Among the Bros Summary and Analysis
Max Marshall’s Among the Bros is a work of investigative nonfiction that uncovers a massive drug trafficking ring within elite Southern fraternities. Centered around the College of Charleston, the story follows a group of well-connected fraternity brothers whose drug operation spirals into a multi-million-dollar criminal enterprise.
What begins as a tale of young men chasing status and thrills quickly becomes an exploration of privilege, power, and accountability. Marshall reveals how polished appearances and institutional apathy allowed a drug empire to flourish undetected for years. The book confronts the blurred line between criminal behavior and protected social privilege in modern collegiate life.
Summary
Among the Bros tells the story of Mikey Schmidt, a college freshman at the College of Charleston in 2013, whose involvement in fraternity life quickly escalates into a life of crime. Mikey, who arrives on campus already experienced in selling marijuana, soon becomes entrenched in the college’s vibrant fraternity scene.
He is drawn to the Kappa Alpha (KA) Order, a smaller but well-connected fraternity, after befriending a charismatic KA member, Rob Liljeberg III.
Fraternities at the time were seen as a wild, yet essential, part of American college life, but beneath the surface, they harbored more sinister elements. Hazing, dangerous drug use, and heavy drinking were normalized within these spaces.
Mikey’s entry into KA involves enduring intense hazing rituals, including forced drinking, drug use, and acts of humiliation. These rituals, although officially banned, were widespread, reflecting a culture of recklessness that often led to arrests, accidents, and even deaths.
Yet, with access to wealth and privilege, these incidents rarely led to lasting consequences.
Soon, Mikey’s entrepreneurial spirit turns toward selling fake IDs, a sought-after commodity among underage frat boys.
This further ingratiates him with KA members, and he becomes an official member of the fraternity. But his ambitions grow, and after flunking out of school, he turns to selling Xanax—a drug gaining popularity in the party scene for its potent effects when mixed with alcohol.
Mikey and Rob begin to build a large-scale drug operation, purchasing Xanax from the dark web and distributing it to other college dealers, raking in significant profits.
Their drug business expands to include cocaine, which Mikey sources from a dealer in Atlanta.
As the demand for Xanax increases, they connect with Zack Kligman, an outsider to the college scene, who becomes a major supplier.
Zack eventually starts manufacturing his own counterfeit Xanax to reduce costs, though the quality of his pills is inconsistent.
The drug trade spirals out of control, with Xanax-laced drinks appearing at fraternity parties, leading to blackouts and dangerous situations for partygoers.
Tragedy strikes when Patrick Moffly, a young man from Charleston with a troubled history of drug use, is murdered in his home in 2016.
Patrick, who had become involved in selling Xanax supplied by Zack, had moved to Charleston in an effort to escape his past but ended up deep in the drug trade.
His murder, which shocks the community, is tied to his dealings with Xanax, though the exact circumstances remain murky.
The police launch a sting operation that results in the arrests of Rob, Zack, and eventually Mikey. In exchange for reduced sentences, Rob and Zack cooperate with law enforcement, leading to Mikey’s arrest.
Mikey takes a plea deal and is sentenced to 10 years in prison. Meanwhile, a man named Charles Mungin, believed to be connected to the drug trade, is convicted of Patrick Moffly’s murder, though there are suspicions that Zack may have been behind it.
Despite the fallout from the bust and Moffly’s death, many of the young men involved in the drug ring serve minimal jail time, and fraternity culture, while temporarily tarnished, largely endures.
The book concludes with a sobering reflection on how privilege, power, and the reckless pursuit of thrills can lead to tragic consequences.
Important People
Mikey Schmidt
Mikey Schmidt is the central character in Among the Bros. When he arrives at the College of Charleston in 2013, he is already deeply involved in the world of drugs, dealing weed from a young age.
His ambition to expand his drug trade leads him to join the fraternity Kappa Alpha (KA), where he hopes to leverage his social connections to further his business. Mikey is portrayed as resourceful, entrepreneurial, and reckless.
His dealings in fake IDs and later, drugs like Xanax, demonstrate his desire to climb the social ladder quickly and exploit the fraternity’s party culture. However, Mikey’s life spirals out of control when he starts abusing drugs himself and stops attending classes, eventually flunking out of school.
His collaboration with Rob in building a significant drug empire reflects his willingness to take high risks for high rewards. His eventual downfall, marked by his arrest and 10-year prison sentence, underscores the perilous path he chose.
Despite his arrest, Mikey’s choices reflect a broader culture of entitlement and recklessness that defines fraternity life in this narrative.
Rob Liljeberg III
Rob Liljeberg III is Mikey’s close friend and fellow member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity. As someone who comes from a background of privilege, Rob epitomizes the social privilege that fraternity members often enjoy.
His friendship with Mikey initially begins when they bond over shared interests, including fake IDs and drugs. Rob introduces Mikey to the inner workings of KA, helping him navigate the social dynamics and hazing rituals of fraternity life.
As Mikey’s partner in the Xanax business, Rob plays a crucial role in establishing the drug trade. The duo’s collaboration leads to a highly profitable operation that supplies thousands of pills to college students.
However, Rob’s role in the drug trade also leads to his eventual arrest. Like Mikey, Rob’s privileged background allows him to mitigate the consequences of his actions, serving little to no time in prison.
Rob’s character highlights the duality of being complicit in criminal behavior while also being protected by social privilege. This is seen in his eventual cooperation with the police to avoid harsher punishment.
Zack Kligman
Zack Kligman emerges as one of the central figures in the larger drug trafficking operation. Unlike Mikey and Rob, Zack is not a college student but is closely tied to the network of drug dealers at the College of Charleston.
Zack’s operation grows considerably after the arrests of some of the Xanax leaders, and he becomes one of Mikey’s suppliers. His move to start manufacturing his own Xanax pills using a pill press demonstrates his willingness to cut corners to maximize profits, even at the expense of quality.
The counterfeit Xanax pills that Zack produces are chalky and less effective, but they allow him to maintain control over the local drug market. Zack’s detachment from the frat culture while still benefiting from it sets him apart from Mikey and Rob.
Ultimately, Zack’s criminal activities catch up to him, and he is arrested. His role as a supplier and potential orchestrator of Patrick Moffly’s murder further emphasizes the dark and dangerous undercurrent that runs through the drug trade.
His arrest reveals the vast scale of the operation, with millions of Xanax pills discovered in his storage locker.
Patrick Moffly
Patrick Moffly, though a secondary character in the narrative, represents the tragic consequences of the drug culture that pervades fraternity life. Patrick’s long-standing struggle with benzodiazepine misuse makes him a vulnerable figure in the story.
His involvement in selling Xanax, which he buys from Zack Kligman, ties him to the larger drug ring at the College of Charleston. However, Patrick is not as deeply embedded in the frat culture as Mikey or Rob, and his drug dealing seems more a result of personal dependency and survival than a desire for profit or status.
His move to Charleston in an attempt to turn his life around proves unsuccessful, as he continues to spiral into deeper addiction. Patrick’s murder in 2016 serves as a pivotal moment in the book, symbolizing the lethal stakes of the drug trade that had previously seemed like a reckless, but somewhat harmless, part of college partying.
His death also raises questions about the true orchestrators behind the murder, with suspicions that Zack Kligman may have been involved.
Charles Mungin
Charles Mungin is the man ultimately convicted for the murder of Patrick Moffly. He is portrayed as a young Black man whose involvement in the case raises complex questions about race and justice.
Marshall suggests that Charles may have been working under the orders of Zack Kligman. This indicates that Charles may have been a pawn in a larger criminal operation.
His conviction and life sentence contrast sharply with the relatively lenient consequences faced by the white fraternity members involved in the drug trade. This reflects broader systemic issues of racial disparity in the criminal justice system.
While Charles’ role in the murder is legally confirmed, the suspicion surrounding his involvement hints at deeper layers of manipulation and exploitation within the drug trade.
Max Marshall (Author)
Although Max Marshall is the author and not a character in the narrative, his presence is essential in shaping the story’s lens. As a former fraternity member himself, Marshall brings a unique perspective to his exploration of fraternity culture.
His background allows him to approach the subject with a mix of insider knowledge and critical distance. This makes his portrayal of the characters both nuanced and credible.
Throughout the book, Marshall is driven by a desire to understand how fraternity culture, drug trafficking, and the sense of social invincibility converge to create an environment where tragedies like Patrick Moffly’s murder can happen.
His journalistic investigation adds layers of complexity to the narrative. Marshall interviews key figures, including Patrick’s family, and uncovers the deep-rooted issues within the American fraternity system.
Marshall’s role as a narrator and investigator makes the story not just about the individuals involved but also about the broader cultural and social forces that enable such events.
Analysis and Themes
Privilege and Immunity
The book starkly portrays the way wealth, race, and social connections insulate individuals from meaningful consequences, even when their actions have deadly outcomes. From the start, readers are introduced to young white men from elite backgrounds who engage in drug trafficking, underage drinking, sexual misconduct, and hazing—all with relative impunity.
The legal system’s response to the Charleston drug ring is telling: despite the enormity of the operation, most participants face minimal consequences, and only one person—Mikey Schmidt—receives a significant prison sentence. This uneven distribution of punishment is not coincidental but reflects deep-rooted systemic bias.
The judicial and institutional responses are shaped by the defendants’ appearances, family names, and socioeconomic status, which often afford them second chances and assumptions of “youthful indiscretion.” The book is not subtle in pointing out how privilege warps accountability.
Even after a high-profile DEA/FBI investigation, fraternity parties continue, the Greek system remains largely unchanged, and the community offers little in the way of reform or reckoning. These young men are allowed to commit serious crimes while retaining their reputations and social standing, revealing the distorted moral economy of upper-class Southern college life.
The reader is left with the impression that affluence doesn’t just provide legal protection—it actively erases the memory of wrongdoing. This makes it possible for the party to carry on uninterrupted.
Fraternity Culture and Toxic Masculinity
Fraternity life in the book is not just a backdrop but a central engine for the events that unfold. The narrative reveals how these institutions cultivate conformity, dominance, and emotional repression in young men.
The hazing rituals during pledgeship, the emphasis on hierarchy, the weaponization of loyalty, and the glorification of recklessness all foster a specific brand of masculinity that is performative, aggressive, and insulated from external judgment. Pledges are dehumanized through acts of humiliation and coerced obedience, conditioning them to accept abuse as a rite of passage and to perpetuate it once they gain status.
This cycle reinforces a worldview where vulnerability is weakness, and power is earned through submission and cruelty. The fraternity environment encourages risk-taking behaviors not merely as personal choices but as expectations.
Using hard drugs, driving under the influence, engaging in non-consensual behavior, and selling narcotics are normalized. These are not random behaviors but part of a broader cultural script that prizes dominance, charisma, and invincibility.
The emotional cost of this model is evident in the mental health issues, overdoses, and deaths that occur. Yet the culture suppresses any real acknowledgment of grief or change.
Instead, mourning becomes another performance, often romanticized, and rarely accompanied by introspection or reform. The fraternity is not just an organization; it’s a system of belief and identity that sustains itself by exploiting young men’s need for belonging and their fear of exclusion.
Drug Economy and Youth Criminalization
One of the most arresting aspects of the book is how it dissects the normalization of drug use and distribution among affluent college students. What begins as casual weed consumption and Xanax experimentation quickly expands into a multi-campus, multi-million-dollar narcotics operation.
The ease with which these young men access drugs, set up supply chains, and move significant quantities of contraband is unnerving. Their network mimics the operations of street-level cartels, yet they function with far less scrutiny.
This contrast brings into focus the unequal treatment of drug crimes in America. While poor, nonwhite communities are heavily policed and incarcerated for lesser offenses, these students operate in plain sight.
They use encrypted phones, stash drugs in storage lockers, and use frat houses as distribution hubs—all while maintaining the façade of college normalcy. When the operation is finally exposed, the legal outcomes are disproportionately lenient, with many perpetrators walking free or facing minor penalties.
The book indirectly critiques how drug laws are applied not based on the severity of the crime but on the identity of the accused. The fraternity drug economy, in this context, becomes a case study in how the War on Drugs bypasses the privileged.
Moreover, these crimes are often trivialized as missteps rather than patterns of exploitation and endangerment. By spotlighting this discrepancy, the book challenges the reader to question how justice is framed and to whom it is truly applied.
Systemic Failure and Institutional Apathy
Throughout the story, institutions—universities, law enforcement, the judiciary—are repeatedly shown to be either negligent or complicit in sustaining the status quo. College administrations overlook dangerous behavior for fear of reputational damage and donor backlash.
Hazing incidents, student overdoses, and even fatalities are not met with structural reforms but with silence or token gestures. Law enforcement agencies, while eventually mounting an operation, fail to deliver proportionate consequences to most of the perpetrators.
Even when faced with overwhelming evidence, prosecutions are weak, and judicial outcomes are laughably lenient for many of the central figures. These failures are not accidental—they reflect a broader unwillingness to confront or dismantle elite networks of power.
The book also critiques how the criminal justice system often performs its role selectively, choosing visible scapegoats while preserving institutional alliances. Mikey’s harsh sentence is the exception, not the rule, and it serves to shield others and close the case quickly.
The systemic failures extend to cultural institutions as well. Media narratives, public opinion, and even parental engagement seem anesthetized by the allure of fraternity prestige.
Instead of demanding accountability, many stakeholders retreat into denial or nostalgia. This collective apathy is not just passive—it actively enables harm.
The fraternity system continues operating without meaningful checks, even after deaths and indictments. The book thus becomes a searing indictment of institutional cowardice, where the pursuit of tradition, reputation, or comfort outweighs the imperative for justice or safety.