Today is Thursday, January 21st, 2021.

On this day in 1970, newspapers reported that psychedelics researcher and former Harvard professor,

Timothy Leary, was convicted of illegally transporting marijuana across the U.S.-Mexico border.

But Leary's story was much bigger than one conviction.

In fact, his actions led to President Nixon declaring him the most dangerous man in America.

Welcome to Today in True Crime, a Spotify original from Parcast.

Today, we're covering the conviction of the so-called high priest of LSD, Timothy Leary.

Let's go back to January 21, 1970, as news broke across the United States.

The news was splashed in papers across the country.

The news was splashed in papers across the country. A former Harvard professor was convicted of drug smuggling.

Without context, the idea might normally spark confusion.

But this particular story had drawn national attention,

which led to an unusually large number of people in the courtroom for the verdict.

For many drug smuggling trials,

you might expect the courtroom to be mostly empty, save for the essential personnel,

judge, jury, prosecution, and of course, a defendant. In the town of Laredo, which sits on the

U.S.-Mexico border, those kinds of trials likely occurred fairly often.

But this was no ordinary drug-smuggling trial.

For this particular case, the gallery was full.

The room was packed with curious locals, mostly businessmen and homemakers, along with

anxious hippies, who had a vested interest in the fate of a 49-year-old Dr. Timothy Leary.

The former Harvard professor was charged with smuggling three ounces of marijuana into the

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