Locked In with Ian Bick - Inside the Dirty Business of Money Laundering | How I Moved Millions for Criminals | Norge Mastrangelo

Episode Date: February 5, 2025

Norge Mastrangelo, A former money launderer, shares what it was like inside a criminal organization, moving millions of dollars through illegal financial networks. From the risks and rewards of laundering dirty money to the consequences that followed, Norge opens up about his time in the underworld and the lessons he learned. #MoneyLaundering #InsideCrime #CriminalOrganization #TrueCrime #DirtyMoney #FinancialCrime #OrganizedCrime #crimestory Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Thank you to ORGAIN & PRIZEPICKS for sponsoring this episode! Orgain: For 30% off your order, head to https://Orgain.com/IANBICK and use code IANBICK.   PrizePicks: Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/IANBICK & download the app today & use code IANBICK to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup! Connect with Norge Mastrangelo: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the__norge/ Presented by Tyson 2.0 & Wooooo Energy: https://tyson20.com/ https://woooooenergy.com/ Buy Merch: https://www.ianbick.com/shop Use code lockedin at checkout to get 20% off your order Timestamps: 00:00:00 Welcome and Shelton Bar Introduction 00:04:56 A Lesson in Listening: Getting Fired from a Potentially Lucrative Job 00:09:47 Starting a Business 00:14:50 Robbery Spree Warning 00:19:46 Home Invasion and Marital Struggles 00:24:34 The Complexity of Judging Criminals 00:30:25 Money Laundering Tactics and Federal Interception 00:34:37 Undercover Operations and Mafia Dealings 00:39:44 Unexpected Raid and Arrest 00:45:18 Indictment and Arrest: The Shrimp Boy Case 00:49:29 Navigating the Courtroom Dynamics 00:54:35 Legal Challenges with Rico Cases 00:59:28 Allegations of Snitching and Misunderstandings 01:04:22 Personal Consequences and Regrets: A Life Changed by Crime 01:09:25 Overcoming Setbacks and Starting Over 01:14:12 Realizing the Depth of Criminal Involvement 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

How many discounts does USAA auto insurance offer? Too many to say here. Multi-vehicle discount. Safe driver discount? New vehicle discount. Storage discount. How many discounts will you stack up? Tap the banner or visit usa.com slash auto discounts. Restrictions apply. Lots of places can expose you to identity theft.

Oh, no. That's why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats to your identity, which is way more than anyone can do on their own. If we find anything suspicious, like new loans are changed, to your financial accounts, we alert you right away, all through text, phone, email, or the LifeLock app. Get the alerts that could make all the difference. Save up to 30% your first year at lifelock.com slash podcast. Terms apply. It's so weird. This app shows that my credit score is pretty

good, but I couldn't get the car loan. Are you using MyFICO.com? No, it's some other company. Oh, you should get up MyFICO account instead. FICO scores are the ones used by 90% of lenders, and other credit scores can vary up to 100 points. That would have been helpful yesterday. Get the scores lenders used. Get the right FICO credit score for your credit goal, including your FICO scores used for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards. Visit MyFICO.com or download the MyFICO app to get started today. Nord, welcome to Lockton. I'm good. You're a local. You're in Shelton. Yes, sir. And you want a bar? Definitely plug that in. Yes. Center Bar and Lounge. It's in Shelton, Connecticut. Love you guys, Center Street. We've been there for about 10 years, so I've won for about two.

How far is that from here? 40, well, with traffic, 40 minutes, so about 20 minutes. Is that going towards like the Westchester Airport, White Plains Airport? Yes, technically. We're off right off Route 8 coming up 95. We have a lot of guests that fly in there, so I can recommend them to your bar for a place. Please do, thank you, man. I got you. And Senator, we're trying to get Ian to the bar, so. I'll be there. And you guys have food there and stuff? Absolutely, really good food, too.

Okay, cool. Yeah, I was telling you we'll drag JD out there when he comes next line. Yeah, man. Thank you. Big fan of his too. Now, you didn't grow up in Connecticut. Bronx, New York. Bronx, New York. Morris Park section, yeah. Who'd you grow up with? Small core friends, but the Morris Park area of the Bronx is mostly primarily Italian, Albanian.

Together, you know, obviously there's no hard feelings there because I have some Albania friends, but I break their balls. So it's a close-knit Italian, depending on which way you're looking at it, obviously where I'm on the show. You have circles of areas where you hang out with those specific guys and intermingled. And I wouldn't call them gangs. It's more like we're little friends are separated by neighborhoods as opposed to gangs. And I was in the Morris Park section. And mom and dad together? Divorce when I was two.

My mom who passed away last April raised me. My father obviously was a present father, but I would see him on the weekends. He very financially successful, a great guy. I have three half brothers with he remarried and one half sister with my mom. I hate to use the red half, but that's what it is. And no direct, like, brothers or sisters. Oh, interesting. So you're only child.

Yeah. Yes, sir. How do you think the divorce affected your childhood? You know, without a dad there, you kind of, and I don't mean this in a bad way, but you kind of got to raise yourself in certain aspects. Your moms can only do so much. When dad's not there, you kind of tend to move toward friends' dads, older friends. You learn things from them streetwise.

especially. How would you say people would describe you if we had like your best friend from childhood here? Sick fuck. And I don't mean that in a violent way. I have a very, uh, unique sense of humor is the best way I could put it. They know they can rely on me for anything for me to be or A to Z. I'm sorry.

Um, I'm very loyal. Did you guys have money growing up? No, very poor. My father, you know, wasn't super rich at that point. He does well now. But my mom, we were eating mayonnaise sandwiches when I was like six years old. It was, it was pretty rough. But I was in the Arthur Avenue section of the Bronx at that time.

We eventually migrated to the Morris Park section. Was Arthur Avenue how it is today back then? No, much nicer. Oh, it was nicer back then? Yes. That compared to what it is now? The crime rate was much lower. It was the best way I could put it, yeah.

Interesting. Yeah. It was, you know, like you see in Bronx Tale, similar to that style, which Bronx still, a lot of people don't know, wasn't filmed there. It was filmed the Queens. They weren't allowed to film the rocks. How come? They didn't get the proper permission. And I don't mean from directives.

That's funny. And yeah, you completed high school? I did. I did about two years of college. It wasn't for me. I just, I kind of, I wanted faster money. I guess the best way to put it. And I decided to take a left where I should have took a right.

What were you going to college for? Business management. Were you passionate about that? Yes. And I applied those skills, believe I'm not, into that life. And it worked out very well for me. Now, did you could do any sort of like drugs, selling in high school or any type of crime?

No, I was a pretty good kid. I was an athlete to play baseball straight up. I had a few college scholarships, offers I didn't take. I made the mistake of thinking I was better than I was and tried off for Division one team and no good. Yeah, it didn't work out. They all had full-grown beards and I had one pubic hair, I think. It didn't work out for me that way.

Was that discouraging to you? Very, yes, because that's part of the reason I stopped going. That was my whole drive, be honest with you, that I wanted to go to college. I wanted to be a base. I really thought I could do it and it didn't work out. Now, if you had someone to, like, keep you on track, do you think that would have helped? Like a mentor or someone? Possibly.

My mom, like I said, was there, but she had to work so many hours. And it's just, I was out on my own a lot. And, you know, no fault of her own. But if your mom's working from 9 to 5, I was walking home from school by myself in second grade. It's just the way it was. It was accepted. So you leave college two years in. Do you ever go back at all later on or no?

Online classes here and there. I tried, and then I found the ways to make money that I didn't need college anymore. So who first exposed you to something other than a normal life? My uncle. Well, Italians have this, if you know someone a long time growing up, you call me your cousin. If you have an older guy growing up, call him your uncle. It's just not blood. But he knew I was having a rough financially and gave me an opportunity to do a few things,

just collecting money here and there for him. and it's a funny story is I'm at each, I was thinking about 19 years old and I would have to drive around with this guy named Vinny picking up money at certain spots and they always told me you do not get out of the fucking car unless Vinny tells you to. And this is back when the club,

remember the club that would lock your steering wheel? So we stopped at a spot in Queens and Vinny's, I see him arguing with this Jamaican dude. Now, it looked like it was going to get physical so I jumped out with the club. I got fired. You know how hard is to get fired from that job? But they're very strict their rules.

And I was, fired. That was it. Even though you were trying to help them? Correct. There's strict rules. If you don't listen, you're showing right there the inability to listen to directions. And if you're doing it that early, that's it. How much were you making doing those runs?

About $1,000 a week, but at 19 years old, it's a lot of money. That is a lot of money. That's better than any college job. Correct, yes. And what year is this? What time frame? 97-ish, right around there, 98. So you get fired from that, then what do you do?

Well, now I've made connections. Now I have friends in higher places where I'm able to, you know, and like I said, this is not to work with them, but I became friendly with them. So I got into any way I can make money, whether it be drugs or gambling or even legal aspects, whatever I was selling. I had a sportsman of a big company. I was selling, you know, autographed items online on eBay and in person. And I just looked for quick cash. That was my thing. I was very good at assessing risk.

it's a reward and not making stupid mistakes. And that's how I escalated myself up through, not even the ranks of any criminal enterprise or anything like that, just making money and building up my, you know, my net worth, I guess you could say at that point. What did you find interesting about it? Or was it just the money aspect that you liked? It was the money.

And it was a rush, you know, especially if you're doing something, you know, you're not supposed to do. It's like being a little kid. You know, mom's not looking, you know, it's a rush to it. And the further you get with it, it's like anything else. It's funny that you're working with Tyson, and I hear him say these things all the time.

Hi, Mike, by the way, love you. He abuses fear. And I'd say this to a lot of my staff. Fear is there to let you know you're going to encounter something you've never done before or that you would think maybe you won't, you know, succeed at. It doesn't have to be violence or any aspect of life,

but my thing was always, I was never not afraid in any situation and where I knew there may be an altercation, a debate, a negotiation, I'm always afraid that I may lose. But I was always able to have this switch to walk through it. Still scared. But I knew that if I can get through that, I'll succeed. And if I can get through that one, I can get through the next one now.

So I can keep escalating what I'm doing, and I don't just mean in a criminal way, and finally push through and push through it. So you get to a point now you're not numb to fear, but you're able to deal with it and walk through it. And I was never the toughest guy out there, the smartest, none of that. I was just able to lay my cards on the table and say, now we're going to find out where the better man is, the better businesses, or whatever it may be. And I'm going to bring you to a place and I'm going to torture your life.

And I don't mean this once again violently, even if we're making a business negotiation, where you're going to walk out. And even if you got the better end of that deal, you're going to say, I never want to go through that again. And now the people around you that saw that, they're not going to want to go through it. So when people realize this, that guy, I may beat him, but it's going to be hell to do it. They're not going to want to do it. And that's just the way it is. And especially in criminal aspects of life, you don't want to deal with someone who you know is going to fight back, is the best way I could put it. Those guys out there are tough.

They don't give a shit if you're going to fight back. They're going to do whatever they got to do to you. But even those guys, that risk reward is in your head at all times. They just are able to push through it. That's the best way I can describe it. So it seems like you like the art of business. Love it. Love it. Even back then.

Correct. Supply and demand negotiations. Love it. Once again, don't like to go into some of these things, especially if I know I have no angle or no leverage. It sucks. But you have to do it. You just push through. So don't you think like looking back on it now, you could have done something good with that love of business rather than going.

And I did. We'll get on to that. But I was able to take every single. And life came full circle from you in. And I was able to take all the bad I did. And it worked out something really good for me. All right. So now you're in your 20s.

You get fired from this job. You're off on your own. What happens? I started a sports mobility business and I was, you know, doing little stupid street things here and there. And I got to a point where I was, I have to be, you know, and I spoke to you about before I should be careful what I say here. So I got into a specific business where I made a little bit of money. I had a little nest egg. And I want a trip to Foxwoods, the casino.

And I'm sitting with a lifelong buddy. And he's like, you know, I see you're doing both, but do you want to make real money? Like, what do you mean? He's like, do you have balls. I said, fuck, yeah, let's do it. He's like, you're going to fly to California. You're going to buy some pot. And you're going to send it back.

I said, I don't know how to do this shit. Like, I'll sell wheat here. He's like, do you'll figure out when you get there. Because what people do is, I'll fly out there and meet brokers, which is the biggest mistake you can make. These brokers lead you to growers, so on and so forth. And you send it back. So I booked my flight Week before the trip, he cancels.

Fuck. Now I'm like, okay, I went. I still went. I said, I went out there. Actually, it was funny, I called another buddy. I was like, bro, I'm going to do this trip to Cali. You know, what am I supposed to do? And I ended up, it was ironic.

He had booked a trip similarly within a two-date range, so we met out there. And we went out there blindly, and it worked out. You know, it was the first time, but it progressed from there. So before he canceled on you, did he already give you the contacts with who you're meeting out there? Nope. So how do you just go out there?

blind to find people. A website. I went on a website. I don't remember the name of it now, but... What, find a podist? It's kind of like, you know, what was the thing where people used to get all the hookers, the back page? Yeah.

They have like a back page for weed dealers out there. So you go on and you're risking, you know, it's once again risk. I was able to... I said, fuck it. Let's do it. And yeah, I got lucky with that particular person and it escalated from there. Now, this is before 9-11. Yes.

No, no, no. This is 2014. Oh, 2010. I'm sorry. Oh, so this is years later. Yeah. Okay. The in time in between...

In and out of construction, I worked at a hospital in the Greenwich Hospital. It was just regular jobs with a little bit of hustle on the side, but I just wasn't enough for me. I was still struggling to pay the electric bill or pay the rent. I was fed up, but at that point in 2004, I had my first son. I knew I had to step my game up, so I continued to find new ways to make money. Hey, locked in listeners, let me ask you something. What's tougher? Doing time in a six by eight prison cell or trying to get enough protein in your diet without choking down chalky

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One last time, go to orgaine.com slash Ian Bick and use code Ian Bick for 30% off. I hope you enjoy Oregon, just as much as I do. Now, let's get back into today's episode. So in 2010, you would have been able to bring weed back on an airplane in that quantity? No. So you're just flying there, getting dropped off and then driving it back? Mail. Oh, you're mailing it back.

So why would you even have to go out there yourself? You have to bring the money and pick what you want. Okay. So, how do you even know what to look for you? You have no experience. No, at that point, I had already been in and out of, you know, if someone needs an ounce of weed,

okay, I got you. And I learned, you know, what was what with what, but the price points, what I didn't know is when you get out there because you're paying a certain amount in New York, you get out there, it's fucking $1,000 cheaper.

So just for instance, I went at the first trip out there, I went up to $7,000. But that time I got home and sold there, and I had $17,000 in a day. Now I'm like, fuck, dude. By my third trip, I had $100,000. So at that point, it was all systems go, you know.

And at this point, are you selling in Connecticut or are you selling in New York or? Mostly New York at that point. Yeah. And there was a high demand for it. Well, because nobody had our prices. We were still able to have a massive profit margin and still beat the competitors. It was almost unfair. When I started that though, and as my money grew, not just New York, but especially in New York,

If you don't have the proper connections and are too flashy, someone's coming. And either you're going to work out a deal with them or you're going to get robbed or you're going to, something's got to be worked out. And I neglected that in a sense of, I wasn't trying to be disrespectful, but I thought who the fuck I was because I had $100,000. You know, it went to my head a bit. And 2010, in 2010, a robbery started, or robbery spree, I should say, started happening where people were in FedEx uniforms. knocking on your door with a box, you open the door, and they come in. So one week prior,

I heard about a person I knew what happening to, right up the block from my house, basically. And I'm like, I told me my ex-wife, my wife at the time then, but my ex-wife, if a FedEx guy comes here, do not open the door. I was doing construction at the time, but I was still, that was my day job,

and I had the weed. There was nothing, I know it sounds like a lot of money, but you're talking minimal amount of weed for that game. And one day I was late for work, just tired and I'm laying on my couch about 9 a.m. I was supposed to be there at 8 a.m. obviously. Here I knock the door. I hear a scream. Mind you, she's nine months pregnant.

My one-year-old sitting in the high chair. These are my second and third children. Hear a scream. I hear get down, face down. I'm thinking it's the cops. They zip to my hands. I look up. I see a FedEx uniform. There was no search of my house. They went right to my safe.

So someone who had been in my house had set me up. They had the gun to my house. wife's stomach, what was I going to do? But the problem for me wasn't for my wife. It ended my marriage because I didn't get scared. And it wasn't because I wasn't scared of them with their guns. Mind you, one of them had no mask on. If a gentleman comes to your house with no mask on, he's prepared to kill you because now you see his face. And I knew that in the back of my head, but I'm thinking of my family and my kids. I'm having a full-blown conversation with this guy. He's actually telling me, how do you do this with your kids here and have this money here? I'm like, dude,

you're up my fucking house. But he's sitting there lecturing me. Sure enough, that happens. And at that point, they start investigating me. Drug dogs came in. The feds come. Representative from the FBI comes, start questioning me. I get a lawyer. Back the fuck up off me.

He advised me get out of New York. So I moved to Jersey. Wait, so the feds come because you report that you guys got robbed? Correct. Why would you report it? I guess somewhere along the lines, they were watching me or the people that are getting robbed and making connections to who we were associated with. So they just automatically showed up? Well, no, just the cops.

first. They kept me outside my house for about an hour. They arrested one of my friends who came to see if I was okay for having a bag of a bag of a bag of him. So now I know something's up. I'm like, fuck, they got it out for me. They make me sign a paper consenting search. The guys already stole everything. I don't give a fuck. Go ahead. All of a sudden, I see dogs come. I'm like, what are you doing? They're like, well, you need to leave for six hours. I said, this is my house. I just got robbed. They were already on to me at that point. So I take my lawyers of rice and I moved to Jersey. Now, as I'm leaving that day, I don't remember the detectives made me introduce me to this lady. No idea she is. I have a few questions. I said, no, thank you. I'm going.

They keep coming to my house in New York at that point, like 10 o'clock at night, hitting me when I know I'm going to be home, knocking on my windows. They're harassing me. Lawyer says, get out of New York. It's the best bet. So I moved to Jersey. This is about 2012 at this point now. I'm already in Jersey. I'm sitting in my backyard, setting up a swing set for my children, and the FBI comes rushing into my backyard.

we have to know what's going on. I said, they name every fucking friend I have, every person I know, and I'm like, no, no, no, I don't know anything. But now in the back of my head, I'm like, holy shit, I'm in deeper than I realized. So I get this bright idea, my wife leaves me. She's like, I can't do this no more.

I get this bright idea to move to California because I had met my current fiancee there about the same similar time right around that year. How much did they rob from you that day? here's where they fucked up and they're probably watching because I before I say this I for years was angry about this

and I found out who it was or who's being accused of it but as years gone and I realized like that's part of the game dude like I fucked up and I'm not saying I'm glad they were they shouldn't have did it it was done incorrectly you don't involve kids and wives you don't do that shit

it's cowardly but I didn't protect myself I left myself very vulnerable because I thought who the fuck I was And I was nobody. Who am I? I got to, I'm a guy with a couple of bucks, made a mistake. It was $110,000. I asked for a meeting to try to find out who did it. And I was lying. I was trying to clear, get some, throw some smoke signals. I lied and told everyone was 40,000. Had one meeting with a particular person. He goes, damn, they got you for 110. I said, excuse me? That's what I knew. That's how, and I got the fuck out in New York. I'm like at this point, he's supposed to be my friends. I'm at, I'm at this point, he's supposed to be my friends. I'm at a mind you, my lifelong friends are still my friends. That was one particular person who I choose not to see anymore. Did your wife know what kind of business you're involved in?

Yeah, well, she loved it. Everything she wanted, money everywhere, protected, nobody could fuck with us. Until I went bad. Yes. They always leave when it goes bad. Well, she, and I don't blame her for this, man. It's like, she's like you thought you're protecting your family, but by mouthing off to these guys when they have guns to us, you were risking your family. And I didn't think of it that way in the moment.

but your natural reaction as a man is to protect your family and I was super angry and she's like you're an animal now. She's like you weren't afraid and your family could have been. I'm like it wasn't that I was afraid I just if you show weakness they're gonna eat you alive and I was scared that if I showed them I was scared what else could happen? They're gonna rape my fucking wife you don't know what's gonna happen at that point

there's two of them I'm zip tied they even zip tied her leg I'll tell you why whoever did the job they were actually nice to my wife they were gentle whatever because they saw she was pregnant And it was the most strange home invasion I've ever seen. But God bless them. They got away with it. So you moved in New Jersey.

Yeah. You know there's an investigation into you. Yes. And this is when my wife, my ex-wife, leaves me. And she did it. She was, I think, afraid that I wasn't going to let her leave. So she got in order of protection against me. I moved into a hotel.

And then one day I showed up the house. There was a moving truck. And she left. And I moved out to California. When I moved out to California and I met my current fiancé. day, I started doing these trips to California more frequently because now I have no wife at home. I can do whatever the fuck I want.

And I'm bringing guys from the Bronx out with me. And we made a name for ourselves out there because we're going out with a whole lot of money, strip clubs, nightclubs, beating the shit out of anybody that fucked with us. It was like we built a reputation out there where now they knew when we were coming. We were called ahead. The clubs had anything we wanted. All the local tough guys became friends with us. They weren't trying to, you know, not that they were afraid of us, but it was like,

they saw we're legitimate guys. No, fuck. You know, we don't bother you. You don't bother us. And I kind of had my, well, her name's Shay. I love you, Shea. So she introduces me to this group of guys from, if there is an Italian mafia here, the Asian one.

So the running joke actually, because now when this happens, I explode financially. And there's a running joke, my buddy Gary, he's like, this is the funniest thing in the world. You're one of the best earners I know, but you can never get made because you're not Asian and you're not fully Italian. It was a running joke for years with him.

but I climbed the ranks in a sense out there pretty fucking quickly to the point where they were allowing me to collect their money out in New York for them. I didn't realize who they were at first, though. And that's the honest truth. I knew they were somebody because we would walk into nightclubs and the fucking, it would part like the Red Sea as we walked through. So I knew I was in something, but I was worried about the money. Didn't care who they were until I met the boss, shrimp boy,

who happens to be if the, the John Gotti of the Asians at this point out there. and sweet out of a guy, nice guy, I met him once or twice, and then I realized the associates was with were his right-hand men. So I stepped in shit. At that point, I'm like, this is great, because now I don't have to worry about

I'm here, top guy, they trust me with their money, and then when I'm in New York collecting for them, I'm realizing I'm getting the same respect that I get in California with them here. That's how powerful these men were. So you moved back to New York? I was never in one,

I would go to New York, pick the money up. come back to California. Now, I didn't pick the money up and bring it back to California. They would tell me who to give it to and that was it. That's how the whole, as we get along here,

I'll explain to you how, that's how the Fed's infiltrated them. Now, Shimp Boy, did he, he's an Asian guy that was like, what was the actual organization called? I can't remember, I'd have to Google,

let's be honest you. It's similar to the triads. Okay. I think it's a division of, actually. I'm probably getting killed for saying, I know.

It's all over the news. And he grew up in California or he? I don't know his origins. Like I said, I met him twice in my life. First time was a handshake, second time was a nod. I didn't want to get too close. And a low-level guy was able to meet someone that high up? That was, this is what I thought about later.

Okay. Yeah. Like I said, though, the gentleman I was with, I won't say his name because I still love the guy. We don't talk anymore, but he introduced me to his, I don't want to say boss, personal friend, but ranking wise, was right below shrimp boy. So I was there as a friend, and the business grew. Then I was able to actually hang out with them and go to nightclubs with them.

And they're great. Listen, I know there's super scary people from the outside looking in. But that's what a lot of people don't get when you watch these movies and see all this stupid shit with gangsters. These are regular people that just have more balls than you. It's all it is. I'm dead serious. We go out, great dinners laugh. they're all great guys.

They're criminals, and there's murders involved in my case, but murderers can be cool people, too. I know it sounds crazy to say, but you flick a switch in these people, and that's, if there's, it happens. It is a real, real, realistic thing. It just, you kind of can't judge a book by its cover. And I know it sounds weird defending a murderer,

but these weren't what you see in the movies. These weren't, er, scary guy. They were regular guys. If you fucked around, that's it. Attention locked in listeners. Imagine this. you're inside a high-stakes prison yard and every move counts. You've got to make the right call or you're out.

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run your game. Now let's get back into today's episode. Did you ever ask why, how he got the name of Shrimp Boy? No, I tried to keep conversations too. Like I said, it was twice. And I was going based off of everyone in the Bronx knows someone who's connected. And you don't have respect for somebody. And you don't talk, don't speak unless you spoken to. That's my theory with anything, especially meeting someone on that level. I'm not interested in making small talk. I'm going to, if you say hi, I say hi. I'll show you respect, but I'm not going to pick. I don't really want to dig too much. That's all that.

Because if you dig, when you get to that level, automatically questions fed. I assume you're a cop right away. So I shut the fuck up. I sat there. I drink my drink. That was it.

All right. So now you're hooked up with these guys. Tell us the first mission they send you on. First time I went out to Rakesh and they sent the weed. This is my lucky. And, oh, God. So the first time I finally to get them to allow me to have credit, what you need in this game.

You're going to have to... There's a lot of credit-based maneuvers. They send me the credit. I sell everything. I send the fucking money back. I've never lost a box of money in my life. The box gets lost. Now I'm like, oh, my gosh.

I never forget the amount. $77,000. So I'm like, fuck, dude. I have to call and explain myself. Thankfully, the guy understood. But I could always see he had that... It was about three months later. We're going out.

We continued to do business. Three months later, I checked my mail in my California apartment. He's with me. I opened my mail, and it's a letter from the Postal Service asking if I want to claim my $77,000. I said, here. So he knew, but we didn't claim the money, obviously. But, yeah, he knew I wasn't fucking around.

It was. Wait, you put your return to send her address on shipping money? Don't that seem risky? I, anything I do business-wise, even in a criminal world in the world, I review what I'm doing. If you're smart about things, even today, there are systems in place that will work forever. You can arrest whoever you want. Someone will just come up behind it. And if you're knowledgeable enough to learn how the business system works with LLCs, so on and so forth, there's only so much they can do.

I mean, if money is legitimately made, it's people wash money. That's it. So if money is washed and they claim it, here's my proof. That's my money. Why did they mail it? I don't even remember what I had a whole plan if they, because I wanted to claim the money. They wouldn't allow me to. That was like, fuck, we know you're telling the truth.

The money's gone. Don't worry about it. I wanted to claim it. because I had virtual offices on both coasts that if you call and they asked for them in my business, you need norwich, okay, and they forward you the call. So if you're outside looking in, I'm on both coast with my company.

I had 14 virtual offices all over the United States. So there was no way for them to say, well, you don't work, yes, I fucking do. And I had invoices, which burned me in the end. I'll tell you about that. But I had proof of everything I did legitimately washing my money and if you had to try to confiscate my money,

I had proof of where I came from. It wasn't being watched like you're, I wasn't taking buying laundromats and car wash like everyone else does. I was able to set up LLCs and pay myself in a sense. I guess the best way, quarterly dividends. But what was the product that you were saying was, Oh, shit. You know,

I had an advertising company, and a promotional company. And I would go to nightclubs and put my fucking slap my logo on their, on their flyer. Because this is back before, or this is when the flyers leave on your windshields, I'd be all over the place. My company, I have nothing to do with the show.

So, and you would just deposit cash into your account? Correct. With an invoice to the club. The club, now, mind you, the club doesn't even know they're invoicing me. I'm making these invoices myself. And you're just saying that they paid you in cash and that you are a promoter for the night or whatever. Correct. Okay. So if anyone dug deep enough, they would have figured it out.

The Fed didn't. I don't know. I mean, I don't think they gave a fuck at that point because they had enough. But they hit me what money laundering. but it wasn't for what I was doing. And I'll explain after, but after we do, we meet these guys that's going on going on, hey, they've been stopped at airports with money.

You know, so if anyone gets stopped at airport money, they're allowed to confiscate it if it's over $10,000. And their backing is 80% of U.S. currency has cocaine on it. That's their reason to steal it. They took my money. It happened to me once. They took about 20 grand for me. I was able to get 66% back after the lawyer got it back,

but they're legally allowed to take it from you because once it's over 10, they're allowed to confiscate it if they find cocaine residue on it, which is on everyone's money and you don't even know it, they have a case to keep it and you have to prove that you're not a drug addict at this point or a cocaine dealer. You took it out of your account or something.

It was money straight from the bank. That's the crazy part. But what can I do? I don't know. Someone ripped the line with my $100 bill. It's not my fault, dude, you know. All right. So back to that first, you know, the $70,000 that you lost.

You're telling me they just forgave that. Your first time you get credit? You know, that's not many people are going to believe that. This is a multimillion dollar industry at this point. I didn't, once again, I didn't know how big, I didn't know much at this point. Actually, I didn't know how big they weren't until after I was arrested. How many times have you done good business with them before, though? That wasn't just your first time.

That was the first, oh, probably about five. Okay, so they knew who you were. Yeah. And you had already been doing, it's not like it was your first time. And they were somehow allegedly able to call back on the East Coast and vet me from what I was told. Okay. So I was given the green light. Okay.

Now, I mentioned that procedure with handing the money to someone. I don't know how the feds infiltrated these guys, and it's a fucking amateur night. And sorry, fellas for saying that, but this shit wouldn't happen to the East Coast. So they have this guy in California who's going out to strip clubs saying he's part of a certain family in New York. Looks like a Italian guy, whatever. And he infiltrates them, starts hanging out with them. and they, I don't know why, gave them their process of how they get the money back here. He makes them a better percentage, a point less on the fee for getting it back here.

They decide they want me to represent them. And I'm sit down with this guy because he's mafia. So he fools them and tells him, yeah, what's the guy's name, Norge? It's on the wire fucking taps. And I'm like, why would they even give my name? That was fucked up, number one. He alleges to them, oh, I called back my crew, Norges is solid. that I know his boss out there.

First of all, I wasn't aligned with any crew out there. I was, I knew everybody, but I wasn't in any crews or a maid guy or nothing like that. That's all shit. So they call me like, well, he knows you anyway. You're a stand-up guy. We're going to need you to start meeting him or have a sit down with him. The first fucking meeting, we get there about five minutes late, and he's standing outside in the suit, well-dressed guy, dressed like a gangster.

So I'm first reading, I'm like, okay, when we get up to him, he's like, I introduce my Sophie, Nor is whatever, and he said to my partner, I hope this is indicative of our future dealings. I said, what? There's not a fucking gangster in New York that's going to use a red indicative under, that was the first telltale sign for me. Then he orders tuna tartar.

I look at how, I'm like, that, well, I just said his name, fuck, Al, sorry Al. Either way, I look at how I'm like, this isn't, something's wrong. And he's not talking directly to me. He's talking to my, you know, my buddy, and nobody goes to the bathroom. He turns to me and he's like, listen, we're going to need a really like the job you're doing.

Maybe at one point I could talk to you personally. I have a grow going up north. I'm like, whatever, dude. I'm like, fine. He's like, I just need you get me at least a million a week in my hands to make it worth it for me from East Coast to West Coast. I'm like, I said, no problem. Easy. That got me indicted.

Those three words. That's what got me indicted. So Shrimp Boys crew is sending you to this meet. Yeah. And this guy is wanting to take your place. place in it? He wants me to collect for him now. He wants me to collect their money for him. To collect Shrimp Boys' money.

Correct. So the money has to get back to California somehow. But I thought you're already collecting Shrimp Boys money. And they're going to somebody else. So let's consider it a company and they get your money back. He's got his own company now. And he wants to take over and for a percentage point less. And it sounds like a good deal. One percent sounds like a little bit. Ryan Reynolds here from MintMobil. The message

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Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. But with the amount of money that's flowing through there, it becomes a lot. But why are they sending you? You were that high up in their crew? These feds are fucking smart, man. Italians are going to want to deal with Italians. Age ago, it's just a cultural thing. So he told, I don't know if they were on to me yet,

but he told them I need someone, an Italian guy, from New York that's connected to. do this or I'm not working with them. They could have already been on to us and just set me up to get into that fucking room or they played them and just, you know, want to see who's collecting for them. And I just happened to be the only non- It was the only Italian guy in that with them. And a non-Asian guy too.

Correct. Okay. Yeah. Did they have any other guys, like white guys, anything working for them? I was the only Italian. They had a, it was so spread out the indictment. But yeah, in our particular circle, I was the only white guy, only Italian guy. Everyone else was Asian.

All right. So you admit on that wiretap to being willing to commit a crime? Yeah. Okay. That got me indicted. How long after do you get indicted from that conversation? I remember I went to, things started getting a little weird. So I started meeting these guys in the Grand State Plaza in Jersey.

And they had me fooled, bro. Like, I remember two guys in particular, big dudes spoke the lingo, new guys I knew, scars in their faces, knuckles all bruised up. It looked like they beat the shit out of somebody that weekend. Invite me to nightclubs in Atlantic City, and I never wanted to hang out with them, but they knew what you should know

if you're from the East Coast in that area, in Tristan area. So they had me fooled, but one day, they fucked up, and they had a guy sit in the car as opposed to getting out. They always get out to greet me, but this one particular guy wouldn't get out.

And I told my guys back in Cali, I said, they're fucking feds, where I'm telling you. He's like, there's no way they know they'd end up dead. I said, bro, I don't care what you think. They're feds.

So I decided, I got this bright idea, start paying people to go meet them instead. One being my friend at the time, Gino, and a couple of guys. But either way, as I'm sending them,

I didn't know the laws on this shit. If you asked me to go do something, that's, they're not getting hit with it. That's another charge on you, another count. So all the while I only met them twice, I got hit with 19 counts of money laundering.

But I only met them twice. I was put into a room to talk to these guys. I didn't want to be it. This shit all compounded. And once I figured it out, I continued to live life, but I had a little weird feeling about it, and my buddy started saying something's up with those guys,

bro, it ain't right. All of a sudden, my business account's not getting locked. No, I haven't gotten picked up yet. They're not giving reasons why. So now I reach out to Gene and I'm like, bro, we got a problem. I was like, I don't know what's going on, but I feel it. I go back to Cali and I get a call from my buddy who's out there with another friend from New York

and they ask me if I want to go hang out for a drink. No, I'm good, you know, whatever. I didn't want to see the other guy and I didn't really hang out too often. It ends up, he's a rat. He takes down 90% a whole lot of people that I know in New York. I don't get picked up. But I wasn't working with them anyway, but at the same time, I'm like, how the fuck? Sorry, my friend gets bailed down.

I remember sitting in one of a strip club and I'm like, brother, you know, I'm just waiting for it to happen. I wish I would get it over with already. Now, those guys that I went to that strip club with and they know who they are, these guys were my core crew. There was no boss. There was no, we were five or six guys.

We became very close into the business together. And that's it. And with them getting picked, one getting picked up, the rest of us was wondering, how? How are we not, you know, sure enough, a couple months past? And I always told Gino, because when Gino was a friend of a,

about at that point 10 years, Gino was not built for that life. And I kind of made it fun for him to come to California. And he became a good earner. And I always, they always told me, listen, if we get pinch, he's going to tell. And that's my fault. I put him in some very dangerous situations that I shouldn't have. And I don't agree what he did. Don't get me wrong.

But I knew if it ever happened, he was going to. And I don't mean that in a bad way toward Gino. But he's not built for prison, pro. And he's not built for that life. and I dragged it. I almost forced him into it by here, 20 grand, 10 grand. Keep doing it. Now he's driving a $100,000 car.

Now he's locked in. He doesn't want to leave. So I always told him if I would never stay in one state for more than a week. California, Florida. I bounce a little place, Vegas. And I always told him if you ever get somebody at the door to pick me up, say, hey, bud, did you set the alarm? Ask me.

And if I say, no, I'm sorry. I've phrased that. I'd say we had a visitor And I'm going to ask you if we set the alarm And if you say no I know it's the feds So I go out to this club in the city one night I'm fighting with my girlfriend

We lived in White Plains at the time And I shoot out to the club I get drunk and I stay at a friend's house I'm fucked up I wake up to a hundred miscall From him and only him Dude what's up He's like oh we had a visit today

I said you set the alarm He goes no I said fuck So I jump on the phone with Brian or at that point. Brian calls me. Brian's an associate of Gino's. Of mine as well.

We didn't do much business together, but I met Brian and Callie and kind of brought him back to New York with me in a sense, let him meet everybody and started doing business with them. I'll get to him later, but Brian calls me, he gets me this lawyer Bruno. He puts down, I don't know if it was five or ten grand, and I shoot to Bruno's office. I call my other guy who I knew had been working for me, If I'm in California, he's kind of running around for me.

So I had to tell him and Gino, meet me at the lawyer's office. Get to the lawyer's office and Bruno's like, what do you want to do? I said, well, turn me in. I said, let's get it over. Fuck it. But I see Gino's like doing this. I'm like, what the fuck you're so worried about? He's like, well, they came in.

Like, did they indict you want any paperwork? You get cuffed? He said, no. I'm like, what they find? Now, this is in front of Bruno. Like a bag of Coke and a couple of pounds. I said, and you didn't get arrested. He goes, no, and his leg's shaking.

I'm like, fuck. I knew it. Jim Bruno goes, we're going to turn you in go out to the park lot, smoke your cigarette I'll come outside, leave your car here, jewelry, whatever. I go outside, there's fucking 6,000 fucking deaf... They're everywhere. Guns drawn, and this guy comes up, and he's like,

he's being a smartest of me. And they open my trunk out of baseball bat in the trunk. So now he thinks I'm this violent offender or whatever else, and he's like, I'm going to do your favor. Take your money on your pocket, take your jewelry off. He goes, Gino. I said, what the fuck? I know.

So they bring me in And they bring you into this weird I didn't even know what existed in white planes They have an FBI officer of white planes I don't know if people know that And they start asking me questions about People I've never heard in my life So now I'm baffled

I'm like I'm thinking I'm on this East Coast case With my friends They're not being mentioned yet So I'm like what the fuck is going on Then I can't even Even if I want to be a rat fuck I couldn't. I didn't know what was going on. They found out like they get fed up with me.

They're like, all right, fuck it. You're going into holding. They bring me to another. I don't even know what town I was in because they never told me. When I get there, they put a guard in front of my door and they took my ass and inhaler away. I'm like, why you, what's going? They're like, you're on suicide watch. Now I'm like, fuck.

Yeah, I know something big is coming. And they wake me up. They bring me to federal courthouse and wayplanes. I have my hand. I'm cuffed behind. And they hit, when they bring you to those barricades, you're not facing the marshal to bring you back. When I turn, I have my head down because I'm miserable.

I hear Norge, it's a kid I graduate high school with. So I was able to get ahead, and he tells me you've got a big problem. $250,000 bail. So I don't know. I call my father and get bailed out. And then I shoot back to White Plains. My apartment, I have in the apartment, I had $235,000 cash. Hidden.

I get in there. The money's gone. My house was ransacked, but it's like 10 pounds of Wheaton House. I'm like, what the fuck? The cops. So basically, when I was gone that night, they knocked on my daughter to pick me up already. They were already there. And my fiance opens the door and says, he's not here.

My stupid ass left a money counter on the counter with singles. That gave him a right for search. They had no right for search. I fucked up. They come in. They told her, listen, if you tell us where he is, we'll let you go. she refused my current girlfriend

friend fiance whatever is I'll take over of any dude in the world she shut the fuck up they took everything out the problem was she if I found this out later when they came in they didn't search the house they weren't right to the money

once again now I know there's a rat they held her for seven days while she's in there they're telling her I'm telling on her that you know they play the game they put you in separate rooms tell you this guy's saying this and uh that was that at that point

that's where I knew I was in some shit. I fly back out to California for my first court appearance, and all the furniture in my house is gone. She believed them. Now, this is how to stand up. She thought I was giving her up, so she had a family who removed the furniture and still wouldn't tell on me. Anyway, my poor lawyer had to sleep on the couch, but I went to that first year.

I kind of found a war was going on, and it all stemmed from that. I was being accused of learning about $1.5 million. and each box accumulated, and that's what they hit me with. And that was all from that initial conversation. So how much time had passed now between that conversation and the arrest? That you got caught on wire for? Months, four or five months? And you had no idea that they were.

Not a clue. And I kept telling them, I had a feeling about him. But even in my old discovery, every time they were watching me, they were watching the wrong fucking place. They were watching California while I was in New York. They were watching New York while I was in Vegas. They never, I did that purposely because I was very, very paranoid. I never wanted to stay somewhere

for more than seven days. I'm out and I would always, all over the country. And that's, we all did it. Me, Gino and Brian. We were never in one spot for too long. So it wasn't even business. It was more of that's, we were accustomed to. We were living the life. Women, casinos, strip clubs, the whole night. I put a lot of kids for college, bro.

But, yeah, that, that was, we were living the life. And in that life, you're going to live your wildest dreams, bro. And we can have your worst nightmares as well. And that's what people don't get. When you get to that level, you're going to see the things you've ever seen before and you're going to also deal with shit. We're going to be laying in the cell crying one night.

Now, was this when the shrimp boy case broke open when you got indicted? Did they indict everyone at the same time and you were caught up on that, RICO? Here's what's fucked up. So I, myself, my associate and one of the person, they couldn't get right away because my deal, they did the bust the day before. So my fiance is Filipino. So I didn't realize, I was on like, if you went on like back then AOL, it was the cover story. And it's putting me as a dangerous fugitive.

Dude, I'm driving off the West Side Highway, calm down. I just didn't get there quicker enough for them to arrest me. But that's her mother never met me. And she sees going down the bottom of the screen, Northmastrangelo, dangerous fugitive on the Filipino channel. So that wasn't a very good first impression. But I get into court and I'm looking around. I don't know anyone.

I had 19, was it 19, 19, 19 code defense? And I know none of them except my two associates and Trimpoi. So I immediately am like, what the fuck is going on? Where'd they end up indicting Trimpoi? in L.A.? San Francisco. Northern District of California. They brought them out here, though?

No. My case, I was the only New York person in the California case. So do they extradate you out there? I already had, I was always resigning California. I had an apartment there, so technically I was a resident, even though I wasn't there often. But they were able to keep me there. Probation-wise, they had to allow me to do both states with permission to fly because I have children. So my problem was, as in any case, and anybody will tell you, and I'm sure you went through this,

So the second you get arrested by the FBI, people are going to assume you're telling. So I lost a lot of friends. They didn't know. My core group stayed together. They didn't know what was no rat, but it just became very uncomfortable to the point where I had people watching my house,

my friends, to make sure who was watching me. There were cars. People that were sitting on me, just see if I was hooking a cop shit like that. Mind you, when they pulled that money from my apartment, I had a detective in Way, Play, police department. I was friends with it. She called me. She's like, what is wrong with you, bro? Like, why would you get into this? What were you doing over $200,000 in house?

So I'm in California talking to her from my first court appearance. I'm calling New York. I said, listen, you know, you had an idea. I wasn't some shit, man. I'm sorry, you know, whatever, whatever bullshit. I go out to Shay's case and I have my buddy, Pauli put up the Belfare House, his house. Mind you, all my liquids gone. I have product in the street. I have no cash stuff because they took it all. And these people aren't to the phones because I'm in a federal case, why answer me? So, Polly was nice stuff to put his house up. I get the paperwork, and they're like, and what they, you know, what they took for my

house, and it says $160,000 cash. So now I'm like, wait a sec, where's the other 75? They use that as leverage. The cops are scumbags. So the lawyer comes out and I have to hire a second lawyer now because my lawyer can't represent both Cheryl and I. So I'm already, now at this point, I'm six figures deep in legal fees. Fuck.

All right. I get him. He says, listen, you want to make a big deal out of it. You can't do anything. He's like, you've got a federal case running concurrent now. So we worked at a deal for her where I took blame for everything in the house and ran a concurrent with my case, the federal case. I pulled those charges.

They give her a misdemeanor, like a violation, a ticket. She kept them out shut. That was over. But at that point now, now why is Shea out? People are starting to think is Nor is a rat. You know, how the fucks his girl? He's out. Little I know, it's $250,000 bill for me.

And it was $25,000 for her. and 100,000 lawyer fees. I'm already almost half a million dollars in a hole, but nobody wants to, they're going to assume. But yours was a federal bill. You didn't have to pay any money. We put two houses up. Yeah.

Yeah. It's just a signing of paper. Yeah. But my father, well, he was so pissed off. Because my father grew up on Arthur Avenue. He purposely left New York to avoid that life. And he, you know, my brother's attorneys, they work great jobs.

They're like reputable guys. And he's like, what the fuck are you doing, bro? Like, you're the older one. And so he was so mad at me. And my mom at that point, I believe to this day, this case killed her, man, because her health started deteriorate really quickly. To see the point, she actually wrote a letter to the district attorney, can I do the time for my son?

She's like, I'll just die in there. She was so heartbroken over it, man. And that's, we move forward to case then. And it's just being in that courtroom. Now, if you're in there with a bunch of your buddies and a bunch of white guys and I come in Asian guy, you're going to look at me for you. Right. That's going to be a rat right there.

But I knew that my guys knew I wouldn't do that in New York. But now, while this is happening, me and she get pregnant, okay? And I didn't know, I noticed more and more when I went to these court hearings, less than less people are there. I got to assume you fucking, why aren't you here? You're a witness now.

Then it was such a loose-lipped, we would all be in line to check in with probation coming out of the courtroom, and I'm listening. And I hear well, if you do this and I do this, we're both going to get off, and then he does this, basically ratting up. If you and I get arrested, Ian,

and my buddy Rich outside, well, Ian, you tell him, and I'm going to tell him Rich, and we're both going to walk, fuck Rich. I hear this happening. Now, I'm not being included in this conversation, and if you go in and proffer or rat, or whatever you're going to do,

you don't get to just tell up, you're going to tell down too. So I'm looking at myself, now what the fuck, dude? No one's, you know, where's my help? They wouldn't bail out my girl. I asked them for Mel Money for my girl.

That's why my friend put the house up. They offered me no lawyer money. They're the ones who put me in the room with these fucking guys. I was angry. And I tried to talk to them. So we worked at a deal to maybe help me off financially by letting me work again. I'm like, fuck, dude, super risky. But we all need the money.

So we're on a phone. I don't remember what the app is where if I snap, if you and I have a conversation and I take a picture of it, it'll notify you. Snapchat. Is that what it is? Okay. So I'm old.

So I'm talking. to him and I get the notification that the screen we're talking pricing and I'm like what the fuck but he texts me did you just take a picture of the screen we both got it these fuckers were on our phones now we're super fucked so I now go back to New York I'm in New York this point I go out for my birthday I don't know Gino's cooperating it I go out everyone the rumor is he is I won't believe it I'm out for my birthday and I just got a few drinks to me and I'm watching him. Now, I'm with some higher level guys at this point,

in the, out there at the table with us, and I see the knee going. I'm like, fuck. So my friend Whist was in my ear, you go see? We go outside, and, uh, let's just say I assaulted him. And I had,

I'll tell you why, I respect him for this. And it's weird to say you respect someone who's, but in front of everybody, he goes, I fucking did it. He goes, I didn't know what to do. He admitted it in front of everybody. And, uh,

it worked out for me in a sense so because the Fed said I was involved in the cocaine aspect of it and rocket launchers that were being sold and even we were we had a police office even you know supplying bulletproof vests for us today they thought that was me and Gina was like listen we saw weed that's the extent of what we do it kind of helped me at the end of the case because all they had was a one wiretap me saying get the money there over a million and then I sell some pot that's all they had so by the time After this happens with Gino, I called my lawyer. I said, I fucked up, dude.

And he said, stay away from him. Because if you assault a federal witness, they had time. Mind you, we didn't know he was yet, so they couldn't hurt me with that. They couldn't charge me with it. So I went to his restaurant the next day. He owns a restaurant. I'm like, bro, what did they tell you? What did you tell them?

And he told me everything. I said, what does Brian think of this? Now, Brian was the guest you had in this show. And we lived together in the house. Brian had caught his case that he told you about. Gino decided to get this bread and he'd hide Brian in this fucking house. Bad idea.

But he tells me, you know, Brian told me to do what you got to do. You own Nord's nothing. I said, motherfucker. I said, okay. But I'm not, I can't do anything. I'm on a fucking, I mean, where am I going to do?

Beat him up, go kill Brian or something, make it worse. I let it go with Brian. Time passes. The case goes on. I know, I got the Italian side. the New York side of this wonder if I'm a rat. I've got the Cali side wonder if I'm in a rat.

I'm in a pickle here, bro, and I'm like, I move out to Cali and I decided I got this bright idea on my head. If I move back there and work legally in a strip club, there's a row of strip clubs right in the center of where they all are, they'll know I'm not telling. That's what I did. And that, thankfully, they saw I wasn't because I would see them still. Not much communication, but they knew if I'm rat and I'm not coming out there.

Case goes on, and, it's getting slimmer and slimmer the amount of people in my courtroom when I get there. So it gets to a point where I know I'm going down. And now I'm like, fuck it. On my range, I was looking at one to four

or a year and a day to four. And I'm like, four years sucks, do a drug program, take a year and a half off. Fuck it. But then I'm like, wait a second. I don't know what happens if this gets put into RICO. Sure enough, it was so big, they broke it into RICO one and RICO two. I knew there was shit going on that if I got brought into that RICO, I'm fucked.

And it ended up there was murder involved, which that thing come from my mouth. These guys ride it up and give them a murder. Two murders. Was I aware of them at the time? No, and that's the honest truth. I knew there was crazy shit going on. I didn't know this guy killed anybody. So I get, my lawyer gets an email from the district attorney saying,

last chance we're pulling Mitz-Riko. I was like, Bruno, what does that even mean? like they want you to fucking snitch. I'm like, I can't. I'm not doing it, bro. My son, like, at this point I have a son who was of age that knows what's going on. I have friends and family. Like, that's not in my blood, bro.

And I, I said, take the meeting. I said, just explain to them. I'm not doing anything. I said, I need to know what they're charging me with because now I don't know what's going. I really didn't know at this point. We go into this fucking, I don't even remember where the office was. And they come in with the DEA and the U.S. attorney and some other guy, I don't know who the fuck he was.

They've got a book this thick. If there was a guy I farted next to on a bus, 10 years ago, they knew his name. They had my whole life in there. And they told me if at any point you don't feel comfortable, ask us to leave the room and talk to your attorney. And to this day, my attorney tells me I was sick, fuck. So they're going through all these names. No, thank you. No thank you.

I said, guys, do me a favor. I need a second. My attorney. I said, Bruno, I can't do it. After the left room, I was like, I'm not going to hear this shit. That's everybody I know. He's actually, what do you want to do? I said, have them come back in.

and they come back in where I'm like, guys, you have to understand my position. I try playing the card where I'm scared for my life. I'm like, I can't, you know, I can get killed. Sorry, you know, these Asians are crazy. Then I, this is hand to God. I said, you know what? I apologize.

They're like, what do you mean? I said, I'm lying. They look at me like I'm nuts. I said, these are good guys. They're all fucking good guys and we fucked up. I said, here's what I can give you. Nothing. I said, have a nice flight home.

They said, can we just ask you a few more questions? And that's where this fuck Brian Thame came up. Now, I couldn't figure out, I wasn't allowed to talk to Gino to know where Brian was. But Brian, Gino had called me, ironically, maybe three weeks before this meeting and said, could you please help me find Brian? I'm like, bro, you can't call me. You understand that, right? I'm like, why?

So when Gino decided to cooperate, Brian incentivized them to do so and was sending him money every month to keep his lifestyle going. Now, I don't know about you, Ian, but if my friend Rich out there told on you, and I start paying him and enabling him, that's a rat too in my eyes. So they bring his name up. And I'm like, can I have another second? And I asked him to leave the room again. I'm like, Bruno, did I just hear this shit?

And they named Brian and one of his friends. No, his friend, I'm not going to say his name. I like. And I have no reason to hurt that guy. So I'm like, what do I do here, Bruno? Now, I know if Gino's taking the stand against me, I got a terrorist character down. So I get this bright idea.

They come back in. I'm like, I don't know where Brian is. I have no idea. I said, but he's the one funding my fucking rat. So the way I see it now, you have the guy testifying against me harboring a fugitive. So his testimony is not going to stand up a court in my eyes.

So here's what I'll do for you guys. I'll plead guilty to everything I'm charged with. I want to be left alone. And that's what I did. And I walked out of the, my heart's racing. Once again, fear, I walked through it. I'm like, fuck, bro, I might have fucked up. We left, and Bruno's like, you might have just fucked yourself.

So I tell them I plead guilty. And I have all 19 co-defendants. I pled guilty. I pulled myself out of the case. Now, I know that that upset these Asians because if you and I... 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.

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I made sure to look into what I was doing. They were charging me with money laundering. Nothing else. So I figured that was my out. And I had a feeling they were going to rat up. End down. You can't go one way. You don't get to sell on you.

You have to tell them behind you up everything. Sure enough, they did. So thank God. I thank God to this day. I did it because I would have put, if I fight, I'm in Rico now. And I'm getting charged with every fucking, you know how Rico works.

You're going to get about everything. It's conspiracy. So I got out. And I think they understood I had to get out. But when I get to court that day, and I'm going to plead guilty, the judge clears the courtroom. I'm like, what the fuck? Now, they told me after negotiating my attorney that they may be able to get me down to a year and a day,

from probation to a year and a day because they had nothing. Thank God. Go to court and they clear the courtroom. I'm like, Bruno, what the fuck is going on, dude? And the judge goes for your safety. I'm like, what? And he's like, you have to understand. You're pleading guilty before all 19 co-defendants.

I said, no, I don't want to see this rego. I don't know. I really at this point still didn't know the extent of the crimes. So I had to protect myself and my family in that sense. And it wasn't me telling. And I swear to you hand the guy, Ian, if you could find, and I will put up a $100,000 bounty on this. If you could find one person to sit in this chair and say,

I put them in jail ever, I'll come here and pay them right there, hand to hand right there. Never happened. And that's why when Brian said that, that I stitched on them, I couldn't figure out why me. So two days before the show,

I did call Gino. And he's like, I'm like, listen, you know, I'm sorry to bother you. Why is Brian, he sent me your video? And I'm like, why is he saying this about me? Gino admitted he was wrong. It was me. I'm like, what do you mean? He was like, they interviewed me.

He's like, I didn't know where he was either. What Brian fucked up, the genius that he is, which I found this out now. So he decided to take Gino's name, Social Security, birth certificate, and get a whole new identity. He became Gino as well now. he stops paying Gino moves out to I don't remember where he said he moved out to so they're out of contact

he can't contact Gino no more because he's ran all these bills up on Gino's credit cars, medical bills destroyed his whole life he decides to book a flight from wherever he was to Vegas he just has really bad luck

the same exact day of his flight the same Gino has a flight booked from New York to Florida they caught it and that's how Gino got interviewed is how the fuck you find in two places at once.

So mind you go back to my interview with them, I had told them, this piece of shit's funding my rat and you're gonna, this is the guy you're putting in the stand. That's, they connect the dots. They contact the Gino said, here you go.

I don't call that snitching, I call that checkmate. You're funding this guy, dude. Like, that's, I respect that lesson what Gino did. It's fucked up. And these podcasts, and by the way,

I respect what you do and I think it's awesome because you show that there's a dark side did this shit do it and you can make a better life for yourself. But guys like this jump in these podcasts and glamorize what they did and blame people. And it makes me sick. Whether it be a rat or not, this life is so fucked up. And to come on here and to talk about your mom suffering,

and I hope she's okay, Brian. But you're blaming everyone else. You committed the crime. I told them never get on that fucking plane number one. Two, if you know these guys are torturing your mom and turn your fucking self in, dude. Like that was my whole thing. My mom was getting sick.

And I watched, I had to watch her go through hell and turn into a 50-pound woman, like nothing from what I was putting her through and watch my father be my kids. And to come up here and say that I did that when he has no idea what I went through when my family went through. And I stood tall and like I told you, Ian,

if you could find, once this goes out there, if someone could say I put him in jail, please come right here. It'll never happen to it. And it upset me because my friend hid you out. I allowed you to come into New York, got your head fucking taken off because you're coming out here and making money

and no one's bothering you because you're friends with me and my friends. Not because you're a salesman, dude. And I really did like Brian. It's the last one of that interview. I was shocked. I couldn't believe he did that to me. So what happens at court?

To clear the courtroom, I see two armed guards coming in with rifles. I almost fainted. I'm like, what the fuck? So the judge explained to me that once this process is over And I exit those doors, they can't protect me And now I'm like, Bruno, what the fuck? I thought this was a good deal for me to do.

And he was like, Norwich, this is, it's not snitching, But you won out and they didn't understand that I knew what was happening. And I knew crimes that weren't on the news yet and crimes that weren't in court yet. And I knew what was coming. And I knew that they were going to rat up, which they did. This is all on record, man. These guys, the two men guys did do some time,

but they were released. My direct partner did zero days in jail. I don't know if he took the stand. I'm not going to speak from. We haven't spoke. And to this day, I still love the guy, man. And it was unfortunate the way that relationship ended, but that technically is snitching.

I agree. But it wasn't, people don't get that there was more behind. It wasn't me snitching. It was, I knew what the fuck was going to happen. I got ahead of it. And I got myself out. Who's getting pulled into RICO for dropping a box of money off? I'm going to do time for cocaine and rocket launches and murder.

Do I be a fucking idiot? So I tried to reach out to him while this is all going on. I'm like, what's going on? Are you guys doing what I think you're doing? And his exact words for me, we're going to be good. I can't associate myself with that. Although I know I would have to be a felon right now, I'm not going to attach myself to snitching.

I'd rather just walk and take my time, dude. Like, that's it. That was the whole thing about it. Like, they to this day, and it's funny if they blame or you give up a murder. You know it wasn't because of me, bro. All I did was give in the box of money to somebody. So don't attach my name to your shit. You guys snitched.

Cool. I walked away from it, bro. And I was facing time. I have my felony. And it destroyed my finances, destroyed my marriage, everything. My mother died, bro. Like, I don't blame the case of my mother dying. But I went through a lot of shit over this, bro.

I never got a phone call, a dime sent to me. No heads up. All I got was phone calls about what's going on or how much money can you make us this. We get the fuck out of here, bro. Like, to me, it was a no-brainer. If you're going to, I can't attach myself to the rat and shit. And I can't, and it wasn't just about me and with fear for my safety. Fuck that.

My kids, man. I don't want, that he's a rat. No. Not going to happen. For me, that was it. And I, I pled guilty. I obviously risk my fucking life. But if I rather die, then snitch.

It's that simple. And I don't, kids don't listen to that shit. I should. I'm going back on that. Because that's stupid to say. I'd rather face my time and deal with my shit than tell. And what did the judge end up giving you? He, um, I knew I was max year and day, so I was in no way worse.

And it was minimum. It's a minimum. You know how the camps go. So I was like, fuck, this is a joke. Not to say I was going in there with that attitude, but I went in and he said, you have anything to say, I said, Your Honor, I know what I did. I'm done with it. I just want to go into my kids.

That was all I said. Fortunately, I had about almost 100 character letters, number one. and when we did the, I don't know, what's the interview called where they call you about your, there's that right before, the PSI. So I was a nervous wreck and I'm like,

Bruno, what do we do? You know what we did? And I don't care of the matter now. We got fucking blasted. I was drunk on this phone call, but it brought out, got the fear out of me, all the nervousness,

and I was able to talk openly and they saw who I was and just a regular guy I do it, and I had them laughing on the phone, which was great. And one of the character letters and they saw I had kids, They saw all they had on me was one recording and a box of money. The judge was like, I'm really considering sent to here,

but do the character letters and your children. And at that job, I had, I started got a real job. I went into security bouncing. I was, ironically, I got the security job because I couldn't get a job anywhere else. But he became really good at him. And he saw I was working and he, he's like, I'm going to sentence you to, and I'm thinking I'm going to hear, what was the camp where Woods his face was, Otisville?

That's what I was expecting to get. And he's like, I'm going to do your favor. You're going to go into your kids. But they extended my probation instead of three years. I did five years. Fine. And I had to give up all the money. I surrendered $235,000 cash.

They stole about $40,000 worth of sneakers, which I didn't bring up, which grow up, whatever. They did it. So they let me walk on that. But at that point, see, this is another thing that people don't realize. When you get out of these cases, there's a ripple effect. And I couldn't get a real job. my mother was deteriorating to the point

she was getting older so her mind was already going a little bit and she was losing weight and it just it was a constant paranoia for her anytime it wasn't near her it became obsessive where I did that's actually I moved back to Connecticut and it my actions and that's my biggest regret was what I did to her getting choked up sorry but yeah I fucked that up man and she uh she uh

We went to the doctor finally, and while I'm going to the doctor keeping her, I bought center in Shelton. And they told me the whole reason I bought the damn bar was she was supposed to live three to five years. My plan was to buy the bar. She was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis and stay there the length of her life that she had left and move. She died three months later. So now I'm stuck in Shelton. But that's how that all happened, man. And this is what people I want to realize.

It's a great life when you're doing it. But dude, man, the fucking repercussions and the ripples, like, I can't get a real credit card. There's still banks I'm red flagged by. I'm banned from casinos, a few casinos. People, I go for job interviews before I was my own boss. If you Google me, I look like a mass murderer, dude. It just sounds really bad and it fucked my whole life up, dude. And no matter, I can make the money back, I'm never going to get my reputation back.

I'm never going to get my mom back. My kids know me as a felon. You know how embarrassing that is? It sucks, bro. My father, well, rich, successful men, and he's got this one black sheep fuck up. And I'm his oldest son with his namesake. People don't realize this shit that comes with this.

And the PTSD you get, and I get, I don't know if you feel it. But if I'm around cops, I always feel like I'm doing something wrong. Do you get that too sometimes? Yeah, all the time. It sucks. And it stays with you forever. And it builds this, that PTSD in you. And it's, I know how they, how do they say it?

This is an alcoholic process. I know I didn't drink today, I don't drink yesterday, but I don't know about tomorrow yet. And there's times when I get, you know, the bills are late, and the bar's not doing so well, or my security business is slow. And I get, I do get that thought, because I know I can go out tomorrow and start over

and be successful doing all that shit again. I know I could. You have to fight that urge, dude. And it's hard when you can't get your kids with it used to anymore. Or if you can't, your wife's not wearing $30,000 jewelry no more. It's hard, dude. It's a fight.

It's almost like an addiction. And you have to just suck it up and keep going, man. And it's terrible. But if you can get out there and all those skills I use and growing that business, I wasn't able to bring into this now with the bar on my security business. And I don't want to sound the wrong way here, but it was worth it in the sense of what I did because I came full circle now, man.

And my kids are tough as nails. They don't take no shit. They're very intelligent. All the guys I ran with in that crew. they're all got legitimate successful businesses now. I got a girl that stood by me. Although my mom's not here, she was proud of me getting the bar through it.

It came full circle for me, and I'm able to go into these business dealings now and live life with a whole different attitude. In a sense, like I told you, we're going to find out who the better person is in this negotiation, and I'm going to win most of the time now. And that's what I do. I'm able to fight through things that most people can't.

My bar would have, it's had rough times, would have been closed years ago if I wasn't me. It's just, you get a whole different view on life, but unfortunately you get the scars with it, and it sucks. You can't get mom back. You can't get the fucking record back.

You can't get, you know how it is, dude. It's just there's parts of your life that are ruined, and there's no way to come back from that. How much money do you think you made during your whole career in crime? Millions. Yeah, there was one time. I remember I decided to count the cash in my house,

and I had $7,000 and $20,000 in front of me. I didn't even count the big bills. Once again, great time. but that my stupid ass having money in the house is what got me that money loaner. That was an extra charge. The money was always, it was endless, endless money. It was just, I could do anything I wanted

and whenever I wanted. But while I'm doing that, I was neglecting my kids. I was cheating on my girl. I was neglecting my family, me and my parents not doing what they wanted. So as fun as it, it was the most selfish thing I've ever done in my life. It was as much fun as I had

and I got to experience shit that I never will again. We will you never know. know, and I don't mean that criminally, but when I think back and out what I was doing to them, I would take it all back. I'm glad the skills they've gained from it, but I did damage to a lot of people I love. And it's fucked up, man. It really is.

And I know it. I admit it now, but it took me years to point inward. I blamed everyone else. Well, you didn't raise me right. That's why I'm doing this. And my ex-wife, you left me, so you're out there. That's why I don't see the kids. Dude, get in a fucking plane to go see your kids.

There were times where I go six months without seeing them. And I think about it now, I can't even fathom it. but that was me. Mr. Tough guy with all the money while his kids are home fucking waiting for you.

That's fucked up, man. Did you ever hear from those individuals in the organization? We're still friends on social media, but we don't talk. I don't know if I'm a...

I don't know how he feels about me, and I know how I feel about him. I was upset what they did, but he might be upset what I did too. You know, I just, I couldn't attach myself to what they were doing.

And he might look at it as, well, you didn't give us a shot to fight. But I knew what they were doing, dude, you weren't fighting. You weren't going to fight. This was going, you were going into the office somewhere and everyone,

no way, dude. People were taking a stand. No fucking way, dude. So I, there's probably some mental feelings there. I got one in particular, the guy out, man. I still got love for the dude, man.

He's a great dude. It's just, it was an unfortunate situation we got ourselves caught up in, man. What about shrimp boy? What happened to him? Double life. Yeah.

When the process began of cooperating, that's what's fucked up, man. The murders weren't even in my case. They were given. That's what sucks. for him. And that's part of why I don't agree with it. It's, that's too much to give up, dude.

But to defend them for doing that, there were some inner workings while this was going on where allegedly he was trying to fuck them too. So it wasn't just them saying, I want to get out of jail. These are tough guys. They weren't scared of going to prison. It was just more of retaliation than anything. So were you just someone that just moved the money? Yep. Because you didn't get charged with that. If somebody owed, I had to make sure they paid. But what about violence. I mean, the judge, I feel like, wouldn't have let you off the hook as easy. And I'm sorry. I just say, yeah, there's certain things I got to, I can't comment on them. But essentially, you were just, you were a money mover.

Correct. Which is where the money laundering comes in. And, you know, the marijuana involved, but the money laundering, I guess, is exactly what they want. Nobody cares about pot dude, especially feds. It was, yes, that was going on, but it was more that I was picking up money. The way they see it is, I'm taking these millions of dollars and bringing them to this organization, which is killing people. I never looked at it that way because I didn't know how you don't know how deep in shit you are and so you smell it basically and it was once I didn't realize until that day of the court when we had everybody in there I'm like oh my God there's people that were getting arrested from

I'm talking from cigarettes not I don't know what the charge was whether you bring in cigarettes from different states it started from that all the way up to murder like an illegal import type of correct so I'm talking every single crime you could think of was in my indictment well they were a criminal organization but dude I'm shit the Italian don't even go that far. If there was a nickel to be made, they were making it, man. If you knew that they were doing like acts of violence and stuff, would you have never even gotten part of it?

I still would have. I won't lie. I mean, to be honest. I still would have. That was with the life I was living at the time. I had a whole different mentality, man. That was about, I didn't give a fuck, to be honest with you. I didn't, I wasn't scared of arrest.

I, once again, I shouldn't say I wasn't scared. I was, but not scared enough to not do it. You know, I didn't give a fuck. I mean, I always had fear like I told you, but it's kind of a good reason I'd be able to come up in the security company or bouncing. I would go to bars, and especially in my planes, I got hired because I was a cleanup guy in a sense. I was the guy in that bar that if there's a fight, I'm coming out. And you might beat me, but we're going to fight again when I see you and again and again and again until I win. And that's the mentality I have with everything.

So that is how I form a security business. I was able to meet a bunch of great guys, and I'm not like that no more. I don't even, my bouncers handle their own business, but everything I did in my criminal life, I was able to project into this legal life now and be successful at it. So you make millions of dollars.

Not anymore. No, back then, yeah. You make millions of dollars in this, but you end up with a felony. Correct. But you avoid prison. Correct. Was it worth it?

Yes. And only because the money was all gone. What I used to do is, when I say millions, I had this fucking stupid idea that if I didn't have cash on hand, liquid, actual liquid, I would put product into the street knowing that if I needed that money,

similar to bank accounts. This guy owes me this, this guy owes me this, this guy owes me this. So in my mind, I'll always have the money if I ever get raided, the cash isn't there. All those people ran when I got arrested. So that money left and that's it. but it was only worth it because of where I am now. And I don't think I am where I am now,

and I'm happy where I am now. I'm a great dad and I'm a great friend and I have great employees and I'm surrounded with people I love now. I don't know if I'm here if I don't get to that level of where I was. So I'm happy with my life right now. So was it worth it?

Yes, in that matter. It wasn't worth it for what I did to my family and friends. So it's kind of a toss-up there, but I'm happy with me now. So for that, I'm not the man I am today unless I go through all that bullshit. I don't recommend it. But I'm not sitting here with you and pleasure to meet you. So I, like, it's, it's, I'm where I am because of that.

So yes, it was worth it. What do you want people to take away from your story, the lessons? If you're, full honesty, if you're going to get into this life, get out, set a goal. The truth is you have to set a goal, whether it be a business, property. the end game in this if you don't quit is death or jail. There's no other options. There's not rich. You're not getting rich forever.

And get in and get out. And if you're smart enough to get those skills to really become successful at it, stop. Because you have those business, the business acumen now, you can do anything, dude. Like I work with these kids now and I, with Boys and Girls Club and these single moms and everything. And I see them and they, I see a lot of kids and it's in music today. It's glorified, dude. And you get, especially on not your podcast, but there's some of these podcasts,

these guys are on there glorifying that life, man. And you got young kids watching this shit, dude. If you have to get in it, and I don't know your situation, get out as fast as you can. And if you've learned that skill where you were successful and able to get out, apply it and you'll be successful, dude.

There's nothing you can't do. I was a felon with nothing left, and I own two businesses, one being a bar that does over a million dollars in revenue a year. If I can do it, anybody can do it, dude. Well, so I'm Norge, thank you for coming on the show today, man. It was a pleasure to sit, chat, and hear your story.

Thank you, brother. Yeah, we'll definitely come check out the bar and show. Please do, man, please do. Are you working there tonight? Unfortunately, yeah. I do not miss those nightclose days. I'm so tired, dude, yeah. I stayed up after the Mike Tyson fight went to the after party,

and it was the first time I was up to like 5 a.m. Between you and I, Mike don't get mad. I think Mike could have killed me if you really wanted to. No comment. He might hit you if you say something. Thank you, brother. Yeah.