# Mark Lanzotti

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Mark Lanzotti," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/mark-lanzotti/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's best friend in prison, an Italian sentenced to triple life without parole for a first-time nonviolent meth conspiracy he was the only man to voluntarily leave; Kiriakou wrote the appeal that won his release, and he is now the top-selling realtor on the Jersey Shore.*

- **Sentence:** Triple life without parole (first-time nonviolent drug offense)
- **Now:** Top-selling realtor on the Jersey Shore

**Mark Lanzotti** was [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s closest friend in prison and remains one afterward, seated on the Italian table within the [racially segregated](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/prison-racial-segregation) prison cafeteria Kiriakou describes elsewhere. Lanzotti became his best friend after reading in the *New York Times* on a Sunday that Kiriakou was reporting to the prison the following Thursday; he took it upon himself to go to every one of the Italian inmates, men affiliated with the Gambino and Lucchese families, to vouch for Kiriakou, explaining, *"There's a CIA guy coming here on Thursday,"* not FBI, and that *"the CIA protected us from the Muslims."*[1] An Italian who, Kiriakou says, went to every made man at FCI Loretto to explain the difference between a CIA officer and an FBI agent, Lanzotti had drawn triple life without parole for a first-time, nonviolent meth conspiracy, one his stepfather ran, and which Lanzotti was the *only* participant to voluntarily leave. When the others were caught, they informed on each other and on him; they got five and a quarter years, Lanzotti got triple life.[2][3][4][5] Suffering bone cancer, he had surgery in a converted motor home in the prison parking lot because he was deemed too dangerous to move.[6] Kiriakou wrote his clemency appeal; Lanzotti's sentence was commuted, and after Kiriakou's release Lanzotti's mother called, weeping, to say he had won.[7][8] He later got a real-estate license after writing to Governor Chris Christie, and became the top-selling realtor on the Jersey Shore.[9][10]

## See also

- [Doing Time Like a Spy](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/doing-time-like-a-spy)
- [Federal plea coercion](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/federal-plea-coercion)

## Sources

1. John Kiriakou: These people should be in prison #002 (2026-05-20), at 28:05. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbOFlL1ingk&t=1685s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-20-the-devory-darkins-intervi/
2. John Kiriakou, CIA: "From the Inside" (Part 2) (2025-08-04), at 33:50. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDMtuwhkBAY&t=2030s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-04-tegan-broadwater-from-the-inside-part-2/
3. John Kiriakou, CIA: "From the Inside" (Part 2) (2025-08-04), at 37:29. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDMtuwhkBAY&t=2249s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-04-tegan-broadwater-from-the-inside-part-2/
4. John Kiriakou, CIA: "From the Inside" (Part 2) (2025-08-04), at 38:32. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDMtuwhkBAY&t=2312s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-04-tegan-broadwater-from-the-inside-part-2/
5. John Kiriakou, CIA: "From the Inside" (Part 2) (2025-08-04), at 39:04. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDMtuwhkBAY&t=2344s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-04-tegan-broadwater-from-the-inside-part-2/
6. John Kiriakou, CIA: "From the Inside" (Part 2) (2025-08-04), at 39:34. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDMtuwhkBAY&t=2374s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-04-tegan-broadwater-from-the-inside-part-2/
7. John Kiriakou, CIA: "From the Inside" (Part 2) (2025-08-04), at 40:38. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDMtuwhkBAY&t=2438s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-04-tegan-broadwater-from-the-inside-part-2/
8. John Kiriakou, CIA: "From the Inside" (Part 2) (2025-08-04), at 41:09. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDMtuwhkBAY&t=2469s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-04-tegan-broadwater-from-the-inside-part-2/
9. John Kiriakou, CIA: "From the Inside" (Part 2) (2025-08-04), at 43:11. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDMtuwhkBAY&t=2591s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-04-tegan-broadwater-from-the-inside-part-2/
10. John Kiriakou, CIA: "From the Inside" (Part 2) (2025-08-04), at 43:44. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDMtuwhkBAY&t=2624s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-04-tegan-broadwater-from-the-inside-part-2/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/mark-lanzotti/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt