Kramer trying to get exonerated for Aronow killing.

[Indy]

I hope Bubba's having some fun with him.

[FastDonzi]

I agree. If you ever get bored, do some searches on George Morales. Interesting to say the least

Or read up on Sal Magluta and Willie Falcon (SeaHawk Boats), They where the Sh!t when it came to having ill gotten money. Kramers cash pile was small beans compared to theirs.

[JupiterSunsation]

Regardless, "free Kramer"? I don't get it. OJ Simpson was once a beloved sports icon as well, I don't hear many yelling free OJ...And he was found not guilty of murder and pleaded not guilty to robbery.

Guess I'm old fasioned....I like my drug smuggling, money laundering, confessed to murdering criminals in custody where they should be.

A crook is a crook no matter what the crime. If he owed someone money and didn't pay do you think they would be screaming "Free Kramer?" This guy was a smuggler, a champion racer and a thug. Too many are impressed by the smuggling/racing accomplishments but forget about the "thug" aspect. This isn't a guy you would want to hang out with, let your sister date or have as a neighbor.

And not just Ben Kramer.........I think Aronow had a lot of the same qualities, good and bad.

[Matt Trulio]

I have to admit that this recurring question of Ben Kramer's "innocence" kind of baffles me. He plead no contest, which is quite different from pleading guilty but also quite guilty from pleading innocent. If he gets his sentence reduced or actually gets out on appeal, I'm sure I'll find it interesting. Until then ... not so much.

I've read a big about Sal Magnuta and Willie Falcon. Some of the old Miami Herald articles on them were pretty enlightening. Not people you'd want to hang around, unless you happened to be, like each of them, a criminal.

There were some really scary people in offshore racing during the 1970s and 1980s, which, ironically, were probably the hey-days of the sport.

Want to talk to someone who got to chat with all of them? Check in with T2X.

[DAREDEVIL]

I am just wondering,,,,u all know life is 25+ it does not mean that you are in the FOR LIFE !!!!!!!!!!!!!

And ownwstly,,,I DON'T THINK HE HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE ARRONOW CASE !!!!!!!!

I just think he was mad at him , but not that mad.

[Slandrew]

Don't know these guys will read book!I was in Florida in 1972 even then Floridians stayed clear if a certain bad boy boat crew from NY which was that crew!I know he originated from Sheeps head Bay Brooklen,N.Y. most players don't make it past 50 sad but true if he was innocent that whould be some cover up!

[OldSchool]

I am just wondering,,,,u all know life is 25+ it does not mean that you are in the FOR LIFE !!!!!!!!!!!!!

And ownwstly,,,I DON'T THINK HE HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE ARRONOW CASE !!!!!!!!

I just think he was mad at him , but not that mad.

Good grief. Do a search and then repost. Life without the possibility of parole. Do you understand what that means?

[JupiterSunsation]

The part that must be making him INSANE is dying day by day in that hellhole box thinking about all the money, women, cars, boats, whatever that he had and then realizing he is in the box with nothing.....

You have to wonder if he regrets staying in that game so long or if he dreams of being like so many others that ran hard for a couple years and got out penalty free.......

I had an old girlfriend that had a very rich father despite being unemployed. He had a 800K house paid for and nice cars but years of unemployment. He lived out of a cardboard box full of cash for years (like 20+). The money finally ran out and he slowly sold everything but had aspirations of doing one more job to get back in the money again. He never did, or if he did he never got to fill that cardboard box again. He will occasionally let a detail slide about the good old days now that the statue of limitations has run out.........

Florida is full of guys that ran hard for good money and then parlayed that small fortune into legitimate businesses/investments. Ben might envy these guys for getting the cash and getting out with their freedom.......

In my mind, being a waiter at a beachside restaurant for $500 a week is a better gig than rotting in a box with 100mm in cash buried somewhere!

[DAREDEVIL]

Good grief. Do a search and then repost. Life without the possibility of parole. Do you understand what that means?

DID he get with out parole ?????????? i missed that part, but if it only says life...thats 25+ ?!!!!!!! NO ??????

[LotoSteve]

Aronow aside. Bottom line, he took his shot at getting rich quick and lost and he new the punishment going in.

[LotoSteve]

Anyone know why the helicopter crashed?

[Chris]

He plead no contest, which is quite different from pleading guilty but also quite guilty from pleading innocent. .

Not really. More of a technicality. We discussed this in depth on here a few months back. If I remember correctly, by Florida law, a nolo plea restricts you from having any access to the appeal process.

On the Fed sentence, why would they want to even consider releasing him?

[Chris]

Anyone know why the helicopter crashed?

Hit the fence.

The helo came low into the fenced pen and when chubby ben grabbed the skid, it rocked it sideways. A rotor blade clipped the perimeter fence.

The pilot had just learned to fly.

[imco offshore]

Anyone know why the helicopter crashed?

the tail rotor hit a wire that ran from the fence to the building,

[Tommy Gun]

free ben

what about Willard?

[OldSchool]

Anyone know why the helicopter crashed?

Stepped rotors!!!

[tommymonza]

I made a post a couple of years ago but deleted it after coming to my senses.

I had a neighbor who moved over here in 1987 who was there and according to some men he saw nothing. This man lived next to me for from 1987 until Kramer was in jail. One day he and his family that i may have seen 10 times in 5 years packed up and moved back to the East Coast.

Only conversation i had ever had with him in that time was i take it by your taste in boats you must be famaliar with the name Aronow. He told me a quick story and jumped in the moving truck and headed out.


No Bullchit.

[Buoy]

So, does anyone believe that anyone other than Kramer was involved in some way, shape, or form, of the drug trade in the 80's??
I'd be surprised, if not shocked, that most of the performance builders of that era were not involved in some fashion - indirectly, or known.
I think very few are truly "innocent". It was the times, it was the era.

I don't think a lot of guys these days are custom building boats with specified 24x24 deck hatches with no cabin.

The builders knew what they were doing, they were selling boats.
And the buyers knew what they were buying, and what they were buying the boats for.

It was an interesting time. And I miss all the folklore that came along with it.
I don't really condone drugs, and it's something I've never been interested in.
However, I am interested in the boats that were used to haul the stuff.

[rchevelle71]

So, does anyone believe that anyone other than Kramer was involved in some way, shape, or form, of the drug trade in the 80's??
I'd be surprised, if not shocked, that most of the performance builders of that era were not involved in some fashion - indirectly, or known.
I think very few are truly "innocent". It was the times, it was the era.

I don't think a lot of guys these days are custom building boats with specified 24x24 deck hatches with no cabin.

The builders knew what they were doing, they were selling boats.
And the buyers knew what they were buying, and what they were buying the boats for.

It was an interesting time. And I miss all the folklore that came along with it.
I don't really condone drugs, and it's something I've never been interested in.
However, I am interested in the boats that were used to haul the stuff.

My boat had no cabin, but it also had no hatch

[FastDonzi]

If you where a builder of Performance boats back in the 70's-80's Someone used one of your boats to haul some weed or Yayo. I know people that have been to Bimini and back at night in a 18' Action, they didn't go there to get some "Clear Bottle Becks", although they did come back with some