UPDATE:Bunky Dies in Prison
(Please Note: Todd McMormick and others are well known POW's. Rene Boje is a politcal refugee. Ed Rosenthal is a POTENTIAL P.O.W. We LOVE and SUPPORT them and any other victims of the Drug War. But the UCMH POW is William "Bunky" LaMorte, just one of the THOUSANDS of POWs the USA has incarcerated.)
In March of 1991, William LaMorte, a 43 year old former resident of Long Island, New York, was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison for conspiring to smuggle 120 tons of marijuana and hashish into the United States from 1970 through 1989. He was fined 49.2 million in cash and personal property.
The story behind this sensational blurb is unique. I first heard of William "Bunky" LaMorte when a close relative bought property on the bucolic North Fork of Long Island. Their neighbor (directly across the street) had 25 acres, with a beautifully majestic Wood Cabin in the middle. A Heliport flanked the tennis court and later sea planes would ferry back and forth. As I would sit on the dock smoking my spliff while the "adults" had their liquor, I would look at their property and wonder.
Because Bunky was fairly young, with a beautiful wife and a young family, rumors spread fast. He was a pornographer, He was a drug dealer, the supermarket he owned was a front etc.. But eventually the rumors subsided. He became friends with some prominent residents and proved all the naysayers wrong. When a sponsor dropped out at the last minute, his supermarket started a long lasting relationship with the sport.
Still.....there were those seaplanes.....and the helicopter landing pad.... Enough for my sister and I to dream about on those nights when our families would be visiting, and inevitably as we would head out to the dock to smoke our spliffs, I would ask "Is that a bale?" or "Wouldn't it be great if a lost bale of Ganja would float our way!"
Time was good to the LaMorte family. They were active in the community, friendly, outgoing people. When a Suffolk County Police officer was shot in the face in the line of duty, Bunky LaMorte opened his home and property, hired the PREEMINENT Family of fireworks, the Grucci's, and had a MAJOR Fund raiser for the officer!
I remember my children were small, and my family and my sisters family were all gathered in the back yard, directly across the street from the LaMorte's, watching this amazing fireworks demonstration, as all the swells and bigwigs danced and partied and raised money for this officer. Life probably couldn't have looked better for William "Bunky" LaMorte.
But as we all know, appearances are deceptive! Bunky had a brother. And Bunky had a past. From 1974 to 1979 it appeared for all intents and purposes, that America was about to wake up and realize that prohibition would not work. Head Shops were opening on every corner, the so called "Drug Paraphernalia" industry was growing daily, marijuana jokes were a staple of the Tonight Show, and more importantly, the Gov't was moving towards Gov't Funded Research, and several states were implementing decriminalization. History taught us that during the last prohibition, several WELL KNOWN families either made their wealth or substantially increased it, by being in the right place at the right time. Bunky LaMorte thought he was in the right place at the right time. And Bunky imported the sacred sacrament, the psychic and physical medicine, the harmless and benign plant. And ONLY the sacred sacrament. He was offered and also had a brother who was interested in bringing across a more lucrative substance. A white powder steeped in the devil. But Bunky knew better. Green Herb. Like it says in the Bible.
Because of this creed Jah blessed Bunky and Bunky eventually divested himself of all "old" doings. Lived in that beautiful town, on the water, with the helipad and the seaplanes.
But Bunky's brother had a master, and the master was hungry. The brother, on his own, took to smuggle the devil in. And Jah was not pleased and the brother was not blessed. The brother was caught. The brother had been caught before so he knew this time his very soul was on the line. What he didn't know was that the devil had taken his soul long ago.So when he said, "You've always wanted my brother, but my brother was too smart for you. I can deliver my brother" it was a surprise only to the one uttering the words. Just as rooted in Cain and Abel, or Judas.
The entire story was published in the Suffolk Times.We hope in the near future to either supply a link to the story or the story itself. Meanwhile, Bunky Lamorte sits in a Federal Prison, a
PRISONER OF WAR
of the war on us!!!
