Locked In with Ian Bick - Fraud Leads To 60 Months In Federal Prison | Andreea Parc

Episode Date: April 16, 2024

We explore the remarkable journey of a former lawyer, from encounters with El Chapo in Brooklyn to facing legal troubles and rebuilding after prison. Through tales of entrepreneurial endeavors, courtroom struggles, and unexpected twists, this episode is a rollercoaster of resilience and redemption. Join us as we delve into one woman's story of downfall, reflection, and rebuilding. Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Connect with Andreea Parc: https://www.andreeaparc.com/ Purchase her book: https://www.amazon.com/Alive-Again-Journey-Attorney-Redemption/dp/B0CPCJNM5D Creative direction, design, assets, support by FWRD: https://www.fwrd.co Buy Merch: https://lockedinbrand.com Use code lockedin at checkout to get 20% off your order Timestamps: 00:00:00 - intro 00:05:18 - Entrepreneurial Journey 00:10:54 - Ignoring Intuition and Becoming a Lawyer 00:16:38 - Struggles as an Attorney 00:22:55 - The Downfall of the Taxi Business and Personal Challenges 00:28:51 - Kidnapped and Taken to Albany 00:34:22 - Arrest and Court Proceedings 00:40:09 - Losing Everything in a Week 00:45:57 - Facing Legal Troubles 00:51:11 - Settling the Civil Case and Testifying against Michael Cohen 00:57:03 - Trial and Sentencing 01:02:18 - Reflections on the Sentencing 01:07:52 - A Visit to Danbury 01:13:14 - The Job of the Camp Driver 01:18:35 - Working in Prison 01:24:05 - Rebuilding After Prison 01:29:56 - Thanks and Goodbye Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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36-month lease, 4,499 to its signing. Tax title license and dock fees extra. Plus government fees and taxes. 7,500 miles per year, expires 6126. Who available at this payment? PH71529. PH714659. We had a lot of fun watching El Chapo being taken over the Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn, to

Brooklyn, to court. You guys could see it out your windows? And what was it, like a big army? The entire street was closed. And it was, I don't know, probably 20, 30 police cars. It was literally a show. Holy cow. Yeah.

And we were watching them over the Brooklyn Bridge. Did they ever lock down the prison because of him? Yeah. And we were locked in ourselves every time they were bringing him to medicine. Welcome back to the Lockton with Ian Bigg podcast. On today's episode, I have Andrea. Park here to share her story of how she, an immigration attorney, landed herself in 60 months inside federal prison.

This is a roller coaster ride of an episode, and I'm so excited to share her story with you guys today. Sit back, relax, and get ready to lock in with Andrea Park. Andrea, welcome so much to Locked in. You came to us from the city today, New York City. Yes, thank you. Thank you for having me, and it's great. I would like to thank you for this platform because you're allowing people like me who went through hell to be here and tell our story for other people who are going through.

And it's all about helping each other. Absolutely. Because I went through the system myself and I know when I went through it, the world only got to hear one side of the story. And that was the prosecution side. And even in a court setting, I went to trial and I didn't get to say everything I wanted to say because of all these rules and procedures. So to have this, it's great for people to come on and share their version of events without some lawyer or prosecutor chiming in saying, that's not what happened or this or that. Yeah, or don't say that or. Exactly.

This is just like a free, you know, cool, calm, collective space to be able to share. And you brought me a little gift. You brought me a book here. This is very nice. Yes. I love the cover and it feels really cool too. Thank you. So do you want to tell us about this book and what it means to?

Yes. This book is my story from the trial on. So it's basically my time in prison. I will also share with you here the story before, which I, it's basically, it's. the first time I'm sharing it. But this book started in MCC with the girls in the kitchen and it was supposed to be a cookbook. But then at home I started to write some more and it took me a year and half to write it because it was painful. But somehow, as you said before, it's our story that comes out, the pain comes out of us. And it's somehow the pain that was in me, now it's outside of me

and it's in that book. That's awesome. And it's for people to enjoy and to see the other side of of, I'm a trained attorney. So as attorneys, we see things up to the trial. We don't see what's happening on the other side. So after the cookbook, it transformed into a self-help book. And I was thinking to call it how to win the mental game of prison. but I wasn't teaching anything. It was basically my story.

So people can take whatever they want from it. And finally, I came up with that name, Alive Again, which is basically what I am right now. I started a new life. And it's from maternity to redemption in prison. That's incredible. And this is available on Amazon. Amazon, yes.

We'll have the link for everyone in the description. description. We always like to plug everyone in with the links to social media and books or anything because a lot of our guests have written books. And I was telling you out there, I have a little collection of all the books that guests give me and very thankful for it. So thank you for the gift. Welcome. So were you born in the United States? No. I was born in Bucharest, Romania, back when Romania was still a communist country. But since I remember, probably I was five or six, I wanted to live in New York City and be a successful businesswoman without obviously knowing at five years old what business means in New York City. But I've always

been entrepreneurial and I've always wanted to have my own business and I'm you know, sometimes it's good to be risky and courageous. And sometimes it's not. I mean, I've made some bad choices out of too much courage. Was there someone you looked up to in the business world in the United States that gave you that idea? No, at that point, no. I mean, we were watching on, um, um, tapes on videotapes, American movies, which weren't actually allowed back then.

But I don't know. Probably, that's the reason. It inspired me, American movies to why New York City? I don't know. But New York City was for me. And I got here when I was 22, fresh out of law school. So you did law school in Romania? I did law.

Yes. I wanted to pursue a, my passion is arts. And I wanted to do fashion design. But my dad and my parents were very strict on education. And he was that set against arts, the arts, because being an artist is not a profession. So this is how I found myself in law school Because Romania, in Romania you're allowed after high school to go to law school

So at 22, I was fresh out of law school and I moved to New York City Your family did? No, by myself. Just you, by yourself? Yes. That's got to be scary. By myself. I mean, I loved it.

Did you have anywhere to live or you just came here randomly? I was, yes, I was invited. by my, a distant relative as a present for graduating law school. And some family weird things happened and I was by myself shortly thereafter. Do you ever wish you went the art route that you pursued art instead of becoming an attorney? You know, sometimes I believe that the universe conspires with us to put us on the right path regardless of what we're doing. So had I not pursued the law part haven't been where I was, And whatever happened wouldn't have happened.

And I would not have been, wouldn't have the opportunity to be here today. Yeah, it's funny. You said that because this morning I was just listening to a podcast with Jay Shetty and Michael B. Jordan. And Michael B. Jordan was explaining how, you know, sometimes in life we want things to go a certain way and we try these new things only for the universe and life to not have that in store and in our cards for us. you end up going exactly where you need to be. Yeah. Which is, that's the fascinating journey of life. Right.

Right. And right now, right now I'm doing what I like and always like to do, to write and to help people. And without as horrifying as this experience was, I'm grateful. Because without it, I would not have been here. I would have been the miserable attorney that I was before. this happening. So did you have to take the bar in the United States? How does this work? Yes. So a foreign attorney needs to follow a program which is called the LLM program, which is basically the masters of law, in order to sit for the bar. And then you take the bar, which is hard. It took me

eight tries. Oh, wow. A. You're persistent. Yes. Because in my family, I don't know if it's my family or the Romanian way, failure is not an option. And I pushed through until I passed it. So for four years, eight tries, that was everything that I went through.

And I went through a lot of things during that time, having a family, having a business, working for somebody else. I kept that promise to myself to become a New York City, New York State licensed attorney. Knowing what you know now with everything that happened, do you think that maybe life was trying to tell you not to be a lawyer by, you know that many times because sometimes people are just going to say hey maybe I should do something different um maybe but I've never listened to um I've done a lot of mistakes just by not listening to my intuition but um I at the end of the day I'm happy I did it because it was a person a personal satisfaction after I long I worked for so long to you had to see it through to yeah to get there so what kind of lawyer did you end up becoming um I had a general practice I had I did literally I work for the Romanian community mostly um and divorces and closings um contracts and immigration law, which is ultimately why I got into trouble.

And how many years did you do that? Like you had a successful run, you were building a business? Yes. For probably eight years, six years, something like that, eight years. So into your 30s about? Yeah. Okay. So where do things start to go into the gray area?

So let me start from the beginning. Yeah. So I got married. I had my daughter. I started a business. And when I came here, I had various jobs. One of the jobs was a, I was working for the largest Romanian-American newspaper in the U.S. and I was writing one page on legal matters for the Romanian community.

Being known in the Romanian community was very easy for me to open a business. So I opened this business where I was helping the Romanian community with translations and documents for Romania. In the same time, I was studying, going to school, studying for the bar exam. And I've learned... bookkeeping and somebody referred me to an accountant and I worked. That's the reason why I told you that I'm going to say a part of my story that I never spoke about before. So this accountant offered me a bookkeeping job. So I was going to his office. I would take boxes and of financial records and floppy disks.

So it was back on, right, before when it was dial-up internet, before the fast internet. And I would input financial information into QuickBooks. After a couple of years, he told me that most of the corporations, the companies that I was working were owned by the same person. And that this person wanted me, wanted to talk to me eventually to do an in-house accounting department because everything was on paper and cash business and he wanted to be kind of, to have everything on computer. So I met with this person and this person was the one and only Jean Friedman,

who shortly would become the taxi king. So he was a man with a vision for his yellow cabs in New York and he owned and operated most of the New York City yellow caps. And we started to work together and I implemented his accounting department and shortly from one person he had three people full time in his accounting department. Why am I telling you this? That I was working for him three days a week, working for my business and going to studying for for the bar exam. His business grew. So when we started, it was a medallion was about quarter million.

And saying, and this is a world before Uber and all of that existed. And shortly it became over a million dollars. Sure enough, Uber appeared, showed up. in the picture and the taxi business declined. And in the, so I passed the bar in 2010. And when I passed the bar in 2010, I was working for this person for taxic law management. I had my own practice as well.

And I, um, I, did this juggling of the two for about four years. When I passed the bar exam, my inflated ego thought that I wouldn't be a good attorney without a nice office. So I borrowed a large amount of money from Gene Friedman and rented. a gorgeous, huge office on 17 Battery Place, which is right overseeing the Statute of Liberty and it was absolutely amazing.

My plan, my business plan, was to keep half of the space for myself and to rent the other half. But I had no plan for that. So you asked me where things started to go gray. My opinion is that things started to go south when I passed a bar exam. Really? Why? Because in my mind, after I worked so much to become a New York State attorney,

in my mind was, okay, that's it. I arrived. Now I'm a New York State licensed attorney. That's it. Without realizing that I didn't have any vision for, okay, I'm an attorney, but now what? What am I doing? What's the plan? I didn't have a purpose.

I was just floating in the middle of the ocean without literally, no purpose, no vision. and with that huge office, I had no clients. And after almost a year, when I lost all the money, I swallowed my pride and moved to Queens. But continued to pay back with interest, the loan, right? So I was, literally, I had. no clients. And I was relying to the money from taxi club management. So I was paying all of my bills from there. I didn't realize that my marriage was failing, that my daughter wasn't happy in

school. I had this, I was living a, it was, I was creating a fake image of a successful attorney, which clearly that wasn't the life that I lived. And as soon as I moved to Queens, business started to pick up. Romanian people from the Romanian community started to show up and it was okay. It was started to, I was starting to be able to pay my bills.

That was at that point. And then one day, two families of immigrants came to my door to file for asylum. I knew a lot of immigration law, but I didn't know much about asylum. But I listened to their stories and they were really, really compelling. And I trusted myself that I would be able to file and help them. because as an immigrant myself, I wanted to help immigrants as much as possible. And that's the reason why I was helping the Romanian community because I spoke the language and I was there for them.

All right. So it was really interesting that because due to the backlog of the immigration courts, these people their asylum was approved in less than a year. And once that happened, the floodgates of immigrants wanting to file for asylum opened. And I had many clients. How much do you make on a asylum case? Well, is there a lot of money in it? Technically, no.

The entire process, I was charging $5,000. But I never got to the end. So the initial filing, I was charging $1,500. However, these are immigrants with kids and families and no work. And most of them didn't even have the $1,500. So a lot of them actually paid $500 for an application. And between the immigrants and the taxi club going three days there, then court, then clients, I was working like a maniac. I didn't have time to think.

And I was in this fantasy world, like something was not. adding up. I mean, I didn't see the neon signs that were all over the place that I'm not going in the right direction. But I continue because, remember, failure is not an option. I continued to push through. And eventually the taxi business went down. And Gene Friedman, the taxi king, couldn't literally pay his mortgages. He couldn't pay his people.

He couldn't. It wasn't a nice image of what it was with what had become. Another bad choice that I've made, when he closed the office in the city, I moved his accounting department. The girls that were working for him, I moved it to my office. And that was very difficult because between my immigration clients and other clients and him, him in the office was not fun. I mean, he was, I needed to, it was a challenge to make appointments for clients because I couldn't schedule a nice lady for a will with Jean there cursing the F word every second word.

And the waiting area full of immigrants yelling and children playing. And it was crazy, literally, like a madhouse. What was his downfall? Was it he expanded too big? Yes. And then mix that in with Uber and whatnot happening? So, right. So when Uber showed, so what he did, when the value was going up,

of the medallion, he was borrowing against the difference. So basically the equity to buy more. And it was going higher and he was buying more. He was borrowing and buying more and more and more. And I was and everybody was looking at him as he's the millionaire of the new New York City, but literally, I didn't realize that he didn't own anything because everything was he owned debt because the banks owned basically the medallions. Yeah.

So when it blew up, he lost everything. Everything, literally. And he couldn't pay his taxes. He couldn't pay his mortgages. he was sued left and right by literally everybody. And let me see if there is anything else that I should mention before I get into the tough part. So one day, so I knew that he couldn't pay. And I finished paying back his loans within.

interest to the last penny in January 2017. And by March, our consulting relationship was done, was over. And I was working at my desk in the office on June 6, 19, 19, uh, 2017. It was around 2.30 in the afternoon when two people walked in my office. They said Andrea Dumitro. And I looked up and I said, yes, that's me. Because that was Andrea Dumitru was my full name. What a name. I used, so I didn't, Dumitru is my ex-husband's name. And I kept Dumbitru because Parkalaboyu, obviously, nobody would be able to pronounce. And Andrea Park, what I'm going by now is it's PARC, the first letters of Parkalaboyu.

But my legal name is Parkalaboy. But I go by Andrea Park. But back then, although my full legal name was Andrea Dumitru, Parkalaboyu, I was going by Andrea Dumitro because it was easier. So I look up and there were two people, a male and a female, dressed in black with bulletproof vests. And I said, yes, that's me. And the guy said, you have to come with us and he pulled handcuffs out of his pocket.

And I said, why? Why? What is this? Nothing. They didn't introduce themselves. They didn't tell me anything. So they handcuff me. I wanted to take my bag. He said, you don't need anything. I asked them to let me use the restroom before I leave. Nothing. So they pulled me out of the office into a black car. Where are you taking me? Nothing. No, no answer. Of course, the entire neighborhood was out looking what is happening. You know, small queen's residential neighborhood. And they started driving.

Of course, I kept asking nothing. No answer. Drove through the Bronx up on I-87. and I realized that I was kidnapped. I said it must have been because otherwise, you know, you learn in law school that then when somebody is arresting you, they have to read your rights, they have to tell you, they have to write, give you some information. But these people didn't give me anything.

So clearly, I was kidnapped. and panic, imagine. And they eventually take the exit to go to the outlets, the woodbury outlets. I don't know if you know that. Yeah, of course. We grew up going there. So I said, ha, somebody's playing a prank of me. They kidnapped me to take me shopping.

imagine. Okay, and we stopped. Oh, and the only thing that the men told me at some point was when I asked why he said taxes. Said taxes. I've always paid my taxes. And we went into the cold parking lot, which is right next to the outlets. And we stopped next to another car. And next to the car, guess who I see? Jean Friedman, also in handcuffs. And somehow I tried to put the pieces together that is related, this whole horrific situation, somehow related to him. We weren't allowed to talk, of course.

And I was taken out of the car, changed the handcuffs, and tie the handcuffs with the chain around my waist and transferred to another car. I asked again to let me use the restroom. Nothing. They didn't tell me anything. They put me into a different car. And the woman was next to me and a man was driving. And again, I started asking questions. Where are taking me?

I need to use the restroom, please. Nothing. Finally, they told me we're going to Albany. Albany, okay. But please, before I can process anything, let me use the restroom. So they were nice enough to stop me at the rest area. The challenge was, of course, how can you use the restroom with handcuffs and the stone face in front of you? Finally, make the long story short, we got to Albany, fingerprints and mock shut.

And I asked to make a phone call when you get to the jail. I said, oh, fantastic, great. going to jail in Albany. That's so far away from Queens. It's like almost a two-hour drive. I believe it was over two hours because we stopped. Why'd they have to bring you all the way to Albany? Because it turns out so I was in jail overnight.

And in the morning, of course, no phone call. In the morning, they took me to. court with handcuffs and yellow. They changed the orange to the yellow jumpsuit and the crock, matching crocs. At least they are matching. Matching crocs. Chains all over the place. And in court, I found out that I had five counts of tax fraud along.

the same charges with Gene. And the bail was said, he's of half a million, mine at 400,000. Federal or state? State. That's the reason why it was Albany. Because that's where the state court for taxes is. Department of Taxation and finances in Albany. So I was terrified and nobody knew where I was.

I asked, the judge didn't let me speak because I didn't have representation. I didn't have an attorney. He adjourned for the afternoon for me to find an attorney. Finally, I was able, they let me use the phone. I realized that the only phone number that I knew by heart was the office number. How ironic, you know. I called the office and apparently everybody knew where. I was because the internet and the news channels was full of the backshots of Jean and myself.

So I get a local attorney in the afternoon I go to court and the judge said you can go home when you post bail. And my family, I put collateral, my apartment and some very good friends. of mine put their apartment collateral. So two apartments in Queens to cover the 400,000. And I was there in horrific, like literally horrific situations until Friday afternoon. With mice all over the place and locked up for 23 hours a day and, I mean, state, now knowing federal, The state's way worse. Yeah, I mean, Danbury Camp was literally a all-inclusive resort comparing to what's the state.

And you had never been in any kind of jail before or anything like that. No, and I mean, I've been as an attorney visiting clients in prison, an immigration prison. Yeah, but never yourself. Never. And every time I was there, I couldn't, couldn't wait to get out of there faster. So I was, I couldn't eat. I couldn't drink anything from Tuesday to Friday. It was horrific food and conditions.

Anyway, on my way home, I called the office to let them know that I'm more. my way home. Nobody answered the phone. That's weird because usually the office was open up until probably six o'clock in the afternoon, but they didn't, or my two assistants didn't even answer the cell phones, which was even weirder. Finally, around, I don't know, 4.35 o'clock, my main assistant picked up her cell phone. And she told me, that federal agents paid a visit to the other assistant at 6 o'clock in the morning and they surveilled the office the entire morning and she was terrified and she locked the office and left at 12 and that was like what is this federal this is state and now it's a federal is it still

Jean? What is this? And first in Monday morning, all my employees quit. I found their keys in the mailbox. They didn't want to be a part of it. They were scared. But not even a phone call, nothing. So unofficially quit. Keys in the mailbox. Nobody would pick up the phone. And my main assistant came on Monday morning, told me whatever happened the week before when I wasn't there, and gave me her keys and left. That's it. I was by myself. And I sat down to see what actually, because over the weekend, I couldn't deal with the

internet. So Monday I looked on the internet and there was probably like 10 pages of Google of me and Jean, the king and queen, the taxi king and queen. Okay. And then I contacted a criminal attorney for the federal to figure out what the federal was. And they said, no, that's another case on your immigration practice. I said, oh, fantastic. Everything in a week.

It all comes at once. Once. So in a week, I more or less lost everything that I worked for 20 years. And this was in 2017. Yeah. What was the immigration aspect of it? So the immigration aspect was that I didn't know for a while what the investigation. was. So basically, my clients, not all of them, of course, but some of them were doing ATM fraud.

What is that? Like credit card fraud. Oh, ATM fraud. Okay. And they were, of course, arrested by the feds, right? And I was wondering why. I was wondering why, I can't reach most of the clients because they were arrested, right? But I didn't connect the dots. So the Fed basically investigated me for the ringleader of this operation. Of the ATM? They thought you were doing the only? Were you?

No, of course not. Is that what you went to prison for, though? So they couldn't find any evidence on that because basically, I mean, now going back and putting myself in their shoes, it makes. Yeah, they're all your clients. Right. Yeah. Because. And they're paying you.

So why, how is this person in the U.S.? On is, has an asylum application waiting for? their case to be heard. Who's the attorney? Andrea Dumitru. Okay, another person. Who's the attorney? Andrea Dumitru?

What are the odds of that happening? Imagine. So that's why I'm saying that somehow the universe conspired in this weird, I mean, every, and from now on, everything that could go wrong

actually did go wrong. So insane things that you wouldn't imagine could have happened, actually happened. And again, now looking back, I feel blessed because without this experience, I would not have been, I wouldn't realize what I was doing. and continued on that wrong path. So you accidentally got yourself wrapped up into that? Yeah. What about the state charges for that?

Hold on. I'm sorry? Was that intentional, the state aspect of it? No, that, oh, why I was arrested along with Gene? Yeah. That's another crazy thing. because in my craziness of trying to do everything in the same time, I didn't realize that, so I was trying to avoid Gene coming to the office.

Because when Gene was coming to the office, everything was going crazy. Oh, and it was another case. So he was coming to the office. He was saying, I'm coming for a meeting at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, let's say. And I cleared my agenda. The ladies that were working for him in my office were there, but the schedule was until 5.36 o'clock the most. They had kids.

They had families. I mean, they had to go home. not wait for Jean until nighttime. And he would mostly come. So the meeting was announced at four. He would probably show up around seven. Yeah. Starting yelling and cursing everybody.

And you didn't do this. You didn't do that. And flying papers and the F word, every other word. And banging the table with, literally, like he would put you in a state of stress. And in order for me to avoid that, I would take the information that he would want to give the girls,

and I would tell the girls what to do. And with filing the taxes, he didn't have money to pay the taxes, right? So he was lowering the amount on paper that he had to pay. So because I was the one giving the information to the girls, plus I technically, I had the title chief financial officer. I didn't have the responsibility of a chief financial officer because he was doing everything himself.

I didn't have any decision making, but because I was the one telling the girls what to do, that's the reason why the state prosecutors thought that I must have something to do, right? So you're getting hit from both sides? So do you go to trial on both of them? No, I want to trial. only on the federal case. And then the other case was, the funny thing is, that I had two criminal cases in the same time

and one civil, because a girl that worked for him sued him for sexual harassment. And I was aiding and abetting. How do you, you were like covering it up they were accusing you of? that again, that was another, Jean was very, and this lady that sued him was a lady that knew him for years, like worked with him 10 years before I met him. And they knew each other well. And he was very, he had no filter. So he was talking very, he was saying things that.

man in this day and age, it's not proper to say. But he did. And she thought that the comments that he made, because it was all verbal, it wasn't anything physical, that it was sexual harassment. And I was there also. because apparently she claimed that I didn't take her side. Wow. Right.

So I had two criminal and one civil. We got three cases going on. Three cases going on a mother attorney in Queens. And how old were you at the time in 2017? 30. No, I was 42. 42. And how old was your daughter at that point?

15. 15 and you were divorced by that point? Yeah. Before the cases started or after? Before. Before. So you're single, you're charged with all these stuff and you just have your daughter. Yeah.

That's kind of be, I can't even imagine. What was your conversation with her like when all this was happening? She was telling me the other day that when I got home, So back then, the agreement with her dad was that she would stay with me a week and with him a week from Thursday to Thursday. So when I disappeared on Tuesday, I was thinking, oh, I have until Thursday to be home so she wouldn't know. But guess what? I was all over. It didn't go according to plan. No.

So she told me the other day that, you know, when you came home after Albany, we didn't talk about it. You didn't say anything. And I said, why didn't you ask me questions? I said, well, since you didn't say anything, I didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. I mean. Well, can she say, you know, in that type of situation? Were any of our friends giving her a hard time at all?

Yeah. I mean, it was, and then with the federal, so you're going to ask me how the state, so the civil case, I settled. Okay. The state case, Gene testified against his friend Michael Cohen. Wait, Michael Cohen, the lawyer? Yes. The Michael Cohen. Wait, Michael Cohen was a part of this case?

Yeah. I didn't know, but he wasn't arrested, was he? No. No. That had to do with his federal case? That was separate, right. Okay. But he, Gene testified against Michael Cohen, and I was downgraded to a misdemeanor.

So, and you weren't even their target in that state thing. No. And they were probably in talks with the feds. and they knew that the feds had. Yeah, most likely. Yeah. So the feds, did they offer you a plea deal or anything? Yes, they offer me a plea.

But I was so angry on everything that happened. And I was so in my head and so ignorant. Like, probably I was stupid and ignorant. because, you know, the stupid doesn't have the knowledge and the ignorant has the knowledge and doesn't do anything with it. Because I didn't want to plea. I said, no, I'm not. I mean, I made mistakes.

I made several mistakes because it was so great. Why I was telling you the entire story is that I didn't have the, the time with myself and authenticity with myself at that time to stop and think and educate myself. And I was like, no, yes, I made mistakes. I cut corners because the filing, the immigration filings for the asylum applications, were very easy. And the filings were literally, you would put the name,

you could have put the name of the person. Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile, the message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please for the love of everything good in this world. Stop. With Mint, you can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments, but that's weird. Okay, one judgment.

judgment. Anyway, give it a try 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. See full terms at mintmobile.com. And just file it. Nobody would look at it. So you knew what you were doing was wrong in that sense? Clearly. I mean, I didn't see the intuition because the stress, I was in

and after the state case I was so afraid that my brain froze and somehow I thought that if I don't pay attention it's going to go away it's going to disappear if I don't look at it

and it didn't but I can't say that I didn't make mistakes because that would be not true. But in my mind, it wasn't intentional. So I didn't file so many asylum applications to defraud the U.S. government. That was clearly not my intention.

Is that what the charges were? Yeah. What a conspiracy did it defraud the U.S. government? Yes. The charges were. immigration, it was asylum fraud, false statements. And they offered me two years. Oh, wow.

No way. You would have been better off taking the two years. Well, it's in no way. I mortgaged my already mortgage department, which was placed as a collateral in Albany. I got an equity loan on that, and I paid two sets of attorneys. Oh, you got a federal paid attorney. Yeah.

Two sets of attorneys, quarter million dollars. So, as you can see, my not-so-smart, courageous trust in the legal American system, and probably I looked so put together and confident that nobody tapped me on the shoulder. Hey, lady, you're crazy. Stop. But again, the universe conspired. So I realized because even if somebody would have told me something, probably I would not have have listened.

Yeah. You're stubborn. And later on, I realized that this was literally God's way of putting me on the right path. So you ended up going to trial. So we went, yes, we went to trial. And before we went to trial, I got the penalty trial. another charge, a superseding charge, for, oh, you don't want to plea? Okay, we have a mandatory minimum 24 months identity theft.

Did you seal someone's identity? No. So they just hit you with that. You're right, of course. They said that by using the passports of the clients in, the fraud of filing for asylum, that was enough for identity theft. All right. So I go to trial and I was so, my brain was fried.

So I couldn't even speak if somebody would have asked me my name. I couldn't say my name. I lost. I mean. How long was the trial? Two weeks. Oh, it was two weeks. Okay.

Yeah. Plus, it was a speedy trial because the government signed 5K letters with clients who were in prison. So they could get the good deals. So they can go home and they promised them they're going to be home by Christmas. So that's the reason why they sped up the trial. They threw you under the bus. So when you lost trial, did they take you to prison right away or did you get to self-surrender? The day before I asked my attorneys, all right, let's say that I lose, which in my mind, I would never, that was never something that appeared in my vision. Let's say that I lose.

Oh, don't worry about it. They're going to give you a date for you to surrender. Okay, fine. but I have dual citizenship, right? And they don't like that. Feds don't like that. And that's that. So once the jury decided, the judge basically ordered the judge basically order the marshals to take me in.

And that was that. So I left home in the morning of November 19, 2018, the Thanksgiving week. And I returned home almost three years later, August 5th, 2021. Wow. You had no idea when you woke up that morning. No. You never know. It's always, you know, when you look back on it, you're like, wow, that was like my last morning.

But I was so numb and empty. And the pain was so raw that somehow I was happy. It finished. So my first night in MCC. And that's where they had Al Chapo. El Chapo. and later the year later where Jeffrey Epstein

And now it's closed It's closed now Yes they closed The December 2020 Okay Yeah And you were in there While those individuals

Were housed in there Yeah They have like Is it like I was in Brooklyn Is it like that where there's a All Women's Floor Yeah Where it's like just one floor

So the floor Yes The women's floor Is the floor With the medical And the law library And it's like a big tower. It's like a high-rise.

Like you're going in elevators a lot and you're in like a unit and a pod. Yeah. What were the women wearing in there? It was a gray uniform. Okay. Like a jumpsuit or just a... No, your pants and shirt. Okay, yeah.

Because in Brooklyn it was a jumpsuit. It was a brown jumpsuit with the blue canvas shoes. And you were waiting there for your designation. Before, I was waiting for sentencing. Okay. And designation and sentencing came because my attorneys pushed it, tried to get a lower sentence. And they pushed it initially was scheduled for February,

and then I ended up in May. And how much time do you end up getting? Five years. Five years. 60 months. What was the recommended guidelines for you? I believe it was, I was, the judge, I believe, said that I was below, but I think I was right there. When you got those 60 months, what was going through your head?

At that point in time, I had five months, six months of thinking. and at that point, I realized all the mistakes that I've made. I realized all the wrong turns that I took and how bad I felt when I was an attorney. And when the judge read the sentence, I said, Listen, everything is temporary. Somehow I knew it's not going to be five years, but, and ultimately, I believe that my daughter suffer most. Was she at your sentencing that day?

Yeah. Did you see her reaction when you got sentenced? Yeah, I was hearing her crying. Did you think about that a lot when you were serving your time that moment, maybe even, now to this day? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I did a lot of meditation and forgiveness and, of course, I'm still in process of healing. But I think that if would have been by myself, it wouldn't have been so painful as knowing that she's out there. Did you have any communication with her father?

No. He stayed out of it unsupportive. So it was just you and her against the world. Yeah. And they end up sending you to Danbury. So after eight months in MCC, I was transferred to Danbury. And did you know what Danbury federal prison was? at the time when you're at one of the most famous prisons, especially for women, because

oranges and new black was at its peak at that point. And didn't know anything. Did you watch that at all going? Did you watch it after when you got out? When I came home, I watched the first probably two. Yeah. No. Did you see any similarities?

No. No. Okay. No. Did your daughter watch it at all and say, Mom, is it like that? Yeah. Yeah. She said she did.

Yeah. That's funny. That's so funny. So you got to Danbury. I got to Danbury and it was, I mean, from NCC when where we were locked. Yeah, all that you're locked almost. We were allowed on the unit. And in the book, I have some funny stories of things that happened in MCC.

But it was prison. And we had a lot of fun watching El Chapo being taken over the Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn, to court. You guys could see it out your windows? Yeah. And what was it like a big army? The entire street was closed. And it was, I don't know, probably 20, 30 police cars. It was literally a show.

Holy cow. Yeah. And we were watching them over the Brooklyn Bridge. Did they ever lock down the prison because of him? Yeah. And we were locked in ourselves every time they were bringing him to medical. Really? Yeah.

Wow. Because they didn't want anyone to break him out or anything. Yeah. Although we were locked in the unit, so we couldn't, in order to get on the females' unit, it was a hallway with three locked doors. And opening one, you would have to close the. the other one behind. So you literally couldn't go out of the unit. But when they would bring him to medical, we were locked in the cells.

Wow, that's incredible. Yeah. You were so close to Al Chapo. Yeah, imagine. And then when I was transferred to Tembury, it was like from handcuffs to shackles to everything. I was giving a bed roll, walked out the gate, and the officer said, okay, so now you walk up that hill and the camp, it's on top of the hill. And I was holding the bedrole in the middle of the street by myself.

You're like, should I run? I was like, what is this? And that prison's like 10 minutes from here. Was this the first time you're back in this area since? No, no. I was laughing. My daughter was laughing because all the roads unfortunately take us to Danbury because her dad, my ex-husband, passed away last year. Oh, wow.

Guess where? In Danbury. He lived in Danbury? No, he lived in Carmel, New York, which is very close. And because he had a massive heart attack, the closest big hospital that could accommodate and had an intensive care unit was Denbury Hospital. Which is where they also bring the inmates to. Yeah. Wow.

Life really did come full circle. Yeah. We were there. We were here in Denbury last year when he passed. And then when we left, my daughter said, I'm not stepping foot ever again. in Danbury. She came back today. And when I scheduled the appointment with you, I said, you know, it's in Danbury, would you break

the promise with yourself and come with me or not? And she said, okay, I'll come with you. That's good. She seems very supportive. Yes, yes, she is. She followed me on Instagram, and then she posted, I think, a picture of you or something. I was like, I think your mom is coming to the studio. She's like, yeah, I'm coming with her.

And you could tell how much she loves you and is as excited, you know, for you and is rooting for you and stuff. Yeah. And she has some photos of you on her Instagram. It's very sweet. Yes, yes, yes. And, yeah, and she was coming to visit every Sunday with the close friends and who actually drove us here and are waiting for us outside. No, why didn't you tell them to come upstairs? You could have invited them in.

Yeah. So they know. the way here almost by heart coming so many times. But it was unfortunate that we haven't seen each other for 13 months during the pandemic. Oh, yeah. So you were in the prison during the pandemic. And I was in solitary confinement, 33 days twice. Why did they put you into solitary?

The first time when I stayed 19 days was because I was exposed to somebody that had COVID, although I personally tested negative twice. And then when I tested positive for COVID, I was in solitary confinement for 14 days. I heard that during COVID, that's what they would use solitary for. No, I thought there wasn't a solitary at the woman's prison. They have one, the shoe, which is attached to the male. So it's like the old bars, though, right? Yeah. Because I was in the shoe in Danbury, and it was like bars, like kind of like a, it wasn't like a solid door, like an MCC.

No, it's not. It was bars, right? It was bars. So what the hell did it even matter if you guys were isolated? You could still get germs out or stuff. Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy.

Yeah. And the lower level was for quarantine. And the upper levels was for disciplinary. Because it's stacked. It was stacked like three tiers. How did, what was I going to say? So with COVID there, how did it work when you were in a camp? Because there's no cells. You're not in a cell. You're in like bunk beds and like it's a barracks. kind of. So when the pandemic hit, they released everybody that had less than 18 months. And then a lot of the women who had serious medical issues were there more than 18 months with more than 18 months left on their sentence. So they started a case against Danbury. A federal case, right? A lawsuit.

Yes. Yes. Which they won. And I, during the pandemic, I actually saw more than 200 people leaving. And I was still there because I didn't qualify for anything. I didn't have a medical condition, so I couldn't leave. How much time did you have on your sentence? Still like three years left?

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So a lot of people left. So we were basically one per bunk, one per cubicle. So this is how we went through the pandemic. But it was still, the bathrooms were, it was impossible to have six feet separation. Were they enforcing that there?

Well, trying to, but I mean. If you were touching elbows when brushing your teeth. And how did I work during Chow Hall? Because don't you guys all eat together? They would, no, they closed. I worked in the kitchen. Oh, you worked in the kitchen? I worked in the kitchen.

I worked in grounds. I was a town driver for eight months. You were the town driver? That's so cool. I'm surprised they let someone with that has like dual. citizenship as the town driver. I mean, I was, everybody was laughing at me that I live under a rock. I didn't know anything that was happening around. I didn't care. I mean, it was me with myself, my soul, my mind, because I realized that the only I had, if I would put my energy into things that I couldn't control, I would

lose my mind. So my purpose, the first night, I went to MCC and I met a girl who told me her story that she was, she overdosed twice and she was blessed to be in prison, that prison saved her life. I realized that my story is not that. dramatic. I mean, nobody died. I was there for a temporary period of time. And the purpose was to keep my mind straight, not to go crazy and to actually come out saner, if I can say that, then I went in. So in Danbury, I was really, I kept my mind off things that I couldn't control.

Describe the job of the camp driver, like what exactly it was you would do. That was so much fun. So I was the only one that I was allowed to leave the premises. and because so many people were leaving, they didn't have enough officers to begin with. So I was there to take people to the airport, to the train station. So the airport was the Hartford, so it was about an hour and a half drive. And the train station was the Denver return train station. And I would have a cell phone and a GPS.

Of course, the cell phone you couldn't use because it was just to call the prison just in case something happens. But it was fun to see. It was like a parallel reality. Like, I'm seeing normal people with normal lives. I'm among them, but I'm not like them. And you're in your uniform. Yes. What kind of car were you driving?

The Dodge, the government car. The government car by myself was really cool. Did you ever stop for fast food or anything? With one money. Sometimes inmates would smuggle cash or on a visit. Like you'd have someone give you cash. No. You stayed away from all that.

Oh my God. I was so one time, the officer, who was reading all the emails, thought, believed that contraband is coming in. And it was a lot of contraband in Denver, especially during the pandemic. So he called us for town hall. And he started saying things that people were saying over the emails and the phones because he was listening to them, right? And he actually caught who was bringing in contraband. And he took one by one and told the story of everybody. And when he got to me, he said, forget it. You're so boring. You're worse they're reading the New York Times. Yeah. So no, I didn't. They told me that they're not. They're not. They're

not allow to tell me where I'm going and when I'm going because of security purposes. So I don't tell somebody to whatever. Yeah, you get your instructions right then and there, right? Yeah. But no, they always told me a few days in advance because they knew that I'm not going to do anything. I guess that's why they gave you the job. Yeah.

And how much were you paid as the camp driver? Oh, forget about it. Like $25 a month? Did you have to like make a hustle or anything? No. You just did your thing. You didn't get anything. No.

No. No. No. But the very interesting thing that I want to say is that not a lot of people know that slavery was abolished in the U.S. Except for the duly convicted. So you're. If you're convicted, the state basically is allowed to use you as a slave. And that's the reason why you're working, but you're paid like peanuts.

Yeah, they don't pay shit in prison. So I was working in the kitchen. So at some point, I had three jobs in the same time. And I was never more than 30 bucks a month. No, the whole thing. Total? Yeah. Oh, man.

So I worked as a town driver, the library, and in the kitchen when they reopened the kitchen. Like 30 bucks, 35 bucks. And sometimes the guy would miss payroll because I don't know what something was a glitch in the system and they can go back. So the following month, he couldn't pay me twice for the previous month. So they skipped like probably two months. What was your job in the kitchen? Serving. Oh, you were just a server?

You didn't have like a fun job? No. And I loved it because I was able to observe people. You know, somehow. And that's the reason why that book has a lot of recipes and I thought of making it a cookbook. And I'm also working. on a food blog. Okay.

Because I realize that people have a very close connection with food. And the psychology of people relating to food is incredible. So I was watching people coming into the line and by their faces, by their expression, I would know what they would want and not want. What was your favorite dish in there? What was? I couldn't eat the chicken. I didn't like the chicken.

The chicken was the best meal in there every Thursday, the chicken. I know. But no, no, I didn't. I was actually registered as a vegetarian, but because I worked in the kitchen, oh, you know what I loved. the beef stew. Okay. Yeah, that was good.

And we had an officer who used to work in the military, and he was the chef for the military back in the day. And when he was doing the stew, that was really good. Yeah, the kitchen cops are always the ones that are, like, passionate about food and, you know, really cared for the inmates in that regard. Yeah, yeah. That's what I learned in the kitchen how to mop. I didn't know how to mop. That was your first time mopping ever? Yeah.

That's funny. Yeah, and of course, they made fun of me. Hey, princess, they didn't learn mopping in law school. Did you have a nickname that they gave you? No. You just kept to yourself. Yeah. This kitchen officer would call me positive because I had, I taught two classes, positive thinking.

positive thinking and yoga. So I had my classes and I had my people who I would talk to and I would walk the track and do yoga outside and be outside most of the times and literally be by myself with my thoughts. And yeah, the officer would call me positive. You tried to stay out of the way. You wanted to get home. Yeah.

What year did you end up getting released? 2021, August 2021. And how much time did you serve in total out of those five years? Two years and ten months. Okay. And I'm imagining you were disbarred. Oh, yeah. Can you ever get your...

Yes, I'm allowed to reapply for the bar in seven years. Seven more years? Seven years from the time of this barment, which was 2019. And that makes 2026. Do you want to reapply it to the bar? I will for myself. I don't know if I would ever practice law. But yeah.

So when you got out of prison, what did you end up doing? Well, I started to write. And actually at home, I write. And then I went to school and became a coach. And this is what I do now. I help attorneys and high achieving professionals who are struggling with themselves, who are stuck in unwanted situations, exactly where I was before. Because who else other than somebody who went through it can help them and understand them.

Because attorneys are not people to talk. And I'm here to help people as much as possible to be heard. That's awesome. And what was it like to rebuild your relationship with your daughter after prison? Was that complicated? No. Rebuild. I mean, I don't think that it was ever a break.

Although we haven't seen each other, what, like 13, 14 months during the pandemic. We spoke on the phone. We had the video calls every week or twice a week. So you kept in touch. Yeah. Do you think that was important to help get you through your sentence? Yes, for me and for her. Yeah.

That's good. If you could go back to your teenage self in Romania, maybe either before law school or after law school, before you come to the United States, would you do it all over again? And, you know, what advice would you tell yourself back then? To be aware. Right now, I'm still working with myself,

but I'm working on being aware of my things. thoughts of my actions and I would tell myself to follow my heart to follow what I really want to do from my heart because back then I became an attorney because my dad wanted me to and then I said okay now I'm a for an attorney, why not become a New York attorney? And I didn't have a personal purpose on why I want to be an attorney. So what do you think is next for you? Where are the next five years going to take you? Couple more books. You got some ideas? Yes. And then helping as many people as possible. get to I'm working on a TED talk also I would like to have my own podcast

to help women because it's very interesting I forgot to mention this that when I got to Danbury it was one doctor one CPA one pharmacist couple of

nurses and 12 attorneys out of 189 people. That percentage is huge. It's a lot of attorneys. A lot of attorneys. I'm shocked kind of by that number. And that's the reason why I'm here to, I'm also a prison consultant. I'm helping women professionals going to prison

and coming out of prison because for me was still is a challenge after almost three years home. Yeah, I can imagine. And I've only been in less than three years. People that go, that stay in for longer, it's very hard to start all over again. Do you ever see yourself like having memories? of prison or like flashbacks or like habits that you've used in prison? Flashbacks I do. It's, it's, I don't have it as a bad memory because there is what forced, prison is what forced me

to change, put me face to face with myself and I had to change. So that's why I'm saying that I'm blessed for this to have happened. Because otherwise, probably I would have found a way out. Habits? No, I don't think I have. So you've been able to maintain your sanity throughout the whole thing? Yeah, because the mind is the only thing that we can control. It's the most valuable tool.

Yeah. If we control the mind, we have. everything. Absolutely. Well, Andrea, thank you so much for coming on the show today. It was a pleasure to talk to you and hear your story. And we'll have the description up to your social media links and your book and website and whatever you have going on in the bio and wish you the best of luck and safe travels back to the city. Thank you. To you too.