The Rise and Fall of Calvin Phelps, Renegade Tobacco

(Greensboro News & Record) How does an initiative that started with such promise end so badly?
The answer begins with a young man who wanted to be a rock star but found his calling in the machinery of cigarette- and cigar-making, and who then profited hugely from a brief wrinkle in the rules that govern this nation’s tobacco industry.
His newfound money flew out the door for fancy sports cars, including several Ferraris and a $142,000 Maserati, and a $1.9 million jet, Chinqua Penn, a collection of vintage guitars, and such smaller pleasures as an $8,500-a-week stint at a rock ’n’ roll fantasy camp.
Now the tab is due. Continued