The LONGEST Prison Sentence in US History

Kyle: Joining us now is a man whose story represents both the highs and lows of the cannabis journey in America. After spending more than three decades in prison for a nonviolent cannabis offense, he's now a free man, and his story is a powerful reminder of why we fight for reform. It's an honor to welcome Richard de Lisi to the show. Uncle Rick, some people call him and, man, this taste of freedom you've got right now, is there anything better?

Richard: The only thing that's better is when I got my grandkids in my hands. 

Kyle: I can see that. And now there's something that you missed for a long time.

Richard: Berlin time. Yep.

Kyle: Well, we've been hanging down a little bit. We, we actually got to smoke a little straw recall. Oh, it was we got a little straw request sitting right 

Richard: I love it. This coming home with me.

Kyle:  that's colors all the way in, and, well, what are your impressions of The Strawberry Cough?

Richard: Nice and smooth. Nice taste. Nice on the throat. 

Kyle: And an excellent high. Well, when I grow it, you know, we call it the strawberry. No. Call. 

Richard: Oh, yeah.

Kyle: Okay. So. Well, yeah. So I'm glad I had some of that. I got to share it with you. It's a very nice, it's good for work. Let's just set what's good for elegant. You know? Well, I got some prepared questions that I want to ask, you know, so that the viewers can get to know you a little bit. All right. You know, we're making the movie. Wait, we the company that I'm working with, Homegrown Cannabis Co, we're making a movie about you, and, so, we want to drum up some excitement for people who may not know your story. So well. For the people that don't know this man who spent over 30 years of his life in prison of a 90 plus years

Richard: 98, 98 years they gave me. I spent actual, 32 in a maximum security prison was my last bid. 

Kyle: Yeah. So 90. 

Richard: For a nonviolent cannabis charge. Yeah. 

Kyle: So, lucky you. You're the longest serving cannabis prisoner, is that correct?

Richard: Correct. One of. 

Kyle: So, this man, well, the injustice is beyond description, actually. And, you know, so I'm going to ask you a few questions. Might going to take you back a bit because I want to get a sense of how the shit that was thrown on you made you feel. So please tell me how you felt right after you got sentenced to 98 years in prison.

Richard: Well, for one, I was very disappointed in my attorneys because, I mean, I was, they called for 12 to 17 and, the probation people recommended 12. Now, the jury didn't realize that they could go outside of the guidelines. So when they convicted, they wouldn't have convicted me if they thought I was going to get 98 years. Yes. I don't think. But it wound up they wound up giving me three 30s running wild with eight and six. 

Kyle: What does that mean? 

Richard: Six mandatory. Before you start your sentence. And then eight for a violation of parole. And then 3 30s and one and one and wild. 

Kyle: What's 330? How was it? 330. 

Richard: Is that the the 3 to 30 year sentences. 

Kyle: Oh! 3 x 30 year sentence. I, I heard the number 330. I'm sorry I misunderstood you. 

Richard: The 3 x 30 year sentence. So at the end of the deal, the whole deal wound up being 98 years.

Kyle: How long would you say it took before you were able to actually like, reconcile with your situation? You were going to be here for an awful long time.

Richard: I never stopped thinking about that. I was going to go home tomorrow, really. I kept always thinking, OK, that motion that I filed, that's going to work. I was never motionless in the court system before they denied that motion. I had one made to go back at them with. Only envelope ready to mail and that happened probably almost 50 times. 

Kyle: Wow. So in one sense that's certainly hope, but in another sense, after you get denied 25 times, does it change?

Richard: Well, yeah, yeah. It starts to wear on you, you know, and then, you know, with all the sickness that was going on in the place. Oh, right. It was kind of ridiculous. 

Kyle: Were people dying?

Richard: I woke up one day and went out to eat breakfast and I wasn't real hungry. So I seen one of my friends, a Spanish kid that worked out all the time, became good friends with him. He looked rough and I walked over to him. I said: ‘Hey, what's going on with you?’ He said, ‘Man, I feel rough, bro.’ I said, ‘Well, here's a tray. Here's my tray.’ Because I had a special diet I was on. You know what I like scrambled eggs and pancakes, stuff like that. So he took the tray, right? And I, I went back to my cell. That night, the kid passed away 50 years old, in wonderful shape. 

Kyle: That's just one of the one of the things that you had to experience that wasn't pleasant, I'm sure.

Richard: There was one time I I got so sick from COVID that I told my son I said, ‘Rich. I might not make it out of here.’

Kyle: But you did. 

Richard: I 'cause I felt I wasn't going to make it, you know, I was crawling across the floor to use the bathroom, you know?

Kyle: Well, I'm glad you made it. I made that. That COVID shit was nasty. 

Richard: And this was in the very beginning that our prison got that our prison got infected with it. 

Kyle: It says here all that time to think about different outcomes. What have I done this or chose not to do this? First, tell me where you think you might be today if you've never been incarcerated. And 2nd, what do you think you may have chosen to do in life if that choice hadn't been selling cannabis? If you hadn't, what might you have chosen to do for a profession in life if you hadn't chosen cannabis? First, I wanted to know, you know, what do you think where you might have been today if you hadn't been incarcerated?

Richard: That's a big one. You know, I was in the automotive business. We had, we had one of the biggest Volkswagen repair shops in South Florida, you know, for the old bugs and the buses and all that. And I probably would have stayed in the automotive business because I was professionally drag racing all over the country at the same time while we were running the automotive business. And we had a couple of other businesses going fiberglass factory making cars and boats and stuff. I think it would have definitely been the automotive business.

Kyle: Do you think your son would have followed you long into that?

Richard: Absolutely.

Kyle: Second to that question is if you hadn't the chores in cannabis? Well, I guess that cutting answer. So if you if cannabis hadn't diverted your energy.

Richard: It actually chose me.

Kyle: Tell me about that.

Richard: From I guess the the first time that I smoked it, I knew, I knew what it was not that not the first time, the first time I got high from it. I actually knew that it made you feel good and it took away pain. It took away pain in your brain from your body, and it took away pain from your soul.

Kyle: And so how could you feel bad about distributing that? I didn't.

Richard: I never felt better.

Kyle: I never did either. I don't know either, right? 

Richard: Exactly.

Kyle: Amen to that, brother.

Richard: I am so happy to be part of Trulieve in Florida, and I can't wait to explore California.

Kyle: Tell me a little bit more about what your life was like before you got arrested.You know, when times were simpler, clearer. 

Richard: I had an automotive business, a Body Shop. I had bought a nice house on a lake in Deerfield Beach, FL. I had two new children with a new wife. And I mean, everything was going smooth. You know, I was picturing myself. This was, this is going to be my deal for the rest of my life. And then, you know, it went upside down.

Kyle: Yeah, man, I have. We, you know, I had a little bit in common because, you know, before I became Kyle Cushman, you know, I, that's all I did. I grew weed and sold weed And you know, I, I, I almost feel silly mentioning or other than that. It’s, you know, it’s, it’s my story. You know, I, I, I spent seven days in jail thinking I was going to do 7 to 10 years. You know, the third night in jail, I mean, I, I tell people I cried myself to sleep. I didn't boohoo cry myself to sleep. And nonetheless I but. 

Richard: In your brain, you're acquiring yourself to sleep. 

Kyle: I’m going to be here a long time, you know, and when I wasn’t, I told you the story last night. I got out of the legal search and seizure. So wasn't nothing like that. But I just have the slightest inkling of relation to your feeling story. You know now that they're making a movie about you and the terribly unjust, inhumane situation you were forced into. Tell us about the message that you want the movie to project.

Richard: I want the movie to project a message that there was a certain amount of people that made all this happen. And it was only like, I think 12 of us in the beginning that were really smuggling and we were doing it for a righteous cause. I like the excitement of it. Don't get me wrong, I like the funds that it brought, but the excitement of doing it was so unbelievable. It was like we're getting on the radar. We're going to show the government that we can do something and they can't catch us. We did it and did it and did it and I've never been caught red-handed. Never. If it wasn't for confidential informants and stuff, I would have never went to jail because they could never just grab me. I mean they could find one of my planes, a four-engine airplane with the engines running. They wouldn't find no people there. They'd find 25,000 lbs of weed in the plane, a couple of trucks, and no people. Where'd the people go? 

Kyle: So it's just one, one or two wrong people that you met with you had was one or two wrong people that you met along the way. Yep. And if you hadn't met that one. 

Richard: If I would have just stuck with family and friends that I grew up with in New York, I would have never went to jail because everybody knew. We knew going in what it was, hey, this is what could happen. And if that happens, we go to prison. If it doesn't happen, we can drive 930 Porsche's and live on the intercostal. 

Kyle: But I wonder if it's all the same for the guys that smuggle that garbage that ruins people's lives. Like if they sing, they have the same attitude as us, or if there's some kind of conscience to them that they know they're doing something wrong. They don't fucking matter to anyone. You know, because again, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's a some article between you and I because I was never – I should say never. I actually grew my first crop with my coke dealer. I'm loaned there with my coke dealer. I live in my waterbed. I set up in his dining room off the kitchen and in his extra bedroom upstairs. We grew our first crop of weed. And after we grew our first crop of weed, we quit doing coke, we quit selling coke, we gave up all our coke friends. And we made a new set of friends and talk about never looking back. I mean, like the day before, it was like you didn't know if someone was going to come and rob you or if they had guns or if there was going to be violence involved. And then all of a sudden it was like music and reggae and happiness and sunshine, you know, it's just not the same.

Richard: You know how many times, I guess about maybe 3 or 4 times I was in the desert loading in Colombia and there would be a pile of cocaine. Listen to me. 

Kyle: In the desert? 

Richard: Yeah, in the desert. 

Kyle: Like wind chips? 

Richard: That big stacked on top, Rachel. We got a Kubota. And you know what the guy used to say to me, The people down there, they say, ‘Yeah, just take, you know, take 5000 lbs, throw it in the plane. Whenever you get straightened down, just come back and see us.’ And I would never do it. And it was worth way more than the weed. 

Kyle: But you knew what came with it. 

Richard: I didn't. 

Kyle: Baggage. 

Richard: It wasn't the risk. Right. No. It was the thing that it killed. 

Kyle: Because it's a heavy conversation for me because I'm kind of reliving a little bit of your shit and just a little bit. Don't get me wrong, I, I, I don’t, I have the respect for the people have come before me, the people who have paid real prices. Even though I get credit, I get a lot of credit for being the kind of a trailblazer. I grew the weed when it was illegal, even though I didn't have to go to jail. So I provided the product to people, but I didn't pay the ultimate price for sure. Moving forward. Seems like it’d be hard, you know, and I hope that you have a lot of get a lot of support for groups like Last Prisoner Project. 

Richard: I have I. Have support, everybody supports. 

Kyle: What are your hopes and dreams for yourself and your family moving forward?

Richard: My hopes and dreams are that I build a legacy for my family. My hopes and dreams are that every female and male that's in prison for a nonviolent marijuana charge I can get them out. And if I and if I can't get them out I want to try to help get them out. And that's what I've been doing since I've been home. 

Kyle: Awesome. Do you are you going to start an organization or do you still work through Last Prisoner Project?

Richard: Yes, I'm still with the Last Prisoners Project. I'll never leave them. Give me a quick shout out to Mary Bailey, Steve D'Angelo, and everybody else at The Last Prisoners Project. We love you and we support you and we got your back.

Kyle: Absolutely, we got your back here at Homegrown Cannabis Co as well and I'd grow weed at home and you know. I want to end this with a smile, you know? 'Cause like I said, this is really heavy for me. I, I have a lot of, I don't even know what if I, I, I feel that there's need to pay homage to, to, to people like yourself. You know? You gave up so much, even though it wasn't willingly, You know, you gave up so much. And so you've got an open invitation into my home. Me and my wife will welcome you and yours anytime. And going forward, I hope that we get to spend more time together both professionally and personally. And I'm glad that I got a Strawberry Cough here to give you. And I'm going to send you home with a Strawberry Cough too. I'm going to force one of those on you and maybe you'll get it into the Delicio brand. And just want to thank you for being here man. 

Richard: Delicioso. 

Kyle: Delicioso. You know what would be fun is to hear one of your old-time smuggling stories, a memory you had when you know you had a really good time, but you know you were doing something that most people will never in their lives get close to. How many years did this career last before it ended?

Richard: It lasted from 1965 till 1980. 

Kyle: That's a good long time. That's a lot of stories. So does one stand out? You know that you can tell us in a few minutes. 

Richard: The one that stands out the best I guess is the first time I smuggled. Because I got on a boat cold and I wound up before the boat got back to the dock loaded, I was running the whole deal.

Kyle: Captain?

Richard: Yeah, I was. I was like the captain of the boat. Yeah, I captained that boat. 

Kyle: OK. 

Richard: Halfway through the deal, two people panicked, they wanted to get off the boat in the hurricane. I said, ‘Are you crazy?’ I said, ‘You can get in that Boston whaler at 1740 if you want.’ And the next morning there was nothing left on the outside of the boat. Everything was diving through the ocean, 30-40 foot seas like the perfect storm. Yeah I can remember I was laying in my bunk, there's two bunks in the back.

Kyle: Who's driving the boat?

Richard: You know, one of the mates and I were lying in the back of the boat, running flat down, and we had a boom box—the old ones with the big batteries. It took 20 batteries and had two sets of headphones that weighed more than today's radios. And me and my friend Bobby Toronto that I grew up with, we're laying in the bunk, right? Strapped in. That's how, you know. And I heard some kind of noise over the stereo. You know, I had these great headphones back in the day—yeah, the old big ones. And I unbuckled myself and swung my feet down into the water. 'Was it this steep in the cabin?' I asked. Suddenly, I said, 'What the fuck?' I went like this—boom—when I hit my friend, and I went like that, right? And the cabin was flooded. 

Richard: What happened was the guy went off course a little bit because we were riding the waves and he slid off, slid off the wave and so much pressure from the water coming over the front of the boat. There was 2, 2 windows there about this long and about that high in the front knock both of them in. That was, I actually thought that that was, it was curtains at that time that the curtain was closing. And we wound up tearing the floor up off the off the off the got the water out. You know, the water drains itself out. The engine room was sealed so it couldn't water couldn't get down there. We wound up cutting these marine plywood sheets that were on the floor that had the rug on it. We wound up cutting the windows a little bigger. 

Richard: Meanwhile, we're in a hurricane now, 30-40 foot seas. This is out of control like the perfect storm, like that deal. And we had, I had to put my friend on a rope and sent him out this door to go around the drill while the waves were. What we did was we turned the boat around and we were riding down them now, where it was surfing. And we did it. We got away with it and we made it home. I'm sitting here talking to you right now. 

Kyle: And it seems a smug on your face. You're still surprised to made it. 

Richard: I hate it.

Kyle: Well. That's amazing. Well, I got to thank you again for being with us and sharing your stories and man what a guess to have on. Whole row. Well, while we're here, let's talk a couple of minutes about the movie. You know, Santa Marta Gold working title and who's producing the movie?

Richard: It's these guys. 

Kyle: Home Grown Cannabis Co. And well, what, what do you, what experiences have you had so far in the early production so far?

Movie trailer: [We did like two or three deals with the seaplanes. It's like in my blood. I think without the media and public support groups such as Last Prisoners Project, I don't think my father would have been able to get released. It was like the perfect storm. I saw my family slowly fall apart. I'm here for a trafficking charge in marijuana with no violence, he said. What I maintain hope and perseverance because I was building my family, so my focus was more centered on love, new life. I made the best out of prison. I made sure to take care of everything that I had to while I was there. Yeah, to all my prisoners of war. Hey, yo, what up, pops? I'm back up in this peace and it hurts to see you locked in the belly of the beast. It's been some years since we had a face to face all these foam corners.]

Richard: I think Matt is a great guy, you know that. He knows exactly what he's doing. And I think no matter what, we're going to have a success. It's going to be it's going to be a great story. And I just, I just can't wait to see it actually on film. 

Kyle: That will be a kick. That will be a kit. And of course, you're going to play yourself. We're going to get an actor for him. So, I hear there's a gala happening in New York City for the Last Prisoner Project. Are you going to be attending that?

Richard: Yes. We're going to be in New York City. I'm going to be getting an award from the Last Prisoner Project in New York City on the 24th of September, I believe.

Kyle: Right, right. And the word is, I heard you'll be screening your sizzle reel for Santa Monica Gold. Right, exactly. Why can't I say that word? Is it gala or gala? The event—is it a gala or a gala?

Richard: I'm not sure you really want to say "gála." Gala, right? Gala.

Kyle: All right, so we'll see. I won't see you there, but I wish you lots of luck on that. And man, you know, if you need anybody to stand in the background, I'll be in the movie as well.

Richard: Oh, absolutely. You've got definitely got to be in the movie. Richard, I want to thank you again for being here. I want to thank you and it's a pleasure to meet you. And I waited a long time to meet you.

Kyle: Well, believe it or not, same here. Thank you. Thanks, my friend. 

Richard: Much love.