Locked In with Ian Bick - Black Market Check Fraud – How I Stole & Cashed In on Crime | Matt Jamison

Episode Date: March 6, 2025

Matthew Jamison reveals how stolen checks from the black market fueled a financial fraud operation. From underground deals to cashing in on crime, this is a firsthand account of deception, risk, and consequences. Learn how check fraud schemes work, the dangers involved, and what happens when it all falls apart. #CheckFraud #FinancialCrime #BlackMarket #TrueCrime #FraudExposed #MoneyLaundering #CrimeAndConsequences #realstories Connect with Matthew Jamison: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clubjoyaapparel?_t=ZT-8u6mps16FbS&_r=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/diwASyVTCBwqwD77/?mibextid=kFxxJD Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Presented by Tyson 2.0 & Wooooo Energy: https://tyson20.com/ https://woooooenergy.com/ Buy Merch: https://convictclothing.net/collections/convict-clothing-x-ian-bick Timestamps: 00:00:00 Growing Up in Shreveport, Louisiana 00:05:30 Early Workforce Entry and Its Consequences 00:10:42 The Dark Side of Gambling at the Casino 00:16:00 Overcoming Addiction and Silence 00:21:20 The Beginning of a Downward Spiral 00:26:13 The Art of Check Fraud: Techniques and Consequences 00:31:20 Encounter with the Law: Fraud Charges and Outcomes 00:36:32 Challenges of Reconnecting with Family Post-Incarceration 00:41:32 From Jail to Employment: Overcoming Setbacks 00:46:52 The Cycle of Rehab and Addiction 00:52:53 Lavish Lifestyle and the Jet Ski Controversy 00:56:31 The Challenges of Discussing Past Incarceration Experiences 01:01:00 Unexpected Finds Behind the Fridge 01:05:46 Navigating Legal Challenges and Second Chances 01:10:56 Arrested for Cyberstalking and Criminal Property Damage 01:16:06 Unjust Arrest and a Year in Jail 01:21:05 The Power of Selflessness in Personal Relationships 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

Matt, welcome to Lockton, man. Where are you coming to us today from? Streetport, Louisiana. Louisiana. I got to get to Louisiana. Louisiana. I haven't been there yet. Yeah, for sure.

Good food. It's not a good place. I'm not a big fan. I've never liked it there, and I've always tried to move. It's like this city just has some kind of way of keeping people there. It's like if I have a plan to get out, then it's like, you know, something will happen. I'll go to jail for something stupid or didn't have to be on parole.

And so, yeah. That's where 50 cents, like, building his whole movie theater. I heard, I don't know anything about that. I don't know too much about that, but I heard that he already moved out or something. Oh, already left the city? That's what I heard. I don't know. Yeah, I see his, like, posts and stuff, and they were, like, giving him a bunch of tax credits or something like that.

Right. Is that where you grew up? Yeah, pretty much. My parents divorced when I was really young, and my mom eventually ended up in Shreport, and then my dad was in East Texas. And so, yeah. Did you have any siblings? Yeah, I have three stepbrothers, half-sister, and then another half-brother.

So I grew up with my half-brother, which is my stepdad and my mom's kid. Did you guys grow up having money at all? Yeah, it was, I mean, I take the back. Not real. I mean, it was, I would say, like, middle class. My parents now have money. Like, once I moved out, they kind of, you know. But I didn't grow up with too much money, but it wasn't like we were ever, I ever needed anything.

You know what I mean? I didn't have, you know, have what I needed. How impactful do you think the divorce was on you? You know, I was so young. I think the most impactful thing was, they just didn't get along at all. And so, like, it seemed like any interaction they had, it was always some kind of argument or fight. You know what I mean? And I think that was impactful.

Looking back on it now, like, that was probably one of the most impactful things. You know what I mean? But as far as, like, the divorce, I mean, I have my dad's great and then my stepdad. It was great too. So, I mean, I, you know, it was just like the interactions they would have. You know, it was a little, you know, probably impactful. Did you stay close to both of your parents after the divorce? Yes.

Yeah. My dad was great. I mean, he always saw me, you know, meaning that like he would, you know, take me hunting and fishing or, you know, I would go there every other weekend. And so it was always something to do. You know what I mean? He was always a real or, you know, pep me out with football or whatever. So, yeah. How would people describe you as a kid when you were really young?

I was really quiet, extremely quiet and I guess shy. You know what I mean? So I was homeschooled. So I wasn't really my mom and stepdad were really involved in church. And so, you know, that was kind of the only interaction with other people I had. I never really went to school like, you know, normal people. people, so. Ever, you never went to a public high school?

I went to public school when I was in, like, kindergarten, but no, never went to a public high school. Do you think that that had, like, a big impact on your social skills later in life? Probably. Probably so. Yeah, it was, I would say so. I mean, once I became, once I started driving, I mean, I would go to, like, high school parties and, you know, it was fun.

You know, I just didn't have to go to school. Like I started working full time when I was so young that it was, you know, I was like the kid that had money, but I didn't go to the school. But like I got so partied and stuff. So, you know what I mean? I had a car, money. It was fun. Did you ever ask your parents why they homeschooled you? I mean, they were just so religious and in the church thing.

And I think my mom was just scared that we were going to be influenced by something. I don't know. I mean, no, I haven't really asked them that now. but were all your siblings homeschool? No, I think I was the only one, but the thing, my brother went to high school. I think with me, it was, I started working really young. Like, I, there's a guy that went to our church, and he did floors. And so he asked my stepdad if he could work me, like at 12 years old, I think, but I was pretty big at 12.

So he was like, yeah. And so yeah, I started working full time when I was like 12 or 13 doing like construction. Yeah, my best friend growing up was homeschooled, and I was always so jealous that they were homeschooled and just like it was a very different way of life for them. Right, yeah. I mean, I hated working that much. I think the second job we ever did, we were doing some wood floors and we worked until like one o'clock in the morning from like six o'clock in the morning to one o'clock in the morning. That kind of just set the pace for like me working, you know, until I stopped doing that, which was I guess when I was like 28, 27. I stopped doing construction.

Do you think it was good to get into the workforce that young? No. No, not at all. Not at all. I mean, I have a great work ethic now because of it, but no. I don't think so at all. Because what happened was whenever I got married and, you know, I got married super young and had kids. And so I was like 21 or 22.

And then that's when I really started fucking up, like, you know, doing drugs and stuff. And I think it was just because, like, I never really had that, a normal growing up, you know what I mean? And so it was, like, all this responsibility on top of, like, you know, working. And then, like, I didn't make any, like, when you have kids so young, when you have kids so young and you get married so young, it's really hard to, what am I trying to say?

It's really hard to, I don't know, man. It's just, it's a lot. Why did you decide to get married that young? Was it, were your parents pushing you? No, I mean, I just met the one, like the most perfect, most beautiful girl in the world. So, yeah, it was just kind of, you know, one of those things where it's like we were both involved in the church. And so, you know, they kind of push that, you know what I mean? You know, it's good to get married.

And so we did. Are you guys still married? No. Okay. You speak so highly of her still, though. Yeah, she's great. I mean, she's awesome mom to our kids. She's, she's awesome.

But, yeah, I mean, I was the fuck up and fucked it all up. What do you think was the actual pivotal moment that you, you know, went down that path at that age? Was it just everything compounding at once? It was just a lot. You know what I mean? It was, I was working all the time. We weren't, we didn't want to have kids that, you know. I mean, we literally got married.

I think I was 20. She was 21. And, like, the first month we were married. She was pregnant. And so it was like, We weren't expecting that, and it was just like a lot of pressure. We didn't make money. Neither one of us had any money.

And we had the small condo. And it was just a whole lot. It was just a whole lot. Did you want to go to college at all? Or did you already make up in your mind you weren't going to college? I was told kind of by every man in my life that if you wanted to make money, you have to be your own boss. And so, no, I kind of had it in my mind that, like, I was going to start a construction business, which I ended up doing. And I thought that was going to be the, you know, that was the way to go if you wanted to make money, which it turned out like I never made money doing that.

Will you give your kids that same advice or now? No, definitely not. I think that they need to go to school. I mean, it's really just whatever, you do what you want to do. I think the most important thing in life is just doing what, how. Having a job that you enjoy to do, whether you're making a lot of money or not a lot of money, as long as you enjoy your job, I think, you know, that's probably a lot more important. Yeah, like if you're miserable, you don't want to go to that same job every day. But I know business owners that are miserable, and then you know people that work on 9 to 5 that are miserable and vice versa, whether they're happy or not at their job.

That's right. Yeah. It's crazy. So when I started working at FedEx, and when I started, I kind of got a job working by the hour for this piping company or steel company. And then from there, I started working at FedEx. And once I did that, man, I was like, this is great. Like, the steady paycheck, like, because when you're in construction owner of business,

you may make in a five, six thousand dollars in a week, but then not work for two months or the next job you get on just kind of like, you know, you lose money or whatever, a saw breaks or something. It's just. Yeah, it could set you, but you really never know. You never know. Like, and you get the weekly paycheck work. There's a lot of perks to work.

working for someone else. There's a lot of perks. Like I miss that about Whole Foods. You know, bi-lequely or weekly paychecks. Now I don't get paid, I get paid once a month, you know,

once every couple months. It's totally different. It's crazy. So what do you start getting into once you have your kid or around that time when you're 20? I think, are you talking about like drugs,

alcohol? What really killed me was gambling. Like I started, and that's kind of the only thing to do in Treeport is gamble. Like, we don't really have a mall. I mean, we have some malls, but it's just so run down. Like, there's nothing to do there besides gamble.

And so I think gambling was a huge thing. I don't gamble anymore. I haven't gambled in a long time, but that was a pretty big deal. And then from there, I started drinking a lot and, you know, doing cocaine. I wasn't really doing drugs. And before that, I hadn't, you know, done any drugs. So I was kind of like the first. What attracted you to gambling?

The money? I remember I could go in there and like, so I had two employees. I could go in there with like $300 and sit down at the blackjack table for an hour and then have their whole payroll and pay them and just get to keep all the money. You know what I mean? So, yeah, it was, and it was a lot of fun. Like I liked it at first, but then it became really dark. Like it's just like a really dark place

You look around like man This is such a dark Atmosphere You know what I mean? And there's no worse feeling I think of the world than being up And then leaving with nothing Nothing

Like literally being sick Losing everything Because I've had so many of those nights Dude I remember one time I was playing blackjack And I had like $100 And I got down on my last hundred And I was at like a $25 table

And I remember I remember get all the way up To like seven grand and not that much time, like maybe a couple hours. And that's really hard to do. I remember of betting like $700 on a hand and then like getting two eights or something and then splitting them and then like getting a three and then doubling down again and like I won all of it. And I remember I walked away from the table and went put $100 in the slot machine and won like another $1,000.

And ended up like losing it all. Like at all Like I had like eight grand and like within like a couple more hours it was like And that was the shittiest fucking feeling Like leaving the casino with no money like what the fuck I just had $8,000 in my pocket So did you need the money to pay your staff or would you have been fine? No, I would have been fine

Yeah, I would have been fine I mean yeah it was just like greedy like you know That gambling mentality you know it's crazy Was there any history of drugs alcohol or gambling in your family? I think so. There's definitely history of alcohol, which that's not something that I deal with. I mean, I'll drink like every blue moon, but like I've never been much of a drinker. But definitely alcohol. Drugs, I mean, I don't, I'm sure there was, but, you know, it's not something that, you know, I think anybody in my family likes to talk about. So would you say the gambling loss has led to drinking for you? No, I was definitely drinking before that. Like, I was always playing music, so, you know, whenever we'd play music, we're always at a bar.

And, you know, but just drinking wasn't really ever too big of a thing for me. You know what I mean? I liked it, but it just wasn't ever, you know, something that, like, just hooked me to where it's like I felt really good when I did it. You know what I mean? It was more like just doing it because I'm here, you know what I mean? Did your wife at the time know you were gambling? She did, and I even think we went to the casino, like one time we went on a date, and I took her and was trying to show her I played blackjack, but she didn't know the extent, no.

No, she did not know the extent of it, I don't think. Yeah. I think that whole thing, like the gambling thing, maybe only lasted six months. And then since then, I haven't done it at all. You know, man, if I go to the casino, I'll just watch. I won't even play. It's like there's no, there's nothing in my brain that's like wants me to spend any money because I know you're just going to lose.

Like, even if you win, you're going to lose. And that's what I try to tell people because all my friends gamble, it's like, dude, you're going to fucking lose, man. Even if you think that you're winning, you're really going to lose, like, in the long run. You can't win. Yeah, I had a very lucky streak in the beginning, like when I was paying backer at, and then when you add up my losses at the end. end because I was like chasing trying to pay bills for the club I used to own.

Right. If I just didn't go with that 500 or a thousand bucks several times, I would have been better off. Right. And just, you know, delaying the vendors and telling them, hey, I'll have your money soon. I would have been better off saying that than going the casino, trying to win the money and losing the money. Right. It's a never-ending cycle.

Yeah. So what happens next? Do you guys get divorced right away? No, no. No. Like, so I get, um, so I think. I start doing like a lot of cocaine. Like I was doing, which is so weird to talk about this because I don't, I don't

talk about, I don't, I don't ever, like I was always the type to think, like, if you have a problem, you just don't tell anyone because once you tell people, they're going to, you know, always associate you with that or whatever. So, but anyway, I, um, I started doing a lot. Like, I remember buying seven grams, which was a lot and thinking, like, I'll just have this, you know, for a while. And then I remember making up a line like this big. I'm just going to do this one line and then I'll be good.

And I do it. And then, you know, ended up doing like the whole thing. And I think I almost died. Like I had like a, I think the doctor said like a mild stroke or something. And so once I was in the hospital, my mom and stepdad found out. And I think maybe I, after that I did it maybe a couple more times. And then I remember being somewhere. And just being like,

You know, I'm done with this shit. Like, I don't want to do this anymore. This sucks. Like, it doesn't feel good. And so at 21, I quit. I don't remember if I quit gambling or, but I definitely quit doing drugs. And so from the time I was 21 until, I guess, about 28, like the marriage started getting really bad.

And then I started doing drugs again, but it wasn't, you know, I didn't do cocaine. I was more so on Adirah, just trying to. to work as much as I could. And then, you know what I mean? That mindset of don't talk about your problems. Where did that come from? Was that something that was taught to? It's something that I still do to this day.

Like, I just, I don't know if it's something to talk to me. I just noticed that whenever I would, somebody would find out about, you know, for instance, like my parent or my mom and stepdad would find out I did cocaine. It's kind of like they always, like if you have problems, they always related to that. So it's like when I was going through a divorce, course, well, he's being this way because he must be doing drugs. Whenever it's not the drugs,

it's like I'm doing the drugs to kind of put a band-aid over the real problem that's happening. You know what I mean? So, so since then, it's like once I realize I could do certain things and like be normal and go to work and be like a normal person, I just stop. I don't, I don't to tell anybody about certain things. Now, if I have problems, I will, if I need advice, I'll ask people, but as far as addiction stuff, it's like, I try to keep that as quiet as possible, which is weird being here, like, talking about it because it's like, I never talk about it. You know what I mean? I never talk about certain things. I mean, the people that are really close to me know, but that's usually only, like, one person, you know,

I mean, it's usually the person that I'm with or whatever, whatever girl I'm with. There's no like, you know, anyway. I mean, I'm sure a lot of people feel that same way. So many people don't because it's not the norm to talk about it. Right. And it's like people do, people are very judgmental. And it's crazy how people are. But it's like, you know, it's just crazy.

Even like people that are on drugs are very judgmental towards, you know, people that aren't on the same drugs that they're on or the way they do it. It's just crazy how people are. I mean, but it is what it is. But I figured out at a young age that, you know, just don't tell anybody and handle your shit and everything will be good. You know what I mean? Functioning addict, I guess. So what happens when you're 28?

Me and my wife at the time were just not doing good. And there was a lot of stuff going on in that whole, the whole church thing. and rewind a little bit, like we, whenever we were getting married, like the day before we're getting married, like we've been through marriage counseling with them and everything's good. They bring us into their office, like they need to talk to us. And it's like everyone, like the whole church staff is in this office. And they're like, we don't think y'all need to get married. And so these are people that my wife, like, looks up to a lot.

And they're like, we don't need to get married. Like, what the fuck? Like we're getting married tomorrow. Like it's a big wedding too. Like her dad had money. I mean, we had a nice wedding. Like, and you're going to tell us the day before we're getting married. So she's crying.

Like, I mean, these are people, I don't, it doesn't bother me as much, but these are people she really looks up to. Like, there's this lady from out of town that's like, you know, this prophet lady or whatever and she's there. And like, yeah, God told me that you aren't supposed to get married. And so from that. time on, like we kept going to church there. It kind of put like a bad taste in my mouth, but she's kind of had this, you know what I mean? They're kind of like pushing her towards that,

you know what I mean? So whenever I kind of start falling off again, because after the cocaine thing, I got clean for a long time and was working, but life was just kind of sucked because we didn't have money. But, you know, when I started really falling off again and having problems, I think That's when, you know, shit started going down like that with them. And so it would just cause me to just spiral out of control because I'm like, you people are insane. You know what I mean? This is crazy.

And so I would go and like try to talk to him about certain things and they would just kind of shunned me off. Like I was the dark cloud or whatever and whatever she said went. And so like we didn't have this healthy. balance at all, you know what I mean, like whatsoever. And so, I mean, that's kind of when I fell off again. I mean, I really fell off during that time. Do you think a lot of your addiction issues revolved around money or stem for money? Um, I don't, I think some of them, yeah, but, I mean, because that was always a big deal. Like, we literally never had money. And so we had, we didn't have having three kids. By the time I was like 25, we had, we had three kids. And I remember she called me at work.

To the time when she was pregnant again, I, like, I threw up, like, and it wasn't the fact that, like, I was scared. It was just, like, I knew that, like, we couldn't, like, how in the fuck are we going to do this? You know what I mean? Like, how are we going to fucking do this? And, you know, somehow, I mean, she's just, she's awesome. She really is. And so I think that's really, if it wasn't for her being such a selfless person, like, there's no way, like, we could have done it. but, you know, she's superwoman in a way.

Tell us about your spiral. So, yeah. So this is when I started going to jail. I think I went to jail for the first time. I mean, I started doing Adderall, and then I remember being at work with my helper dude, and he was like, you know, like, meth is exactly the same as Adderall. I was like, really?

Because I didn't know anything about meth, so I get home and, like, Google it. And it's like, sure enough, it's the same. So the next day I'm dropping him off. at our, I can't remember where we're at, but anyway, this random guy just comes up to my truck was like, hey, hey, do you fuck with meth? I was like, no, but I will. You got some? And he was like, yeah, so I ended up buying some. And I remember doing it for the first time, like snorting it or whatever I did. And I was like, holy shit. Like, this is my drug. Like, I found it. And I remember telling him like, dude, I'm going to be on this for a long time because it's like, this is it. You know what I mean? It's like, this is what I was missing. Like, everything felt, everything felt like it clicked. in my head, you know what I mean? I felt normal, you know? And so I started doing that. And once I started doing that, like, fuck work. You know what I mean? I'll just figure something outside. And from there, like, I went to jail. I got pulled over and, um, I had, like, a warrant for a seatbelt ticket

in this little town outside of Shreveport. And so he ended up pulling me out of the car and, like, put me in handcuffs. And, um, he comes back to the car with, like, these big buds of weed. And I was, like that's not mine. Again, I had just cleaned out my truck so I do it. Wasn't mine or whatever. And he was like, then he came back. He's like, I know that you don't look like you're on this, but I found this too. And it was like a meth pipe.

And that was mine. I was like, fuck. So anyway, yeah, that was my first time going to jail. And that, that's kind of where, like, at the time, it was, it was hard to get. So it's like you had to be involved in this small community of tweakers to like even get it. And I didn't know anyone. So I think I just kind of have. I had to weasel my way into this really dark, you know, group of people to kind of like to just get the drug because it was so hard to get at the time.

And I think that's whenever shit really, for a while, like, for the next like four years, I got a divorce. You know, just all kinds of crazy, terrible shit happened. I went to jail like three or four more times. It was just crazy time. Is meth actually like Adderall? It's very similar to me. Like, I think from the, you know, it affects people differently for sure because there's some people that do it and just get like wide-eyed and crazy and then, you know, want to go steal, you know, or breaking into people's cars. But then you have other people like they can do it and they just just levels them out.

You know, I mean, kind of calms them down. So I think it definitely affects people differently. Do you think you lost your work ethic while on meth? No. But it was just one of those things where it's like I was so tired of doing the whole construction thing and having to work. And I was getting into like, I wasn't getting into, but I had started doing a lot of like custom work where it's like showers and custom tile work. And it's just a real pain in the ass. And it was one of those things where I was just like sick of it.

I don't think drugs had any to do that. I was just sick of it. And so, but then it's like I think drugs kind of maybe made it to where it was like easier just not to do it. You know what I mean? Because you kind of feel good. And you're like, I don't give a fuck anymore. Like, you know, I'm not going to do this. You know what I mean?

So, and I was getting divorced anyway. So it was kind of one of those things where it was like, you know, whatever. What about some of those other arrests that you went through? I think the main one was not the main one, but the, I had started doing. So I quit working. And then I had started doing like a lot of like, you know, check fraud. And I got a connection to get, like, counterfeit money. And I started doing a lot of stuff like that.

And it doesn't pay, you know what I mean? But it pays, but it's almost like gambling where it's like you might hit, you might not. But in the end, you're just going to lose. And so I started doing just a lot of, like, really shitty things like that. And in my head, I'm thinking, like, it's okay because I'm not stealing from anybody. I'm just because the bank's going to pay them back, you know what I mean? And I was, because I've always been really against, like, stealing from people.

I was always into like the I guess the You know if it had to do with the institution Or like a stealing shit from Walmart or whatever Like I would do something like that But I wouldn't steal from people But yeah What would you do when I came to check fraud

Dude I had like a whole setup Like I would have the printer with the magnetic ink The checks and so I was I figured out I was really into like the dark net or whatever and like tour and all that like getting drugs off the market and stuff so then I found like a vendor that would sell like the like a picture of the check and um I was going in there and you know just changing some numbers around and then printing the checks off and very rarely

didn't actually work but there was a few times that it that it worked how much money would you get when it did work I mean like not that much a couple thousand bucks I think was the most I ever got Did they ever catch you for that? Yes, they did. And what's crazy was I had printed some checks. Okay, so this girl I knew had stole some checks from this company. And so she just wanted me to print off some checks with her name on it, you know, where they look legit. And she didn't know, I did it for so cheap, like a little bit of meth or something.

And she, I printed like these checks. I was like, look, don't make these for too much. You know what I mean? Like, just do like little amounts and don't go here to cash them. Like, don't go to this liquor store because they're going to. So, like, she ends up doing like $10,000 or $20,000 or something and goes to the place I told her not to go to. She gets busted and she ends up ratting on me. And so from there, the detective had been investigating me.

And I didn't realize it, but he knew everything. He just didn't know who I was. And so once she ratted on me, he put all this stuff together. And I had already went to jail. I ended up getting, we ended up getting busted. Okay, so I went to sell some drugs to this girl, and it was an undercover sting. So they bust, but I didn't have any drugs. I can't remember if I was going to try to, I think she had stolen from me, so I was just going to try to rip her off.

And had my buddy come pick me up, and we went up there to, meter and she's like I'm right here and then we seen the cop cars behind us and it's like whole swat of people came down and um I was like shit I was like but I don't have anything like I didn't have anything and so we had some ended up having some uh he had some shit like like a pill or something and then they did up anyway they ended up charged me I had some rock salt or Epsom I can't remember what I had but we had it in the it was the rock salt that you make ice cream with if you put that in a cooler with like regular ice you're at any cheap cooler will turn into a Yeti cooler.

It keeps ice for forever. So I had poured some of that in a cooler and had the box there. And they ended up charging me with that because I had a scale in there too. So they charged me with like two ounces of like counterfeit schedule two and like blew my picture up on the paper at the front. I was like, I wasn't even doing that. But from there while I was in jail, I had the check printer in the back of the car. and that detective called like their, you know, fraud detective, whatever.

And so I got arrested, and then that's when the girl ratted on me or whatever. And he put two and two together. And when I looked at my motion, he knew everything. He just didn't know who I was. Like, I mean, he knew, like, I had bought some checks from the dude off the dark net from this lady in Texas or something with, like, Capital One banker. He knew about literally everything, but he just didn't know who I was. And once she ratted on me, he put two,

two and two together. So the checks you are buying where they just regular people's like normal citizen checks? No, they were all like business checks or or, and I think that the one I'm talking about right now was like, yeah, it was like a personal, personal account, but most of the checks that I was doing was all business colleges or, you know, in my mind, I'm thinking if they're, if they have a lot of money in the bank, if I just take a little bit out, they're not going to know. And if they do know, the bank's just going to pay them right back. So in my mind, Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile.

I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the. the same premium wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistance assistants assistants to switch you to MintMobil today. I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile.com slash switch. Up front payment of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available.

Taxes and fees extra. Seeful terms at mintmobile.com. I'm not thinking I'm doing anything that bad. You know what I mean? And these people on the dark web get. them from hacking them? I have no idea. Okay. And how much would you pay for a fraud? Not much. I mean, like

20 bucks or something. I mean, the guy was buying from would guarantee certain ones, like a business account, I guarantee you there's this amount in here. I guarantee you this check number hasn't been cashed before. So, yeah. And I think those were like 100 bucks, 120 bucks. Wow. Yeah. And how hard does it define these sellers? It wasn't hard at the time This was a long time ago

This is probably close to 10 years ago now So at the time It wasn't hard but that was kind of It was kind of on the At the end of it you know I mean But I don't think it really people even do I know they do but It's not really a big deal

I mean because it's like the banks and stuff Have so much of those fraud things set up That I don't think too many people are doing it now Did they ever throw in you with like a Fed case Or anything from this type? of stuff? No. No, but I mean, I was involved in a, and in that later on, when I, again, I'd gotten into, like, selling a lot of drugs at one point, but no, not during that time. It was all local, and, um, those, those detectives, like, they really, they really, in

Treyport, like, I think we have, like, one of the best murder detectives, and those, um, those, like, um, white collar or fraud detectives, they're really on top of it. Like, When I read all that, I was like, God, this dude really knows, you know. So he ended up coming to the jail. And he was like, look, you can be honest with me and tell me. And I'm, you know, you know what they all do. We're going to let you off easy. And or you can not.

And like, I'm going to fuck you off pretty much. And I sat there for a minute because I don't talk to police at all, ever for any reason. And I sat there for a minute and just kind of put my head down. I just thought about it. I was like, you know what? I was like, yeah, dude, I did it. And he was like, all right, and he let me off really easy. I think they charged me with, like, monetary abuse and two counts of fraud, and that was it.

And so, and then the girl that ratted on me, I don't think she got charged with anything. And he had this list of people, and he was like, you see anybody on this list that, where I was like, I mean, he was like, you know why she's not on it? It's because she's sleeping with the DA or something. It's like, that's crazy. I don't think she got charged at all. How much time do you end up getting for that? I got three years for that. So that's in a county jail or you went to an actual prison?

Yeah, I went to, I mean, there's not, so we have satellite camps. They call them satellite camps. And what they are is they're just jails that are, you know, pretty much. I think there's only two or three prisons in Louisiana, but there's like hundreds of satellite camps. But no, I did my time at the jail, which is, it's terrible. It's the worst jail. Like, okay, so you have a sale that's two bunks and then, you know, you got the table in the sink. And in jail there, they have three people in those sales.

They have these boats. I don't know if you ever seen it before. I don't know if too many people do it. But every sale has three people in it. It's crazy. And you're locked down like 23, 22 hours a day. So it's like maximum security no matter what. You could be in there on like the most minor shit.

and you're going to be locked down for 23 hours a day. Were you able to get a job at all to get out of yourself? It's very hard because it's such a big jail and you have to, it's such a big jail and you got everyone trying to get out and you had to have all these. Yeah, I did. Once you get sentenced, it's, you know, you can get a job being a trustee. And I think that time I was in the kitchen. But it was like the last two or three months.

Oh, that's it. You had to go your whole time. without having a job? Wow, that sucks. Yeah, it sucks, man. It's, it's horrible. Or are you staying sober during that time? Yeah, for sure. So, every time I got out, I was on a good path. When I got out of jail that time, I was, I stayed sober and that's when I started, I mean, I say sober. I mean, I don't think I've ever been, like, fully sober, but, yeah, I mean, I was, you know, I don't want to say sober because I'm trying to be as on as possible. But, yeah, I mean, it was, I was definitely had the mindset of like I got to get shit done.

If it means, like, being completely sober, I will. You know what I mean? Whatever I had to do, if I do, I had to take a drug test or whatever, like, I'm 100% sober. But I wouldn't say that, like, that's ever really been in my mind to be one or even now. Like, I'm not 100% sober. Now, I don't think I'll ever be. You know what I mean? I like certain things.

Like I like tripping acid once a year. You know what I mean? I don't think I ever stopped doing that because I mean it's not hurting anybody. You know what I mean? So, yeah, I don't think I'll ever be 100% sober. Do you have like an allotted week blocked off? I don't. It's just like whenever it happens, you know what I mean?

Yeah, I remember one time me and my friend, we did acid on New Year's. And I was like the best time I've ever had in my entire life. Like, why would I not want to do this? You know what I mean? Like, why would I not want to be? But it's one of those things where it's like, I know that it's like, I can't do this every day. You know what I mean? Like, it's such an intense mind fuck that it's like, I don't even want to do this every day.

But it's fun like once or twice a year, you know what I mean? Or if you do DMT, like you don't want to leave your body and go to another dimension every day. You know what I mean? It's just too intense. How is your relationship with your parents during that time, you know, mid-30 or early 30s now? My relationship My parents always been good But I think that

If I'm going through something really heavy I kind of push everybody away Just because I don't want to talk about it You know what I mean? I think I don't want to And I think it's I think it's harder for my dad Because he wasn't around me as much

And it's like he'll call And I'll forget to call him back And then you know One thing leads to another And he's always like man Like I've been trying to fucking call you Like what's the deal? You know what I mean?

called me back and it's one of the things where it's like I just don't want to talk about it. You know what I mean? I don't want to talk about jail or why this happened or you know what I mean? And it's like I know that's what I'm going to have to do. You know what I mean? So I just, I don't think I push. I don't know. It's weird. It's definitely weird. So what happens next when you get out that time? So I get out and that time and by this time I'm divorced. I think I got like the actual paperwork is is done in jail. And I had to go to court, actually.

I think, I can't remember if I was in, I definitely was in Orange, but I think when it was finalized, I was in jail. That was a little rough. I'm not just in jail, like anytime you have to deal with any personal, like,

issues like that, like it's, you know, it's a lot harder. Having to go to, like, family court and Orange is terrible. So I get out and, um, I think,

That time, like, I realized that part was over with, you know what I mean? Like, you know, I'm never going to get her back and my marriage is over. So it's like, what are you going to do? Like, are you going to rewind a little bit before I got arrested for the check fraud? Like, I was really into selling drugs. I was going to Arkansas, I think it was. And I was getting like pounds of meth. Like, it was a lot.

And anyway, that dude. so I'm sitting in the car I go to meet him on the side of the highway and I met him a couple times and this time he decides to tell me like I just got out of the feds I'm on bond from the feds and we're sitting there and it's like 4 o'clock in the morning

and he's got all these fucking guns in the back like I mean like machine guns like holy shit dude why you have all these guns he's like because if they pull up on me like we're going and like we're going to show my and I'm trying to be cool because this dude he's a cool dude like super nice, but it's like I'm trying to just be cool.

I don't want to spook him, you know what I mean? And in my mind, I'm thinking, like, you don't get, if you're in there for any kind of drug charge, you don't get a bond for that unless you're ratting. So I'm trying to just be cool. I had no idea. I've bought from this dude a couple times. And I had no idea he's on bond from the feds on a,

because he got caught with like 10 kilos of meth and cocaine. And I'm thinking, fuck, what the fuck? And so he's like, yeah, man, if they pull up on us, we're going. I'm trying to just be cool. So anyway, everything's good. I go back. He ends up getting busted, like, again, the next day. And I don't want to say he was ratting on people because I don't know.

But it was a huge federal thing. I mean, I think they arrested like 100 people. It was like this huge deal. And I don't know why they didn't arrest me because I was on his voicemail and they had his phone tap the whole time. Like, they heard conversations. we had. I don't know why they didn't. I think they just had so many people that they didn't mess with it. But was the voicemail incriminating? I don't know, but I'm sure it was. I mean, I don't know. So did you pick up doing that right after you got out? Then that's, uh,

no, no, this is before that, that I got busted for the fraud and all that. Okay. So maybe that kind of saved you? Maybe so. Maybe so. Because, um, I remember he'd get, popped and like once he got arrested, like I quit doing all that. Like I realized that it's like I'm not going to go. Dude, I remember like having a gun. I had a Glock and but it was not for like protection because I mean I wasn't really I wasn't scared about that but it was more like if I'm coming back from Arkansas, which there's nothing but police from Shreveport to hot springs. There's nothing but police and it's like real strict if you go one mile of a speed and I'll pull you over. And I remember thinking like if I get pulled over with two pounds

of meth. Like, I'm just going to get out on point and it's going to be over with. You know, I mean, I'm not going to prison for fucking 20 years for this. You know what I mean? And I remember having to pull over because I'd be so fucking just out of my mind. I remember like texting my ex-wife. I mean, I think she was, maybe we hadn't gotten divorced at this time. No, we hadn't gotten divorced this time. It's just like, or making a video for my kids. Like, I'm thinking like, man, something's going to happen. You know what I mean? This is crazy with what I'm doing. But then I would go and then it was so much money. It's so hard to stop doing that.

You know what I mean? Because I mean, it was like I finally had money, you know what I mean? But it's like you're always trying to re-up or you have to pay for hotel rooms because you don't have a house or an apartment or something crazy is always going on. But so anyway, I quit doing it, quit, quit all this selling drugs like shit after that. Then I go to jail for the fraud. I get out of jail. and I had gotten divorced and I just wanted to do good at this point

and I got a job. I lived with my parents. Got a job making like $8 an hour at this meat plant. Like the shittiest job ever and the owners like just a huge asshole talks down to everybody. Thanks for making too much money

and like I was making like $400 every other week. But I just kept doing it. You know what I mean? I had this mindset of like I have to do this. And I remember calling. So Louisiana has this like workforce thing and I got to sign up with that and the dude got me that $8 an hour job. I called him and I was like, hey, I can't do this anymore, man. And it's too, I'm not making any money at all. Like, you know, there's nothing to look forward to. Like the dude wants to give me like a 25 cent raise

and I only make $8 an hour. So I worked there for like three, four months. He called me back the next day. It was like, hey, I got you a different job. It's a $15 an hour working at this factory and I got it. And I fucking loved it. It was like the first time that I had a normal job where I'm getting a normal paycheck, insurance. Like, it was, I loved it. Everything about it. And from there, like, I moved out of my parents and got my own place. And it was like the first time I ever had my own place, like since I had split up with my wife. And everything was just good. And then one day, I was texting this girl I've seen at the time. And I was like, I don't think I'm going to work here anymore. You know I mean? And I remember texting my boss and like, hey, I'm not going to show up today. I don't know why, but I appreciate it.

I loved working here. And I don't remember what my mindset was, but I had signed up for unemployment. And I got approved for like $200 a week. And I was like, I'm just going to make this $200 a week again. and get by until I figure out what I'm supposed to do. Well, then Corona hit. And within two weeks, that $200 a week turned into like $800 a week. And it was like, wow.

So it's like I just, you know, like did music and just I got a dog and just like lived like eight months getting that check from the government. And then once I saw that was going to come out, I just randomly decided to apply for FedEx. And they emailed me like a couple months later. It was like, hey, we need, we want to come in for interview. I was like, surely not. You know what I mean? I ended up getting finished my parole and got all my shit expunged.

So I didn't have anything on my record. And all the charges, every criminal charge. Every criminal charge besides the misdemeanors, oddly enough. So I went in for the interview and got the job at FedEx. And I was like, this is crazy. Because this job is awesome. And I fucking love that job so fucking much. my manager and stuff

are just awesome. That's a great company. FedEx is an awesome company. And started driving for them and making great money. And yeah. Yep. Good times. I think I did it for two years.

Wait, so the unemployment, were you on the not on the books for the meat place? Like, why were you able to just go apply for unemployment? Because I was working for the factory, the steel factory. I don't know if everything I did was legal. I think I may have told them, I don't want to talk about it too much, but I think I may have told them that, like, I think if you get fired or whatever, I can't remember what happened.

Okay. Yeah. I don't remember exactly. I don't want to say something. And then the workforce Louisiana come down on me. But yeah, it was because there was a lot of people doing fraud during that time, especially in Louisiana. There was a lot of people getting those loans. And I never did anything like that.

You know, at that time, I wasn't really into, like, trying to defraud anybody or do anything illegal, really. I had just felt like I was supposed to do it. I felt like, you know what I mean? And they, I think it was, they were laying a lot of people off, too. And I thought I maybe saw it coming. Ready or not, summer is coming. And Wayfair's Memorial Day clearance is on now. Right now through May 25th, get up to 70% off everything home at Wayfair.

Plus, score amazing doorbuster deals all sale long, and surprise flash deals on Memorial Day. We're talking thousands of products at every style and budget. Now is the time to save big on must-habs for your patio, backyard, and beyond. These savings won't last. So don't wait. Shop Wayfair's Memorial Day clearance now through May 25th. Wayfair, every style, every home.

And so I just kind of got out of there before all that happened. Did prison help you get clean, going to jail, help you get clean? Or did you struggle with using again after? Or what did that look like? Yeah, I mean, I think that time in jail when I got out and started doing good, I don't think my mindset was just, it wasn't to be clean or I don't think jail, I don't think jail helps at all, really. I don't, there's certain programs and there's this program at that jail that's like a drug program,

but I'm not big on the rehab thing. I think it's all kind of set up to keep people coming back and keep people just kind of like the jails or I don't think that, I think once somebody really really. wants to be done, they can be done. Like, mine never matter. I know that there's certain drugs that you're, I've always done the drugs to where you get mentally addicted to them. I've never done the drugs that are physically addictive, where if you quit, you're

going to be sick or, you know, in pain or whatever. So it may be different for those people, but I've always kind of had the thoughts that, you know, if somebody wants to quit, they're going to quit, you know what I mean? Because I've seen too many people go to rehab because they think that that's what they're supposed to do, but then they get out, and it's like they do good for a couple months, and they're right back in it, and then they go to rehab again. Well, these rehabs are making a lot of money. You know what I mean?

They're making a lot of money. And the more people, you know, the government pays them for some, I don't know. I don't know. I don't think jail helped. If anything, jail makes things a lot worse. Yeah, I always wonder what the rehabs, what the true intention is between some of the, or behind some of these individuals that run the rehabs or, you know, get into, that recovery world because they are making a ton of money off of individuals.

It's crazy. You know, like it just, it really is crazy to see on people's downfalls, you know? Yeah. So I'm just curious about how that, like, who are the, if there's a way to weed out, who are the good ones, who are genuinely doing it, who, you know, I know there are some people that want the places to close down because then, like, as owners, they know that things are happening in the right direction. the world. Like, people don't need those houses. But then there's some people that

own the sober houses or the rehabs that would never want it to close down because they're making too much money. Right. And I think that's how it is. I mean, I don't know. I don't want to comment on it. I mean, my deal is like, why are you telling people that drugs are there? Okay. So if someone's doing drugs, in my mind, I think they're doing drugs because they're trying to numb something or they're trying to get over something. And so it's like, but I I've noticed that most rehabs will teach you that once you get off drugs, everything in your life will start working out. And I know that's the case for some people, but for a lot of people that get off drugs and then that wound is still there. And the drugs, it was kind of just a band-aid over it.

You ripped it off and now it's just exposed. And it's like people are going to, they thought that when they got off drugs and getting a job and having money and getting this and that was going to help. But it doesn't because that thing's still there. You know, I mean, I think that's where people. relapse a lot because it's not, you're not healing the actual thing that's wrong with someone, you know, because the drugs are just the bandaid. You know what I mean? In my opinion, I don't know if I could be wrong, but.

How do you think you were as a parent during your spiral phase of your life? I don't, man, that's a tough, tough question I have and it's something I deal with all the time because, like, I don't think I've ever really been a good parent. You know, it's just like we had kids so young And it's like I wasn't there a lot And it's like I was such a terrible Not I was such a terrible person But I was such a selfish person

That it's like, you know, I don't know I mean, I love my kids and we have a great relationship But I don't know if I've ever really been a good parent I don't feel like I have, you know what I mean? Like I feel like even now like I told my ex-wife the other day Like I don't feel like a dad I just feel like I'm their friend You know what I mean?

Like I don't feel like I don't know what I mean? don't feel like a dad. You know what I mean? So that's a tough subject. How do you make amends with that? How do you make peace with that? I don't know. I don't think I'll ever have amends or peace with that.

You know what I mean? It's like I know there will come a day whenever. Because they don't live in the same city as me now. They live in Texas, which is so it's hard for me to get over there and see them. But I don't know, man. I don't think I ever make amends with that. And that's one thing. Like, I remember watching that, like, three years ago, whatever, I had got internet,

and they gave me, like, a subscription to HBO. And that's where I saw the, was Generation Hustle. Oh, you watched The Generation Hustle? Yeah, like, three years ago. You're one of the OGs, yeah. So I remember watching that, and then I watched the first episode. I was like, this show is awesome. And then I think the second or third episode, I was at my girlfriend's house,

and we watched it. It was your episode. And I remember, like, thinking, like, man, man, like this, this dude, like, why is he even going to prison? You know what I mean? Like, what the... And so, but I remember, like, the interviews with your dad and stuff, it was, like, completely different than when you sat down and talked to your dad,

it's like, dude, your dad is fucking awesome. He's a gangster. Dude, he is the coolest, like, holy shit. Like, and I think that comes from having kids older. You know what I mean? Like, I feel like when you're older, you're wet, you have wisdom. Like, at 21, you're just still a kid. you know what I mean?

Yeah, he lived his, he had me at 50. Yeah, that's in... He turned 79 this weekend, actually, and he's just, you know, he's good. That's where I get the work ethic, you know, he's go, go, go. Great guy, always been there for me. And he's lived so much in life. Like, you've seen so many things. Dude, it's all, I mean, like, the, the, the conversation all had and just the shit he says and like,

and the, you could tell in the, in that documentary of the show or whatever, they were kind of making him more so out to be like the, you know, like he kind of was like egged you on or, not egged you on, but it was like the, I don't know, they made him out to be a little bit different than he actually is. Yeah, I would say, but the one thing I do respect about that documentary is that they, in my opinion, did not shine a good light on the government. They made them come off as like overzealous prosecutors that. And that was ridiculous.

And let me ask you something, dude, because I've been dying. Yeah, ask me whatever. If you went about those fucking jet skis. Oh, they would have begged no. case. No, that is insane to me. It was all on the, that's, in every article you read about me, they say lavish lifestyle. Okay, great. That's what you used to call all fraudsters, but then when they list after, it's jet skis. Yeah, dude, that was insane. The clothes we bought, I bought one outfit that I got rid of after. Otherwise, I wore khaki shorts and a black t-shirt. Like, the

prosecutor even says in the documentary, when he first met me, I was a cargo shorts at a t-shirt. Right. And then the trips we took were with. the other investors. It was so silly. We invested more of the money than we actually spent illegitimately and also the jet skis we had for three weeks. And then I traded it to a pawn shop because we needed the money to pay the investors. And the pawn shop took advantage of me because I didn't know that all I had to do was bring the interest payment and I could go another month. I thought I had to have the full amount. So they got these $23,000 jet skis for like $7,000 or $6.000. It was crazy. That's crazy, man. They were,

brand new. There was no hours out of barely 80 hours. But yeah, I think that was really the downfall, the jet skis. Yeah, I think it's so too. The whole time I'm thinking like, what do you? So they have to prove your intentions. Exactly. That was the big that's why we went to trial. Yeah.

And that's why the verdict didn't make sense because half the charges were not guilty. So how how am I have no intent to defraud on some but intent and another and it's all the same time period? So at the end of that episode and they said you went to prison whenever I was like, what? Yeah, it did three years. I loved how they put my business partner at the end saying John Robill refused to participate in this documentary, which makes it pretty much states he's a rat.

The other guy, I didn't really like the other guy. I don't know. I don't know him, but he was just like, kind of the one that his dad maybe of giving you. Oh, Josh. Yeah. Yeah, he was, you know, and he was someone that wasn't owed a lot of money. What I found it with my whole case is that the people that were owed the most amount didn't. care, like would never have gone to the police, you know, that we could have figured it out civilly. Right. And the people that were owed the least amount of money made the biggest fuss. Right. And went to the police and said they lost everything over a couple thousand dollars.

And we were all kids. They probably had a lot of money too. Yeah. But at the end of the day, it was that literally, me and my parents were talking about this the other night, you know. Just skis. How could, no, but how could I, how could we take it back? It was the best thing.

Like, you wouldn't be sitting right there if I didn't, you know. Right. So that's awesome that you're using it for I thought it was crazy too at the end of that episode you had like the girl at you're working with whatever's like I don't think he'll ever change. Oh, she was in my life for two weeks, Amber, literally ridiculous. And also guys, for everyone listening, the HBO doc's not up anymore. But if you DM me or email me on like Instagram or whatever, I'll send you the link. I still got the private link. It was a great show. I was actually having dinner last night with one of the producers on that show. It's a great show. We're going to have him on the show to give. his perspective too. And, you know, Syed, a barb, he was on my show. Yeah. He was on one of the episodes of Generation Hustle.

Oh, really? I have to look that up. I don't know that. He was teen Ponzi or whatever. Yeah, I watched that episode. Yeah, the college Ponzi scam. Yeah, he was on my show and he talks about his prison sentence and all of that. That's cool. I didn't know that.

Yeah, he was on like two months ago. He had just gotten out a prison a couple years ago. They put him through the ringer. But it's interesting to see him. So when he was going into prison, that's when the documentary had just came out. And at that point, I had already gotten out of prison, finishing up probation, seeing like these different evolutions or like different paths, you know, at different times. I saw a young him, even though he's older than me and me when I was first going into prison,

just mindset was. Right. It's weird, like, when you go in there for the first time, it's definitely, like, now, and I realized, like, I don't watch. So when I first got out, I seen you, I was on TikTok or something, and seeing you, was like, this is the dude from that documentary, whatever. This is crazy. He does the pocket. And it was interesting.

But it's like now I don't like to, I don't like to hear all the, I don't like to hear all the prison stuff. It's not, I don't know if I have PTSD, but it's one of those things where it's like, it doesn't make me feel good, like, you know, listening to the, the prison stuff or whatever. and I remember watching a couple weeks could be like, God damn, like, I don't know if I want to do this anymore. Like, I don't want to talk about a fucking prison. You know what I mean?

It's one of those things where it's like I don't, I personally don't like to relive it because when I'm there, like, I know how to do it. So it's like, I know how to rewire my brain and to thinking like, this is fun. And if you talk to anybody that's like done time with me, like they'll tell you like you, he's insane. Like, I'll just be in there like, dude, this is fucking great.

Like, we're having the time of our lives. You know what I mean? And so when you normalize that environment and, And all the shit that goes on in there, when you get out, it's, it's hard to rewire your brain to, you know, like, this is, that was not fucking fun. Like, you know what I mean? But if you're always on alert, you're always having to, like, watch your back. And you think that's normal. Your brain is processing that as normal.

When you get out, it's like, you know, you kind of have, I don't know, it's tough, man. Yeah, I mean, I think the cool thing about the show and what I do is not every episode's about prison. I think it's great. It's not just about prison, you know? Right. And someone's, I was reading a comment because I read all my comments and reviews like on Spotify and I try to respond to all of them. Yeah. And someone was like, a big fan of the show, but I think less is more in regards to because I do five episodes a week.

And just because some are not as exciting as others. And what he means by that is like it's not a crazy crime story or crazy prison stuff. But I think like with my purposes, it's my job. with what I've been given to have people's stories that anyone that wants to come on, give them a safe place to talk about it, whether it's an addiction story, a prison, a law enforcement, or whatever. And not every episode's going to be a Hells Angels president sitting down with you. But I think it's cool that if I produce it in high quality, like in the studio and put these episodes out,

it gives people a catalog to choose from where they could say, all right, I don't like this episode, but there was four others this week that I could choose. from and they get to pick. And that's what I like about it. I think one of my favorite episodes was the girl that had gone to, like, the, she had never been to prison. She was like in the mental institutions. Oh, Stella.

Yeah. Yeah, that's funny because that was rated one of the most commented episodes of last year. It was very interesting. Yeah, it was just like something different. You know what I mean? And like she just, it's like she just knew, like, she told her story from beginning to end.

I just sat back and relaxed. I was like, didn't hear you ask anything. She just told it. And that was cool. You know what I mean? It's refreshing to, because all the prison stuff, I'm sure that's, that's probably more interesting to people who haven't been there. It's like, I've heard all this stuff. And then I can tell when the people are like kind of bullshit.

And then when they're not, it's like, oh, man, like, you know what I mean? It's just a lot, you know what I mean? So it's like, I personally don't like to relive that prison stuff because it's like, you know, I don't know, man. It's like when you first get out, it's like you want, you know what I mean? But then after a while, it's like, ugh. And it's like in the best. back your mind like I could go back at any time for anything you know what I mean like I I just I know I don't like it man I don't like to I don't like I don't like I don't like that

environment you know mean do you have like a fun or a funny story from what you're plenty give us give us one give us the golden goose of them okay so me and my me and my me and my boy I'm gonna go and say his name he's gonna be mad at me but me and my boy um uh gangster jared we were um we were trustees and so this is the last time I was in jail and so we had gotten to go. He had this job to where we worked in the kitchen, which is one of the best jobs you can have at this particular jail. And so after we get done, we could go clean up the offices. And we worked from like midnight to 10 in the morning. So then we slept during the day, which is awesome. It's great way to do time because you sleep during all the bullshit and you're up

at night when no bullshit's going on. But anyway, he got this job where he's going to clean transportation. So he's like, hey, you want to go with me? And I was like, no, man, I'm not going to go. I don't feel like going. And I was like, you know what, dude, I'm going to go. So we go and clean transportation, whatever. And we're in the office and we're like, hey, can you clean behind the refrigerator or whatever? So we pull back the refrigerator. Well, it blocks the whole thing. Like they can't see in there.

We look on the wall and there's all these pins, markers, you know, like all kinds of crazy shit. That you can sell in the dorm for a lot of money. Like those pins and shit go for like $2 or $3. You know what I mean? Two or three soups or a suite item or whatever. So like we're putting all this shit in our pockets. You know, they can't see us, whatever. So we ended up cleaning it up, getting done.

So right before we leave, the officer, whatever, I can't remember his name. But he's like, hey, the lieutenant or detective called and said, y'all need to empty everything. You know, his pockets right now. And y'all won't be in trouble. And Jared kind of looks kind of like, oh, shit, like nervous. But I knew what he was doing. I knew he didn't see us doing anything. He's just trying to get us to talk whatever.

So he's just fucking around. Like, whatever. So anyway, he's like, well, I'm going to put you all the metal detector. So I had like a whole box of pins and like stuck in between my, you know, they give you those shorts in the shorts, whatever. So I dug off in the bathroom that he just cleaned and put the pins on the other side of the toilet for I go to the metal detector. I'm going to go to and come back and get them. So when I put them down, there's wet shit all there because he just cleaned the bathrooms with the spray and just sprayed it everywhere. And like I put the pins down there, come back through, grab them and put them back.

And the box is wet. put them back in my shorts and ended up getting a book. There's like a book sitting at the table. I asked the lady and the sergeant over there, super nice. He said, yeah, you can take the book. So I took the book. And we're going and walking down. We get back to the dorm and the officer, officer is going to pat us down.

So he pats down, Jared, everything's good. I got him right here. He's not going to touch this part. So I get back and I put my arms out. And as soon as I put my arms back, dude, pins started falling out at the bottom of my jumper. Like 10 or 20 pins start falling out. And then the officer looks at me. He's like, that's not good.

I was like, fuck, man. He's like, go to the shower to do a full search, whatever. So go to the shower. I take the box and put it like up above the, on the shower. He never sees it for some reason. At least I don't think he sees it. And so he's writing me a disciplinary. Well, when you get a disciplinary there, I didn't know this at the time.

I ended up getting a disciplinary later. But you go to BMU and, like, you're just stuck in a cell. pretty much 24 hours a day. You come out for like 15 minutes at like one in the morning. And so he's writing a disciplinary or whatever. And I'm freaking out because I've got it pretty much made in there. And I don't want to go to fucking BMU. So it's like, what can I do?

And then I had this bright idea to like cut a slit in the book. And I was just going to say the pins were in the book, whatever. So I cut the slit. He's like right in the disciplinary. I run down there. I was like, dude, I need to talk to you. And I was like, I look. The pins were in this book.

Like, it's where they had them. They just fell out of the book. Because I don't think he saw where they fell out from. He just seen all these pins on the ground. And he's like, if I call down there and they said that you got that book from transportation, I'll cancel the disciplinary. He calls down there and the fucking sergeant's like, I hear on the phone. She's like, yeah, he got the book for my ass on a loo.

He's like, all right, man, you got lucky. It's like, fuck. And there's plenty more times where it's like we were in the kitchen, like these big carts, like riding around on the carts. Like, I got fucking shot out with the taser because the ERT, he was in a bad mood or whatever, like people smoking in the bathroom. So you're running out of closet space. The good news, you don't need to stop shopping.

You just need to start selling with the Real Real. The Real Real is the world's largest and most trusted resource for authenticated luxury resale. Whether it's that mini bag that can't even fit your phone or those boots you never fully broken, the Real Real handles everything from photography and copywriting to shipping and pricing. So you can just sit back, get paid, and make room for things that actually. feel like you. And with 10,000 plus new arrivals every single day from top designers like Prada,

Saline, Louis Vuitton, and Louébe, all for up to 90% off retail, you're bound to find something perfectly on brand to fill that extra closet space with. Plus, this may only, you can get an extra $200 to shop when you sell for the first time. Make room for what feels like you. Go to the realreal.com to start selling and get your extra $200 to keep shopping at the realreal.com. That's the realreal.com. Terms apply. The ERT comes in. There's all kinds of crazy shit that happened when I've worked in that kitchen for sure. Yeah, I loved working in the kitchen before the guard tried to, you know, get my biscuits.

That's a good hustle, you know? The guys that run the kitchen control the compound. And I don't know how it is in the feds where you're at, but where we're at, the food is fucking terrible. Like, it's bad. And then they don't give you enough commissariat. Commissariat is really expensive. But if you work in that kitchen, dude, you're set. Yeah.

You get to eat everything. Like where we were at, we got to eat everything the deputies ate, you know what I mean? So you were saying that you got a clean slate, like your record got wiped, the families at least. Yeah, so when I got off of the fraud case, got off parole. Yeah, everything got wiped out. And when I got the job at FedEx, they called me and was like, hey, it was like a misdemeanor. I had gotten a protective order violation whenever I was going to divorce. I don't want to say anything bad about her, but her dad never liked me at all.

And so he got her this lawyer that was, you know, going to do anything and everything to make me look terrible. And so he recommends she get a protective order so she get full custody of the kids, which, you know, happened. So I had that on my record, and that's what FedEx caught. That's the only thing that showed up at the time was that protective order. FedEx called me about the protective order. I explained to him that I was going to divorce and this happened and, you know, whatever. It's cool. So, yeah, everything got wiped out.

So how does it make you feel that you were given that second choice or second chance when so many people don't get that after you've listened to the episodes and have sat in that chair? Right. It felt good. I mean, it literally felt good. I thought, like, I thought it was everything was over, man. I didn't never, you could, I'd never thought I would go back to jail. Like, I thought, like, this is it. Like, I wasn't doing anything illegal.

I had a great job. I would always joke with people and say, I don't have a job. have a career. And I mean, it was awesome. And my family's super proud of me. Everything is just going too good. You know, I mean? Like, anytime shit starts going really good in my life, I feel like it's something's

going to happen, you know, and something happened. And ended up, like, I started dating this girl. And we both have a lot of, like, mental health issues. and so it just was not a good mix. You know what I mean? I'm not going to say that either one of us were, you know, the problem. I think us together was the problem. And I think one day we got, like, we got into it or something,

and she wouldn't get out of my car. And, like, I have to go to work. Like, I have to go to work. Like, you're in my car. I have to go to work. So anyway, like, she will not get out of my car. I'm going to work. and you could just sit in my car.

So on the way there, I'm thinking, like, I can't, I can't fucking have her in my car, like, you know what I mean, at FedEx. So I dropped her off at a gas station or made her get out of my car at the gas station. Someone saw it, called the police. And somehow, some bystander said I body slammed her on the ground, which never happened and they have cameras up there, you know what I mean? So turns out the cameras don't work or something. So anyway, I go to work.

I'm delivering packages, and then, like, I get, like, two or three hours later, I get a call from my manager to say, you need to come back to, you know, FedEx right now. I come back and I go in his office and I'm like, hey, what's up? And then there's two cops behind me, like, and they're being dicks. They're, like, pancuff me, bring me to decide, like, what in the fuck? You know what I mean? ended up like they ended up booking me for domestic abuse or something like that domestic abuse um and something else and um i tell the cop like this is at first i'm like i'm

like i'm not saying anything to you because i already know like in my head like i did not do this like i'm not saying anything to the dude and then he starts saying stuff i'm like this is completely wrong so it ended up like be like no this not true so he's like if i go back he doesn't tell me that the cameras don't work. And it's like, if I go back and look at those cameras, that's what I'm going to see. I was saying, yes, that's what you're going to see. You're going to see me getting her out, going to work.

You know what I'm saying? I didn't, you know, whatever. And so he ran up later writing in the police report like, what did you say? Like, Mr. Jameson didn't know the cameras were, whatever. I don't know. I don't care. But anyway, I get booked into jail. Made Bonn, which was ridiculous.

And I had to wear ankle monitor. So I'm thinking like I lost my job and everything's over with that. And my awesome manager was like, no, you still got your job. Well, did you have to deal with it? You just have to be a package handler, you know, until you get this all sorted out. And it gets thrown out. So six months, and I had fun, too, being a package handler because I was still making the same amount. I was making driving.

I was just, you know, doing a different job. I loved. And they ended up dropping everything on that. and got to be a driver again. So at this point, like, you know, I'm thinking like, okay, I'm glad that's over with. You know what I mean? Like, it was one little fall. And then six months later, ended up going to kind of the same thing happened,

except she had called him this time and I got arrested again. And then the detective made sure that I didn't have a bond. And so they took away my bond because she said she was in fear for her life, even though, like I've, you know what I'm saying? It was insane. Like, my parents couldn't believe it. My lawyer couldn't believe it. Like, it was just crazy.

So what ended up happening? So I ended up doing a year. So they took away my bond. You can't be a trustee at that jail if you don't, if you, you know, don't, if you're not sentenced pretty much. And, uh, or your bond has to be like a low amount. I don't have a bond at all. The bond that they did set was like $300,000.

Um, and I got arrested that time for, what was it? I got arrested for cyberstalking because they said I was texting her phone, which I probably was. And then what was the other one? I'm sorry, I can't remember what the other one was. It was no kind of violent crime, no kind of domestic violence. It was like cyberstalking and, God, I can't remember what the other one was now. I'm drawing a blank. Anyway, so they took away my bond on that.

and I sat in there for a year and I ended up having to plea out to something. I think I took, because I got arrested back to back so it's hard for me to remember which one is which. I ended up pleading out to like two years. Oh, what it was was is criminal property damage. Eight months prior, we had gotten to argument at her house and she had taken one of those stove things to the side of my car and have like this black charger was like the body perfect condition and that I put a lot of money and time into

and she had dented it so I was going up to her house walk back I was like oh man she so I got mad lost my fucking mind and like pulled out a hammer and like busted out her window this was like eight months prior to actually getting arrested but the detective made it look like it was like recent so

I knew I was going to be guilty of that but that was like a misdemeanor I think and so I had a plea out to those two things And then I sat in there for a year and I had to take like two years or something just to get the fuck out. You know what I mean? And this was a 23-hour lockdown for a year. I was in there for cyberstalking and criminal property damage. And that's a long time to be in jail for those two.

The cyberstalking thing was like a misdemeanor before like a couple months before I got arrested. for it, they turned it into a felony. But anyway, so I get out, I do that, time for that, and then I get out, like, I'm not in a, I mean, I don't have the job anymore, FedEx.

Like, I'm now, like, not going to get disexpunch. I think the, I can't remember, but I know there's, you know, it's, I'm not really in that good of a place of, of, of, of, of, of, of, this time. Like, I don't know what I'm going to do. I've lost fucking everything that I worked hard for,

And so anyway, I'm driving somewhere and ended up, I had no idea where the girl, oh, they put a protective order on us. And so I just don't know where, I don't care, like I'm not thinking about this at all. You know what I mean? And ended up driving past a car wash that I always go to and she works there. She sees me drive past a car wash and immediately calls the police and say, like, he's coming to my job. or whatever. So I ended up having to, I remember buying a motorcycle with like the little bit of money I had it leftover FedEx, like riding it all night the night before and like really getting

some peace of mind like everything clear. I'd gotten a job and started, but I got an interview I know it's going to get it. And then the next morning I rode all night long. It was during the summer too. I'm hot, sweaty. I get back to my parents' house. They're out of town. I'm staying there again.

And my stepdad calls me, and I don't pick it up. And he calls me again. And I was like, I got to pick it up. So I pick it up. He's like, hey, the detective just called me, and they're on the way the house to rest you. And I had only been out of jail for two weeks. I'm just after the year. I'm like, my heart just sings like, why?

He was like, they said you've been going by that girl's house. You went by our house. I was like, I haven't gone by our house. Like, what the fuck? She's like, just called her the detective. And this lady hates me. This lady, I could tell, like, when I was in court the first time, like, she, she cannot stand me at all.

I don't know why. You know what I mean? And so I call her up. She's like, yeah, we have video of you. Or no, what did she say? I said, hey, my stepdad just called and said that, um, you're on your way to arrest me, uh, because you said you have video footage of me going by her house. And she was like, I never said that to him.

And I was like, I know my dad's not going to lie to me. So like, what's the deal? She's like, I just need you to come in and talk. Well, that was the whole thing on the charge before that, you know, I didn't go talk to her because she had called me when I got arrested with this whole incident with her the first time. And I didn't go talk to her. So I was like, okay, I guess I'll go talk to her. Call my parole officer and like, hey, like, this is happening.

And she's like, well, let me look it up and see if you have a warrant or whatever because the detective had told me that there was a warrant for my arrest. and for a protective order violation. And she looked it up. She was like, you don't have a warrant. In my mind, I'm thinking, like, she's just bullshit because she told me that she didn't tell my stepdad that, which I know he's not going to lie.

So I know that's what she told him. So I think it's all bullshit. I just need to go talk to her to clear all this up. So, like, the next day, I go talk to her, and when she comes to get me out of the waiting room, wherever she's got an officer with her, so I know I'm getting arrested, like, no matter what. And, man, it was,

it was like she wouldn't tell me the details of like what she thought she just said that they that I'd been going by her job whatever at this point I don't even know where she works I didn't even know like that was where she works so I'm thinking like I'm going to be in and out with this you know whatever this confusion is so I get arrested and I'm thinking like man this is fucked up

I ended up doing a year on that so my lawyer comes up to seize me and sees me and shows me the evidence they have. Literally, I have my car driving past where she works. I didn't pull in. I didn't wave at her. I didn't stop or anything.

And then there's like, I can't remember what else it was. But it's just crazy shit. It ended up having to do like a year. And I was going to just fight it because it was the first time I'd ever been to jail for something I really didn't do. And I'm in there for a year. Of course, like this time was a lot of fun. Like I immediately made trustee and like, I say fun.

but it really was. Like it was like... Your time went easier. The karma. The karma was like, it really didn't do anything. So it's like, yeah, the time was super easy. And it was fun.

You know, it really was. Like, we had a lot of fun. Like, I met a lot of cool people. And it's like I'd been there and I just got out. So my mindset was already in that, you know, whatever it is. But, man, it was just crazy. And so a year goes by and I go to court and the whole time, I'm not going to take anything at all.

because I didn't do this. But the judge, they had a different judge in, and he was like, you've already done your time, man. Like, I'm going to run all this concurrent. It's like you can take the, it was a felony on the protective order. You can take the whatever, 18 months or whatever it is and you're done, whatever. So I just went ahead and pled so I could get out. And even my pro officer was like, man, I wish you wouldn't have did that.

But in my mind, I'm thinking I just got. just took like two felonies. So it was like, what's, what's another one? You know what I mean? And, yeah,

it was crazy. It was crazy being there, like the whole time and like knowing that's like, okay, this, I really didn't do this. And then having to actually plead out of something

just to get out of jail was even crazier because there, they just throw you off. Like, you'll go to court and they'll throw you off three months. Go back to court, throw you off,

throw you off, they don't offer you anything. They don't even tell you anything. They just, It's really crazy. Like the justice system is really fucked up. I don't know if it's fucked up everywhere, but it's really fucked up in Louisiana.

So do you have a record now from these new charges? Oh, yeah. I'm still on parole, actually. It was it hard to find work after again? I haven't really tried. I've just kind of been just doing my own thing. My grandmother, while I was in jail, she had her hip.

She broke her hip. And so she needs a lot of help. And I try to help her do that. You know what I mean? And I've been just doing like a little, a lot of side stuff. And my goal isn't to really get a normal job like that anymore. So I don't know.

It's probably going to affect it. But my plan's not to get a job like that. You know what I mean? I kind of want to do my own thing. What is your plan? What does like the next five years look like for you? I have no idea, man. I've been doing clothes.

Like, I'm pretty good at like graphic design. So I'm, and I really like that. It's just, it's a very saturated business. The whole streetwear and clothing and fashion. stuff. It's so over saturated. Like everyone thinks that they can do it. So I've been doing that. And, um, you know, it's just, it's really tough. It's like I played music for so long. And so it's really hard playing music to try to get people that people that are important to listen to it or whatever. And it's, it's almost exactly the same when you're trying to do, start a brand or

anything like that. Because it's like you have to have people wear it or, you know, and then the right people listen to it. It's super, super horror. I didn't realize it was going to be. I thought it would be easier than the music thing because music is very oversaturated, but it's not. It's almost exactly the same. Yeah, well, come up with some designs for locked in merch maybe

and we could collaborate on something. That would be awesome. What would you say is your biggest piece of advice you want others to take away from hearing your story? I have no idea, man. I have no idea. If you have kids, I mean, just, I think, I think the greatest piece of advice by I give just don't be selfish,

because we're all so selfish people. We're also just, I don't know, very selfish. And if you can recognize where you're being selfish and be a little bit more selfless, I think that everything works out a lot better whenever we put our time and investment into people we love instead of just, you know, looking out for our own selves and what we want and the whole, like, feeding your own desires and stuff. Like, I feel like if I would have just been a lot more selfless, like, I would be in a lot, a lot better place right now.

Matt, thank you for coming on the show today, man. Thank you, man. Yeah, I appreciate you coming out here and sitting down with me and sharing your story with me for the first time. Awesome. And safe travels back to Louisiana. Yeah.