Randy Lanier
Encyclopedia
Randy Thomas Lanier is a former race car driver and convicted drug trafficker from the United States of America.
. At age 14, he moved to South Florida. In 1976 he married his childhood sweetheart. They welcomed a daughter, Brandie in 1980 and a son Glen in 1987, who was named after Lanier's younger brother who was killed in a motorcycle accident at the age of 16. He has other siblings as well.
In 1986, Lanier became romantically involved with Maria De La Luz Maggi,.
Southeast Regional Championship in E Production driving a Porsche 356
Speedster, he made his debut at the 24 Hours of Daytona
in 1982 driving for Preston Henn
, the owner of Swap Shop
, then at Lanier's fifth race at the 6 hours of Mosport
, he would enter his own team, racing a March Engineering
82G Chevrolet
and score his first podium finish with a third.
Lanier was joined by brothers Don
and Bill Whittington
driving.
The Whittingtons raced aircraft
prior to cars, had also won the 1979
24 hours of Le Mans
in a Porsche 935
, and were the owners of the Road Atlanta
circuit.
Lanier competed at IMSA GTP
category for prototype cars, despite having lack of sponsorship and being a wholly independent team, unsupported by March Engineering
. Despite having an adequate form two years previously finishing 16th and 28th consecutively, would surprise everybody in the championship by beating the heavily sponsored and factory supported oppositions from the likes of the Group 44 Racing Jaguar
XJR-5 and Löwenbräu
sponsored Holbert Racing Porsche 962
taking the 1984 GTP
title as driver along with the Most Improved Driver award. Another reason for success was the fact the team employed the services of talented engine builder Ryan Falconer.
Lanier disbanded the team after the 1985 season to concentrate on his CART Indycar career, driving for Arciero Racing. For the following season, Lanier would also drive for Joest Racing
for both Daytona 24 Hours and Miami. After a poor form in the previous year, Lanier would improve his form by finishing six of the nine races he entered including his 10th place finish at the Indianapolis 500
, winning the Rookie of The Year honor. Prior to his arrest, he drove in 18 CART
races in 1985 and 1986.
During his racing career, the FBI, however, were investigating Lanier. Lanier along with Ben Kramer, owner of Apache boats; and thirteen others 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
.
Many of these narcotics was distributed in Illinois
, therefore he was indicted in the Southern District of Illinois in January 1987. He was convicted of importing and distributing over 300 tons of Colombia
n marijuana, believed to be worth $68million by prosecuters and was due to be sentenced when he disappeared. He was believed to had fled to Puerto Rico
but was later arrested in Antigua
on October 26. 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 and his partner Ben Kramer received life without parole sentences on 4 October 1988 under the newly-enacted Continuing Criminal Enterprise statute (also known as the "Super Drug Kingpin" law), owing to their refusal to cooperate with the prosecution. 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 was initial placed in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary and was later transferred to the higher security United States Penitentiary I in Coleman. His subsequent appeals have all been denied. He now uses his available spare time exercising, playing chess and answering any letters sent by race fans.
Maggi married Lanier on August 31, 1990 at Oxford Federal Correctional Institution in Wisconsin
.
Lanier's wife 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. She later successfully appealed to have it reduced from 108 months to 97.
She was released in 1999: by that time she was no longer married to Lanier.
Personal life
Lanier was born in VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. At age 14, he moved to South Florida. In 1976 he married his childhood sweetheart. They welcomed a daughter, Brandie in 1980 and a son Glen in 1987, who was named after Lanier's younger brother who was killed in a motorcycle accident at the age of 16. He has other siblings as well.
In 1986, Lanier became romantically involved with Maria De La Luz Maggi,.
Motorsports career
Prior to his career in IMSA Camel GT series, Lanier was a SCCASports Car Club of America
The Sports Car Club of America is a club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional racers.-History:...
Southeast Regional Championship in E Production driving a Porsche 356
Porsche 356
The Porsche 356 was the company's first production automobile. It was a lightweight and nimble handling rear-engine rear-wheel-drive 2 door sports car available in hardtop coupe and open configurations. Design innovations continued during the years of manufacture, contributing to its motorsports...
Speedster, he made his debut at the 24 Hours of Daytona
24 Hours of Daytona
The 24 Hours of Daytona, currently known as the Rolex 24 Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on a combined road course, utilizing portions of the NASCAR tri-oval and an infield...
in 1982 driving for Preston Henn
Preston Henn
Preston Henn is an American entrepreneur from Fort Lauderdale, Florida who founded the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop in 1963.-Swap Shop:...
, the owner of Swap Shop
Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop
The Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop is a 14-screen drive-in theater in Lauderhill, Florida, USA, that doubles as the largest drive-in and largest daily flea market in the world . The largest tourist attraction is supposedly Walt Disney World...
, then at Lanier's fifth race at the 6 hours of Mosport
Mosport
Mosport International Raceway is a multi-track facility located north of Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. The facility features a , 10-turn road course; a half-mile paved oval; a 2.4 km advance driver and race driver training facility with a quarter-mile skid pad Mosport International Raceway...
, he would enter his own team, racing a March Engineering
March Engineering
March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...
82G Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
and score his first podium finish with a third.
Lanier was joined by brothers Don
Don Whittington
Reginald "Don" Whittington is a former American racing driver from Lubbock, Texas who won the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans together with his brother Bill Whittington and Klaus Ludwig on a Porsche 935, although Ludwig, a multiple winner at Le Mans and elsewhere, did most of the driving in the heavy rain...
and Bill Whittington
Bill Whittington
Bill Whittington is an American racing driver from Lubbock, Texas who won the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans together with his brother Don Whittington and Klaus Ludwig in a Porsche 935. The German professional Klaus Ludwig, multiple winner at Le Mans and elsewhere, did most of the driving in the heavy...
driving.
The Whittingtons raced aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
prior to cars, had also won the 1979
1979 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 47th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 9 and 10 1979.-Pre-race:Due to the construction of a new public road, the profile of Tetre Rouge had to be changed...
24 hours of Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
in a Porsche 935
Porsche 935
The Porsche 935 was introduced in 1976, as the factory racing version of the Porsche 911 turbo prepared for FIA-Group 5 rules. It was an evolution of the Porsche Carrera RSR 2.1 turbo prototype which had scored 2nd overall in the 1974 24 Hours of Le Mans....
, and were the owners of the Road Atlanta
Road Atlanta
Road Atlanta is a 2.54-mile road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, USA. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur sports car and motorcycle races, racing and driving schools, corporate programs and testing for motorsports teams...
circuit.
Lanier competed at IMSA GTP
IMSA GT Championship
IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States and occasionally in Canada.-History:...
category for prototype cars, despite having lack of sponsorship and being a wholly independent team, unsupported by March Engineering
March Engineering
March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...
. Despite having an adequate form two years previously finishing 16th and 28th consecutively, would surprise everybody in the championship by beating the heavily sponsored and factory supported oppositions from the likes of the Group 44 Racing Jaguar
Jaguar (car)
Jaguar Cars Ltd, known simply as Jaguar , is a British luxury car manufacturer, headquartered in Whitley, Coventry, England. It is part of the Jaguar Land Rover business, a subsidiary of the Indian company Tata Motors....
XJR-5 and Löwenbräu
Löwenbräu
Löwenbräu is a German brewery in Munich, Bavaria, Germany that produces a traditional Munich-style beer. It is currently owned by the American-Brazilian-Belgian company Anheuser-Busch InBev. Like other premium German beers, it is brewed according to the German "Reinheitsgebot" dating back to 1516...
sponsored Holbert Racing Porsche 962
Porsche 962
The Porsche 962 was a sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche as a replacement for the 956 and designed mainly to comply with IMSA's GTP regulations, although it would later compete in the European Group C formula as the 956 had...
taking the 1984 GTP
1984 IMSA GT Championship season
The 1984 Camel GT Championship season was the 14th season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was for GTP class prototypes and GTO and GTU class Grand Tourer-style racing cars...
title as driver along with the Most Improved Driver award. Another reason for success was the fact the team employed the services of talented engine builder Ryan Falconer.
Lanier disbanded the team after the 1985 season to concentrate on his CART Indycar career, driving for Arciero Racing. For the following season, Lanier would also drive for Joest Racing
Joest Racing
Joest Racing is a racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works racer Reinhold Joest...
for both Daytona 24 Hours and Miami. After a poor form in the previous year, Lanier would improve his form by finishing six of the nine races he entered including his 10th place finish at the Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
, winning the Rookie of The Year honor. Prior to his arrest, he drove in 18 CART
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
races in 1985 and 1986.
Drug conviction and imprisonment
His growing up in Florida during his youth has been suggested as a potential precursor to his involvement in the drug trade in 1978During his racing career, the FBI, however, were investigating Lanier. Lanier along with Ben Kramer, owner of Apache boats; and thirteen others 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
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...
.
Many of these narcotics was distributed in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, therefore he was indicted in the Southern District of Illinois in January 1987. He was convicted of importing and distributing over 300 tons of Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n marijuana, believed to be worth $68million by prosecuters and was due to be sentenced when he disappeared. He was believed to had fled to Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
but was later arrested in Antigua
Antigua
Antigua , also known as Waladli, is an island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region, the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua means "ancient" in Spanish and was named by Christopher Columbus after an icon in Seville Cathedral, Santa Maria de la...
on October 26. 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 and his partner Ben Kramer received life without parole sentences on 4 October 1988 under the newly-enacted Continuing Criminal Enterprise statute (also known as the "Super Drug Kingpin" law), owing to their refusal to cooperate with the prosecution. 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 was initial placed in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary and was later transferred to the higher security United States Penitentiary I in Coleman. His subsequent appeals have all been denied. He now uses his available spare time exercising, playing chess and answering any letters sent by race fans.
Maggi married Lanier on August 31, 1990 at Oxford Federal Correctional Institution in Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
.
Lanier's wife 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. She later successfully appealed to have it reduced from 108 months to 97.
She was released in 1999: by that time she was no longer married to Lanier.