Pryor and Joe received a call from Presley to piggyback as bodyguards on what would be the final tour before his death.
“Unfortunately, no one knew it then, but he was broke,” Pryor said. “He had to start touring, because his manager gambled his money away.”
Pryor’s responsibilities included warding off zealous supporters of Presley who dreamed of reaching the stage and crowding him.
“The women used to rush the stage,” Pryor said. “It was interesting, because you’d have a chokehold around their waist. We would take them to the floor slowly and our junior bodyguards would take them away.”
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Ted Pryor told Fox News Digital he fought all over the world, including locations like China, Thailand, Hong Kong and Japan. (Ted Pryor)
Pryor said the men would fend off three to four women at a time with takedown techniques and that one woman, who gad been given a scarf by Presley himself, used the accessory to choke Pryor with it.
“She was trying to get to Elvis,” he said. “She put it around my neck and started choking me.”
Parts of Florida, Memphis, California and New York, among 20 to 30 other locations later, Pryor said the fun came to an end when he received the call that the King of Rock and Roll had passed away.
“It was kind of shocking,” Pryor said. “I think the whole world was shocked when that happened. He always treated me and Joe really well.”
Pryor was also previously hired by Don Johnson during the time he was married to Melanie Griffith, though he reminisces that Johnson was “moody.”
“And that’s putting it nicely,” he said.
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Pryor was 20 years old when he was shackled and cuffed by Florida police officers when they seized 32,000 pounds of marijuana from his car and boatyard, the largest weed bust in the U.S. at the time. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)
Earning $5k per marijuana drop at 20 years old
Not long after the unexpected loss sent shockwaves around the world, Pryor was working as a correctional counselor for a Florida state prison when he was offered $5,000 to drive a car across Alligator Alley, a swamp sanctuary in the Sunshine State.
“I wasn’t totally naive,” Pryor said. “I knew there was something in the car.”
Pryor detailed to Fox News Digital how, at 20 years old, he’d transport 500 pounds of marijuana at a time, earning a $5,000 cut from the $20k to $30k deals.
“I thought I was Rockefeller,” he said.
As the cash rolled in, Pryor sought to reap a greater financial benefit from his work and acquainted himself with a drug dealer for whom he acted as a bodyguard, offloader and “intimidator.”
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Pryor was initially set free by a judge after his lawyer argued there hadn’t been enough probable cause for law enforcement to pull him over. He was re-indicted and served 90 days of his 18-month prison sentence. (Ted Pryor)
“I had a reputation,” he said. “I was one of the best fighters in the world. I was on the cover of magazines. I was really well-known in Florida.”
“He wanted someone that could protect him that didn’t need a gun,” he said.
Pryor added that he maintained a fit but lean physique at the time and weighed only 170 pounds, but bystanders feared him.
“Ray wouldn’t ever let me get into the business,” he said. “He wanted me clean. Not that he was a loving, caring guy. He wanted to have someone clean in his life.”
So, Pryor got greedy and took matters into his own hands.
He told Fox News Digital that his work started with “little” 2,000-pound runs on midnight express boats for buyers from New York, Chicago and Michigan.
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Ted Pryor, super middleweight kickboxing champion, was hired as one of Elvis Presley’s bodyguards for what would be his final U.S. tour before the king away suddenly. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
“We started our own little enterprise doing it on the side without him knowing it,” he said.
Until one day, Pryor sought to move 15,000 pounds of marijuana from a boatyard.
“I got pulled over,” he said. “Guns came out. These are the guys that I trained for three to four years. They couldn’t believe it was me.”
Pryor said he was cuffed, and his feet were shackled, before the team of officers located the weed in his car, which they considered probable cause to raid the boatyard. Law enforcement seized 32,000 pounds of marijuana, the largest seizure of weed in the U.S. at that time, and interrogated Pryor.
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Pryor wrote “Three-Time World Champ: The Death-Defying True Story of a Kickboxer Turned Drug Smuggler . . . Turned Business Icon,” which details his time as a drug smuggler in Florida. (Cover designer Sarah Avinger; Cover illustration Sean Hsiao)
A second indictment comes crashing down
After being put in front of a judge, Pryor’s lawyer argued that the police had not had enough evidence to pull him over and search the vehicle.
Pryor was let go.
“He did the right thing by law, but he knew I was guilty,” Pryor said.
Former President Ronald Reagan was in office at the time, and his wife, Nancy Reagan, led a youth antidrug campaign at the time, “Just Say No,” which implored children to refuse drugs when offered.
“The Feds came in and had the Supreme Court of Florida overturn the state case,” Pryor said.
He was re-indicted and believes it was due to both state and national pressure to save America from a drug epidemic.
Pryor accepted an 18-month prison sentence and was back on work release in 90 days.
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After being released from jail, Pryor took $1 million, which the Feds had not seized from him, bought car washes to clean it and paid taxes on it before founding Children of America. (iStock)
“Believe it or not, where did I go?” Pryor said. “I go back to the place where I started; the state correction facility.”
However, this time, Pryor was on the other side of the program as a former prisoner.
Founding Children of America
After he served his time, Pryor started a car washing business to clean $1 million by laundering money that the Feds had never seized.
Trouble was never Pryor’s dream, though, so once he paid taxes on the money, he founded Children of America in 1997, an educational childcare provider, operating 70 locations in over 10 states and caring for nearly 10,000 kids.
“It’s been my life, and I’ve enjoyed it,” Pryor said.
As for his background, 40 years later, Pryor anticipates it doesn’t cast a shadow over the positivity and opportunities that families and children are presented with by way of Children of America.
“Parents read the book and were asked if they’d bring their children there,” he said. “Ninety-eight percent of the people didn’t have a problem with me taking care of their child, because they’ve had some kind of experience with marijuana.”
Today, his son runs the company, but Pryor reminds that he will always be the founder.
“You can’t change that,” he said.
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Family member of American killed by Cuban forces in boat shootout says he was on ‘diabolical’ mission
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The brother of an American citizen killed in a brazen boat clash with Cuban forces says his sibling was consumed by an “obsessive and diabolical” push to free the island and that “no one knew” what he was planning.
American citizen Michel Ortega Casanova, who worked as a truck driver, was one of 10 passengers on a Florida-registered boat that allegedly opened fire on Cuban soldiers in an attempt to infiltrate the island.
A Monroe County Sheriff’s Office incident report obtained by Fox News noted the boat’s owner reported it stolen Wednesday after hearing about the Cuba shootout on the news.
The owner, who did not speak English, told deputies his 24-foot vessel went missing, and he suspected an employee named Hector — who had two young daughters in Cuba — may have taken it.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed an incident involving Cuban forces and a speedboat Wednesday before returning to Washington, D.C., after meetings with Caribbean Community leaders at Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool/Reuters)
Ortega Casanova, who lived in the U.S. for more than two decades, was one of four killed in the attempt. He is survived by his wife, mother, brother, two sisters, daughter and unborn grandchild.
Six other passengers, all Cubans living in the U.S., were injured. It is unclear if Hector was on board.
Ortega Casanova’s brother, Misael, told The Associated Press Wednesday that his brother had an “obsessive and diabolical” pursuit for Cuba’s freedom.
“Only us Cubans who have lived over there understand [the great suffering],” Misael said.
He said “no one knew” about his brother’s plans to infiltrate the island, noting their mother is “devastated.”
“They became so obsessed that they didn’t think about the consequences nor their own lives,” Misael said.
While Ortega Casanova’s family did not recognize any of the other passengers, Misael said, “maybe [the attempt] will justify that some day Cuba will be free.”
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Cuban Coast Guard forces reported an exchange of gunfire with a U.S.-registered speedboat Wednesday. (Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images)
He refrained from labeling the group heroes, describing the idea as “ignorance.”
Cuban officials said many of the boat passengers, who were intercepted roughly a mile northeast of Cayo Falcones, off Cuba’s north coast, had a known history of criminal and violent activity.
Passengers Amijail Sánchez González and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez were wanted by Cuban authorities for their involvement in the “promotion, planning, organization, financing, support or commission of actions carried out in the national territory or in other countries, in connection with acts of terrorism,” according to the government.
Cuban politician Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla posted to X after the incident, claiming a “rigorous investigation” is being conducted to clarify the facts.
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“Cuba has had to face numerous terrorist and aggressive infiltrations originating from #EEUU since 1959, at a high cost in lives, injuries, and material damage,” Rodriguez Parrilla wrote in a post. “The defense of Cuba’s coasts, of the national territory, and of national security is an ineludible duty.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. is working to determine whether the passengers were American citizens or permanent residents.
U.S. officials said at least two of the people on the bat were U.S. citizens, and another was on a U.S. K-1 visa — which is granted to fiancées of U.S. citizens for 90 days.
“We have various different elements of the U.S. government that are trying to identify elements of the story that may not be provided to us now,” Rubio told reporters in Basseterre, St. Kitts.
“Suffice it to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that. It’s not something that happens every day. It’s something, frankly, that hasn’t happened with Cuba in a very long time.”
Cuban officials said the vessel’s passengers were intercepted off the country’s northern coast. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto)
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Rubio said the U.S. will verify the facts independently, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Coast Guard are investigating.
Vice President JD Vance said he was briefed on the incident, and the White House is monitoring the situation.
“Hopefully it’s not as bad as we fear it could be,” Vance said.
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Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier said prosecutors will work with federal, state and law enforcement partners to start an investigation.
“The Cuban government cannot be trusted, and we will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable,” Uthmeier wrote in a social media post.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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A North Carolina woman whose disappearance in 2001 triggered a 24-year search is now facing criminal charges from the year she vanished.
Michele Hundley Smith, now 63, was located Feb. 20 at an undisclosed location within North Carolina after detectives received new information about her case, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office said.
Smith was 38 when her husband reported that she left their Eden home Dec. 9, 2001, to go Christmas shopping in Martinsville, Virginia, and never returned. Her vehicle was never found.
An extensive investigation followed, and, despite years of investigative work, her whereabouts remained unknown until last week.
The 63-year-old woman posted $2,000 bond on a failure to appear charge related to a DWI from the month before she vanished for 24 years. (Robeson County Sheriff’s Office)
Authorities said Smith told investigators she left on her own accord and referenced “domestic issues.”
Sheriff Sam Page told Fox News Digital the sheriff’s office had no prior record of domestic incidents at the home. No criminal charges are expected in her disappearance. However, following her identification, investigators discovered an outstanding order for arrest dating back to 2001.
A missing persons flyer circulated at the time of Michele Hundely Smith’s disappearance in December 2001. (Bring Michele Hundely Smith Home/Facebook)
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In a statement, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office said that, after consultation with the District Attorney’s Office and further investigation, authorities identified an outstanding order for arrest for Smith for failure to appear.
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The order stemmed from a DWI charge issued by the Eden Police Department Nov. 11, 2001. Smith failed to appear in court Dec. 27, 2001, for that charge, the statement said.
On Feb. 25, 2026, Smith was taken into custody by the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office at the request of Rockingham County authorities. She later posted a $2,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Rockingham County District Court March 26, 2026.
A missing mom found alive after 23 years reveals she left due to domestic issues. (Bring Michele Hundely Smith Home/Facebook)
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On Thursday, the New York Post reported it had located Smith in a trailer in a rural community near the South Carolina state line. Smith told the outlet she is trying to make amends with her daughter and the family she walked out on decades ago.
“My daughter is forgiving me. We are in contact, so leave me alone,” she told the outlet.
Smith’s neighbors said she had “been here for years and years” and mostly keeps to herself.
“We asked why she didn’t come out of the house much, and she said her husband passed. He passed last year. … She was really sad about it. She said she was depressed and stayed inside,” the neighbor said.
Michele Hundely Smith disappeared after leaving her home in North Carolina to go Christmas shopping in Virginia in December 2001. (Bring Michele Hundely Smith Home/Facebook)
In a 2018 interview on “The Vanished Podcast,” her daughter, Amanda Hundley, said her mother’s marriage was unraveling under the weight of alcohol abuse, infidelity and escalating marital arguments.
Smith had recently lost her job at a veterinary practice after being fired for drinking on the job, Hundley said.
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“My dad didn’t like the fact that my mom hid her drinking. I knew about it, and I was the only one. And I felt, you know, I was young, and I felt obligated not to say anything to betray my mom,” Hundley said on the podcast.
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According to Hundley, her father suspected the drinking but did not fully understand the extent of it until after Smith vanished.
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“He said, ‘Do you know where she kept the bottles at?’ And I showed them we had a little red building outside, and it was full of rum bottles, the empties, the ones that she had already drunk,” recalled Hundley, who was 14 at the time.
The couple’s relationship had also deteriorated. Hundley said both her parents had affairs during the marriage. She described frequent arguments that “got physical a few times.”
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Atlanta-area police blast parents over vodka martini packed in school lunch: ‘That is NOT apple juice’
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An Atlanta-area police department issued a blunt notice to parents after officers claimed a child brought a vodka-based beverage to school — tucked beside Doritos in a packed lunch.
The City of South Fulton Police Department sounded off about the incident in a now-viral Facebook post, warning parents to “CHECK. THE. LUNCHBOX.”
“Say Twin… Before you send them babies off to school… CHECK. THE. LUNCHBOX. Because why are we getting reports of juice boxes sitting next to… Cutwater margaritas??” the department wrote.
Officials also shared a photo of the alleged lunchbox, containing what appears to be a child’s lunch, Doritos and a Cutwater Lemon Drop Martini.
The police department shared a photo of a Cutwater canned cocktail in a lunchbox. (City of South Fulton Police Department via Facebook)
“That is NOT Capri Sun. That is NOT Apple Juice. That is a whole ‘Parent had a long night’ starter pack,” the department wrote. “Now little Johnny done pulled up to 3rd period talking about: ‘Who want fruit snacks?’ knowing good and well he got a Lemon Drop Martini in the zipper pocket.”
Cutwater Lemon Drop Martinis, as found in the lunchbox, are 11% ABV ready-to-drink cocktails made with vodka, triple sec, lemon juice and natural flavors.
They come in 12-ounce cans, similar in appearance to a soda can.
The City of South Fulton Police Department issued a statement after the apparent mishap. (City of South Fulton Police Department via Facebook)
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The department said it understands mornings can be hectic, but issued a stern notice to parents to “TIGHTEN UP.”
“Your child shouldn’t be the only one in the cafeteria with a beverage that requires an ID,” authorities wrote. “If it says 12% ABV… it does NOT belong next to a PB&J.”
Officials also provided a “quick parent checklist,” with items including: “Homework,” “Lunch packed,” and “Alcoholic beverages.”
Boxes of Cutwater Tiki Rum Mai Tai and Strawberry Margarita canned cocktails. (Gado/Getty Images)
“Check the lunchbox before the Fulton County Schools Police resource officers gotta do inventory at recess,” the department added.
It is unclear if any parents or students were disciplined in relation to the mix-up.
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Fulton County Schools did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The City of South Fulton, Georgia, is a rapidly growing municipality located about 20 minutes from Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
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