Interview image
October 12, 2017

Richard Stratton

Kingpin: Prisoner of the War on Drugs

PART 1  |  PART 2 >>

Downloads

Join Veritas+ to download audio and access our entire library

S y n o p s i s

Captured in the lobby of the Sheraton Senator Hotel at LAX following a fifteen-year run smuggling marijuana and hashish as part of the hippie mafia, Richard Stratton began a new journey. Kingpin tells the story of the eight years that followed, through two federal trials and the underworld of the federal prison system, at a time when it was undergoing unprecedented expansion due to the War on Drugs. Stratton was shipped by bus from LA's notorious Glass House to jails and prisons across the country, a softening process known as diesel therapy. Resisting pressure to falsely implicate his friend and mentor, Norman Mailer, he was convicted in his second trial under the kingpin statute and sentenced to twenty-five years without the possibility of parole. While doing time in prisons from Manhattan's Criminal Hilton to rural Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and New York, he witnessed brutality as well as camaraderie, rampant trafficking of contraband, and crimes by both guards and convicts. He first learned the lessons of survival. Then he learned to prevail, becoming a jailhouse lawyer and winning the reversal of his kingpin sentence and eventual release.


B i o

Richard Stratton is also the author of the cult classic novel Smack Goddess and an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. He was a writer and consultant for HBO`s Oz and the creator, writer, and executive producer of Showtime`s Street Time. He is a court-certified expert on prison culture, prison violence, and international drug trafficking. As a journalist, he won a New York Press Club award for his magazine article "Godfather and Son." He was the founder of the magazine Prison Life and an editor and publisher of High Times. He lives with his wife and children in New York City.


Links to Guest

Kingpin: Prisoner of the War on Drugs



Uncover the Whole Truth with Veritas+

Don't Miss Out on the Full Program!

Subscribe to Veritas+ Today and Unlock the Power of Truth!

With Veritas+, you'll gain access to exclusive, uncensored content that mainstream media doesn't want you to know. Choose from our monthly, quarterly, or yearly plan. Join our community of truth-seekers and uncover the whole truth with Veritas+!

Subscribe Now and Get Full Access to Veritas+! Click Here

What Our Veritas+ Members Are Saying


15 seasons and counting... Dive in and access it all. Discover the experiences of our Veritas+ members and see why they've chosen to journey with us.


Read Member Reviews



veritasradio.com



NOW PLAYING ON

VERITAS RADIO

See Schedule

Now Playing

Featured image