Summary of Among the Bros by Max Marshall: A Fraternity Crime Story

By Willie M. Joseph

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This book does not in any capacity mean to replace the original book but to serve as a vast summary of the original book.

Summary of Among the Bros by Max Marshall: A Fraternity Crime Story

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Among the Bros is a disturbing book by Max Marshall, a young investigative journalist who uncovers the hidden world of elite American fraternity life. Marshall's investigation on the College of Charleston's campus revealed a homicide, student deaths, and millions of dollars circulating in the Deep South. The book takes readers inside the elite world, revealing the rise of fraternity members in Fortune 500 executives, Supreme Court justices, and presidents. The book is an addictive and haunting portrait of the American establishment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Willie M. Joseph
• Release date: Nov 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223529910

Willie M. Joseph

Willie M. Joseph summaries get straight to the point and provide essential tools to help you be an informed reader in a busy world, whether you’re browsing for new discoveries, managing your to-read list for work or school, or simply deepening your knowledge. Available for nonfiction titles, these are the book summaries that are worth your time.  

Book preview

Wolves of King Street

Mikey Schmidt, a 17-year-old boy from Charleston, South Carolina, was a part of a growing spurt at the College of Charleston. He had been a rowdy kid, known for his high voice and a tendency to drink before class. However, he wanted a different social life at C of C, where he could join a good fraternity.

During the 2016 College of Charleston summer break, Charleston's police chief announced one of the largest busts in the city's history, involving local police, state law enforcement, the DEA, the FBI, and the US Postal Service. The bust seized five pounds of marijuana, a pound and a half of cocaine, seven firearms, a Tac-D grenade launcher, $214,000 in cash, and 43 thousand pills worth $150,000. The case was related to the murder of Patrick Moffly, the son of a luxury real estate developer and a Charleston school board member.

Muller refused to discuss the link between the killing and the drug arrests, stating that the college ring had sold everything from MDMA to LSD to Xanax, which seems to be a drug of choice right now. He claimed that the suspects operated in a network and knew one another, but were not thought to be part of a gang.

The Charleston PD displayed mug shots of suspects, including Michael Schmidt, Robert Liljeberg, Zackery Kligman, Benjamin Nauss, Jonathan Reams, Daniel Katko, Russell Sliker, and Jake Poeschek. The suspects had feathery bangs and appeared to be from a lacrosse group at the prep school in Dallas. The photos also caught the reporter's attention due to the arrests of the suspects with Xanax, a drug of choice at the time. The reporter had seen benzodiazepines flying around college fraternity life and had witnessed friends getting addicted. When investigating the Xanax arrest fraternity, the reporter began a write around with sources who knew the suspects.

One friend suggested Mikey had a wealthy grandfather and good taste in rap music, while another explained his success with women as a result of his swag. The first time the reporter visited the College of Charleston, he imagined what Mikey saw upon arriving. The Latin motto on the gate, from the Aeneid, means Someday, it will please you to remember even these present troubles.

The College of Charleston, a fraternity school in South Carolina, was linked to the 2016 bust of a drug ring. The school, known as Camp Charleston, was a country club for rich New Englanders, which feeds directly into the drug ring. The college had a 25:75 ratio of men to women, making it easy for rich frat guys to be involved in the drug ring.

The drug ring was spread out among various connections, with many drug dealers within the fraternity. The police didn't catch one-fourth of what was happening, and there were real money driving serious crime. The conversation about deaths and millions of dollars felt like subreddit talk.

To understand the drug conspiracy, the boys' criminal defense lawyers were interviewed. They revealed that the suspects had hired some of the best orators and backroom dealers in South Carolina, and Mikey Schmidt alone had hired four attorneys. Tim Kulp, a former FBI special agent, had a four-decade career in criminal defense and appeared on Dateline and in the New York Times.

A police affidavit from April 1, 2016, stated that on April 1, 2016, Charleston detectives had raided a storage locker belonging to one of the boys in the mug shots. They had confiscated an ounce of cocaine and two firearms, but also found 6,947.62 grams of counterfeit Xanax. The Charleston Police Department had announced the seizure of 433,000 alprazolam pills worth $150,000, but according to this document, they had discovered more tablets and never disclosed it.

By Chief Mullen's own math of $3.50 a pill, his team had uncovered $12,250,000 of black market Xanax, and by Tim Kulp's estimate, the boys had been caught with $21,000,000 worth of pills.

Mountain Weekend

Mikey, a student at the College of Charleston, attended the annual Student Activities Information Fair and decided to join one of the best fraternities at the college. He found tables belonging to upper-middle-tier fraternities, Kappa Sigma and Sigma Nu, but decided to pass Sigma Nu. He then looked for tables belonging to top-tier chapters, Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike) and Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE). Pike recruited northerners from towns like Greenwich, Connecticut, and appealed to tristate-area friends who liked a mix of northern and southern rhythms. Sigma Alpha Epsilon attracted boys from old southeastern families and attracted tristate kids who liked a mix of northern and southern rhythms.

Elite fraternities like to recruit members from elite backgrounds, which usually means they come from money. Accepting boys from good families and rejecting ones from random suburbs means higher budgets for parties and better connections in the job market. This benefits accrue over time, as Greek alumni give approximately 75% of all money donated to universities. While it's difficult to determine what makes a fraternity the best, elite fraternities like Sigma Alpha Epsilon have a strong presence in the college community.

The best fraternity chapters have a long history of being stereotypical Richie Rich kids, with their recruitment often focusing on campus leaders. However, over the last fifty years, these chapters have morphed in terms of public-facing behavior. In the 1960s, the top chapters branded themselves as rich kids from elite families, with chapter sweaters and official songbooks for crooning. By 1970, fraternity membership hit an all-time low, and in 1978, rich fraternities were stereotyped as boring snoots.

In the movie Animal House, the Omegas were the best fraternity on campus, while the Delta Tau Chi brothers were the worst. By 1978, the status flipped, with campus leaders being uptight losers and the wild boys having all the fun. This laid the groundwork for Old School and other man-child films of the