Lawrence Lawton appeared on the Huckabee Show on FOX NEWS – August 07, 2010, Click Here to see photos of the taping. Click Here to view the segment.
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Lawrence “Larry” Lawton
A stocky, muscular man with a shaved head, tattoos covering his body and dark goatee; he is not their Father, Mother, Teacher, Counselor, or the Police; he is an ex-con with a passion for helping teens and young adults. Larry Lawton spent 11 years in some of the toughest federal prisons in the country. He was convicted of racketeering in connection with jewelry robberies. Upon his release from prison, he founded the Reality Check Program.
Born and raised in the Bronx and Brooklyn NY, Lawrence spent six years in the Coast Guard before making some bad choices which led him to associations with organized crime. While in prison Lawton saw inmates stabbed and friends die. He saw young men raped and turned out as prostitutes for other inmates. Lawton was stabbed and stabbed others. He studied to be a paralegal and became a gang mediator; he somehow kept his sanity by helping other inmates.
Since his release from Federal prison in 2007, he has worked with teens and young adults. He now tells kids how he lost time, his family, friends and his freedom; and that it just wasn’t worth it. Lawton changes the way kids and young adults think. It’s all about choices, and Lawton tells his story of bad choices which led to serious consequences.
Mr. Lawton’s Reality Check Program consists of four parts: Decision-making, What prison is REALLY like, Crimes and Punishment, (what you will lose) and Avoiding and Dissolving Bad Associations. The program is available on DVD and also for groups, organizations, schools and corporations as well as private individual one on one sessions. Additionally, consulting and guidance is available from Lawton and the Reality Check Program for kids and families with a legal/crisis problem situation. Lawton’s programs have been recommended by police chiefs, sheriffs, judges, prosecutors, State Attorneys and families with at risk teens.
Lawrence Lawton has appeared on TV, radio, been written about in newspapers and has brought the most entertaining, inspirational, motivational and informative stories to audiences throughout the United States. In particular, Larry has a unique way of speaking to teens and young adults; they listen to his message as he speaks their language with facts, truth and no sugarcoating. Mr. Lawton is also available for speaking engagements for law enforcement events, community events, church events and corporate conferences.
Contact: 321-327-2921 or info@realitycheckprogram.org
Lawrence Lawton has appeared on TV, radio, talked to audiences throughout the United States as part of the Reality Check Program. He hosts his own radio show on 1560AM ESPN locally in Melbourne, Florida and worldwide on the Internet. In particular, Larry has a unique way of speaking to teens and young adults; they listen to his message as he speaks their language with facts, truth and no sugarcoating. His national appearances include FOX News Huckabee show and the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Larry has a book being co-written with 5 time NY Times bestselling author Peter Golenbock. A TV show is in the works that deals with kids being shown the “Real Deal”; a reality TV show tentatively titled “Lawton’s Law”. Here is an excerpt of the book:
Larry Florida – “A Goodfella becomes a Good Guy” The book is due out early next year.
This is an excerpt from Chapter 6
“They then took me to a federal holding facility in Miami. My lawyer came, and I was hoping to win bond, because if I got out on bail, I was going to run. I was going to Costa Rica.
“My Dad and I were very close. I took him all over the country golfing. I took him to the Bahamas, Hawaii and everywhere. My father, who was crying at the hearing, offered to put up his house for bail. I would have paid him back as I had a lot of friends I was protecting.
“My lawyer said, “Your honor, the government says he’s a flight risk. He had a case in New Jersey in 1994, and he flew back and forth from Florida, and he never jumped bail.”
“I think you’re right,” the judge said, but then the prosecutor jumped up, and said, “Your honor, “He has ties to organized crime. He is a danger to society. You can’t give him bail.”
The judge was silent for a few seconds and then said, “Okay, he’s a threat to society,” I was remanded. No bail.
“Then I was kidnapped – not exactly kidnapped – but at three in the morning, I was pulled from my cell, handcuffed, shackled and put on a plane and taken to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. For three days I was in transit. I was fed nothing but a bagged lunch which consisted of an apple, a pint of juice and a pack of outdated crackers. I had no shower, and I stunk.
“From Harrisburg, Pennsylvania I was flown to Rhode Island, why, I have no idea. My destination was Philadelphia. I was in Pennsylvania already. Go figure, I guess it’s just the crazy Marshall Prisoner transport system. So for two days they drove me back towards Pennsylvania by way of a van. My last stop was the Elizabeth County jail in New Jersey. How stupid is that? A real waste of money!
“So I was in the Elizabeth jail, and they picked me up the next day, and I went in front of a magistrate judge. Some guy comes over to me and said, “I’m going to represent you.”
I looked at him and said, “Who the fuck are you?” He was a public defender.
I said, “Your honor, can I speak, “Go ahead Mr. Lawton”, I don’t know what’s going on. I was kidnapped by these people. I haven’t had a hot meal. I don’t know where I am. I have an attorney and I smell.” That drew a chuckle from the other inmates waiting to be arraigned sitting in the jury box.
She looked back to the Marshals who transferred me and asked if what I said was true.
“We just picked him up from the jail, your honor,” they said.
“I’m going to suspend this hearing; I want you to put him where he is going to be housed. I want him to have a hot meal. I want him to get cleaned up, and I want him to have a phone call, now”, said the judge.
Even though there were signs all over the holding cell area saying, “No phone calls,” they had to give me one. When a federal judge says something, it gets done. I called my wife. I told her to get hold of the lawyer, my family, and Fat Tommy, and let them know that I was kidnapped by the feds and where I was.
I was then sent to Federal Correctional Institution Farrington, New Jersey and processed in to the carrot unit. The unit reserved for guys who are pre-trial and not yet sentenced. It is an actual prison and the only difference is the guys who are in orange clothes are pre-trial and the ones in khaki colored clothes are sentenced inmates.
I called my wife the next day and she was hysterical. Crying uncontrollable saying how the lawyer said he needed more money because it came out in the papers that my case was big and involved organized crime and I was facing life. I calmed my wife down and got off the phone furious. I couldn’t sleep that night thinking about my wife and kids and how can a lawyer be so heartless.
When I contacted my lawyer the next day, it took all of my self control to not curse him out. That’s why I hate lawyers. They’re sharks who feed on people who are down and out. They know a guy needs them, and they bury you.
I called Dominick, the big boss, I couldn’t speak directly to Dominick but the guy I did speak to said, Dominick couldn’t get involved, and then he gave me the name of a lawyer to call. I don’t recall the lawyers’ name, but I sent him the paperwork, and he said to me, “You know you’re going to go away for a long time.” Because they were accusing me of using a gun in the four robberies I was charged with committing. Under federal law you get five years for the first robbery with a gun. Every robbery after that you get twenty years running consecutively. I was facing eighty five years just for having a gun.
He said to me, “Go to the law library. Look up the statute. You used a BB gun. They never found a real gun. You never shot anyone. You can beat the gun charge.”
“I had used a BB gun during the Fairless Hills robbery, and I turned it in. A BB gun is not classified as a firearm. I told the FBI where I had dumped the guns I had taken from the jewelry store. Divers went into the lake off I-95 and found the guns. And that was one of the arguments I made to prove I wasn’t a gun guy. My defense was going to be, if I was going to use a gun, I wouldn’t have thrown them out. Not only that, as I was getting shot at, if I had a gun, wouldn’t I have shot back, even in the air? If I had a real gun and shot back, you wouldn’t be reading this book. I’d still be in prison.”
They dropped the gun charge, because I would have beaten it for lack of evidence.
“The feds offered me a three-year sentence if I gave up my accomplices. They wanted everyone and their mother. They wanted my fences. They wanted Dominick. They wanted the Weeper. They wanted all my accomplices.
“I wouldn’t do it. I wasn’t a rat. There’s no ratting. You have to accept responsibility and do your time, and that’s exactly what I did. My crew was always known for how loyal we were. A lot of people like Sammy Gravano, that prick, say they’re going to be loyal and then rat. Sammy said he feared for his life, but that was bullshit. He ratted because he’s a fucking rat. I understand the rat game, I just don’t believe in it.
“Even though I was facing a long prison sentence, I never told. The feds punished me for my silence. I would spend a lot of time in the hole as a result.”
“They charged me with four robberies, but after they dropped the gun charge I took a plea for twelve years on the condition I proffer. I had to give them a proffer, meaning I had to tell them what happened and how I did it.
During my proffer I told the court that my partner was John Rodriguez from Miami. I know, they know, there are multiple people involved, so how do I get around this? Make up a factitious person. John Rodriguez….
Do you know what the FBI did? They pulled every ID card, every driver’s license, and went to see every John Rodriguez in Miami. There must have been five hundred of them. I know I cost the government a lot of money. Boy, were they pissed. Of course, there was no John Rodriguez. He was a fictitious person. Everything else I told them was true, except I didn’t do it with John Rodriguez.
This is an excerpt from Chapter 11
As punishment for his war of words Lawton spent most of his last years at Edgefield in the hole. He was thrown in there for imaginary, made-up offenses. One time he was charged with having bookmaking equipment in his cell. Another time he was accused of having contraband. The contraband cited was a pair of knitted socks. The charges were made up. Lawton spent the next eleven months in solitary confinement.
“All because I was fighting the abuses,” said Lawton.
On Sept. 27, 2004 Lawton wrote to the Justice Department, President Bush, Sen. Ernest Hollings, Sen. Lindsay Graham, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Senator Chris Dodd, and Robert Stock of the Bureau of Prisons Internal Affairs. In it he charged that the medical staff of Edgefield prison was conspiring to withhold proper medical treatment as punishment for his letter writing.
“I feel this prison administration is out to retaliate against me,” he wrote.
After spending 62 days in the hole, Lawton finally received some relief on Oct. 5, 2004. Dr. Serrano and Dr. Blocker told him surgery probably wouldn’t make the pain go away, and they gave him a cane, soft shoes, new medications, and they promised they would send him to a pain specialist.
*
Lawton, who couldn’t forgive the prison for the death of James Arch, continued writing. On January 15, 2005, he wrote to Florida Congressman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, complaining about his treatment and the treatment of other prisoners.
On May 13, 2005, Warden LaManna wrote to Congressman Wasserman-Schultz, explaining that his condition had been thoroughly evaluated and appropriate medication had been prescribed. He told her their orthopedist soon would perform a special procedure to manage his pain. He denied that putting Lawton in the hole was a punishment but was richly deserved, and he assured her his staff at Edgefield was doing all it could to provide “a safe and secure environment for staff and inmates alike.”
Despite all the letters, no investigation took place.
Lawton’s letter-writing campaign was a real threat to warden LaManna, who decided the only way to silence him was through intimidation. He did his best to break Lawton. Once a month LaManna sent four burly guards – the goon squad – into his cell.
“Cuff up,” they ordered. Lawton refused.
“What did I do? F… you.”
The four gorillas opened the cell door and charged at him. They jumped him, beat him, and broke his ribs. Blood streamed from ……………………..
Here is another excerpt from Chapter 13
The Greyhound bus pulled up, and Lawton handed the driver his ticket. He was headed to a halfway house in Tampa, Florida. He walked to the middle of the bus on the aisle and sat down next to a good-looking blonde.
“I got on the bus and sat down, and I felt good,” said Lawton. “I took my hands and raised them up like I was signaling victory. I thought, Oh my God, I can move around. I can get up. Nobody is telling me what to do. When I raised my hands, I was cheering inside, because I had been in handcuffs and shackles for so long. The people on the bus must have thought I was a wacko.
“The girl I sat down next to had a cell phone in her hand. I knew about cell phones from reading about them, but I had never seen one before. It was so small. When I entered prison phones were big and gray. I had to be looking at it like I was a nut.
“Can I see that?” I asked her. She was a beautiful little girl, and here was this burly tattooed guy bothering her. She handed it to me. It was a flip phone, and I held it in my hand, and it was like a little baby to me. I was afraid I might break it. I was thinking, How do my fat fingers touch these little buttons? After a few minutes I closed the phone and gave it back to her. She looked at me without speaking, and I know I must have weirded her out, because at the next stop, she got up and moved. If you ever want to ride a bus with your own row of seats all to yourself, just do what I did.
“I’m on the bus, and I’m looking out the window, and I’m experiencing sensory overload. I was overwhelmed. I’m looking at cars. And every few minutes I would lift my arms over my head and grin. The people around me must have thought I was nuts.”
Lawton was daydreaming, staring at all the cars and scenery, when the Greyhound bus pulled into a gas station. The driver announced that everyone had forty-five minutes to get something to eat.
Get something to eat? Lawton thought. At a gas station? When Lawton went to prison in 1996, a gas station was a gas station. This gas station had a Subway sandwich shop, a McDonalds, and a supermarket. Lawton knew what Subway was from watching the commercial starring Jared and his huge pair of pants on TV in prison.
“I went to the Subway store and got in line,” said Lawton. “I was really excited. I wanted to get a sandwich – a real sandwich. I looked up, and there seemed like a thousand choices to make. I started to feel the hair on the back of my neck rise. I knew people were looking at me. I didn’t want anyone behind me. I was getting panicky.
“When it was my turn to order, I froze. I couldn’t make a decision. My body started shaking. People were standing in line behind me, and I could feel the tension as they started to get antsy waiting for me to order.
“I left the line, went back to the bus, and I sat in the back of the bus crying like a baby. I thought to myself, I can’t even order a sandwich.
“After the incident at the Subway, I called my Cousin Cheryl in California from a pay phone. She’s a life skills coach who helps people with psychological problems. As I talked to her I stood with my back to the wall.
“This is normal, Larry,” she said. “You are having what is called sensory overload. In prison you didn’t make a hundred choices in a day. A person on the street makes between 1,500 and 2,000 choices a day. You’re like a newborn baby in this big body.’ Thank God she was able to calm me down.”
Lawton didn’t eat for the entire twenty hours it took for him to reach the halfway house.
“Sitting in the back of that bus, I was a vegetable,” he said. “I wanted to get back to prison. I had a very bad feeling about being free.
“I wanted to be confined again, because when you’re confined you feel safe. Sitting on the bus, I felt like I was going crazy. I was totally freaking out. Bad thoughts were going through my mind.
“Someone’s looking for me, that the police were coming to get me, I kept thinking. The cops are behind the bus, and they’re going to take me back to prison.
“I had been so looking forward to getting out of Forest City and going to the halfway house. Before I got on that bus I was thinking, Take your time. Look around the world. But on the bus I was sitting there feeling nervous, sure that people were looking at me.
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Contact: 321-327-2921 or info@realitycheckprogram.org
