Mad Dog Brings His Message To NHS

By Laurie Borst

Dale “Mad Dog” Messmer has been many things in his life: US Marine, mercenary, bounty hunter, body guard, pilot, stuntman, actor, businessman, ex-convict, and speaker. On Thursday, May 11, Mr Messmer brought his message to students at Newtown High School, the 1,433rd school to hear him speak.

Mr Messmer told his tale with frankness, graphically portraying life behind bars in maximum-security prisons. He grew up in the Midwest, attended school, and joined the Marines. Training accidents cut short his military career and he received an honorable/medical discharge. His marine training led to some interesting jobs: body guard, SWAT team trainer, bounty hunter. By his mid-30s, he found himself behind a desk, and bored, even though he was a millionaire who owned limousine and charter airplane businesses.

He said his piloting skills attracted the attention of the Pablo Escobar’s Colombian cocaine cartel. He said he could not resist the lure of excitement and began flying drugs into the United States.

 As with all criminals, one cannot fly under the legal radar for long. One day, returning to the United States from Mexico with a shipment of cocaine, government agents caught up with him. He was charged with drug smuggling, distribution of cocaine, possession of automatic weapons and explosives, and money laundering. Under the law, officials seized his $3.8 million in assets, leaving him and his family broke. He said he managed to make bail, and promptly disappeared.

After 16 months on the run, Mr Messmer turned himself in. He was convicted on a multitude of charges with a total possible sentence of several hundred years. He plea bargained a 25-year sentence. After serving 10 years, 8 months, and 11 days in prison, he was paroled. Shortly before his parole, the prison warden asked him to speak at a school, which he eventually agreed to do. He said he found the experience rewarding and this led to his present career.

Mad Dog Messmer delivered his compelling story in a full and powerful voice that brought his young audience to full attention. The stories he told of life behind bars were jarring. Prison is a harsh, brutal place, he said. Most convicts in federal prisons have been there a long time, and will still be there for a long time to come. Even if one kills another inmate, the punishment is another life sentence added on, he noted. These are men with nothing to lose.

Mr Messmer’s talk emphasized the many little things that are lost in prison: wearing your own clothes; seeing the sunrise and sunset; the smell of newly mown grass; seeing the moon and stars.

Besides shedding light on the realities of prison life, Mr Messmer shared information on a California law that the federal government hopes to implement nationwide. It is called the 14 Felony Act. Under this act, anyone charged with a crime who is over the age of 14 will be tried as an adult, probation is not an option, the juvenile record will not be sealed, and when convicted, the sentence will be served in an adult prison.

As he spoke, students paid attention. “He brought reality to me,” Jonathan Monaco stated, “about prison and the new law.”

Amanda Krause felt he was “definitely interesting. It’s hard to say what effect it will have. Students hear this a lot. His story was more realistic. It will have different effects for different people. He made me think.”

Scott Clayton, dean of students at NHS, had invited Mr Messmer to come to the school. Originally, teachers had to sign up their classes to attend one of the 50-minute talks. By midday, as word of Mr Messmer’s presentation spread, teachers and classes were showing up, fitting in where they could to hear the message.