Locked In with Ian Bick - BeanShooter Reveals His Life of Crime: Robbing Banks & Surviving Prison | Beanshooter

Episode Date: October 24, 2024

Boston’s Bean Shooter reveals how he got caught up in a life of crime, robbing banks, and eventually ending up in prison. He shares the raw truth about what led him down this dangerous path, how he survived life behind bars, and what he's learned since then. #BeanShooter #LifeOfCrime #BankRobberies #PrisonSurvival #TrueCrimeStory #CrimeConfession #FromCrimeToPrison #SurvivingPrison #CrimeAndPunishment #UntoldStories Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Thank you to our sponsors this week: My Bookie: Go to https://www.mybookie.ag/landings/mbszn/?affid=8927 and use promo code LOCKEDIN to double your bankroll with a 100% deposit bonus right from the jump. Connect with BeanShooter: IG: https://www.instagram.com/beanshooter69/?hl=en Merch: https://beanshooterbrand.com/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@beanshooter069 YT: https://www.youtube.com/@beanshootersgallery Presented by Tyson 2.0 & Wooooo Energy: https://tyson20.com/ https://woooooenergy.com/ Buy Merch: https://lockedinbrand.com Use code lockedin at checkout to get 20% off your order Timestamps: 00:00:00 Introduction with Bean Shooter 00:05:48 Staying Positive in Tough Situations 00:11:11 Early Entrepreneurial Spirit 00:17:09 Arrest Setup and Helicopter Surveillance 00:22:25 Wiretaps and Legal Issues 00:28:09 Maximizing Your Bet with MyBookie 00:33:44 Intense Interrogation and Arrest 00:39:30 Surviving on Management Loaf: A 72-Hour Ordeal 00:45:12 Confrontation and Consequences in Prison 00:50:48 Infamous Bank Heist and Fugitive Stories 00:56:16 The Importance of True Friendships 01:07:38 Unexpected Raid 01:13:23 Legal Troubles and Lawyer Interactions 01:19:04 Rehab Powered by: Just Media House : https://www.justmediahouse.com/ Creative direction, design, assets, support by FWRD: https://www.fwrd.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Bean shooter. Welcome to Lockton, man. Thank you, Ian, my guy. This all possible because of Johnny. Johnny Bart. You know what, Johnny Bart? What a great podcast with you and him. But I noticed like your thumbnails it says like, you know,

Hell's Angel and Force us. You got to do something for me like Irish mob hit me in, you know, from Boston, even though I'm from Lowell, we're going to say, you know, just something to get them to click on. Then we'll just talk about, you know, whatever I did for the last fucking hundred years. Yeah. I will come up with something. Good, I'm the king of Salacious.

Yeah, yes. Can you tell us where we're sitting right now, you know, and why we're here? We're in Chris Salerno's restaurant Valé in Revere on Broadway. It's best food around here, the fucking filet mignon with the blueberry sauces out of this world. But, yeah, Chris is the best. He always takes care of us and Johnny. And, you know, he's a neighborhood guy from East Boston who, you know, everybody loves. I mean, there might be a couple people out there who don't like him, but I haven't, I haven't met him yet.

Yeah. And this is my second time here. Hospitality is amazing. I told him this is the only restaurant I got to go to in Boston now. Yeah. Unless you and the enforcer dragged me somewhere. Yeah, you have to take it out of the North End, you know. So did you grow up here in Massachusetts? Yeah, I grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts, which is north of Boston, about about a half an hour outside of Boston. It's an industrial city, a mill city, actually. What was that like? Did you have family, siblings, mom and dad? You know, it's funny. I don't talk about my sibling too often, but I, um, I,

I do have a sister who we haven't spoken a long time. She actually wrote a book about me and had it published and paints me in a bad light. But my father was a bartender and a bookie. He worked for Massachusetts Electric Company and he used to take action and take action meaning he would take bets down at the bar at night and he was a bartender and my parents, my parents divorced when I was young and I bounced around and I'd always try to go to my fathers, but he was a single, you know, he always had girls over one-bedroom apartment. So my, my mother actually, I started getting in trouble at a young age.

I always looked up to my father who, and, you know, some unsavory characters down the bar, you know, this one just got out of prison, this one, I looked up to these guys, you know. And after my parents got divorced, my mother, in her defense, I don't want to sit here and, you know, make this about my mother. Like she was terrible. She was a good mother, but she couldn't, she couldn't put up with me. And at a young age, she, um, she signed me over to the state when I was 14 years old because I kept getting arrested. I started getting arrested at a young age. And, um, after that, I'd be, you know, in and out of, you know, foster homes and department of youth services, which is DYS. And I'd escape and always go back to my father. My father was

always there to be like, the cops are already here looking for you, you know, so. Did you look up to your dad? Yeah, definitely. Do you think you kind of like, Like, you know, that might have led you into trouble by looking up to him and he was involved with the gambling and whatnot. Yeah, I don't, you know, I don't blame him or anything like that. I think, I don't know if that, you know, he was the reason why I was like I was. But when he was a kid, you know, his father used to, you know, beat him up and punch him in the face when he was young. When he was getting in trouble, he used to give him beatings. And for that reason, my father never laid a hand on me.

And, you know, I was like most kids, you know, I feared my father, you know, especially when I was little. When I started getting in trouble, I was like, you know, when I first got arrested and I had to call him, you know, I thought, you know, he was going to kick my ass. And then he picked me up and take me out to eat and didn't say a word. And, you know, when I look back at that, I'm like, maybe, you know, one backhand and we're not sitting here today, Ian, you know. But, yeah, I don't know. I don't know what it was, why I was, you know, enamid with that lifestyle with the criminals and the bookies and the, you know, the drug dealers. but you know it's who it is some people look up to athletes some people look up to um you know gangsters or whatever and you know i just i just fell into that category where you know that was a

that was a life i wanted to lead the easy money and you know i looked at guys that worked every day like suckers getting up every day and punching a clock and you know it wasn't for me hey everyone it's ian and i wanted to take a second to say thank you for supporting this podcast remember leaving likes and comments on youtube and reviews on spotify and Apple, and even sharing your favorite episodes on social media and to friends and family help tremendously and are a huge way to support this show. Also, if you're interested in coming on the podcast to share your story, you could fill out the online forum at eInbick.com, and I will respond to you personally. Now, before we get further into this episode,

I wanted to shout out My Bookie for sponsoring today's show. MyBooky is an online sports book with live betting. Get started today by going to my bookie.com website slash locked in and using promo code locked in to double your bankroll with a 100% deposit bonus right from the jump. That's more money, more power to make winning plays. I hope you guys enjoy today's episode. Now, you're known for being, you know, hilarious. We see out all your clips, you know, your bean shooter. But were you like that as a kid? How would you describe yourself back then? I think I was always, I was a class clown. Just, you know, I always had a smile on my face, always laughing and joking.

You know, I don't know if I was always like this. I think it's gotten, it's progressed over the years. My father was always a funny guy, very, very quick-witted, you know, and like I said, just being in and out of the bars when I was a young kid that just, I don't know just who I am. You know, I was telling someone a story the other day. I was in prison and there was this guy, Gavis, Gary Green, I have to look him up, actually. Giz Green, he was from Chelsea, which is right outside of Boston. And one day we're in Walpole, which is a maximum security prison. He says, you know, Mike Lee.

What's up, Giz? He's like, you know where you are? I'm like, yeah, I got a pretty good idea, you know, and he's like, because every day I see you, you know, you got a big smile and you're laughing, you know. I said, would you rather see me crying every day, you know, and he's like, hell no. And I'm like, all right, then, you know. So I think I always had a good disposition, no matter, you know, like I'm my friend Johnny, who's very resilient, you know, everything he went through when you see the guy. And he's just, you know, he's just always very positive and in good spirits. And, you know, there were times when I wasn't super positive. But I like to think no matter what I went through, I always, you know, had a good outlook. And I don't know if it's a defense mechanism or what, but I was always, you know, laughing and joking about it.

No matter how dire the circumstances, you know, I always found a way to laugh about it, you know. Did people pick on you at all in high school? Oh, I didn't go to high school, but no. Tell us about why you didn't go to high school. You never made it that far. Well, I made it until, like, freshman year, and I lasted. Like, I was already getting locked up as a kid in DYS. And eighth grade, you know, I almost dropped out of eighth grade.

And then, you know, my father was like, you know, you got to go to high school. So I actually went to summer school after eighth grade. And I went to a vocational school. And I was selling drugs then at a young age. And after like two, three weeks, I sold some girl, some mescaline. And she had a seizure. She had a bad reaction to it. And that, ironically enough, that weekend, it was Easter Sunday weekend.

I was with a couple of friends of mine, and we were taking mescaline and tripping out. I was like 13 or 14. And like I said, how Lowell was. It was an industrial city, so a lot of the mills, they called the boot mills. They used to make the cotton and everything. And we broke in this abandoned mill. And it was like Saturday night going into Easter Sunday morning.

And I had sold the girl the drugs that Friday. And I heard she had a bad reaction. And so I'm not thinking about it. And that Saturday night, we broke in this building. And me and two other kids, we had these, there was all kinds of stuff in there. We had these chains. And there's these big giant windows, these mill buildings.

and we broke, I mean, we must have broke 150 windows, there's three floors. And I found this one thing, there was these abandoned tires, and we were taking them and throwing them out the window, and where I was throwing them out, it was a bridge where you could drive under, and there happened to be a police car. It was like five in the morning on Easter Sunday. There was nobody on the streets, and a police car was driving underneath it, and it hit the car, and within minutes, there was every police car in the police force surrounding this building, and we're like, oh, man, you know, and they're, and they're,

They're huffing the fence, climbing in. And, you know, I tried hiding in this boiler room. And I actually got a, they gave me a little bit of a beating. They smashed my head off a fence. And back then, a lot of kids had like, you know, the shoulder length here, you know, me with the red hair down on my shoulders. You're never going to see a picture of that. Wait, you had that?

Yeah. So the cop dragged me over and there was a chain-link fence that was chained together. And he smashed my face up the thing. And the cop, on the other hand, grabbed me. And he literally pulled me through when I hear the space about this big, So I get arrested, Easter Sunday, I get out, and the next day I go to school. And I'm sitting in, it was a typewriter class. And I'm in the class.

It was like the first class in the morning. And I look up and there's the police in the door. And I look behind me and they were at that door, too. I had a sneaking suspicion. They were there for me. And, of course, they'd come over to me, like, stand up. And I didn't know what was going on. I didn't, maybe I didn't know.

I heard the girl, you know, had a bad reaction, but I didn't think. it was, you know, that much. And they're picking up my typewriter and shaking it out and pat me down. It's like a big deal in school. And I'm like, okay, you know, I see where this is going. And they took me to the office and there was two police officers there and they were arrested me. They're like, you know, we know you sold this girl drugs and I'm not saying nothing.

And I remember the cops said, have you ever been arrested before? And you know, I was only 14 and I was like, yeah. And I said, yeah, and he's like, for what? And I said, you know, breaking and entering, willful malicious destruction. bunch of stuff. He goes, when was that? And I was like, yesterday. And that was, I was expelled from that school right there. You know, they cuffed me and arrested me and took me out. And then I went to Lowell High School and they already knew what I was about. So I was there like a week and a half. And I was skipping class. And they like caught me down to town with some kids. And they took me

back to high school and they said, what class here in? And I'm like, I don't know. I don't even know my sky. I just wasn't even going. So they just took me, cleaned out my locker and took me to the office. He's like, you know the drill. You know, you just got expelled from the vogue. So that was it. That was the end of my high school. But no, no one, no one picked on me in my short tenure. And did you ever get your diploma later on? I got my GED in prison. In Walpole State Prison, yeah. So why drugs? Why did you start selling drugs? Why were you into that? And did you use yourself at that time or not yet? Yeah, I always, I mean, not the, it wasn't until years later until I got into the hard stuff. But when I was a kid, we used to, this is, I'm really dating myself now.

You know, 78, 79, 1980, we used to shine shoes in the bars, you know. When you go in bar rooms back then, everybody had shoes on. You know, now it's sneakers and sports. It was just a totally different thing. We used to go in the bars and, you know, the kids in the neighborhood, we'd shine shoes. And I was always trying to make a buck. And then I got into selling, you know, fireworks when I was really young, getting bricks of firecrackers. selling them 25 cents a pack and bottle rockets, you know, grosses of bottle rockets and the black cat and, you know, all that stuff, thunderbomb.

And I was just always trying to make a buck. And then, you know, I honestly remember when I was, I was probably 12 years old, there was a big arcade. It was called the World of Games and Lowell. It's in a bad, in a bad neighborhood, you know, where I live. It's right. There's a shelter there across the street now and stuff. and I remember the first time I was with my friend, Timmy King, who's no longer with us, and I grabbed a half ounce of weed, and it was like, I forget, it was like 35 bucks or something.

And I remember I rolled up like, whatever it was exactly, you know, let's say 35 joints, 40 joints, selling them two bucks a piece, three for five, six for 10. And when I was done, like I spent 35 bucks, I had like 80, I had like 80, So I'm like, oh, I'm going to go get an ounce now. And I had like another 15 bucks to spare. And there's a place in Lull where I've since boycotted or some personalization. It's a hot dog place. I'm not going to give them.

Elliot's hot dogs, you know. So it was a place in my neighborhood used to go and get the hot dogs and chocolate milks. And I remember going in there and I had 70 bucks. I doubled my money. And I had 15 bucks. And I got a couple hot dogs and some French fries. And I was just like, this is the greatest thing ever. You know what I mean?

I smoked a few joints. I got, you know, I doubled my. money and I'm in a restaurant eating, you know, free food as I saw it. And it had always been a thing with me where I'm always trying to make a dollar, you know, even years later in the throes of addiction, I was getting, you know, heroin in bulk from Dominicans and selling it to other people that were using. So even at my lowest, I was always flipping something, you know. You were a hustler and entrepreneur. Yes, yes. entrepreneur. I like that.

Yeah. Do you think you got that from your dad at all? Yeah, probably. I mean, he was always a bookie when I was 11, the state police raided the house and really knocked down the door, his apartment with a sledgehammer and took him out in cuffs. And it was all over the news and in the papers. And I was young then, probably six, seventh grade. I was already in a little trouble. And I remember it was like, you know, that's his father, you know, whispering the thing. And I was like, I was so proud of him. You know what I mean? Like, that's my guy.

know, and just, yeah, his friends and all that. So I'm sure I got that from him. He was always, but my father was different in the sense that he always had a job. And then he'd bartend after work. You know what I mean? And he'd have a side hustle. Me, I never had a job. You've never worked a regular job back then at all?

Yeah, never. Well, even now, I don't think. No. Really? Yeah. When I was in prison, I made license plates. that that's like the cliche prison movie type thing

yeah I made license plates for a while and when I get out of there there was like there's like a machine they come through and you put them on this thing and then they go through the machine it would paint the numbers and then you take them off and put them out of these racks

that go through an oven and it dries them and they come out the other side and I worked in there for a while and when I got out I had a check because you'd make back then I think it was $35 a week and they'd put 17 in your savings and, you know, 17 every week in your canteen account,

your commissary, whatever you want to call it. So when I got out, I had a nice check, you know, and I remember thinking, wow, this is like, the IRS doesn't know I exist until right now. So I walked in the bank. It was in the town center in Walpole. I went in the bank, and they asked for an ID, and I had my prison ID that I, this, actually,

this picture idea, you know, so I gave them, I gave them that and I was, you know, I was talking to some girl on the phone and she came and picked me up and she was kind of dressed, you know, she had a low-cut shirt. And I remember the teller, the girls in there, like, which went to the other girls? And they turned around, look at me. And one of them was like, you know, they knew I just got out, you know, from doing a little bit of a stretch. But yeah, that was my first, you know, real job. Was that your first real prison experience? Like, I know you had been arrested in jails, but was that time your first one or was there one before that?

There was a few before that. That was my first time in state prison. I'd been in county jail a bunch of times in D.YS, but that was my first time in, you know, in a maximum security state prison. How'd you end up there? And at what age? 25. 25, yeah.

That case, I got arrested trafficking over 100 pounds of marijuana. I was, oh. Vina was moving the weight. Yeah, I was moving the weight. I was moving the weight. So I was UPS in it from Mexico, well, San Diego, right over the border. UPS in it back to Massachusetts and I was um yeah I was selling you know 100 200 pounds a week and somebody actually got caught signing for a package um his name was ray low fucking rat

that he is uh get caught with a what a package and and um they ended up arresting me and um I remember when I got caught there were there was a big deal they had they were follow me in a helicopter and it was like when they took me down it was it was a real it was a real big thing. And I remember the cop, my child's mother, I have a son, and my son was over my aunt's house, and my child's mother called me up and said, oh, Ryan's sick, can you bring some children's Tylenol? And once I got arrested, I realized what happened. You know, they were in the fucking kitchen. They raided her house. So she called me. And there was probably 15 cops standing in in the kitchen when she called me and said, hey, can you go buy your aunts? You know, Ryan's there.

You need some children's Tylenol. So I walked in and a couple days before, I left my house and I had a couple of friends of mine with me. The aforementioned Timmy King, he was with me that day. And another kid, Sean Nutter, who's no longer with us either. He was a good friend. So I'm driving and I see this helicopter up in the sky. And, you know, it's not like in the movies like Goodfellas where it's like 20 feet over your car. Like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, you know, you basically don't see it.

It's up high. So I'm with them and I'm joking around and I say, see that helicopter, it's following me. Because I felt like I was getting followed for a couple of days. So we're just driving around. I had T-tops. I actually had this white I rock and we're driving and we're looking and it's, you know, we're driving off like 20 minutes and this thing's still up in the sky. So I drove along this river and Lowell like three miles and it was like to the right like right above me and I'm like wait a minute man. So I take

a left. There's a street and Lowell Bridge Street. Lowell's close to New Hampshire. It actually, you know, maybe a mile up the road you're in Pelham, New Hampshire. So there's this one road, bridge street, route 38. So I take a shop left and the helicopter is there all the way of bridge. street. Now they're in the car. They're like, do I really think this helicopter is following us? So I, there was some apartment building. So I pulled behind the apartment building. So it was like obstructing the view. Like, we couldn't see the helicopter anymore. And we just all got out of the car. And we just waited. We're looking up this guy. And then there it is right above us. So I'm like, oh, man, you know, this is not good right now, you know? So I went to a bar on the street

when my friend was. And he was actually my co-defendant, Greg Smith. And they were in the bar watching him at this time so I don't know any of this they're ready to wrap us all up you know and I went in I said hey man I think there's a helicopter following me now he's like you know same thing are you fucking doing coke like you know you know they're thinking I'm just paranoid and I'm geeked out and I'm like no I'm telling you man right so now I walk I go to walk outside and there's like this pickup truck at the end of the park lot with two guys in it and I'm like those guys are fucking following me too and he's like get the fuck out of so I I give the guys the finger and they're looking right at me and there's no reaction from me

them. Like anybody else be like, what fuck's your problem, buddy? You know what I mean? Come over like, hey, what you? And they just sat there looking at me. I'm like, I'm telling you, man. I go, here, take my, I had a note of Dame Jack and hat. I go, take my car for a ride. So he comes back 20 minutes later and he's like, yeah, you're fucked. I don't know what you did, but you know, you're

obviously in a lot of trouble. And so getting back to my arts, I show up at my aunt's house and she lives in Drake in Massachusetts, suburbs. And, you know, she got the in-ground pool in the back. It's a quiet neighborhood. and I walk into, and she had a hairdressing studio built in her house downstairs.

So I go in and I give my son, you know, some Tylenol, he's in front of the TV, and I just hear, like, all the car doors slamming. And I'm like, what the fuck is that? And I went to go up through the front door, and, you know, they just bundled me, slam me down. There was a lot of them there. And my uncle, who was a union electrician for 40 years, he was doing dishes, and they were, like, dressed like ninjas.

And, you know, they went up behind him and put a gun to it. his head and said, is Mike Lee in the house? You know, so that poor guy, you know, he might have had a little mud in his shorts after that. And I remember when they dragged me out on the front lawn, I picked up another friend of mine who's dead now, Rich Gauthier, and I

said, dude, they've been following me for a couple days, drive my car, and he was saying the same thing. He's like, Lee, are you skitsen? Are you skitsen? That's a term we use for being on coke and being paranoid. He's like, are you skitsen? I'm like, I'm telling you, man. They've been following me. They're in a fucking helicopter. And he thinks I lost my mind.

And when they come, when they got me on the front steps, I look and they had him on his knees. And he was crying, stuttering. Like, they scared the shit out of him, you know. And I remember they cuffed me and there was two big stadies and they ran with me. So I couldn't, like my feet were dragging. They just fucking bundled me and they ran with me. And I remember looking and there was a, there was a guy there from like when my father worked, Mass Electric. He was, you know, back then they used to physically read the meter.

They go in your house and write down, you know, with the. And the guy was reading the meter and he was just like, you know, caught in the middle of this whole scene. And then there was like a caravan of cars. They dragged me, threw me in one. Then it was like, boom, boom. And it was like eight cars just gone. Like it happened so fast, you know. And at the time, I just remember thinking, wow, she fucking set me up, you know, which she did.

And when I got to court afterwards, the person I just mentioned to wore a wire on me, you know, I trusted them. and I considered them a friend. And I remember them saying back then, you know, it was like pre-cell phones. Cell phones were just coming out like the next tell two ways. It was they weren't out a long time. This was 93, 94. And I remember them saying they had a pen-registered device on my phone, which identifies incoming and outgoing calls.

Like even if you called me and it said Ian Bick and you called up and said, hey, you want to go to the Celtics game? They went to you afterwards and gave you a piece of, paper saying you were in a grieved person, which basically meant you were caught over the wire tap and identified. Not that you said anything illegal, but they went to everybody who ever called me. So, you know, everyone was fucking scared to death to talk to me afterwards. They went to everybody who ever called me and identified them. But when they arraigned me, I had a lawyer Steve Rappaport who was great. And I remember I'm saying, not only do they have, you know, phone calls and a

wiretap, but they also have audio. And so I remember during the arraignment, I'm like, what the they say, what did that mean? He's like, somebody wore a wire on you. And I'm going to think, oh, man, fuck, they got me. You know, and I'm trying to, in my head, I'm just trying to figure out who it was, you know, at the time, which I eventually found out. Yeah, once they got that wire, you can't beat them. Yeah, yeah. That's interesting what you said about the slips. They got to tell people, is that like that in today's? I don't know. I don't know. This was a long time ago. I had just heard about that from someone recently, too, talking about that. Yeah, 30 years, it's been 30 years now since then. But yeah, I remember them saying, yeah, in a grieved person. So they went and

And they went and let everybody know that they were, you know, talking to me. One of the best things on the wiretaps, and they were reading it in court, one night I was going to Foxwoods. And I left my house, and I go to get on the highway, and I go, fuck, I didn't get any weed. You know, I want to get a bag of weed, so I go back to my house. I get some weed, and I'm going to get on the highway. And this guy says he's doing radar, and it's like, three. 3.30 in the morning on this street.

I'm like, there's no way this guy's doing. He's like, oh, you know, you're speeding? I'm like, you're doing fucking, I'm literally telling me. You're doing radar at 3.30 in the morning, but I'm the only car on the road. So now I'm like, I've always been kind of, I don't say, fresh with cops. But I, you know, I grew up like that. Like, I don't hate all cops and I'm not painting them with a broad brush. But when they start asking me questions, I'm just like, I don't answer questions.

You know, hey, where you're coming from? Are you going? Am I under arrest? That's all I ever said. Am I under arrest? Am I free to go? So I was doing that. I'm like, am I under arrest?

And he got me out of the car. And I'm saying, why am I out of the car? I'm like, am I under arrest? And he stuck his hand under the seat. And those old I rocks, the seat was so close to the ground. You couldn't even get your hand underneath. And he fished out this bag of weed. It looked like it was there from 1962, right?

It was the sandwich bag. He looked like 100 years old, right? He goes, you are now, asshole. And he cuffs me. And I got like, 3,500, I think it was in my point. So he takes it out and they keep it. So I'm calling my lawyer in the morning. He's calling the police station. He's like something funny's going on. I'm like they kept 3,500 bucks for a fucking dime bag of weed. Like this is crazy. So the next morning I get home. And when I was

reading the transcripts of the wiretaps, my friend Greg calls me. And he goes, what's up? And I was eating Xanax. I was all fucked up. He's like, what's up? I go, nothing, man. You know, bad night. He goes, hey, want to go to Foxwoods? So I remember it says, an audible and audible because my kid's screaming in the background. I'm saying, shut up. Ryan, shut up. Sit down. I'm yelling. And he says again, I'm like, what? He goes, you want to go to Foxwoods? And I said, I went to Foxwoods last night. I lost $3,500. I never even got on the fucking highway. So he's like, he has no idea what I'm saying. He's like, what? I said, I lost $3,500 going to Foxwood's last night. I never even got on

the Loll Connect there. And he's like, all right, bye. And when I got all the transcripts, I bailed out after like two months because I had another case. I had to do six months. And they reinstated the bail, and I bailed out. And I'm in the courtroom with a friend of mine, Ralph MacDonald, no longer with us either, with them peace for all my friends. A lot of my friends are gone. And he was with me that night going to Foxwood, so they charged both of us. So we're sitting in the court.

And I'm dealing with this case. And I look, and there's like five detectives who are part of arresting me on the weed case. And one of them, like elbows the other one. It looks over at me, and he says something. They all break out laughing. So me, how I am, I get up, middle of the court and walk out. I go, what's so funny? The cop says, hey, listen, no disrespect Lee.

That was the funniest thing I ever heard over a wiretap. I go, what's that? He goes, you lost $3,500. You never even got on the little connect there. I go, all right, you got that. I turn around and sat back down. My coat of that, it's like sitting away from me. Like, dude, what are you doing going to fucking argue with cops in the middle of the courtroom?

That's hilarious. Let's take a quick pause to talk about sports. Let's face it, 2004 has been full of surprises, kind of like when you think you're getting out of prison early, but they tack on an extra six months. But unlike prison, My Bookie always has your back.

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How easy was it back then to make connections to bring product back from California? I mean, my friend Greg, I've been talking about his father lived in San Diego. So he was always back and forth. So that's how I met, you know, these Mexicans I was dealing with down there. And do they just front you or do you have to pay up front? They cuff it most of the time. Then I started, you know, then I started. started putting up a lot of the money and back and forth, but they'd send you whatever.

Was this common to do back then? Like did you have friends doing it locally? Yeah, well, me and him, we were doing most of it. My other friend, Sparrow, you know, those Greeks, Spiro took over the whole game, you know? No, but yeah, there was a few of us doing it. And, you know, back then, like in October and November, the real good weed would come out. But this stuff you see now, it's ridiculous. This was like Mexican brickweed. But, you know, we'd get it 300 a pound and sell it for a thousand a pound. And, you know, I was selling 100 a week, you know, or more at the time. And it was just, there was so much money in it. And the crazy thing was, was I was selling Coke for years and making a lot of money.

And then I get into the weed, and that's when I get all the heat on me. I'm like, if I would have just kept selling Coke, I think I would have been all right. Wait, why is that? Why do you think? Maybe, you know, going to UPS, shipping packages, going to Western Union. Back then, you could send up to 10,000 Western Union. So we'd send, you know, $9,900 and stuff like that. And you could just go in and, you know, what's your name, you know, Ian Bick.

And the other person could have a fake name picking up the money and you'd use a code word. Like you'd say, I'd call you, you're in, you know, Mexico or San Diego. Hey, go there. You know, there's a $9,900 box coming from, you know, Joe Blow, password dot board, you know, password pit bull. We used to use all these things. So they go in, they just give you the money. And today I was just talking about this. I was in the bank.

For some reason, it's funny we're talking about this. One night I was with my friend, and I remember I had the San Diego Charges hat on. I go in this Western Union, and they got the plexiglass up and everything. And I sent $9,900 bucks to somebody in Tijuana. And, you know, Spanish name. I think it was Diego Alvarez. I remember the weirdest stuff, but I'm sending money to this guy. And I give the lady the money, and it's usually pretty quick.

It's a couple minutes. And then I feel like she's stalling, and she's stalling. And I said to my cousin, I said, something's bad, man. Something bad's happening right now. He's like, you know, you're paranoid. You're paranoid. I just, I had that, you know, six cents. I go, something ain't right, man.

And these two guys come in. They look like, you know, construction workers, right? And they come in, and the lady's working, I don't know if she knew them or not, but she goes over to them I go look at watch this watch this she's talking to those guys so she goes over and says something to the guys and they go like this

and they look at me I go uh oh you know obviously I'm fucking right here I go hey excuse me I want my money back and she said I'm sorry I don't know if it was two or three we detected you know three counterfeit fucking you know $50 dollars

$20 bills in your money and I'm like fuck she goes we just notified the secret that was it she didn't have to finish the sentence And so I was in the fucking parking lot driving away before I heard the end of that. And looking back, I'm like, why didn't I just stay there? You know? Yeah, take the, you know, 60 bucks or 150 bucks.

It was 320s or 350s, whatever. But I just panicked because I was in that life. And I didn't want them fucking looking into me like, oh, why are you sending this money and trying to ask me questions? But I should have just stayed there. Lawyed up and got my money. Yeah, keep the fucking 60 bucks. But I panicked and I bounced.

and I dipped, as Johnny would say, and I dipped out of there and lost that money. But I think that's what it was, just flying back and forth to San Diego. They'd call me up and say, be here tomorrow, and I'd leave a tenant night, and flying under fake names and getting UPS packages. And, you know, all as it takes is one thing, like you going in the UPS store, and someone calling, hey, this is suspicious, this package, you know, and it just brought a lot of heat on me. And, you know, after about a year and a half, two years, I was wrapped up on that one.

Yeah, can you bring a talk about the flight thing? Back then different time period, you're saying you're flying under fake names. You can't do that now. Yeah, no, no. You need, just like the Western Union, you could do anything, flying to fake names. And I remember one time I was going to, they called me up. They were in Tijuana, and they called me up and say, hey, come here tomorrow, and they'd pick me up. And so I went to Logan Airport.

and they were already on me at that time. And I remember these two guys were sitting there and the guy had like a Levi's jean jacket on and a pink polo shirt and another guy. And they're just reading the Herald, the Boston Herald. And I'm sitting there. And right before the flight, they come up to me.

Hey, come here. They take me in this hallway. And I forget exactly what it was. But he asked me like three or four questions. And I lied on everyone. And he just debunked every one of my, my, my, my, um, my, answers. He's like, so why do you get a one-way ticket to a border town? I go, well, I plan on

staying for a couple of months. He goes, why don't you have any luggage? He got me with a few quick ones like, boom, boom. I'm like, he's like, all right. Like, you just lied to me three times in a row. He's like, we're just letting you know, you know, you're on the radar. We know what you're doing. You know, and I'm like, I remember it shook me up a little like, fuck. You know, and it, that was the case. You know, it was, when I was arrested, it was, um, federal, state, local investigation. I had 13 co-defendants. I think

it was 11 of them cooperated. I think it was 11 out of 13. And they all flipped on you. Yeah. So you're like the kingpin of this little organization. Well, then they wanted me to tell the Mexicans.

And I remember they come down to the cell and try to ask me some questions. And I had a pager and he's holding it. And when they'd come to Boston, there was a hotel in Boston called Howard Johnson's 57. It was on Stewart Street by the Park Plaza.

And whenever they'd get there, they'd go to the 57, and they would just text me the room number. I remember the cops holding my beep of my pager at the time. He's like, what's this, 337? And I'm like, ah, fuck, you know what I mean? They're in town to collect some money, and they ain't going to get it. And I was just like, yeah, I want to see my lawyer. And that was it.

I remember when I got out after a close friend of mine, Nikki Cosambolis, he owns a baron Lolle called Captain Johns. His cousin was either state police or DEA or something. And he went in there afterwards. It didn't know I knew him. And he's like, yeah, we wrapped out, we busted that whole wheat thing. And Loll, he goes, every one of them people fucking rolled.

He goes, except one kid, you know, a kid Mike Lee. And then Nikki's like, yeah, that's my buddy. You know what I mean? Where do you think you got those values from about the never? was that from your dad? Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Interesting. And why didn't you go to federal prison? Why didn't they charge you federally? I think, you know, I remember them fingerprinted me. They had like a different card. It was like a red card. They printed me, state and everything. I think they wanted the case to be bigger. They wanted to go after those guys. They wanted me

to roll. And I think another reason is I wasn't like, like when my friend Spiro got arrested, you know, he's worth a few million dollars. He owned a ton of properties. The feds go after the dough usually, you know, I think with me, I don't know, it wasn't that big. I mean, it was big enough, but, you know, they wanted me to roll on, you know, these Mexicans and stuff. So, but I'm still friends with it. I still talk to them. So what happens next? Do you get arrested? You're in there. Do you take a plea deal? You go to trial? I took a plea. And the plea was for five years? Three years. Three years. Okay. And in a maximum state prison? Well, no, it was just in state prison, but I got in trouble in there and I ended up, you know, in the hole. And, um, you got to tell us that

story being you can't just not share that story casually oh my god it was um so you get to prison you're 25 years old yeah okay i got to prison i'm 25 i got to conquered state prison and um i got in some trouble in the air i got in a fight and a few other things some home brew and i'm in the hole there and then they they shipped me to another place there was there was a lot of overcrowding then and there was a riot there in the yard and they sent me to um they were they were modifying guys to plymouth johnny botch old um old house they're modifying guys to plymouth and i went to this place and it was it was horrible it was probably the worst place i'd ever been in it was one of these one of these new jails you know where they um it's not like the old school jails like you'll see in in the movies

with the big yard playing softball and this and that it was like this like divide and conquer almost You can be in the next block and I'd never see you. The place, it was just terrible. I mean, everything about it was terrible. And I forget if it was a fight. I got something happened. I ended up in the hole. And then I got another fight in the hole with some Cape Verity and kids.

And I was just, I was with an old friend, Teddy Sutherland, a friend of Johnny Botts, actually, we're in the hole together. And I was just ripping out at that point. I was shit bombing cops, you know. You ever do that? No, what shit bombing cops. Just what it, exactly what it sounds like. You were one of the guys that took the shit and threw it at the cops?

Yes, yes. That's a no-no in federal prison, man. Only the wackos do that. I think that's a no-no everywhere. So why? So why would you do that? What's just, like, why? Because I hated the administration there.

So you're putting it in your hand, like you're taking a shit and taking it and chucking it? Well, I'd sometimes milk cotton's cups when they'd open the traps, me my food, I'd bomb them. And yeah, I was doing that. I was doing that a lot. Holy shit. So that, because I wanted to get out of there and they'd bundle me and put me in that restraint chair and because Plymouth didn't want to let you go when you were there.

You know, you were like state property and they were getting money. So you really, I didn't want to be popping sprinklers and do all that and get soaked. So I ended up catching a case out of there. It was, it was bad. But I remember towards the end, every time I do it, they put me on a stuff called management loaf. You hear that? You ever hear of that, Johnny?

Huh? So this is how they ended up pretty much beating me. They didn't know it. They didn't know what they won. So they'd put you on this stuff management loaf for 72 hours. We're at 5 in the morning. They'd come slide this thing under the door, and then you get another one at 5 at night.

And what it was, it was not sure, it was like state meat that they ground up. It was almost so fine like sawdust. And they'd put some other nutrients in it, maybe a couple of green beans, I don't know, and they'd chuck it under your door. And they could only put you on that by law for 72 hours. I mean, it was unedible. It was unedible.

I remember taking pieces of it and dropping the toilet, and it would be like dropping a piece of, like a hard piece of sand in the toilet. It would just dissolve into nothing. So I'd fast for 72 hours. I'd eat a meal. I'd shit, and I'd throw it at the cops again. So this went on for a few cycles, maybe nine days of man. And now I'm starting to like see spots.

You know, I'm guzzling water. It's like I'm fasting, you know, and I'm, I'm losing it. So after the third cycle of the management loaf, they give me my meal. And I think it was like, they used to give you like oatmeal, like blueberries in it, like this cake, this blueberry cake. It wasn't bad, actually. It wasn't, it was one of the decent meals. And I ate it. And sometimes they give you, it's either milk cotton or the cup of juice or you get both.

and I got done eating my meal and then I heard, you know, Lee, back of the cell on your knees, interlock your fingers. I look, the move teams there with the shield and I'm kind of, I'm fucked up, like almost hallucinating after not eating for fucking, you know, nine days, whatever it was.

And I'm, and I just ate this. And it's like, I didn't have the energy to go with the move team that, you know, they had me. And I get on my knees and I, you know, interlocked my fingers behind my head, and they're like, clear, they open the door, boom. And I'm like flinching waiting to get,

because they'd come in. and, you know, it sucks when they come in. So, like, nothing happens, and I hear, clear, boom, and the door shuts. And I go, now I'm in the cell with nothing. I'm like, what the fuck was that? And I look out, and there's like six of them in the whole riot here. And I look, one of them's got, like, the milk cotton in his hand. And the other one's got the styrofoam cup.

And I'm like, all right, that's the status I'm on now. Now I literally have to throw it with my hand, you know, at them, which I don't want to do. And then the captain came to me, he says, hey, man, you're being transferred to old colony. state prison in Bridgewater tomorrow. I was like, thank God. You know, it wasn't easy getting out of Plymouth. You worked hard for it. Yeah, I worked.

I worked hard for it. So those management loaves, that's all they feed you for those 72 hours. Yeah. Just, and it's a little small loaf? No, it's like a hockey puck. That's pretty small. They just call it management loaf. Save now at Whole Foods Market.

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The gift that always clicks. Yeah, it's not actually a loaf, like a loaf of bread. You know, it's... I've never heard of this before. It's great. You should try it. I'm good. All right, so you go now to the maximum. No, I go to another prison, Old Colony.

Okay, what happens there? I get to Old Colony, and I ate a beef with someone on the street who was actually a friend of mine. and he ended up like this girl I was at the time, ended up leaving me and going with him, and we got in a fight, and a real close friend of mine, Mike Stanovich, he was my best friend.

He's no longer with us either. Like two nights later, he's rolling around. He's got a sawed off, and he's looking for this kid, and this kid's got an identical twin brother. So he rolls up, and he just had bird shot in it. It wasn't like, you know, like, so he rolled up on him, And he's like, hey, and he boom, let it go. And he shot him, he goes behind a car, I got him in the leg.

And I get to this prison, and this kid's there. So I get in the chow hall, and I sit down in front of him. Because we were friends. We just had a fight over a girl. And he's like, he's a tough kid, real tough kid. And he's like, meet me in the yard by the handball wall in the back. I'm like, here we go. So I go to myself, three pairs of boxes, three pairs of socks, three t-shirts.

Because, you know, I know I'm going to fight him now. And I'm going to go to the hole. So we go out in the yard. and he's like, let's take a walk, and he's like, remember when my brother got shot? And I'm like, oh, here we go. You know what I mean? He's like, yeah, this kid, Freddie dies. Like, Freddy was just here.

He said it was, you know, him and Mike Stanovich, and they did it for you and this and that. I go, dude, that's bullshit, you know? Like, what am I going to do? Say, yeah, it's like I'm ratting out my friend Mike. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, it was. I go, dude, that's bullshit. I got nothing to do with that, man.

I don't know why he's saying that. And, you know, and that's it. That's my story. So we walk around the yard. he's like, meet me in on the library tomorrow. I get on the library tomorrow. He takes a napkin, he slides it across the table. I open it up.

It's three Red Eagle bags, a heroin, street bags, which is big in there. You know, they weren't jail bags, right? I was like, wow, my man, he's like, yeah, you got that, you know? So he gives it to me. And since I'd been in, the girl who ratted me out, my son, Ryan, I hadn't heard from them, you know? So the next day, everyone goes out on wreck. I stay in. in. I sniffed

like a bag, a half a bag. Now I'm wrecked. All of a sudden my door is shaking. The cops fucking opening my door and slamming it, right? I'm fucking high as a pheasant, right? I stick my head out and he's like, he's giving me the V, the visit sign. Man, I don't get visits. Like, no one's coming to see

me, you know what I mean? It wasn't like Johnny's family, you know, they weren't beating down the door to come see me, you know? So I go, visit. Because my father, my father would send me whatever I want, just see a lady. He ain't, he ain't coming to visit me. And it's my ex with my son. I get on to the visiting room. She goes, how are you? And she's just looking at me. And she's like, Ryan, here, go over to the vending machine, get some candy. I think she goes, you fucking loser. She goes, look at you.

You're fucking high right now. You're on heroin. I'm like, no, I'm not. She's like, shut the fuck up. Obviously you are. I'm like, oh, it's something. my kid comes back. So we talked for a little. By the end of the visit, I'm trying to get her to send somebody a $100 money order so I can get more dope. You know, she's like, yeah, this is, yeah. You dog. Yeah, this is, she goes, this is the last time, you know, that I'm coming to see you with your son, you know, and I'm like, whatever, you know what I mean? So I go, so I started getting in trouble in there. Did she snitch on you again that time? No, no, no, no. She wanted to write you out? No. She left and something happened. This cop locked me in for something.

and I get the cop's name. And we had words and he said something to me. And he was sitting down at a desk and they had to open my door to let my cellmate out. And the desk was right below the second tier where he was. And I drink at homebrew and I picked, they got these big, you know the metal foot lockers? We didn't have metal foot lockers.

I don't think we had. We didn't have metal. Oh, no. We had the old school metal ones, the metal drawing. And I picked one up and I, like, he was right below at the desk. launched it right off the tier. And it,

they set out through these shit his pants. You know, it hit the desk, right? He was sitting and almost hit him. I would have, you know, fuck, I was out of my mind, drinking homebrew and it hit the thing.

And they, they come in and bundled me and they dragged me all the way down the tiers, the HSU, and it was, the hospital, it was like,

it was like wintertime. And they put me in the cell and they were the door open and they had me four point restrained on the bed, you know, naked. They threw water on me. And they opened the door

and the wind, the breeze was, I was, fuck, I thought I was going to die, freezing at death. It was like in Plymouth, it was to put me in the restraint here. So I was four point restrained for, I don't know how many hours, you know, eight hours or something. And there was a cop just sitting there, like looking at me. And he had this clipboard.

And every like 10 minutes, he'd write something on it. So after like a couple hours, now I'm talking to him like I'm talking to you, right? He loosens up a little. I go, hey, man, what the fuck do you keep writing over there, you know? So he comes over and they're going to write like what you're doing every five minutes or something. And he comes over and he goes, like this, he shows me the clipboard. And every like, whatever 30 minutes or whatever

it was, it just said, not happy. Not happy. Still not happy. I'm not happy. I got a little chuckle out of that one. I thought it was funny. And they put me in the hole for like four months there in Old Colony and

Bridgewater. And every morning, if you wanted to go out in your wreck in the cage, you'd have to stand up when the cop come by, doing count. And you'd be like, this cop would never talk to. anybody he just look at you nod your head like i want my i want my hour wreck he's coming by i don't know what's going on he's come by he gets to my cell and he's like

he points at me and he goes like this and i go yeah and he just shakes his head he doesn't say a word he points out of me he goes i go yeah i want my wreck he does it again i go what i'm out of here he goes yeah i go where he goes mcic the junction wallpole bus is here i was like oh shit you know here we go you know and um that's when i i got to the wallpole the some security prison. What are you, like, 27 at that point? 26. Yeah, 26.

26, yeah. And I remember I got there, and growing up, you know, you always heard about it, right? You always heard about Walpole, Walpole, you know, like, you know, it was a notorious prison. They closed it, they closed it recently. And I liked it in the respect, like it's probably like Johnny when it's 11worth, right? It's like a notorious place, and it's like a dungeon. There's so much history there when you get in.

It's not like these new places. that are all the same, you know, like this Plymouth and these places, they suck, you know? And it was like, this place was like, I remember I got there. They brought me in the door and the guy was lowering some fucking bucket with a key on it. And the guy opens a door and he pulls it back up. It was like, it was really, and right before the door opened and you walk through a little courtyard and you go in, there was a thing like a hallmark poster on the door and the two cops are standing there. The guy would have gone up top.

And someone put this hallmark poster where it's like an eagle flying over a mountain with like a beautiful sunset. and it said, today is the first day of the rest of your life. Right? And I remember thinking, wow, what fucking, what wise ass, you know, hung that up there, you know, people going in there who just got life bids, you know, every day, you know. And I remember looking at that and they walked me in. And Plymouth, the food sucked, an old colony, it was all right. And they take you in the, you know, the HSU, the infirmary, whatever,

and they check you out and they put you in these cells in the back. I remember they come, they gave me the styrofoam tray, and I open it up, and it's all beans and, like, three hot dogs and a big thing of coal slar. And it was like this big wax paper bag filled with chocolate chip cookies and, like, three milks. And I'm like, holy shit you all right. I said, hey, so far, so good. You know what I mean? It's a best meal I had in a while. And I'm sitting there, and they come out with some bed rolls.

They push it all in like a laundry cart. You know what I mean? And they had a match in there and a bunch of stuff. And I remember the cop come out and he's like, Lee, Otzuki, step out. And I remember hearing the name Otzuki, Teddy Otsuki. And I remember seeing him on America's Most Wanted. And it was a big, big case in Boston. And this guy was, he was a bank robber from like Texas or California.

He's a Japanese guy. I mean, he looked like your typical fucking Japanese, you know, like a sumo wrestler. But he was big. And I heard his name. I'm like, holy shit. shit. So this guy was he actually robbed, he was in federal prison because he robbed some small town bank

in Texas and he did something crazy. He like, when they were changing ships at the police station, it was like one of these towns of like six cops. He went in there with like an M16 and rounded up the cops and locked him in a cell. So he took over the police station first then he just walked in the bank. And he's like, yeah, you know, you can hit the alarm.

You know what I mean? We're going to be here for a little bit and he cleaned out the vault. So he escaped from prison or something and he was in the Fenway in Boston. He was casing out a bank. So he's in this apartment. He's got cameras all over the place. He's got like this crew of robbers that he was going to do this banquet. And the Boston police showed up and rang his buzzer. And they found out afterwards they probably just hit all the buzzers. They were going to serve a warrant for somebody on like a domestic. So he panics, thinks you're there for

him. He climbs down the fire escape. They got a cop at the end of the alley. Hey, he shoots him right between the eyes or the laser scope, kills him, disappears. So now they're like, they're there to serve a bullshit warrant. They don't know what happened. They fingerprint his apartment. They find out he's this international fugitive. And, you know, he was on America's most wanted. They ended up getting him years later in Guadalajara, Mexico, you know.

And that was the first guy I met in there, Teddy. And he was just there casually in his Massachusetts prison? Yeah. I'm surprised the feds didn't take him. I know. I know. What was he like? They gave him a life bid.

So me and Teddy, we ended up becoming, you know, pretty good friends. We were in there. And he was crazy. you know, obviously. He sounded like you when he talked. That was the craziest thing. You looked at him. You think he'd be like John Belushi on the samurai.

Oh, no, no, no, no, right? But he talks like, hey, Mike, you got the herald? You know? So it was kind of weird when you talk to him. But one time, there's a few things with Teddy. I get some good stories. One time they're moving him to another block. And he had a beef with this black guy,

Donnie Blakey, they call him Fati, Chase Sosa. That's a whole other stuff. story him. He's another very dangerous guy, but him and Teddy had beef. So they're moving Teddy to another block and he's like, Mike, come here, come here, keep the peak. And he pulls out a shank, I swear it's this long. He got it wrapped up in

Saran Wrap and Saran Wrap. He's like putting Vaseline on it and he fucking he tucks it all the way, right? I was like, you know what I mean? They just did it right in front of me. I go, Teddy, what the fuck? He goes, never leave home without it. You know, they're going to search him before he goes

to the other block, right? I was like, That was probably, that might be the craziest thing. Doesn't that hurt you? Can you got like, I don't know, Ian. Holy cow. I'm glad you asked that, but yeah. Should we sample it out? So, wait.

I mean, I've had needles up there. I've never had a fucking knife. You're known now for like doing crazy things to get videos and stuff. What would you have done in prison? Like, did people send you off on missions or do any crazy things? I would have been doing the podcast today. And I would have been interviewing you if I had a fucking cell phone in there. Are you kidding me?

Oh my God. Dude, you were probably an animal. What did they call you in there? Just Mike. Just Mike? Yeah, just Mike. Wow. Lee, you know, my last name.

What was your hustle? Did you have a hustle? No. Not really. I wasn't like, you know, we took action. We ran a book, you know, in there. But, you know, I was just drinking homebrew. And I remember when I went for parole, they're like, I was in 10 block at the time.

I was in the hole and they took me for parole and they're like, all those your tickets is for homebrew and fighting and weapons. I go, yeah, I went in Rome. You know what I mean? What am I supposed to do here? You know, that's what I do. And it was just working out. You know, I had a lot of fun in there.

I'm sure, like, you know, Johnny could say the same thing. I mean, I don't know if you asked them, but when you settle in and like people say, oh, this prison's the worst, that's the worst. But some of those places are the best. You know, you make some good friends in there. And, you know, when it's bad, it's bad when shit pops off. But most of the time, you know, it's not like county jail where these

kids are, you know, rolling up on each other from different hoods and different blocks and fighting each other every day and all this nonsense. You know, those places can be worse than those, in my eyes, you know, can be worse than some of the worst prisons around, you know? Those guys, the, the prisons like that, like Walpole, there was a lot of respect and there was a certain code of conduct, like people after 10 at night weren't making noise and screaming and yelling out the cell. And I remember like one of my first nights in the block somebody flushed the toilet like three times and somebody was screaming out

who the fuck is that flushing the toilet identify yourself and I was like holy shit you know what I mean and no one said nothing and I was like I was going to take a piss I was like I'll flush that in the morning you know but you know there was just like every day they had a quiet time when we'd lock in the afternoon

and guys would take a nap and just you know like when I'd get a ticket and I'd lose privileges for 30 days. No, no canteen, no TV, because you could have a TV in your cell. Guys back then, I know it's a lot different now, it would come up to me, hey, Mike, we know you don't get a TV for a week.

You know, Monday night, Johnny's going to let you use his TV. Tuesday, Gio's going to let you use his. That, it was like, there was some real camaraderie, you know, if you weren't a fucking piece of shit, obviously, where guys would look out for each other. And that's another thing that sucks about the prison system now. A lot of things in general, even on the street, where guys don't look out for people like they did back then.

At least I don't think so, you know. I talk to Johnny about that. I see, you know, even though you did all that time, you're blessed, you're very fortunate to have friends that stuck by you, to have family that look out for you. You don't come across that. No, you don't. I think of friends with a handful of guys from before prison.

Like they tell you when you're a kid off, you can count your friends, what is it, you know? what is it five friends on each year whatever the hell it is it's true you get older you realize you know when the chips are down and you're away you know if you got one friend that looked out for you and say and touch you you're fucking lucky yeah you can't have it loosely

use the term friends loosely in today's world you know you got to find the real ones and like a Johnny you know yeah you know and the chips are down and some people you know right when you meet them you're like this guy's just the real deal you know what I mean it's uh you know and some people I tell people I'm a pretty good judge of character. You know, I've been fooled a couple times in my life.

One of the times was someone I met in prison who was great, but I never saw how he acted when he was on drugs. And sometimes I'll get fooled like that. If I'm with someone, you know, and I've never seen how they are when, you know, drugs are in the equation, you know, but very really, you know, knock on wood, do I get fooled? I'm pretty good judge of character. What if I'm fooling you?

Oh, definitely, come on. Holy cow, you don't think I'm fooled you? No. You don't get you beat. I got you with the rock in the air conditioner window. That was iconic. Yeah, you're a genuine kid. I could tell.

You know, I could just tell you. You're a good person. I mean, you never know, right? Someone could be, you know, behind something. But you, I don't think there's any, you know, you're different than a lot of people we know. Everybody's unique. But you can just tell you're a genuine, you're a genuine person. Thanks, Bean.

So you get out of prison, do you go back? Or are you clean at that point from that state? No, I went back. You went back multiple times? Yeah, multiple, multiple times. So at what age do you finally like clean it up and kind of get your life together? At age 43, my friend Mickey Ward, who was a boxer, they made a movie on his life, The Fighter. I had been going through it.

I lived with another guy, Boo Boo Boo, was a close friend of mine, and he was wrapped up on drugs for years. And I'd always end up with him. I was just in and out, and I didn't get strung out on heroin until like, you know, mid-90s when I was out on bail for one case. And I just thought, oh, it was just because I was, you know, facing this time. And, you know, this girl cheated on me. And it's like, you know, if you've ever, so I grew up around a lot of prostitution and a lot of heroin in my neighborhood. Since as long as I can remember, I remember people nodding out on heroin. Lowell used to be like Lowell, Lynn, Lawrence.

there wasn't a lot of heroin around Boston and they'd go to these towns, mostly because there was a lot of, you know, no knock on the Dominicans and the Puerto Ricans, but that's who had the heroin mostly. And where I grew up, there was a lot of Spanish there, and I grew up in a neighborhood where there was, you know, pimps and prostitutes and heroin.

And so I grew up around it, and I always thought, you know, I'd never get hooked like them, you know? Once in a while, I'll sniff a bag. When I was in eighth grade, I sniff a bag of heroin for the first time. So it was always around, but I was always like, oh, I'm too smart to get hooked on it. You know, these idiots do it every day, and they get

physically addicted, and they catch a habit. I'll never do that. But once you know that high, and then something bad happens, you know, it's a recipe for disaster. Somebody close to you dies, you know, a girl cheats on you. You sniff a bag of heroin. You're on a fucking cloud.

You know what I mean? And then when it wears off, you're right back where you were. And I think that was bad for me, whereas I'd always done that. that every once in a while, but I never let it, you know, once a month, I'd sniff a bag sometimes, you know, because it was around. And then when bad things started happening, and shit started falling apart, you know, I started using more often. And then when I first got hooked, when I went away for three years, in my mind, I'm like, you know, that was just an aberration. I was going through some stuff. And, you know, that'll never happen again. But it's a, it's a tough,

tough addiction opiates. And once you're hooked on it, I kept thinking that, I'm just going to drink. You know, I'm just going to hang out with my friends and go to the Patriots game and have some beers. And I'm going to do this. And it's just, once you, it's a slippery slope.

Once you start sticking needles in your arm and injecting cocaine and heroin on a daily basis, you know, the weed don't do it for you anymore. The alcohol don't do it. Me, I'll speak for myself. Didn't do it for me anymore. And I, you know, I'd be, right for a few months just hanging out my friends

and drinking and then one night I get drunk and I'm saying how the fuck can I get away from Johnny and Gio here? Hey guys my girl just called me I got to go because I already made that decision in my mind I'm going to get some coke and then then I'm like oh I don't want to do heroin because I don't want to get hooked I'll just do cope and then I'm flying on coke

and I want to you know I want some landing gear as they call it I want to come down and then I'm getting dope and I did that for a while I get locked up and oh it's not going to happen again it's not going to happen again and it seems so simple right but I finally realized yeah you can't drink you know you can't really do anything anymore which I don't you know although the wheat's so good now I see it and I smell it and I want to

fucking smoke some of this fucking blueberry fucking derbin fucking cush or whatever because I used to love weed but I look at it now and I say do I think weed would bring me back to heroin or mushroom and psilocybin no I don't I don't really think it's a big gateway drug even though I started with it but my thing is I've been clean off every thing thing for 11 years, why risk it? You know, what's the risk or reward to smoke a joint? You know? So maybe someday, but...

So you basically, you had like 20 years of just in and out of jails, prisons, addiction. Yeah, 30 years probably. You ever look back and, you know, like, regret missing out on that time, not having, like, a real life? Not really. Not really, because, you know, I'm sure, you know, other people can attest to it. the times I went through, I met a lot of cool people. I met a lot of interesting people. And it brought me to where I am now, you know,

with you and friends like Johnny and Gio and these guys. And guys, I would have never met in my life if I didn't go through that. We never would have crossed paths. You know, I'd probably be fucking working at Jiffy Lube or, you know, that wasn't for me, punching a clock and, you know, just being normal. I wouldn't want to have, I like having a story. I don't want to be a guy that has no story, you know, got up every day. and, you know, married my high school sweetheart

and got a job at the fucking, you know what I mean? The fucking market basket wheelhouse or something. And I mean, hey, God bless those guys. People that are happily married and got kids and, you know, never did anything. You know, I don't know. That's for them. Tell us about that moment you decide to get clean.

So I get out. What was it? So I don't know if I ever really made up conscious decision to do that. I get out and. 2009 again yeah 2009 yeah 2009 no 2008 I get out I'm back again 2009 I get out in 2009 I get out in 2011 and I remember thinking back then 2011 I'm 15 years ago I remember thinking if I turn 40 years old and I'm still doing heroin and coke and calling detox for a bed and running around and you know the crimes get worse and worse you know I'm running out of fucking Walmart with a toaster oven you know what I mean it's not like I'm fucking doing these fucking, you know, these big capers or anything. You know what I mean? There was a lot of fucking, a lot of boosting, a lot of, you know, just junky crimes,

as they call them. And I'm just like, if I turn 40 and I'm still, because I used to see people on the methadone clinic, and I used to say, they must just pull your teeth and give you a cane. Because, you know, they lose all their teeth. You see them in line, they're a wheelchair. I go, if I'm 40 years old, I started making this promise to myself. And I'm still doing heroin and Coke. I'm just giving up.

I'm waving the white flag. I'm going down the methadone clinic. Like, sign me up. Yeah. You know, because I never wanted to get on that. And there I was. You know, I'm finally at that stage of the game, 41, 42. And I'm like, I just got to get on the clinic.

And, but I'm, you know, I'm fighting with it. And a lot of times, you know, when I was doapsick, I needed money. I'd rob a bank, you know, because that's the easiest way to get money, you know. And so I'm doing that again, passing a few notes. I did a bunch of them. And, you know, over the years, I got away with a few of them. And I'm in my friend Boo Boo's house. And I just, I did a good one and I had a lot of money.

And we're doing the Coke and heroin. And then I'm getting towards the end. And the money's running low. And I'm hiding money everywhere when I'm geeked out, you know. So now it's like a treasure hunt. It's like this, you know, a little thing I do, looking for money. And there's no more. and it was like in the winter time when it gets dark real early,

it was real cold, you know, and it was like pitch blackout. It was like seven at night, and Bubu's cooking in the kitchen because he could cook, you know. He's come from a real Italian family, and he gets, you know, his sister would be making homemade sausages and chicken. And he could cook like a bastard, you know. So we used to, you know, get the food stamp cards, and we have boosters too. So we'd take these labels off like a kibasa, it was $1.29. he'd take that off and put it over like filet mignon and bags of shrimp and we get so no matter how bad we were we always ate real good and he's cooking in the kitchen and I'm like out of money I'm down it's like

nothing and I go smoke a cigarette outside and we lived on a busy street high street and lull and I went outside and it's pitch black and I remember the wind's whipping around and there's a van across the street and usually there's a lot of traffic going up and down the street and there's no cars and I you know I had this airy feeling I'm like man something's weird right something's weird going on and I had this jacket I didn't want one in a while and I go to the pocket and I feel something crinkling around I'm like you know because I'm always hiding money like a hundred dollar bills I remember I pulled it out it was like from a yellow legal pad and it said no die packs or you die you know 50s and hundreds only it was a note I just had there because I was always

ready to do another one so I'm like I'm sitting here and I um and you know what I used to do in my sick mind I'd put no die packs or you die and I'd spell die both the same way, D-I-E. So that was going to be my big defense. Like, hey, I want a spelling beat, you know, in eighth grade. I would never spell die, you know, D-I-E, you know, die packs, right? So I take the thing out, and I'm looking at it, and I ripped it up, and I threw it, and the wind's whipping around, blowing little yellow pieces everywhere.

I'm looking around. He's had this bad feeling, you know? And I walk back in the house, and I sit down, and there's like an alley next to the house on the side. And the way the living room was, the TV was. right there. There was two windows. And I just see like, boom, boom, boom, boom. Like a bunch of heads go by the window. I'm like, did I just see that? And then he screams. It's like, boom, on the back

door. And he's like, yeah, yeah. And I had some drugs on the table, a bag with some pills and some other shit in it. And I jump up and I run to the front door. And then I realize, well, they're probably on the other side of the. I mean, I don't know, but I mean,

just an educated guess if they're coming through the back door. I'm going to say they're They got the front covered. So now I spin around. I'm in a panic. And now they come through the door and I can see them in the kitchen

and the living room's in the middle. Now I remember I got these drugs on the table. So they're going to come towards me and I'm running at them full speed and it throws them off. They're like, you know, they're like stopping and drawing down on me. And I stop at the table.

I tuck it. You know, I didn't get it all the way up there. But, you know, close enough. I got it, you know, I suitcase it. And they. case it's so casually. They come running in and a cop hits me.

Joe Murray, he's still a detective in Lowell, who I get along with now, you know, nothing personal, whatever. He hits me and he grabs me and foot sweeps me and goes to slam me down and we land in Boo Boo's recliner and it popped open and I go, oh, that hurt. You know, like, he's like shut the fuck up and he stands me up and

there was a lady from the Bank Robbery Task Force. FBI was there then too and she's like, he just stuck something in his ass. He just stuck something in his ass. I'm like, shut the fuck up. And the cop hits me again. Boom! hits me. So I'm like, I don't know what she's talking about. And this lull cop, and I always

shout him out. I don't know why. This little cop, Billy Finn, who actually pulls me out of there after, I'll tell you the story. After he comes walking in in uniform and they're all, you know, they got the flack jackets on, but he's just the little cop in the bank there where arrest me for it was in Chemswood Mass, so they had to take me to that police station. So he comes walking in and she's still saying I stuck something in my pants. I'm

telling her to shut the fuck up. And that morning I had a shoplifting case that I defaulted for. So I see him and I go, hey, Billy, you really send the cavalry for a fucking shoplifting beef, huh? The fuck's this all about? And he goes, Mike, we ain't here for no shoplifting. He says, you hit a home run this time and it ain't Little League. So I'm just playing fucking dumb, right? I'm like, I don't know what you're talking about, you know, but I know, it's over. And

fucking, he comes over and she goes, he stuck something down his pants. So, in my defense, you know, I'm wrestling around, I just got punched in the face, I just got fucking slammed. So the car comes over and he pulls my pants out. He looks down, he goes, you Irish, Mike?

Right? Yeah, yeah, right? I said, I'll tell the jokes around here, Billy. This is my fucking host, right? And he said to them, you can take him now. You got a live one. You know, I mean, it was in defense mode. I mean, I'm getting attacked.

I got, you know, they're fucking, they're all around me with guns. They're hitting me. I mean, it's not like it's fucking swinging around. I mean, so I. We got a live one. I said, you got a live one here, boys. Oh, my God. So now they take me to Chemsford.

And they take me to Chemsford. police station. So the cops now, they think they're dealing with, you know, some idiot. I'll never forget the cops' names. One of them was Tyros. I think it was George Tyros, Greek name. The other one's name was Taude Ahern, Irish name. And the cops are saying,

hey, Mike, we're friends with your father. You know, he bartends at the Gaelic for years. We love that guy. Hey, listen, it's just a note. You know, it's fucking unarmed robberies. Like, they'll probably give you a yimp. We want you to. I said, hey, listen. Stop talking. I said, get me a pack of cigarettes,

Camel non-filters, and I'll talk to you. I'll sit down and hear what you guys got to say. So they're like, all right. So they're running around, and then they're coming back to the cell. Hey, they can't find Camel non-filters. They said, get me mob, bro's. I'll break the filter off. So they come back.

We got them. So they take me out in this fire escape, and it's freezing. It's January. They kicked the door open. I'm cuffed. There's like four them around. I chain smoke like four buds. just talking about some nonsense,

some serial killer got arrested in that town. Recently, the guy's name was Adam Leroy Lane, and he was a truck driver, and he was killing women, and he broke in this house, and he was dragging this 14-year-old girl out of the bedroom, and the cop goes, you know what happened? The parents, the mother and the father

fought this guy to the death, and the guy got arrested, and he said, you know what happened? It was a hot summer night, and the parents' air conditioner broke that day, and it wasn't working. And they heard, like, struggling, going on in the kids bedroom. It was like three in the morning. And this guy, his truck was down the street.

He had like duct tape in it and ropes and crazy video. He was a serial killer, right? And I'm like, they're telling me the story. I'm like, I'll never forget it, you know? I'm smoking the butts hanging on everywhere. And I'm like, oh, really? So then they're done. I go, hey, can I make a phone call?

I was dating these two different girls at the time. And I said this. I was telling this the other night. I called him like, hey, you're probably not going to see me for a while. You know, I got jammed up. And while I'm talking, I looked down, I got the other girl on the phone. look down there's um it's like from a computer what do you call like a floppy disc it looks like a cd silver thing and it says thief on it so i realize it's evidence probably from a computer like

a camera or something right so the cop's got his back turn it so i got my thing and i'm like taking it like this because i'm just going to steal it and break it and throw it down the toilet i'm just taking one for the team on the way out the door i don't know i don't know who this is but i'm destroying evidence on my way out of the door just because that's how my fucking mind thing and the The cop goes, hey, hey, what are you doing? I'm on the phone. I'm like, oh, I put it back down. He's like, what the fuck are you just doing with that?

I'm like, I don't know. I don't know. He's like, what the fuck was that? Like, what the fuck? What were you just doing? I'm like, I don't know. I just say, yeah, you were taking it. I'm like, no.

So I hang up the phone. He goes, the other cops here, he goes, all right, you ready? I go, listen, guys, like I said, I got no problem talking to you, but I really like a lawyer president. The cop, he was fit to be tied. He fucking turned beat red. He's like, he just blurts out. He goes, a lawyer will just tell you not to talk to us.

And I go, well, that's his advice. I mean, probably have to take it. I mean, I don't know what the lawyer is going to say. So at that point, they know I just fucking railroaded him for an hour and a half. They ran around and got cigarettes. Let me make phone calls. So he takes me to the cell. And I know I still got the shit in my ass cheeks.

I'm, you know, starting to feel a little shitty. So he slams the door. He goes, hey, if you change your mind about having a lawyer here, And you want to talk to us? She's like, just wave at the camera. I go, yeah. Fuck out of it. Claum.

So that was it. And I went, like I said, that was 2009. So I go back in, I'm in Concord. Because in Massachusetts, they just have a thing called 52A where if you had did state prison time already, they don't hold you in county anymore. So it's like a weird thing. They'll throw you in prison with guys are doing life and you're on a fucking $500 bail. It was a weird thing.

They stopped doing it since then. But I get into Concord. I had a few other cases. And it dragged on for a little bit. And then right around St. Patrick's Day, they send me to court. And I get down. And my lawyer comes down. She's like, yeah, I just Nell Pras, the bank robbery.

And I remember when she came to visit me in Concord, she goes, oh, I got some evidence photos from the bank. So she pulls out one And I mean statute limitations is gone But I still feel weird talking about And I had A shirt and clothes on robin a bank So I look I go

I'm not charged with this bank I go that's fucking you know That's a citizen bank on Broadway And she goes whoa whoa whoa stop talking Stop talking And she's like picking it up Put in the folder She's like obviously you're a suspect

In this one too You know so they put the wrong Surveillance photos from a bank I wasn't even charged with So now I'm like Now this stuff in the paper I'm like, are they going to charge me with a few of them? You know, they know it's me, but I clamped up.

And I go to court around St. Patrick's Day. The lawyer comes down in the hold and so she goes, I just got the case in L. Frost. I go, what do you mean? She's like, both banks. There's two of them. There's police sports. Both banks, both tellers said acne scard. So she blew up pictures of me and, you know, I had some freckles, you know?

She goes, the grand jury kicked it back. And you know the old saying, the grand jury will indict a ham sandwich. They kicked it back. How did that, how did they not? I don't know. Fucking open the door and let me out the door. Holy cow. I'm thinking I'm going away.

Holy cow, exactly. And that would have been a fed case. That's what I said. That's what I said. So did you take that as like your blessing and you got to stay on the straight and arrow? Exactly. I got out. I ran up the hill to Bubu's house and there was a Dominican leaving who just dropped something off.

And he said, two for free for you, my friend. And I just told you, I'll go back to Billy Finn. The cop, I went in. I threw it in the spoon. I did a shot. I woke up in the hospital. I got knock-hand, I overdosed. And the same cop who come in and did the joke down the pants,

they told me afterwards, he come in and I'm on the floor, blue, and they're fucking doing the knuckle rub on my chest and fucking all this. And he goes, didn't I just drag him out of here for a bank robbery fucking four months ago? They're like, hey, he just showed up and asked to use the bathroom. We found him like this. So I immediately went and did drugs again, overdosed, and I went to see my father on the bar, and I walked in.

He goes, you don't even come see us. You know, you go right to the fucking Boo's house and get high. So that didn't work. I ended up, same thing, doing the same stuff, and ended up back in jail again from 2009, 2011. I did another two years. And like I said, I got out this time and I gave up. I went down the methadone clinic and I got on the methadone.

But it didn't change me. I was still selling Coke. I was still selling heroin. I kept doing heroin and XNX. And I ended up, I was never an alcoholic. I don't know how that happened. But I started drinking every day. I started waking up in the morning and going to the package store

and grabbing like four nips and pouring them in my coffee and guzzling it down and going to the clinic and shooting heroin of Coke. And now I'm, so I remember one morning, I went to the package store near my house. And I don't know what it is, but on like Sunday mornings, maybe they don't open until noon. I forget what it is. But every morning I go there at 9 and get them and go to the methadone clinic. I remember I went and I tried the door. It was fucking locked.

And I was like shaking it like a madman. And then I'm like, look at you. You know, how'd this happen? Now you're a full-fledged alcoholic. I'm in a straight panic because the fucking package store isn't open at fucking nine in the morning, you know? And so I was real bad then. And that's when I started reaching out to my friend Mickey. And I remember before Mickey knew a guy in Florida who owned a big rehab down there.

And he offered to get me in there before. I started reaching out to him saying, hey, is that door still open? You know, can you get me in there? And that's when I started, you know, first thinking about it. But I had caught a trafficking case, a heroin selling heroin, and I was out on bail for that. And I was so fucked up. And I'm just, I had detoxed in jail so many times before. And it's, you know, cold turkey.

Unless it's alcohol, they might give you a couple of libriums because you can die coming off the booze. But I'm just like, oh, I'm going back. And I got this monster habit. And I just wanted to go to detox just so I can, when I got locked up, that I wouldn't have to go through. I'm like, I'm going to have to detox one way or another. So I might as well, you know, do it at this fucking nice rehab in Florida. The Florida House rehab on North Federal Highway in Deerfield Beach. Save my life going to that place.

Mickey Ward saved my life. Get me in there. But that was my first plan to go there, just to detox to go back to jail. but you know god had another plan for me apparently wow you died you got really lucky like throughout your whole entire life your story like it could have been way worse every time yeah always that's what people always say oh how's it going i go could be a lot worse you know that's for sure i guess that gives you a new outlook on life and a fresh exciting outlook yeah i caught a lot of breaks so how do you become bean shooter how do where does that name come from and how do you build a how do you build this brand where

if you go outside, people realize like you're being shooter. You know, when I went to rehab in Florida, I had a good friend from Staten Island, Peter Socoriak, called him P. Dub. He's a fucking total madman. He's a union electrician in New York City. I was a local one or local three. I forget what it is.

But so one day we're talking, there was an older Jewish guy. He was an old school junkie from like Brooklyn or something. And he says to me, you know, why are you talking to that guy? guy's a fucking bean shooter. I go, what? He's a fucking bean shooter.

Why the fuck he fucking? I go, wait a minute. What the fuck is he? You don't know what a bean shooter is in Boston? I go, apparently not. I go, you're making me feel like the kids in South Park where they don't know what a quefe is when they go on the field trip with the fucking,

with the Brooklyn kids. You know what I mean? I'm fucking laughing. He goes, he's just a fucking flapper, you know, just like a bullshitter. Someone's always telling a story. He's just an idiot, you know, basically like a bullshitter, as we say around here, right?

And I go, no, I never heard that. So I started calling everyone a fucking bean shooter. And as a kid from South Boston, Evan Yanovich, he's an ironworker, a great kid. And he said to me one day, he goes, you know, hey Mike, man, you got Snapchat? I'm like, I'd been fucking, you know, shooting dope and fucking stealing and robbing for the last 10 years. Like I didn't have Instagram. I didn't have Snapchat, you know. I had a Samsung Galaxy that I thought was fucking super cool, you know.

I got this phone. He's like, Mike. Lee, you need Snapchat. So Evan Yanovic, I cut one time he's like in some big union class and people like, you don't know Bean Shooter? He's like, he wouldn't be on social media? He wasn't me.

They're like, fuck you. He FaceTimed me. Every time I see him, I laugh, I go, you would, oh, how right you were. You know, I did need Snapchat. So I got the Snapchat and I didn't get into the Instagram until later. I've only had that a few years now. And it's just, you know, it's what I see every day.

You know, I get started fucking, you know, driving down the street because that's all I do. It's not like I punch a clock. I'm constantly you know, one minute I'm in New Hampshire the day, he lobster bisque and I'm at his birthday party till fucking three in the morning. Then I'm in Rhode Island at the Harvard Brown game. And now you're with McLevin. Yeah, now you're with McLevin. Johnny's running me ragged over here. He's pimping you have, man. I don't know how long I can keep this up. But I, you know, just me putting shit on Snapchat and people would send it around and send it around. And I remember when I first got noticed somewhere, I was up by like Lacone or in New Hampshire.

I was in a 7-Eleven. A dude goes, bean shooter. And I go, I go, yeah, where do I know you from? He goes, you don't. But I know you. And I was like, wow. It feels pretty good. It was just my friends.

I'll follow me on Snapchat. But, you know, just like anything, people send it around. People, your videos. Oh, look at this. They send it to someone else. They send it someone else. The power of social media. And then I just, I went on Instagram like three years ago.

And after a year, they wiped out my page because the stuff I think is funny. You know, apparently. They deleted your page before? Yes. Oh, wow. That's the worst. So you rebuilt it, but it's almost a 300K again. Yeah.

Wow. Yeah, yeah. That sucks. And I just had a poster move two weeks ago that was totally harmless. And they shadow banned me for 10 days. I was like, I was watching the Jets game and they showed fire him and Ed. You know who he is? He's a Jets fan who wears like a fire helmet.

And I go, look this guy, fire him and Ed. Didn't he abandon the Jets? My father goes, yeah. Boom. struck it down, set of inciting violence. I'm like, you appeal it. And they just said, oh, you lost the appeal. I'm like, saying someone's a bandwagoner?

Like, oh. Maybe they're not supporters of the team. I'm thinking, yeah, the Jets have something to do. It's an inside job, Aaron Rogers. Yeah, yeah. Woody Johnson, he owns the Jets. But yeah, it just took on a life of its own, you know, and I become a bean shooter, you know.

What do you want people to take away from hearing your story? Like, you could talk about the crazy stories and the life of crime and this and that. But what do you really want? Like, why do you share that? Why do you want people to learn from it? Well, like someone said to me once, I kind of, I didn't, I wasn't a real big AA or NA guy. And, you know, an older guy said to me, and then I started going into the prisons and speaking sometime.

He's like, Mike, even if, you know, you don't like AA that much or this and that, right? He goes, when someone sits down and here's your story, or even more importantly, someone knew you before. and they say wow this motherfucker you know did that he gets sobered he did all this if he could do it because I was a fucking loser I don't like to say that about yourself right you're a loser but I mean you know I mean when I get to rehab in Florida I had abscesses on both my arms because I was shooting coke and heroin and the veins were burnt out they can never find a vein on me anymore and I was shooting into my jugular in my neck and I had a big track mark down here and both my arms I had an abscess right here I was shooting into my

hand and I remember the girl snapped on the rubber gloves and she goes because i'd even though i'm from lull i'm not from boston and from right outside of boston i had a Celtics jacket on she goes wow you Boston guys don't fuck around huh and I'm like what do you mean I remember she touched my neck she goes going right for the jugular huh and I was like yeah that's the money shot you know and and yeah I mean people that knew me then like people that know me now I own a couple sober houses and you know I try to help people get sober and and people that like get high and try to get over on a urine on me. They don't know me. It's like, you know,

you used to get high. Like, I'm looking at them like, buddy, I'm not wasting a urine cup on you. You just failed the eyeball test. Like, I'm a fucking junkie. You know what I mean? You're high right now. Like, game over, buddy. You're going to make me fucking urine you right now? Like, no, what are you got a fucking whizzing A to tape to your leg? Like, let's not do this, you know?

So, guys, once I start talking, I'm usually like, all right, I got high. I'm like, yeah, I know. Let me say, I know you did. But I think that's the biggest thing out of everything. I joke around and make videos. But when I talk about this stuff, you know, I like people to know, like, no matter how bad it is. Like, I get off that methadone. A lot of people now get on Suboxin and methadone and medicated assisted treatment.

It saves lives. But I feel like they really push that on people now. Before it was like the old school AA and NA, like, you know, shut up and just listen to us and follow our lead and your life will get better. And now I think they over-medicate in a lot and in a sense. And, you know, I had a friend. He used to tell him, get off those suboxins, dude. And he got off him, and he died. A couple months later, they found him in his kitchen, dead of an overdose.

Maddie André, a real good friend of mine, his brother Stevie, I know well. Another friend. And, you know, that stays with me. I'm like, I encourage this kid to get off the medication and he's dead. So I don't get up here on my soapbox and start saying, fucking, get off the methadone, you know, get off the suboxone, you can do it. You know, when someone comes in my house, though, and they got clean, clean, and they're not on anything. I do kind of, you know, it's like you play favorites with your kids. I do kind of look out for them a little more because, you know, guys come to my house and, you know, I'm on methadone.

Oh, you know, the doctor gave me clonopence for anxiety. Hey, Mike, do you mind if I get my weed card and smoke weed? And I'm like, yeah, you're on everything but roller skates. I mean, go ahead, roll up the blood, you know what I mean? I mean, let's go. I mean, what the fuck are you think I'm going to, is that, that's where I'm going to draw the line in the sand? The weed? I don't even give a fuck about weed, you know?

and I told people like if you drink I'm going to throw you out but I told guys a while ago I really don't care about weed I'm not going to break your balls of weed and then one day a parole officer says to me she goes some guy called me and said you know I really want to get in Mike Lee's house because he let you smoke weed and I'm like what fucking asshole would say that to a parole officer you know but she was actually cool she knew me I go yeah I don't I don't throw people out for that I don't you know it's not like you went into coke or heroin or you know and stuff like that. So, yeah, the, the, the, the Matt, they call it Matt, Medicaid-assisted treatment. I feel like that's all there is now. And, you know,

back in the day, you go to an AA meeting and someone would get up, I got three years sobriety, I got four years, you know. Now you can go there and there's a guy fucking nodding out up there telling me how to, how to get clean. Like, you know, you know, buddy save it. You know what I mean? I mean, like I said, it's, it's, I don't want to, I don't want to speak out against it because it saves lives and it helps a lot of people. I think I think the big reason for it was, is the insurance companies were sick of paying for people to go to rehab. It costs so much money and from your work because they can't fire you now. I got a drug problem. You're in the union. They're sending to rehab for 14 days, 30 days and they're getting these, you know, exorbitant

fucking bills, right? And now it's like you go there, you're there 10 minutes. Here, the methadone doctors here, here, here, the suboracin doctors here, here. And, you know, push you right out of the door and put you're on med. So I think, I think like everything, it's money driven. The whole Medicaid-assisted treatment, like, you know, like everything, right? Yeah, absolutely. But for me, I just, I'm very fortunate that Mickey helped me and, you know, the Florida house down there, those guys. One, two, give me a break. Give me a break. Break me off a piece of that kid, a break, give me a break, piece of that Kid Cat Bar. Have a break. Have a kick cat. This episode is brought to you by Redfin.

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Own the dream. that I get off everything and, you know, hopefully, you know, I stay this way. Yeah, absolutely. Well, Mr. Bean shooter? My man. Yeah, this is a pleasure, man. Thank you. Shout out to Johnny Bart for making this happen.

Yeah. That's a bad. Everyone makes sure we'll have that link in the description. I'm getting the bomb one. Oh, you got the special. You're home now on your boy over here. But yeah, no, this is incredible. I'm glad we got to shoot it here at this location.

Yeah. Yeah, thanks to Chris. Yeah, Chris is the man and Johnny's a man and it's a pleasure getting to know you and looking forward to doing more stuff together. Fucking right. Thank you, Ian. Thank you.