John C. Scooter Herring - Allman Bros. Manager

[RoRo]

MACON, Ga. (AP) - John C. "Scooter" Herring, a former Allman Brothers Band road manager whose drug conviction in the 1970s contributed to the breakup of the band, has died. He was 67.
Herring died Saturday, a spokesman for Hart's Mortuary in Macon said. He died of natural causes, his family said.
Federal prosecutors went after Herring during the 1970s, charging that he helped supply singer and keyboardist Gregg Allman with cocaine. To avoid criminal charges, Allman testified against Herring and gave details of his own drug use.
In 1976, Herring was convicted of five drug offenses and was sentenced to 75 years in prison. Considering Allman's testimony an act of betrayal, the band soon broke up.
Herring's 1976 conviction was later overturned by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1979, facing a new trial, he pleaded guilty to a two-count accusation which carried no more than five years in jail and $35,000 in fines.
Herring ended up serving 30 months, said Scott Freeman, senior editor at Creative Loafing in Atlanta and author of "Midnight Riders: The Story of the Allman Brothers Band."

[Kathyf]

How interesting. I never heard about this. Was this the same allman family of the one Cher was married to?

[Tebssis]

Yes, Cher was married to Gregg Allman. I think he was still using drugs then, all about the same time he recorded the song "I'm no Angel". His brother Duane was killed in a motorcycle crash, but that was earlier before Gregg and Cher hooked up.