1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:08,840 Speaker 1: Previously unsmoked. I had my foot on the throttle. Absolutely, yes, fool, 2 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:12,880 Speaker 1: tilt go and then from there you drive it right 3 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:18,319 Speaker 1: into the wall, yell Randy, la there, I guess the wall. 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,119 Speaker 1: There is no such thing I think as non violent 5 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:26,599 Speaker 1: drug crime. For drug dealers, there's gonna be collateral damage. 6 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: I said, Mike, you know how deep do you want 7 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: to bury this man? I said, we'll need a plumber 8 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: of piping somewhat. It was the hardest thing I've had 9 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,960 Speaker 1: to do ever to sit there and look at especially Randy. 10 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 1: Why did you turn down the fleet deal? And then 11 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: I figured I could ocap keep it real. Did you're 12 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 1: driving off the Oh? Yeah, it's amazing. Back in Brandy's 13 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: home in Colorado, she took us into the garage and 14 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: to a vintage red Go Karte, built to look just 15 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: like her father's old dcard fast. When it was running, 16 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: we had a great time. Was in college. Some of 17 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 1: the pain is chipped and then go Kart hasn't exactly 18 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 1: been used in a while, but Brandy's stencil's name is 19 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:15,679 Speaker 1: still clearly visible on the side, and it's a tangible 20 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: reminder of the past thirty years. In the rear view mirror. 21 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: I was six or seven, and just it was like, 22 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,960 Speaker 1: here's your racer. We just won the Rookie of the year, 23 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:29,479 Speaker 1: and then he had this car made for me. She says. 24 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:32,119 Speaker 1: Somewhere in the garage is the helmet that Randy used 25 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: to wear, another reminder of his hard charging, short lived 26 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: racing career. The improbable IMSA Champion four, the Indie five 27 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: hundred Rookie of the Year in six and gone entirely 28 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: from the scene by seven. We did what we did? 29 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: It do I agree with law absolutely not what we 30 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: did In Randy was convicted of masterminding what was at 31 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:09,680 Speaker 1: the time the largest U S Pot syndicate ever prosecuted. 32 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:14,239 Speaker 1: His daughter, Brandy, was seven years old. What'd your mom 33 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: tell you when he got arrested? Or he was and 34 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: I didn't he ran away, She didn't. For a long time. 35 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 1: It was he was racing, and you know, to a 36 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: little kid whose dad always traveled for work, made sense 37 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,240 Speaker 1: to me. So that's just what I told friends, and 38 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: that I was probably a teenager or maybe late into 39 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:35,399 Speaker 1: teenagehood before I really found out the true details. From 40 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 1: that point on, Brandy understood the reality of her dad's 41 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,120 Speaker 1: passed but that didn't make it any easier to talk about. 42 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:45,400 Speaker 1: I think I told maybe very very few select friends 43 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 1: throughout high school or middle school, and even then I 44 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:52,640 Speaker 1: don't think I gave them the real whole story. Those 45 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: thoughts paralleled what Jean Fisher has said. Fisher, you might 46 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 1: remember is the guy who handled the barge for Randy's 47 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:02,520 Speaker 1: operation the effect and my young son they have a 48 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: scar from saying their father or grandfather go and be 49 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: branded as a criminal. Here's Fisher on his voices of 50 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 1: the Cannabis War radio show. The greatest trying to see 51 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:14,919 Speaker 1: that you live for is being able to get out 52 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: of prison and come home. Unfortunately, so many prisoners lose 53 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 1: families and friends, and because of long term incarceration. So 54 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: much has changed around marijuana since Randy was sent to prison. 55 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 1: In politics, legalization, and cultural acceptance, marijuana big big business 56 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: in Colorado these days. It is an outdate. Near Brandy's 57 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: home now are marijuana dispensaries, concrete evidence of how Colorado 58 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: helped to lead the way for legalization its residents past 59 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 1: Amendment sixty four, which made recreational pot legal. But inside 60 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: her home is proof of just how long that took 61 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:00,760 Speaker 1: to happen. That's the nice picture my mom and my 62 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: dad in the eighties wearing that same shirt fits in 63 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: the bedroom. The shift and attitude raises questions about a 64 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 1: criminal justice system that appears increasingly out of step with 65 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: our modern moment, and how society now thinks about those 66 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:19,120 Speaker 1: previously incarcerated for marijuana. But when Randy was convicted in 67 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: he saw one way out and it was self made. 68 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 1: I thought I would determined enough and had enough confidence 69 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: in myself that I could figure it out. And if 70 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: it wasn't through the courts, it would be to a tunnel, 71 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: a wall, whatever device I could come up with. From 72 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:43,919 Speaker 1: the Miami Herald and the Clatchy Studios, this is smoked. 73 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: I'm Amy Driscoll, I'm Alex Harris, and this is part five. 74 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: M Life is more important material things. You don't need 75 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,080 Speaker 1: all the gold and the ratio. Throughout the early nineties, 76 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:03,760 Speaker 1: the style of anti drug p s s might have changed, 77 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: but the war on drugs messaging remained the same. You 78 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:12,160 Speaker 1: make out of money? Can you make it past? Ultimately, 79 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:15,600 Speaker 1: the Illinois investigation that took down Randy's company led to 80 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: the convictions of more than two d and fifty people 81 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: for overseeing the operation. Randy was sentenced to life in 82 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,919 Speaker 1: prison and then concurrent forty and five year sentences for 83 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,560 Speaker 1: distribution and tax fraud. And in Florida he still faced 84 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:31,680 Speaker 1: the indictment over his involvement with the Transatlantic smuggling ring. 85 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: That case was um shrimp boats being brought into South 86 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:41,480 Speaker 1: Florida with marijuana. I got thrown into the mix with 87 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: these smugglers, and I'll let him go at that. He 88 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:49,040 Speaker 1: already had a life sentence, So Randy decided to just 89 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: plead guilty. I mean again, you know, with somebody like 90 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:58,160 Speaker 1: Randy is auto racing skills and so forth, if he 91 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 1: hadn't been indicted in the other case, I would have 92 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: been interesting to see how it would have ultimately resolved itself. 93 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 1: In my case, Lothar GANGI was the lead prosecutor for 94 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 1: that case in Florida. With that kind of a sentence, 95 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 1: we just agreed take some kind of a plea and 96 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: time served, you know, so as we were concerned. But 97 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 1: the former race car driver who always looked for that 98 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:22,599 Speaker 1: one small opening on the track, had the same strategy 99 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:24,839 Speaker 1: when it came to getting out of prison. They brought 100 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:28,920 Speaker 1: me to Miami, and because I had life a forty 101 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:33,039 Speaker 1: and five running consecutive. My lawyers was able to plea 102 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 1: bargain an agreement that if I agreed to plead guilty 103 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: to one count of conspiracy racketeer, they'll give me a 104 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:43,919 Speaker 1: five year running concurrent with my life sentence. So I 105 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: had one little request and I would accept to do, 106 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:51,400 Speaker 1: and that is I wanted to pay a fift balance 107 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: running shoes at court when I played guilty. Judge never 108 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:58,119 Speaker 1: heard anything such a absurd is wanting to pass shoes 109 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 1: to plead guilty to a five year prisons. But he 110 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 1: granted it, and the prosecutors agreed, and I walked in 111 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: the court pled guilty, and it gave me a brand 112 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: new pair of fifteen hunt running shoes. I wanted them 113 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: to help me get out. During his early years behind bars, 114 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 1: Randy told us his legal team filed repeated appeals and 115 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: while those worked their way through the courts. Inmate number 116 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: zero four nine six six, it's like Sizzled Min had 117 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,600 Speaker 1: his own plans. I wasn't planning all dying in prison. 118 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:34,920 Speaker 1: It's not something I wanted to do. When I would 119 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: arrive at probably sat looking right away any possibilities that 120 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: someone may have missed escaping is what he means. I 121 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: had multiple plots throughout my twenty seven years that I 122 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: got tenched on some levelm Randy had some truly audacious plans, 123 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:55,560 Speaker 1: from running shoes to vending machines. That was one of 124 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:58,960 Speaker 1: my plans. When I first got into the institutions. They 125 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 1: had the new machines in the unit that I lived in, 126 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:05,960 Speaker 1: and you thought, I mean, did they take the vending 127 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 1: machines out? Sometimes, Oh, he's going to break it, so 128 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: they would have to, heaven repair come in. But to 129 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:15,720 Speaker 1: repair was will be my people have planned Another time, 130 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: Randy spent years literally digging his way out. They weren't 131 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: like tunneling out like El Chapa or something. Actually there 132 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:26,360 Speaker 1: was a tunnel in one of these prisons. Did they 133 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: find it might still be there. He wasn't the only 134 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:33,959 Speaker 1: member of his former drug ring trying to make a 135 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,680 Speaker 1: break for it. Then, Kramer, also looking at life behind bars, 136 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:40,839 Speaker 1: made headlines with a sensational attempt of his own. The 137 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:43,400 Speaker 1: pilot and one prisoner barely survived the crash of the 138 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 1: two man helicopter, which slammed into the ground as it 139 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 1: tried to hoist the inmate out of the Maximum Security 140 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 1: Yard on Miami TV station Channel four reported Cramer's attempt 141 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:55,560 Speaker 1: to hang onto the helicopter as a friend flew him 142 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: to freedom. The twisted wreckage lies piled in an exercise 143 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 1: yard at the Federal Correction Centers up west of Miami. 144 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 1: The chopper caught a rotor blade on the prisons barbed 145 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 1: wire fence and hit the ground hard. Kramer broke one leg, 146 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:11,560 Speaker 1: the pilot broke to Framer was convicted of drug trafficking 147 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 1: and night back to the TV report, we were continually 148 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:17,559 Speaker 1: concerned about him, as we are a number of other 149 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:21,600 Speaker 1: inmates who are facing considerable sentences and who also had 150 00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:24,720 Speaker 1: the means to attempt something like this. Did you did 151 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: you know what had happened? Yes? How did you find out? 152 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 1: The day that he did, they locked me up. I 153 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:35,440 Speaker 1: was coming out of a busy room and they put 154 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:38,559 Speaker 1: me in the in the hole, and that's where this 155 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:43,199 Speaker 1: gets darker. Solitary confinement goes by many names, including segregation 156 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:45,520 Speaker 1: and the whole, but no matter what you call it, 157 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 1: Randy spent a lot of time in there, and one 158 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:51,480 Speaker 1: particular time was a two year state for an escape 159 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:55,920 Speaker 1: investigation in Florence, Colorado. So those two years. You know, 160 00:09:56,040 --> 00:10:01,040 Speaker 1: seven by ten gives you time to reflect in uh contemplaint. 161 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty there were three hundred and thirty thousand 162 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:07,439 Speaker 1: inmates in US state and federal prisons. I don't have 163 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:09,839 Speaker 1: to tell you how bad conditions were only a few 164 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:12,959 Speaker 1: a year ago. I don't have to remind you of 165 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: the growth in crime, the increase in violence, and the 166 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,360 Speaker 1: gang killings. The War on drugs helped double that number 167 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 1: by and by two thousand, Randy was one of nearly 168 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 1: one point four million people incarcerated. We mean to end 169 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:31,240 Speaker 1: their profits, imprison their members, and cripple their organization. As 170 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:34,840 Speaker 1: waves of new inmates arrived, prisons often turned to solitary 171 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,880 Speaker 1: confinement as a management tool. Today people across the country 172 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:41,920 Speaker 1: are debating the effects of that on prisoners. But whatever 173 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:44,959 Speaker 1: its future, Randy knows about its past all too well. 174 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:50,480 Speaker 1: I quit celebrating birthdays decades ago. In one of my 175 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:55,480 Speaker 1: stints in solitary confinement, I come to understanding that I 176 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:58,599 Speaker 1: didn't need the calendar. I don't want to watch for 177 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: a reason. I come to understand it did not how 178 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:03,880 Speaker 1: long they kept me in the hole. They he'll open 179 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 1: that door. When they open the door if they don't 180 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,040 Speaker 1: open it. Guess what my chess game can get better? 181 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:13,160 Speaker 1: That can play blindfolded? All right, that's just how you 182 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 1: can develop things. And as hard as it was on inmates, 183 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:21,840 Speaker 1: it also was rough on family members like Brandy, who 184 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:24,520 Speaker 1: growing up usually saw her dad on spring breaks and 185 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:27,680 Speaker 1: summer holidays. Um. Yeah, I went all over the country 186 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:32,160 Speaker 1: pretty much, Wisconsin and Indiana, Florida for a long while. 187 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:35,640 Speaker 1: You lose your freedom to once you cross the threshold 188 00:11:35,679 --> 00:11:38,720 Speaker 1: of the door from the outside into a federal penitentiary, 189 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 1: your rights go as well, so they have the right 190 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:45,080 Speaker 1: to search you or escort you out at any point 191 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 1: in time, for any reason or no reason. It's almost 192 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:49,920 Speaker 1: like like you were walking the door and you would 193 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:51,719 Speaker 1: not be able to touch your down, or you have 194 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:53,680 Speaker 1: to sit across the table, have it. Um. It really 195 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 1: depended in the smaller facilities in the beginning when it 196 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: was just an Illinois jail. A lot of the times 197 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:03,160 Speaker 1: it was through plate glass windows, so you're both on telephones. 198 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:07,800 Speaker 1: Bigger facilities not in solitary confinement. You can't go into 199 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:11,080 Speaker 1: a visiting room where there will be multiple plastic tables 200 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:14,199 Speaker 1: and chairs all bolted to the ground. Throughout the room, 201 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 1: and you'll be assigned to a certain area, certain table. 202 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:22,760 Speaker 1: And um I flew to a medical facility in Missouri 203 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:25,280 Speaker 1: when he had a hip replacement to visit him after 204 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:29,079 Speaker 1: surgery because I was the closest family member and I 205 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:32,120 Speaker 1: got denied the first day. And I don't really remember why. 206 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 1: I'd like to say it was because of his security measure. 207 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:39,479 Speaker 1: I think maybe he was maximum and the hospital facility 208 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 1: was medium. But yeah, you just run that risk and 209 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:44,040 Speaker 1: you fly all that way or drive all that way. 210 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:45,679 Speaker 1: But I mean, that's what you do when it's your 211 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:58,680 Speaker 1: loved one. The Green a look at the starting field 212 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:02,719 Speaker 1: for the seventy. As Randy learned the harsh realities of 213 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:05,160 Speaker 1: life behind bars, the rest of the world moved on. 214 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:11,079 Speaker 1: Bobby of the seventh row. His rookie speed record was 215 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,120 Speaker 1: broken at the on the fastest rookie ever of the 216 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: dominant Cobs, even those most connected to Randy's racing career 217 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,199 Speaker 1: put Blue Thunder behind them, so he actually became a 218 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:23,920 Speaker 1: classic because he's an Indy car driver and all look 219 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:25,960 Speaker 1: at this so they could make a big example out 220 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 1: of him. Keith Layton had been Randy's Creuchie for Blue 221 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:32,880 Speaker 1: Thunder and had initially followed him to Indianapolis. I've got 222 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 1: a deal going with March where I could run the 223 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 1: March factory team. So my future was kind of being 224 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:44,839 Speaker 1: put aside somewhere else, and then by November I was 225 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:48,280 Speaker 1: in England building the cars for the following year. Once 226 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:52,160 Speaker 1: the fence came calling, Randy's Blue Thunder team disappeared almost 227 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 1: as quickly as it had once appeared. A little was 228 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:58,400 Speaker 1: left the Randy's legacy as a race car driver. There 229 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:01,000 Speaker 1: was also nothing left of the company or the lifestyle 230 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:04,160 Speaker 1: it gave his family. Our property was seized in about 231 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:08,079 Speaker 1: eight seven eight. I don't remember the true details, but 232 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:11,120 Speaker 1: my mom moved a lot of furniture from the Colorado 233 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:13,439 Speaker 1: house to Florida and then that was it. We just 234 00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:16,160 Speaker 1: never came back until I moved back here eleven years ago. 235 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:20,000 Speaker 1: With plenty of time to reflect, Randy says he began 236 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:23,240 Speaker 1: to question the way he looked at everything himself included 237 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 1: I didn't didn't happen immediately, I identifying myself as a 238 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 1: race squad driving a drug smuggle, I guess. But we 239 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 1: can become aware of it and change the way we 240 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:38,920 Speaker 1: think and change our behavior. When do you decide you 241 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:42,840 Speaker 1: needed to change who you identify as Why? Over a 242 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 1: decade ago, I thought it kind of just changing the 243 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:48,840 Speaker 1: way I look at things. And took me a long 244 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:52,280 Speaker 1: time to come to an understanding of forgiving everybody that 245 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 1: was involved with my case. I had sixty four witnesses, 246 00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:59,440 Speaker 1: so it took me a minute to understand that I 247 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:03,440 Speaker 1: needed for give myself and everybody house. Randy says that 248 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 1: was one of the hardest parts of his journey. The 249 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:09,920 Speaker 1: confidence and tenacity that drove his incredible success wasn't the 250 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:13,400 Speaker 1: kind of attitude that easily lets bygones be bygones when 251 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 1: you're in that business, could take an oath. What you 252 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 1: say here stays yeah, And that's kind of had we 253 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:24,200 Speaker 1: all thought it was. But it didn't turn out to 254 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:28,320 Speaker 1: be that way. But you kept the oath, kept the oath. 255 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:33,560 Speaker 1: And why was that? Maybe I had some my priorities, 256 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:36,880 Speaker 1: maybe in the wrong place. He looked forward to phone 257 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:39,560 Speaker 1: calls with his family and the letters he would exchange 258 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:42,760 Speaker 1: with Brandy. That was the only option for many years. 259 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 1: He got a phone call. Sometimes it was only fifteen minutes, 260 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 1: and sometimes you know, once a week or once a month, 261 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 1: depending that was the main source of communication for long years, 262 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:56,160 Speaker 1: and then towards middle school and high school. It was 263 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:59,280 Speaker 1: fun to correspond that way, writing letters back and forth. 264 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:02,240 Speaker 1: What you guys to talk about letters. When I was young, 265 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 1: you know, it was more childhood things, what was going 266 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:08,160 Speaker 1: on at the barn or with family or at school. Um. 267 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 1: And then when I got older, it was a lot 268 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:12,240 Speaker 1: more of just what was going on in college. And 269 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:15,320 Speaker 1: when I was twenty one, I started to ask him 270 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 1: when it was like when he turned twenty one, because 271 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:20,680 Speaker 1: he was already you know, very very wealthy, hired a 272 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 1: lear jet and took friends to Vegas, so very different 273 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 1: than going to the local bar in college on a 274 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:31,160 Speaker 1: college student's budget. So I just thought it was really interesting, 275 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:34,840 Speaker 1: really fun. I was really intrigued, and uh, he started 276 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: writing me more and more about his story from two 277 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 1: thousand one Bond. As Randy worked hard to be a 278 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:42,840 Speaker 1: good father to Brandy, he found new ways to think 279 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:46,880 Speaker 1: about himself behind bars. First as a runner. So even 280 00:16:46,920 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 1: if you acknowledged that started out is more than just exercises, 281 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 1: love and worthleve and Worth had forty ft walls and 282 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:56,520 Speaker 1: run all way upside the wall and around back around 283 00:16:56,600 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 1: the walls in between that two soccer fields ash softball feel. Yeah, 284 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:06,640 Speaker 1: I was keeping fit in my mindset that I would 285 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:11,520 Speaker 1: need it if I ever got over or under a wall. 286 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:15,920 Speaker 1: As in racing, Randy remained super competitive. Who is the 287 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:19,280 Speaker 1: Blue Thunder Racing team? Everyone's now wondering who can stop 288 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:22,159 Speaker 1: the Blue Thunder Racing team, even if he only had 289 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:24,880 Speaker 1: himself to compete against. Back when he'd hit the wall 290 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:28,320 Speaker 1: in Michigan at two fourteen miles per hour, Randy was 291 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:31,720 Speaker 1: covering a mile roughly every twenty seconds. In prison, he 292 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:33,720 Speaker 1: got so he could do it on foot in five 293 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:36,720 Speaker 1: and a half minutes fifty seventy five miles a week running. 294 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:39,679 Speaker 1: So I kind of kept myself fit and worked out 295 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 1: a lot. As the years passed, running began to wear 296 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:47,119 Speaker 1: on him, maybe compounded by the injury from the Michigan crash. 297 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:50,440 Speaker 1: So Randy taught himself to paint at times, using the 298 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:54,119 Speaker 1: prisons plastic knives as brushes. When I was in prison, 299 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,480 Speaker 1: I came to understanding that I'm free when I'm painting. 300 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:00,320 Speaker 1: He talks about painting with the same mindful this he 301 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 1: reserves for one of his greatest highlights on the track. 302 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:06,119 Speaker 1: And I know I taught myself out of books by 303 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:11,160 Speaker 1: completely studying and applying oil on canvas, so I developed 304 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:14,040 Speaker 1: the skill. But the art pod comes in when I 305 00:18:14,119 --> 00:18:17,719 Speaker 1: get in the moment of painting and I'm in the painting, 306 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:22,880 Speaker 1: there's no worries, There's nothing but that moment, and it's extraordinary. 307 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,439 Speaker 1: By the mid two thousand's, Randy was at the Federal 308 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:29,920 Speaker 1: Correctional Complex in Coleman, Florida, in the center of the state, 309 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:33,119 Speaker 1: about a four hour drive from Miami. There, the former 310 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:36,760 Speaker 1: race car driver and drug smuggler reinvented himself as something 311 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:41,520 Speaker 1: entirely new, a mentor. For my last nine years in prison, 312 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:47,520 Speaker 1: I was a volunteer suicide companion, also was a mentor. 313 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:51,919 Speaker 1: UH the psychology department approached me and asked me if 314 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:54,840 Speaker 1: I would come over and do move into the special unit. 315 00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:58,199 Speaker 1: That day was starting up, and the unit was all 316 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:02,919 Speaker 1: about change recentivis and trying to get people to change 317 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 1: their habits, change the way they think. Most of the 318 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 1: time when I saw were inmates becoming more form or considerate, 319 00:19:11,119 --> 00:19:15,359 Speaker 1: less violent, more harmonious kind of people. This is heavier 320 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:19,320 Speaker 1: more is He's the psychologist who led Randy's program, which 321 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:22,240 Speaker 1: he said had some pretty stunning results. They'd come in 322 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:26,280 Speaker 1: some kind of contemplative state about whether they should change 323 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: their ways, and it grew on the most of the time, 324 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:33,080 Speaker 1: and there were inmates in their gang members who wouldn't, 325 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:35,800 Speaker 1: for example, look at me, say hello, shake my hand 326 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:37,600 Speaker 1: and like the But by the end, you know they 327 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:39,560 Speaker 1: were going to give me a hug at the on 328 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:43,840 Speaker 1: completion date. Self discovery wasn't what Randy signed up for, 329 00:19:44,359 --> 00:19:46,520 Speaker 1: but it's what he walked away with. And they told 330 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:49,080 Speaker 1: me if I would do a one year program intense, 331 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:52,080 Speaker 1: a lot of group sessions, one on ones, I would 332 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:54,720 Speaker 1: get a letter of completion and they would lower my 333 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 1: custody and send me to a medium facility medium custody. 334 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:02,840 Speaker 1: My first intentions were in the back of my head, 335 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:06,119 Speaker 1: mediums she could get my ass out of one of 336 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:09,760 Speaker 1: these prisons eventually. Now this might be my door. But 337 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:12,399 Speaker 1: after my one year of their staying and talking a 338 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:15,240 Speaker 1: lot of these star rapists and stuff, I started getting 339 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: a better understanding of who I am. So the one 340 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:23,000 Speaker 1: year ended up being eight more years that I stayed 341 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:26,639 Speaker 1: and became a mentor with the people that were coming 342 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:30,040 Speaker 1: in and trying to help them see that they can change, 343 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:33,080 Speaker 1: you know, being a blessing from day one. He was 344 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:35,840 Speaker 1: really a mentor because he already had the values of 345 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:38,960 Speaker 1: the program. So the program has helped him to play 346 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 1: it out more and sharpen it. I asked him to 347 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:45,639 Speaker 1: run groups, I asked him to talk to inmates and 348 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:48,600 Speaker 1: just be there as a calming present. Ma really said 349 00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:51,240 Speaker 1: Randy had changed a lot in his decades behind bars. 350 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:55,520 Speaker 1: Even before the program, he was already a guy who 351 00:20:56,119 --> 00:21:00,879 Speaker 1: could bridge the divide across different groups with Hispanic inmates, 352 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:05,920 Speaker 1: Black inmates, White inmates, every religion, every group, everybody. He 353 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:12,040 Speaker 1: had a really easy going style with everybody. Imagine living 354 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:16,000 Speaker 1: in a situation where there's tension between groups, and you know, 355 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,600 Speaker 1: half of the inmates have a weapon always, and yet 356 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:22,639 Speaker 1: you have this friendliness about you. You didn't lose your 357 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: humanity and you could still be a good guy in 358 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:29,080 Speaker 1: this world with staff and with other inmates. He pulled 359 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:41,720 Speaker 1: it off. As Brandy showed us around her home, she 360 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,440 Speaker 1: told us about a canvas on the wall. It shows 361 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:47,320 Speaker 1: a long highway stretching ahead through the darkness to the 362 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:50,480 Speaker 1: foot of the Untamed Rockies, glowing in a Colorado sunrise. 363 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:53,560 Speaker 1: I took that in the windshield of my truck on 364 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:56,720 Speaker 1: the way to Aspen with my long to go horseback riding. 365 00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 1: The sunrise was behind us, but in the mountains look golden. 366 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:03,560 Speaker 1: So I sent the picture to my dad and then 367 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 1: he painted it and sent it to me. Can you 368 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:11,280 Speaker 1: send paintings from somehow? Yeah, there's a couple more downstairs 369 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:13,520 Speaker 1: that he did too, And every time you see one 370 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:15,440 Speaker 1: of his paintings, it sounds sort of like a landscape 371 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:24,199 Speaker 1: for no walls. In his decades of incarceration, Randy had 372 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:27,720 Speaker 1: other windows to the outside world, especially it's evolving relationship 373 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:30,280 Speaker 1: with the plant that had landed him in prison. NBC's 374 00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:33,200 Speaker 1: Robert Brazil's Night on Why this issue is such a 375 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:36,920 Speaker 1: medical and legal potato into California was the first state 376 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:41,720 Speaker 1: to legalize medical marijuana. This is a so called buyers 377 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:44,560 Speaker 1: club in San Francisco where hundreds of people a day 378 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,680 Speaker 1: gathered to purchase and smoke marijuana as a treatment for 379 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:53,080 Speaker 1: various medical conditions. Alaska, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona followed suit, 380 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 1: and by the early two thousands the issue was being 381 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:59,880 Speaker 1: debated across the country, including an Illinois legalization of rocks. 382 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:02,280 Speaker 1: I think the war on drugs has been our failure 383 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:05,439 Speaker 1: where a then Illinois state senator named Barack Obama had 384 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 1: just launched a bid for a U. S. Senate seat. 385 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:11,680 Speaker 1: And I think that we need to rethink and decriminalized laws. 386 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:16,080 Speaker 1: But I'm not somebody who would believes in legalization marijuana. 387 00:23:16,119 --> 00:23:18,080 Speaker 1: When I do believe is that we need to rethinking 388 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:20,480 Speaker 1: how we are operating in the drug wars. And I 389 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:22,400 Speaker 1: think that currently we are not going to the job. 390 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:25,600 Speaker 1: For Randy, the shift could be measured in decades of 391 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:28,639 Speaker 1: his life. Well, I wouldn't lead magazines and see that 392 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:33,359 Speaker 1: the movement is escalating as marches and people in that 393 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:37,159 Speaker 1: corner and gave me hope. With hope, you kind of 394 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:42,360 Speaker 1: I don't have a lot to look forward to. Seventeen 395 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:47,480 Speaker 1: states had legalized medical marijuana. That same year, voters in 396 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:51,800 Speaker 1: Colorado and Washington legalized recreational pot for anyone over twenty one. 397 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:54,720 Speaker 1: We didn't really even know what it meant, you know, 398 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:58,320 Speaker 1: cannabis was legal at that point. It was just like, okay, 399 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:00,920 Speaker 1: so does this mean that we can you know, drive 400 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,560 Speaker 1: around with it, or can we grow it? Or can 401 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:06,840 Speaker 1: we smoke it? And and when her phone rang, Brandy 402 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:09,920 Speaker 1: knew exactly what her dad wanted to talk about I'm 403 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:13,439 Speaker 1: embarrassed to say it on record, but I didn't vote, 404 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:18,359 Speaker 1: and that's what the call went like. He couldn't believe 405 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,359 Speaker 1: it had went legal and I hadn't voted for it. 406 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:25,200 Speaker 1: It really struck home. I probably should have voted for it, 407 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:27,560 Speaker 1: you know, looking back on it, but I didn't think 408 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:30,280 Speaker 1: that it was something that was possible that could happen. 409 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,040 Speaker 1: And then the day that had happened, the phone call 410 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:36,000 Speaker 1: was very much like, this is happening, and you didn't 411 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:39,760 Speaker 1: vote for it. So by then Randy had been in 412 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:43,119 Speaker 1: prison for twenty five years. In a larger sense, that 413 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 1: call underscored just how much the culture and politics had 414 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 1: changed since Randy went behind bars. But on an emotional level, 415 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: the new laws couldn't change the damage already done to 416 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:57,560 Speaker 1: families separated by incarceration. Everyone from my wife down to 417 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:01,920 Speaker 1: my kids. It was earth shattering. Some parts of it 418 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:05,720 Speaker 1: you'll never get over. On his radio show, Gene Fisher 419 00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:09,200 Speaker 1: once spoke poignly about the reality of family relationships during 420 00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:14,720 Speaker 1: sentences like his and Randy's long term incarceration kind of 421 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:21,200 Speaker 1: totally destroys the prisoner's marriage. You've got to continually express 422 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:25,920 Speaker 1: your love for your children, because the family, the kids especially, 423 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:31,240 Speaker 1: look at it as abandonment, and it is. We don't 424 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 1: voluntarily go to prison, but by ending up in prison, 425 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:40,040 Speaker 1: we had abandoned that family. My mom has often told 426 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,960 Speaker 1: me how my dad's initial lawyer told him that he 427 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 1: would adjust to daily life being incarcerated, being told where 428 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:48,639 Speaker 1: to go at what time, and you know, just the 429 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:54,280 Speaker 1: general flow of the facility, whereas us being family members 430 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:57,520 Speaker 1: out in society, we will probably never adjust to having 431 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:01,480 Speaker 1: a family member incarcerated. Brandy's other PAMs declined to be 432 00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:03,920 Speaker 1: interviewed for this podcast. It is not a part of 433 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:06,920 Speaker 1: our daily routine. It is a negative stigma that you 434 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:09,760 Speaker 1: have to deal with when talking with people, and it's 435 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:14,199 Speaker 1: it's quite challenging and in many different ways. We are 436 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:16,760 Speaker 1: going to have some powerful new weapons now in the 437 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:21,879 Speaker 1: battle against organized crime and especially the drug trade. The 438 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:25,000 Speaker 1: War on drugs certainly had an impact on branding her family. 439 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:27,800 Speaker 1: But did it do what the government intended? Did it 440 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:31,200 Speaker 1: really cut down on drug trafficking? If you you're asking me, 441 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:33,919 Speaker 1: how do you keep score? Yeah, there are a lot 442 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,719 Speaker 1: of runs scored in a lot of innings, But at 443 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:39,520 Speaker 1: the end of the game. Did we really win the 444 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:44,760 Speaker 1: ball game? I we're still fighting it, We're still playing. Unfortunately, 445 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:49,320 Speaker 1: Prosecutor Dick Gregory was part of the Reagan Administration's original 446 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:53,040 Speaker 1: South Florida Task Force. It was a success in the 447 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:57,399 Speaker 1: sense that Washington got statistics, but I don't know that 448 00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:01,760 Speaker 1: we had a profound effect the problem. And you know, 449 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:05,840 Speaker 1: that's really what it should have done. Looking through Brandy's 450 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:09,480 Speaker 1: house at those collector's items going back decades, we wanted 451 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:12,040 Speaker 1: to know, did learning all the stuff, do you think 452 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:20,240 Speaker 1: any differently your dad? Um? No, not really, He's still 453 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:22,960 Speaker 1: the same guy, still the same dad to me, just 454 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 1: accomplished a lot more than than others. For Brandy, the 455 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 1: T shirts and paintings are ties to a dad with 456 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:35,439 Speaker 1: a complicated life, but a lot of love for his family. 457 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,119 Speaker 1: For Randy, all those past glories are tempered with the 458 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:42,480 Speaker 1: remorse he feels for the pain he caused. I didn't 459 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 1: have my parties in the right place. I had my 460 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:48,320 Speaker 1: family and stuff. I'm sure to have put more parties 461 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:52,480 Speaker 1: on the consequences that the choices that I was making 462 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:56,080 Speaker 1: was causing them a lot of despair. Would you have 463 00:27:56,119 --> 00:27:59,440 Speaker 1: accepted a lifestyle that was going to work, come home, 464 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:02,920 Speaker 1: be the father versus the light that you had. Don't 465 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:07,440 Speaker 1: regret it. No, I live with no regret. Just the 466 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:11,320 Speaker 1: decisions that I made. That's what I had. The remorse 467 00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:15,760 Speaker 1: for what I called upon others, not myself, but nothing 468 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:18,399 Speaker 1: of the kids missing. My kids grew up. Man like 469 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:22,199 Speaker 1: my son's study one. Now my daughter just turned thirty 470 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:26,159 Speaker 1: nine today. You better call her. I've already called him. 471 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:30,280 Speaker 1: I had a caller again, nicells, just make that call. Yes, 472 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:44,600 Speaker 1: we need to lower long mandatory minimum senses or get 473 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:48,360 Speaker 1: rid of them entirely. You have judges some discretion around 474 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:52,680 Speaker 1: non violent crimes, so that potentially we can steer a 475 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:54,800 Speaker 1: young person who has made a mistake in a better direction. 476 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:59,520 Speaker 1: Barack Obama was in his second term as president and 477 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 1: reath thinking some aspects of the War on drugs exactly 478 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:06,120 Speaker 1: as he proposed as an Illinois state senator. Under the 479 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:11,200 Speaker 1: leadership of Attorney General Eric Holder, federal prosecutors got what 480 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 1: he called smart on crime, which is refocusing efforts on 481 00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:21,640 Speaker 1: the worst offenders, pursuing mandatory minimum senses less often than 482 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:24,480 Speaker 1: they did the year before. Randy had watched the nation's 483 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:28,040 Speaker 1: attitudes on marijuana change for decades he told us he 484 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:30,880 Speaker 1: wasn't better, he knew he'd broken the law. I don't 485 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:33,960 Speaker 1: blame no one but myself. I chose to make the 486 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:37,360 Speaker 1: decisions to do what I did, and to set him 487 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:41,240 Speaker 1: blame anything on anybody else would be false. That was 488 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:43,640 Speaker 1: all me. But he also didn't want to sit in 489 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:45,360 Speaker 1: prison for the rest of his life because of it. 490 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,680 Speaker 1: The Obama administration's smart on crime alternative to the War 491 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:52,240 Speaker 1: on drugs offered some hope. We need to ask prosecutors 492 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:56,040 Speaker 1: to use their discretion to seek the best punishment instead 493 00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:59,080 Speaker 1: of just belong as punishment. We've seen the movie The 494 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:04,200 Speaker 1: Pufect so well. This is a perfect stool from Obama 495 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:10,320 Speaker 1: administration putting down a administrative order to look into non violent, 496 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:16,640 Speaker 1: first time lengthy sentences, especially life for first time drug charges. 497 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:20,320 Speaker 1: It turned out, though there might be another way out. 498 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:23,960 Speaker 1: Gene Fisher, one of the company leaders sentenced to life 499 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:28,560 Speaker 1: in prison, won his release in the released documents are sealed, 500 00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:31,400 Speaker 1: but it was the end result of a twenty lawsuit 501 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:34,600 Speaker 1: he brought against the government over the Bell Gardens bicycle club, 502 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:38,480 Speaker 1: that casino funded by Randy's drug ring. That club was 503 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:42,600 Speaker 1: built starting in coinciding with the rise of Blue Thunder, 504 00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:45,880 Speaker 1: a club may have been built from drug money, but 505 00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:49,160 Speaker 1: court documents say it was turning twenty three million dollars 506 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:54,240 Speaker 1: a year in legitimate profit by When prosecutors in Illinois 507 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:57,280 Speaker 1: won their case, Randy, Jean and Ben Kramer were ordered 508 00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:00,240 Speaker 1: to forfeit a combined hundred and fifty million dollar years. 509 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:03,560 Speaker 1: As part of that, the government sees the club, but 510 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:06,640 Speaker 1: instead of selling it, a Justice Department internal audit showed 511 00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:09,120 Speaker 1: the government just kept running it for the next seven years. 512 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:13,400 Speaker 1: That are in the government thirty million dollars. By and 513 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:16,240 Speaker 1: Fisher's lawsuit argued the government took more cash than it 514 00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:19,800 Speaker 1: was entitled to under his forfiture agreement, So now he said, 515 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:23,200 Speaker 1: the Fed zowed him money. Finally, when I got to 516 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:28,000 Speaker 1: exposing the government and it's irregularities in my case, I 517 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:30,000 Speaker 1: was able to get in on a civil case, and 518 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:32,800 Speaker 1: they finally, rather than have it presented in the courtroom, 519 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:38,320 Speaker 1: they offered to release after years. That was then two 520 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:41,720 Speaker 1: years later, after decades of appeals and escape plans, and 521 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:44,840 Speaker 1: watching his children grow up through photos and summertime visits, 522 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:48,680 Speaker 1: Randy's life would take yet another twist, and it would 523 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:54,120 Speaker 1: take him to places he never expected. I'm Amy Driscoll. 524 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:57,880 Speaker 1: I'm Alex Harris. This podcast is produced by Kara Tabor 525 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:01,160 Speaker 1: and Davin coburn a McClatchy Studios and The Herald's Emily 526 00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:04,800 Speaker 1: Michow and Matthias Ackner, and thanks to Christine de Matte 527 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:07,840 Speaker 1: at w l r N Studios. For lots more on 528 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:11,240 Speaker 1: this story, including a look at how medical marijuana has grown. 529 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:15,760 Speaker 1: Go to Miami Herald dot com slash smoked. To continue 530 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:18,840 Speaker 1: supporting this kind of work, consider a digital subscription to 531 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:22,880 Speaker 1: The Miami Herald. Visit Miami Herald dot com slash subscribe 532 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:25,600 Speaker 1: for more information. Leave us a rating and a review 533 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:29,160 Speaker 1: on Apple. Podcasts on part six have smoked a whole 534 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:32,400 Speaker 1: new world. Welcome into a dispense Rate made me stop 535 00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:35,400 Speaker 1: and think about a great who I am to experience 536 00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:38,120 Speaker 1: the moment I'm experienced you very free. Dates had some 537 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:41,880 Speaker 1: medical program and it's had more that are recreational. You know, 538 00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:43,920 Speaker 1: it is a matter of time where there is no 539 00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:48,320 Speaker 1: longer a state rights issue. A single handedly bankrolled both 540 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:53,480 Speaker 1: of the constitutional amendments. First go round, debated someone, I 541 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:57,160 Speaker 1: debated a shaff with the gun. It's a blessing. I 542 00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:00,040 Speaker 1: wouldn't be in the industry if I didn't have a 543 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:03,000 Speaker 1: background that I have with the plant. Was an adventure 544 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:05,680 Speaker 1: with a lot of other adventures in a roll and 545 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:09,320 Speaker 1: into an adventure, yeh h