Sure would be great to see JR get back into a car.He has alot of talent.

Randy Lanier along with Ben Kramer, owner of Apache boats, ran a multi million dollar drugs empire between 1982 and 1986 when the arrest took place. Kramer was the great-nephew and one of the putative heirs of the top boss of the U.S. crime syndicate, Meyer Lansky.

He was convicted of importing and distributing over 300 tons of Colombian marijuana and was due to be sentenced when he disappeared. He was arrested eight months later in Puerto Rico. Lanier had also cut a deal after his arrest for conspiracy to distribute pot, but at the last minute refused to testify against Jack Kramer, father of Ben.

Randy Lanier received a life without parole sentence on 4 October 1988 under the newly enacted RICO laws along with his partner Ben Kramer for their lack of cooperation. The Whittington brothers who were also involved received a lighter sentence. Lanier filed an appeal based on the fact that later RICO convictions were not nearly as lengthy, but lost the appeal. He has remained in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary since imprisonment. His subsequent appeals have all been denied. After suspicion of a planned escape in 1996, he spent three years in solitary confinement.

Lanier's wife, Maria De La Luz Maggi-Lanier, was sentenced on April 30, 1993 to nine years in prison for money laundering. She pleaded guilty in September the year previously to conspiracy and obstruction.

Lanier nowadays spends most of his time working out, playing chess in the maximum security unit and corresponds to his pen pals.

What NOBODY gets LIFE for hauling pot.That sounds a bit harsh.People have commited much worse crimes and got off with a whole whole lot less.Or am I missing something.

Maybe you missed the 300 ton part.... that is considered racketeering or crime syndicate distrabution i think...

RICO (Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act), a person who is a member of an enterprise that has committed any two of 35 crimes—27 federal crimes and 8 state crimes—within a 10-year period can be charged with racketeering. Those found guilty of racketeering can be fined up to $25,000 and/or sentenced to 20 years in prison per racketeering count.

which probably means they got him on more than just the distribution, and the sentences plus a 3 strike law, added up to LIFE


300 tons at $2 million a ton = $600 MILLION....

I guess that does add up to alot of time.But heck people who murder get out at some point.But if you do the crime you better be ready to do the time!

What you missed:

Randy Lanier, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year, was sentenced yesterday in Benton, Ill., to life in prison without possibility of parole for his part in a multimillion-dollar drug-smuggling operation.
Randy Lanier, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year, was sentenced yesterday in Benton, Ill., to life in prison without possibility of parole for his part in a multimillion-dollar drug-smuggling operation.

A Federal jury convicted Lanier, 34 years old, of Davie, Fla., and two co-defendants Oct. 4 on charges of engaging in a continuing ******** enterprise and conspiring to distribute more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana between 1982 and 1986.

Another quick John Paul take -- I was driving in race morning to anniounce the IRL race at PIR and it was pretty early. I was on that two lane road that took you to the turn 4 side of the track. I was going probably 5 miles or so over the speed limit when John Paul passed me just a few hundred yards from the track. He was drinking a cup of coffee, reading the newspaper, and driving with his knee - it was funny

I was at the Charlotte IRL race in '99 when the wheel went into the stands and killed three fans. John Paul, Jr. was involved in that accident that led to that happening. He was staying at the same motel that we were in and I saw him in the lobby. We shared in the sorrow of what happened and he was truly a beaten down man. I have never seen anybody more distraught over an incident than he. I felt so sorry for him.

I just saw a artical in a sport news listing talking about Michael Vick being kicked off the prison football team and it had a statement from his head coach Randy Lanier.

At http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/LocateInmate.jsp you can find the location and release date of any federal prisoner. According to the site, Vick is in Leavenworth (Kansas) and Lanier is in Coleman which is in central Florida. But maybe one of them have been moved.