Pubdate: Fri, 13 August 1999 Source: Santa Maria Times (CA) Copyright: 1999 Santa Maria Times Address: PO Box 400, Santa Maria, CA 93456-0400 Fax: 1-805-928-5657 Author: Jennifer Best, Times Staff Writer EX-CON MESSMER SCARES STUDENTS STRAIGHT What does it take to get teenagers who think they know it all to sit up and take notice of good advice? A former U.S. Marine turned drug trafficker, ex-convict and now speaker, Dale "Mad Dog" Messmer did the trick Wednesday as nearly 200 Righetti High School incoming freshman heard his message: "You do the crime, you do the time. It's your decision. For more than an hour, Messmer walked the cafeteria stage, gesturing as he told the teens about his first-hand experiences as a convict caught for trafficking drugs, wanted for money laundering, racketeering, conspiracy and weapons charges. He told about the people he met, the friends he lost, the lives he saw destroyed by drugs and drug-related violence. "It was really inspirational," said freshman Anna Rodriguez. "It really made me stop and think about my decisions and my future. I know some people it should affect. For some people, it won't make a difference, but for the smart people, it will." As students sat, mesmerized, Messmer focused on the choices people made, sometimes in an instant, which changed their lives, or ended them. He talked about the increasing stringent drug laws that can strip a convict of everything he owns, about the sheer number of people whose sole responsibility it is to seek out drug criminals and put an end to their business. "Do not let anyone else make your choices for you," he said. "I don't care what your homies say, your friends, your buds, your pals, because you are the one who will pay the consequences for our choices." Messmer said he graduated from Kansas State University before being drafted by the U.S. Marines. He spent 66 months in Vietnam, earning three Purple Hearts for wounds he received. He later became a bodyguard, a restaurateur and a charter pilot. But he missed the adrenaline rush. When he was offered a job flying cocaine for Pablo Escobar's Medellin drug cartel, he bit at the chance. "My own wife didn't know I was trafficking," he said. "I was above suspicion, but I got caught anyway." With stories the teens could relate to, he explained that everyone involved in drugs gets involved in violence and eventually gets caught, whether they overdose first or authorities catch up to them by a mere stroke of luck. "The odds are not in your favor," he said. "You are one person. There are thousands and thousands of people in law enforcement and citizens who are sick and tired of drugs." "Oh my god," one girl in the crowd gasped as Messmer told a story of a teen, caught for possession of cocaine for sale, who was sentenced to 80 years in prison. "Under the law, you must serve half your sentence in prison before being released on parole," he said. "Jose will be 58 years old before he gets out. That means he'll be 58 years old before he can go for a ride in a car, eat a hamburger, drink a cold soda pop, watch what he wants on TV, go out on a date." Messmer cited the story of Escobar, who eluded agents for years before being placed in a luxurious Colombia prison built just for him. His escape from that prison led to a 16-month search which ended when he was caught, shot and killed on the roof of the safehouse he'd been hiding in. "The police caught the most powerful, most influential drug dealer in the world," he said. "What makes you think they won't catch you?" - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D