Locked In with Ian Bick - Raided by the DEA at 17: A Teen's Shocking Encounter with the Law | Jay Heiser

Episode Date: September 8, 2024

Jay Heiser recounts the harrowing experience of having his life turned upside down at just 17 years old. Imagine being a teenager, living your life, when suddenly the DEA storms through your door. Jay shares the shocking details of that fateful day, offering a firsthand look at what it’s like to be caught in the crosshairs of a major drug raid at such a young age. #DEA #DrugRaid #TeenageTrauma #LifeChangingEvent #LawEnforcement #TrueStory #CrimeAndPunishment #RealLifeDrama Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Connect with Jay Heiser: https://www.instagram.com/jayboogie118/ Buy his merch: https://www.instagram.com/cleane_clthng/ https://cleaneclothing.store/ Presented by Tyson 2.0 & Wooooo Energy: https://tyson20.com/ https://woooooenergy.com/ Buy Merch: https://lockedinbrand.com Use code lockedin at checkout to get 20% off your order Timestamps: Chapters: 00:00:00 - From Baltimore to Street Wear 00:03:37 - Peer Pressure and Influences 00:07:32 - Influences on Childhood Perspective 00:11:04 - Getting Raided by the DEA 00:14:47 - Reducing risk and increasing profits in the drug business 00:18:23 - Violence in Baltimore and Chicago 00:22:00 - Dealing Drugs and Maintaining Business 00:25:55 - Escaping the Cycle of Addiction 00:29:36 - A School Fight and its Consequences 00:33:09 - Divine Intervention and Lucky Escapes 00:36:47 - Surveillance and Raids 00:40:17 - A life fueled by addiction 00:43:54 - Getting Caught with Drugs 00:47:43 - Brill 00:51:12 - Reflections on Life Choices and Avoiding Prison 00:54:56 - Life's Perspective and Giving Back 00:58:30 - Weathering the Storm Powered by: Just Media House : https://www.justmediahouse.com/ Creative direction, design, assets, support by FWRD: https://www.fwrd.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Jay, welcome to Lockton, man. Thank you. Thank you for coming all the way from Baltimore today. And thank you for the merch. We've got to tell the listeners you just rolled out your very own merch line. if you want to tell people kind of like the inspiration behind it and what I'm wearing right now. So what he's wearing right now is my clothing brand is cleanclothing. Dot Store.

Basically, it's meant to be more of like the streetwear type of designs is what I'm going for. Everything is trying to have a positive message behind it. Like the one he's got on right now, his life is beautiful. Mine says the beauty and the struggle. But also it's just designs that I like that I think are cool. Really just trying to get back to like the community back when streetwear was very, very small and you didn't have everybody across the world wearing every brand possible. So that's kind of what I'm trying to get back to is making like a smaller community of

like little or streetwear brands that people like and they feel like they connect with. Yeah, and very comfortable. I was just telling you, you know, you never know what to expect coming into someone's like own-made shirt. Yeah. But these are not too tight and wearing a large and very comfortable. Awesome. And I love that all these individuals can come on the show and everyone has like something that

they're doing, like the entrepreneurial spirit. It's really cool to see. Yeah. And we'll have the bio. I mean, the link you could send it to me and I'll put it in the description for people. That'd be great, dude. Thank you. I appreciate that.

Yeah, we appreciate you coming. Did you grow up in Baltimore? Yeah, yeah. Right outside of Baltimore, actually. So like the way Baltimore is a little bit different. Like we have the county and the city. So I'm a county kid. And then you have the city, which is like, you know, the inner city, the hardcore part of it.

But yeah, I grew up in the county, Baltimore County. What was that like? Is it like Baltimore, it's one of those. cities that has always been in the news. Like, people know Baltimore. It's like a New York City. It's like that type of effect. So what was that like in your experience?

It's a very much, it's an open-air drug market. Like, I've never seen anywhere in the nation. I've been all over. I've never seen, like, it's very much drug-addicted. Like, the whole, I think it's like one in five people struggle with drug addiction. Some crazy high number like that. So we are known, like, even in like 50 cents song, we are known for heroin. Like that is like our thing.

They have their own type of heroin out there. It's called Scramble. And that's like what the city is known for. I mean, they have what's called the Lexington Lean, which is like people leaned over standing up and everything. So I mean, it was, it definitely got worse after the Freddie Gray thing, though. When the Freddie Gray thing happened, that's when the city really got off the hook. But prior to that, it was definitely a little bit more calmer. I mean, the drugs were still president, but it wasn't as much like murder and the crazier type of crimes.

Why do you think it's such a big drug city? The way, so, I used to have a lot of friends in, like, New York. And the way they described it was that the stuff comes in through New York, but it sells in Baltimore. For whatever reason that is, it is just how it's always been. And it's been like that for generations. I mean, to the point where, I mean, you got to think that song came out in early 2000s when 50 made that song about it. So it's been going on for a long time. So when you were in school, was it just rampant drug?

use among kids terrible terrible I mean so we were probably like one of the epicenters of the whole oxycodone epidemic and I look back now and like see like how much availability there was in oxycottons back then I mean you had 16-year-old kids with grocery bags full of them to where like it was easier to get oxies than it was to get alcohol back then I mean you had and like you look back and you think like what kids you would assume be drug addicts, that was out the window. Like, there was soccer players, football players, cross players, cheerleaders.

I think it was like 75% of my graduating class had an opia problem. It was terrible. It was really, really rampant back then. And what do you think the hook was for these individuals to try it? Because sometimes people get addicted to these things because they're in pain or they had an injury. And from what I've experienced, seeing, you know, guests on the show is normally the trigger. But if a high school kid is just randomly trying these, there's got to be some type

reason. So at least in my experience, I can't speak for everybody out there. For me, I got addicted originally from an injury, from a four-wheeler injury. But what I saw was, is the more popular kids in the high school, they were the ones doing it. And so everybody who wanted to be friends with them ended up doing it. And that's in my experience. It might be different from other people, but it was just that the popular kids did it. It was what was cool back then. Yeah, it's a cool thing. It's amazing how much like appear pressure and influence has over, like, changing people. Like, someone's whole life could change just because they saw a cool person doing it.

And that applies to every day with influencers. Yeah. Now, like, you watch what influencers post and people kind of tend to follow that. Yep. It's pretty crazy when you think about it. Yeah, I mean, it was, you know, especially, like, we all knew. You know, I mean, everybody knew back then, like, this is something you get physically addicted to.

This is something that will kill you, but to still do it anyway. Like, it just, it goes out the window. Like, I guess it's always that. like oh it's not gonna be me mentality yeah that causes everybody to do it what was it like for you growing up did you have both parents no so my mom is an angel um she worked super hard to provide for us my dad so to try to make a long story short like my grandparents were very well off my dad even though he grew up very well off he wanted to be a gangbanger and um he was in a motorcycle club and uh had struggle with drug addiction really bad my mom at that

point moved back to my grandparents house while my my dad spent most of my younger years in prison um and uh he was caught he was definitely my first influence for sure because like i hold his name um he was murdered two years ago actually in baltimore and uh yeah so like i always wanted to be like my dad like he was like my like even though it was all just negative criminal activity like that was like the cool figure to me i'm sorry to hear that i appreciate him did you ever um get to talk to him or Did you ever wonder why, you know, someone that came from a successful family decide to go into that life? You know, it's like, yeah, I mean, for sure. Like, I definitely wondered for sure.

But at the same time, like, the same way he was drawn to all the negative things and the bad things in the world is the same way I am. Like, I was very much drawn to do everything, like, past rebelling. Like, just everything that's negative and bad. Like, I grew an attachment to it and grew like a wonder for it. and so I kind of even understood it but his big thing was alcohol he had a terrible problem with alcohol and that's what led to him

kind of making all the bad decisions that he made um I you know my youngest some of my youngest memories are being down Baltimore copping with him because he did do heroin too but um that's my youngest memory

then going to jessup state prison and visiting him too like that's some of my youngest memories of my dad and uh I guess that also kind of like in a way cemented in my mind that that was cool being so young seeing that but yeah how much of yourself do you see in him a lot a lot yeah a lot i mean now like i've kind of come out of that now i've i feel like i've definitely a different person than i was but there's a lot of similarities i mean

down to like the same we like the same foods the same music we're both into motorcycles like uh you know there's a lot. There's definitely a lot. Does watching the influence he had kind of like passed down to you put in a perspective like when you have kids one day if you want kids? Oh yeah. For sure. Make sure your life is a certain way. Yeah. Absolutely.

Yeah. Like I, he glorified everything bad to me too and made it seem super cool. And that's like something I definitely think I will spare my children from having to hear. Like, you know, like from a young age I was definitely meant

like led to believe that the gangster stuff was cool. Not that I'm a gangster in any way, shape or form, but that's just what was always cool. That was what, you know, watching like Goodfellas as a kid and then watching Scarface. Like that's what was portrayed to be cool to me. And I definitely don't think at a four or five year old kid, I should be watching that.

And that's what I think influenced me a lot. So, dude, I feel for these like kids of like I see these parents that come on to my show like in their 30s, 40s, 50s. And they talk about how they recently got out of jail. addiction, this and that. And I feel for the kids and the family members and the wives that are affected. Yeah. Like imagine like you see on the news these guys that go to prison for fraud in their 40s or 50s. They're not, it's not their life that's affected. It's all the people around them and it's no different with a drug addiction. Yeah, I, you know, I always like,

and maybe this is because of how I am, but like I always think like they're just super easy to give out big years for stuff that's like a victimless crime. Like that blows people's way. Like, you're ruining people's lives and tearing away from their families and stuff for, like, things that I just don't see as like, like, when you talk about, like, fraud, like, wouldn't it make more sense to just, like, make them pay it back? Yeah, the working thing. Yeah, like. I think they should maybe give them the opportunity to come up with a plan. Yeah. Because, like, if a 20-year prison sentence, yes, it's great for revenge, but as you get older, you realize, you know, the revenge doesn't really, like, you can wish for someone's downfall, but that's no.

that doesn't make you any different of like you're asking for them to be wrong too. Right. You want the money back, you know? Have the, like me and my situation, I was ready to work and do all that. And it makes it harder when you throw a prison sentence. You're just delaying. And I just think it needs to be restructured, especially in the fraud cases. Now, obviously, someone like Bernie Madoff, is he paying back, you know, $100 million

or $100 billion or whatever the number? No. But in most situations, you know. Yeah. And maybe even for drug offenses, have them go work. in a drug rehab or something to see what those drugs were doing to these individuals.

Yeah, I mean, you look about like the big time drug dealers and stuff like that. Like most of them like, I mean, obviously when you get to prison, you have time to reflect, but I don't know a single one. I've read books on a lot of them

that like don't deeply regret what they've done. You know, I mean, it's, but at the same time that you've got to look at it and this is coming from somebody who was addicted to it. Like I would never blame them

for what happened to me. Like, if they didn't do it, somebody else was going to do it. It's just you've got to come after the demand at the end of the day. The supply is always going to be there. The demand is what's going to be changed, I feel. Yeah, and then also just like, you know, I've been talking to more law enforcement agents and stuff recently and seeing how the government kind of like lets these dealers operate to a certain extent

so they could catch the bigger fish. But how much harm is that actually creating too by, you know, letting these individuals out to bring in the bigger ones? I don't know. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's kind of wild. that's definitely wild. I mean, especially like, there's always going to be somebody that steps up. Like, it's just a... Yeah, I wonder if it ever ends.

I'd never ends. Or if it's just a constant revolving door. It's never going to end. So in high school, did you ever get into dealing or anything like that? Yeah, oh yeah, for sure. So, um, I got rated at 17. Rated by who? By DEA. At 17 years old, you became on the DEA's radar. Yeah, so it was like a test, like, and they have like a, it's like DIA and like, uh, it's like DIA and like the county police work together.

It's not like, you know, the feds coming in sweeping, but it was like, so I was living with an ex-girlfriend and I was getting really sloppy at the time. I was already super addicted to drugs at this point. And they raided the house just for weed. I mean, this is back when weed was like super illegal still. What year was this? 2010. Okay.

Because it was six months before my 18th birthday. Because the rule was, at least that's what I was told, is that if you're within six months of your 18th birthday, they can charge you as an adult. So they raided the house And it was no lie 20 minutes too early And my guy was on his way with more And they rated 20 minutes too early

And then kicked the door in Did the whole nine yards I was actually getting in the shower So they took me downstairs In front of the whole family Just handcuffed in a towel That was terrible And yeah

That was the end of the weed the only thing But I mean everyone in high school sold weed How much was the guy bringing over? It was only like a pound it wasn't like an excessive amount but and not everyone in high school is getting their door kicked down yeah yeah i mean between me and my brother though we had like a like a i don't want to say like a name but like the people knew like we were on the news together like earlier that year for a big fight and stuff so people like the county kind of knew about it's like it made national news and stuff like that

so so they couldn't arrest you they couldn't do anything in that moment no no they didn't do any i mean they found like little things like a couple empty caps of heroin um a scale but nothing like like substantial. I mean, I guess they could have, like, they could have got, but nothing to, like, prove distribution. Never got charged. Never got charged. Nope. Wow. So, rewinding, how did you even come on their radar? So, I was super good with it, like, very, like, careful about everything I did, but I would never, like, I was never, like, a nickel and dime person. Like, I always, you know, fronted it out to people. They sold it and brought me that money. So I was more of, like, doing that type of thing. But then towards the end, when I'm getting, like, heavily addicted

at opiates, I'm getting sloppy, and I'm just, you know, every dollar I'm getting is going back out to opiates and having people come to the house. And this is like a suburban neighborhood. This is not like in the hood or by any stretch of the amount. This is very much suburban and cars pulling up nonstop. Then somebody got busted out front with pills in their car. It was a friend of mine. and I think that kind of like set it off. And then there was another one where it was like a drug deal gone wrong. Dude kicked my door in when I wasn't there. And then the plea, again, suburban America.

Like neighbors call the cops. It's broad daylight. And yeah. So that, I think that was kind of when they got the hint. Like, okay, something's going on in this house. Now, were you making money at all? In the beginning, yeah. In the beginning.

I mean, not serious. I'm serious for a 16-year-old kid, like $1,000 a week. but, you know, at the end, like I said, it was just constantly, everything that comes in goes right back out. Nothing substantial by any means. That wasn't until I got into the pills that I was, like, making good money with that. Out of your, like, graduating class, how many do you think were selling drugs? It was really just me and one other guy. So you had a pretty control over the market.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, like, I mean, there was people, like, under me, for sure that, like, I would front to and stuff like that. But as far as, like, getting, like, weight and giving it out, like, it was me at one other guy. What's the real way to make money in the drug business? Is it being like the corner person selling the little bags or is it breaking down selling the big weight and confronting it out? Definitely. Definitely the breaking it down and fronting it out. If you have people you can trust for sure.

Not your money's coming in so slow and I even use that in business today with what I do for the construction side. The faster you get your money is always going to be better. So if you're trying to nickel and dime to get the most out of everything, you're not going to make as much money in the long run. But it also opens the door to more people that could. expose you or snitch on you right yeah so i mean that's also i mean you got a risk factor you got money factor like the way to go is always going to be weight in my opinion at least how do you learn of all about this was it from your dad or was it from someone else i just learned i just learned i mean i just it was over time and it was over like trial and error really i mean you know there was no real

teacher anything i mean the guy i bought from he kind of like gave me a little bit of game but not much. Like, it was more really just trial and error. And then just trying to do everything. The one thing I was told that really stuck with me is he told me any little thing you can do to reduce your risk, do it. It doesn't matter if it's taking a different route there that you came. You know, any little thing you can do, do it just to make it a little bit safer. And that's something I've really kind of like put into my whole daily routine when it came to that. So what were the biggest ways to reduce risk as a drug dealer? Um, well, like, fronting it at. out not doing every little nickel and dime.

Backroads were a big thing. You know, just pull up wind-to-window, hand it over. That was a good one. Taking a different route there than you took back when you re-up. Switching up houses, a lot of help, different cars. Just little stuff like that. That's what I did. These guys were so on to you that the local police, because they don't just randomly kick

down the door one day, did you know, did you get when that they were coming after you? Yeah, actually, funny story, the school resource officer at the high school actually brought me in one day specifically to tell me that they were waiting until my 18th birthday to kick the door in. Really? But I just blew it off. I was like, nah, you're good. Nah, it's fine. But yeah, specifically, I'll never forget him. He was a great guy.

I still talk to him to this day. Awesome, awesome officer. Yeah, he brought me in specifically just to tell me that. Now, being this young and dealing, were there older people in the area that you? you were kind of like stepping on their toes and maybe in their market? So at this point, all the older people besides one person had moved on the selling oxycontins. There was one other guy, but we ended up being like really cool. Like we never had a problem.

So yeah, no, I mean, there never was any hardship or any beef between me and anybody else by any means. I mean, like it was just, it was, it's not like that down there. Like, it's not like a real competitive market to where like everyone's fighting for, I mean, it's everywhere. Like, you know, people, like a lot of the dealers will call other dealers when they run out. Like, it's very much like almost like a weird little fucked up community. So everyone's friendly with each other. Oh, yeah, for sure. There's no violence at all?

Not where I was, no. Not where I was. Now you remember, I'm in the county. I'm not in like the inner city. Like, I'm in the county area. Is there violence in the inner city area? Oh, yeah, for sure. For sure, yeah.

I mean, we behold the murder, like, at a steady 365 every year, like a steady murder a day. And this inner city is definitely violent. Is it from gangs? I don't see, I don't know. I mean, I'm sure, like, from what, what I was told was that, like, when the whole Freddie Gray thing happened, that, like, it became, like, a thing where they robbed the seat, when they robbed the pharmacy during the riots, then people went out on the corners

to try to sell. And then the big dealers came in was, like, you know, they were stepping on their toes. So I'm assuming a lot of it's drug-related. I mean, have you ever seen The Wire? No. I heard it was good, though. Yeah, so it's kind of like everything that happens in a wire. I mean, it's written by a Baltimore City cop.

So it's basically a lot of it's drug-related. I don't think there's much gang. I mean, they're, don't be wrong. There's probably is gangs, but I don't think it's like what you see in, like, L.A. or places like that. Yeah. Well, they've always said, like, Baltimore is kind of a, like, one of those violent cities. Yeah.

To a certain extent. Yeah, for sure. With the arrest and, like, you were saying the murders and whatnot. Yeah. It is probably one of the highest murder areas, I'm assuming. Yeah, it's like us in Chicago. Yeah, Chicago is bad, too. Man.

Yeah, I watched something on them recently where it's like, because I always assumed they were all drug-related murders, like over drug beefs and stuff. But they say, like, the whole South Side thing is just strictly like a point-for-point system. Like, it's not even like they're really, I mean, I don't know. I'm not in Chicago, but from what the guy was saying is, like, it's just a point system. There's, you know, it's been beef that's been there for years, and that's what they're going for.

Yeah. And that's mind-blowing. Do you think the cartel operates in Baltimore at all? I'm sure. I'm sure, yeah, I'm sure. I mean, we have the ports. I know a lot of it comes in through the ports, too. But I'm sure, like, there's, I mean, there's...

To have that big of a drug market, there's got to be some cartel presence. And Baltimore's where the bridge collapsed, right? Yes, yeah. So how does that affect everyday travel now? Oh, it's terrible, man. It's absolutely terrible. Have you experienced that front of it? Yeah, absolutely.

So, like, that bridge was the only way to... connect like the county to the city it was a very quick drive from county to city which is now going straight down the main i-95 and it is added 45 minutes to get like if i was going past the city for work it's added 45 minutes to my drive so how long would it normally take you about 30 minutes so it added 15 extra minutes no no sorry so like it's like an hour and a half now where it used to be 30 minutes to 45 minutes oh wow yeah it's it just jammed up traffic It's terrible. Yeah.

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Yeah, there's a chance. I mean, very few jobs do I do down that way. Okay. But, I mean, prior to it, like probably a couple months prior to it, I was taking that bridge every day because it was the way around traffic, too. Yeah, that's such a crazy thing to happen. And you're right about the ports, though, because you have. the ports there and that's probably, it was probably a huge component. Yeah. With the drug trade.

Yeah. You don't think the cops are onto it. Maybe now so, but back then you don't think they were on top of that. On top of what? The ports controlling them. Oh yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure. But I mean, it's like with everything, like, you know, like going through the border, going, taking it through plane, take it through the ports. They're only going to catch so much. Yeah, people will always find a way. Yeah. So 17, you know, the DEA, that the cop show up, does that scare you to the point where you're like, I'm done, I'm out, or does that just like you double down? So for a time period, yeah.

So I actually went to rehab shortly after that for the first time. And I did 30 days in rehab to get off all the opiates and everything. At that time it was just oxycotton. And I came out and I was good. Like I was like, I'm done. I'm not selling anymore.

But that didn't last like six months. Why? I had found a plug in New York and for perks back then. And that's when perks were really jumping. Because OxyCon had already gotten phased out where they put that coating in where you couldn't crush it or anything. So everyone had switched to perks.

Well, I had found a plug to get perks for super cheap as many as you wanted. So once I found that, then it was back to game on. Because now everybody, everybody was doing perks. And how much would you make off of that? And how much are you picking up? What's the breakdown? It was like probably a couple of. 100 maybe like 200 to maybe three at most um paying between 15 and 20 and bringing them back here

and selling them for 20 to 30 and how much do you think you're moving a week uh easy easy 600 and it's that easy to find clientele like I always thought like if I was a drug dealer like how would you find the people without getting caught and doing you know I was fresh out of school I was fresh out of high school and like I said everybody everybody was doing it um as soon as one person said they had it, everybody would call your phone because it was just, it's not like street trucks where it's like you can go anywhere and get it. Like it's something that is, you know, prescribed so it's not a constant source. So as soon as I had them, it was, it was done at that point. Like it was just every, I mean, they used to call my phone the bat phone because it

would ring nonstop. I'd have to turn it off. It was just a little burner phone, but it would just be ringing nonstop. Who do you think was your biggest demographic? Like men, women, people that were in school, people that were working, maybe any issues like high school, high school kids, men and women both. I mean, like I said, it was not by any stretch of the imagination a certain person. It was the cheerleaders down to the stoner kids, the skaters, like there was a couple older people, but it was mainly all people I knew because now I knew I was dealing with something that if I got caught, I was going to get some time. So like, I tried to keep it as close as possible, but it was, it was generally all people I know. Where are these people's parents?

Like they're not checking on them, seeing something's going on, asking where they're getting drugs from? Yeah, I mean, not back then. Not back then. It wasn't like it is the day where it's like the opiate crisis is known and it's like you look for it. Like back then it was not like you had a couple people that would get caught by their parents and stuff like that. And these are like 17, 18, maybe 19 year old kids. And they're all just graduating high school at this point. But I mean, my parents knew, obviously, because I already got back from rehab.

But short of that now, nobody, I mean, nobody's parents really, it was hidden well, I guess. Was anyone dying in your circle? Not then, not then, because I guess because it was just perks. Yeah, nobody was really, I mean, you had like the select few that passed away. And that was like, that was traumatizing at that point. Because even that was it kind of before my time. But it was more at this point, it was playful than it was. It's like a serious problem.

I mean, you're still doing an opiate and you're still addicted, but it wasn't like the junkie on the corner type of stuff back then. It was more of like a party acceptable type of thing. So it wasn't like as serious back then. How are you able to maintain the actual business side of drug dealing while you yourself was facing addiction? Not well. Not well at all.

I mean, like anything. In the beginning, I was good. Like I was clean actually when like I first started doing it for like the, first month. And then as time progressed, my habit gets a little bit stronger. I'd go from like doing two a day to 10 a day to 20 a day. And then by the next thing, I know I'm totally fucking up the money and just robbing Peter to pay Paul at that point. And I mean, it didn't last very long. It was probably like a seven, eight month run of doing this. I always, I was very fortunate to always get out before things got like really bad.

Not everyone can say that. Yeah, I mean, that's God looking out for me by all stretch of the other. I have been super fortunate when it came to that. Like it's like every time something serious was about to happen, like things would go bad for me and I have to stop. So yeah, that's pretty much how that went down. Wow. Yeah.

And your parents, they're not trying to intervene at all. I know you went to rehab, but did they think that rehab helped you completely or were they trying to be more involved and active? So I went to rehab. I came back. So that year, I had gotten kicked out of high school. I was using my grandparents' address to be in a better school district to go to this high school.

But then there was a big fight with my brother that was all over the news. Therefore, my address got released to the school about what my real address was. They didn't want me there anymore. So I had to go to different high school. So now I'm fresh off of drugs. And like, if anybody knows anything about being fresh off of drugs,

like you are not comfortable in your skin by any stretch. And I'm in a different school where nobody knows me. I don't know anybody. It's totally different, like culture, totally different people. And so I came back from rehab, was in the school. I went for about a week and then just stopped going. And, like, I would literally just hide in the woods by the school and just do nothing all day just so I didn't have to go.

And eventually they call my parents and were like, yeah, he hasn't been here for, like, two months. So they kicked me out at that point. I went to go live with my girlfriend at the time. And so they were around. enough to really I mean I'm sure they knew like something was up but they weren't really around enough to know that like I was that deep in it I think at one point I told my dad what I was doing with the New York stuff and he out of concern called my mom and told her but you know I just denied it denied it denied it until a toll came in that I ran a toll in New York and they're like yeah okay wow yeah that's like I got caught up so when you say big fight what do you mean like when a fight makes a news it's got to be pretty big so it was my

my brother had just gotten out of like what's juvenile like detention center down there he had an ankle brace on and he had been kicked out of public school system for like six seven years at this point a long time since like elementary school when he's finally back in his like junior year and some kid just started messing with him and the kid was saying he was a blood and this is county kids that like do not gang bang and he's saying he's a blood he's a blood and my brother was like you're not a blood like stop it like you don't like you didn't know any of the right stuff and and him and the kid got into a fight, but what happened was is my brother knocked him unconscious and completely embarrassed him in front of everybody. And it was all recorded. It was on YouTube back then. It was like, you know, the potato phone where you can't see anything. So he knocked him completely out cold. Then they get suspended for two weeks.

They come back. And on the second time, the kid jumps him to try to redeem himself. And my brother, who was like trying to like push him off to wait for the school resource cop because he didn't want to get in trouble he's on probation he's got the ankle monitor school resource officer didn't come fast enough and the kid i got him one good time in the face and you can see in the video his face churns completely red and that's when he he dropped the kid hit him one good time dropped him and we're like all right cool we won but then he jumps on top him and starts beating his head into the concrete and the kid's like head just bouncing off and

the school cop runs out he throws the school cop or the cop trips i can't You can't really tell on the video because it's like old. The cop trips or he falls and he just keeps going at it. And then another principal runs up, pulls him off. So then they're arresting my brother. I'm mad. I'm high. And I'm mouthy as hell.

So I start yelling for no reason at all. And then I get arrested for disturbing the peace or whatever the charge was back then. So now we're all sitting in the principal's office waiting for, you know, whatever to happen. and all of a sudden we hear call in ambulance, call on ambulance, and they swing the door open and the kids on the floor having a seizure. Then shock trauma shows up taken by helicopter. So we thought this kid was dead. He was in a coma for like four days.

But then, yeah, so that ended up making news. Wow. Yeah. Yeah, I feel like scenarios like that always happen in school. Like I remember there were some big fights where people would get severely hurt in high school and someone gets charged and someone's whole life could change forever on both the victim and the person that did that. Yeah, I mean, it's actually, like, really sad for the kid.

Like, like, he got embarrassed totally through this whole thing. He had to switch schools and everything. Like, I mean, now, you know, we're 12 years past high school. Like, I'm sure nobody even cares anymore. But I'm sure at the time he was just devastated by the whole thing. So did your brother ever get a chance to apologize to him? Oh, no, he don't care. He does not care.

I mean, the kid, he's just, he's stone cold. Like, he just does not. I mean, he, he, it's unfortunate because after all the time, he's not in prison. He hasn't matured at all by any means. Like he still lives in that like high school mentality. So he still will post the video on his Facebook thinking it's like still cool and everything. It's kind of sad. But like does it make you reevaluate your friendship and relationship with him?

Yeah. Yeah. I mean like all the time he spent a person. I'll always love him. Like it'll always be my boy and everything. But he's just not mentally well anymore. The prison system just destroyed him mentally. Completely destroyed him.

So now the toll booth. tell us that story so there is a ton of tolls between here in New York or Baltimore in New York there is a ton of tolls and one of them was like $25 and I was like down to my last dollar on that gas and re-ups I was like I'm just going to run it I didn't I was young I didn't know they would send a letter

you know like a picture whatever to the house and it was the Verrazano Bridge and I got that that ticket and my parents lost it they lost it they were like we knew you drive me someone to you yourself like, oh no, I just went there for the day. But they knew. They knew for sure.

I can't believe you, Brandon. And then they sent you the letter. Why was it $25? That's how much it caused. That's how much the toll was. It was $25 to go through. And do you think that had a major impact on your life, like a turning point? No, I mean, it was, at that point I was just gung-ho to do whatever.

Like, I was like, you know, they stayed mad at me. They were always pissed. I was always doing something wrong. Yeah. They didn't wonder why you were heading out there, what you were doing. They had already had the suspicion because my dad had already told them, like, hey, he told me he's going to New York to pick up perks, like, just so you know what's going on with them. Because my dad was concerned. And that's a lot to say my dad was concerned.

Yeah, was your dad getting, you know, word back in the streets about what his son was doing? Yeah, for sure. And he didn't care at all? He wasn't trying to stop you. My dad is the first one to ever give me hair when I was 14 years old. like he he just lived a different life than most fathers do like I tell people that nowadays and they're like blown away but he was just like he wanted to be a friend more than a father he was I mean he wasn't well himself he had been through it so do you ever think that if that toll incident could have led to like you actually getting pulled over with the drugs in your car so I did get pulled over with drugs in your car the one time I did not have drugs in the car like like I said like I've always had this devised buying intervention to where like something happens and I just get really lucky.

The guy who I was getting everything from, his car broke down on the Turnpike. He's like, hey, could you come get a get me like my car just broke down the do-da-da. So we drive up there, me and a buddy. And we pick him up and we pull, you know, the, we're at one of the rest stops on the Jersey Turnpike. We pull off and my buddy steals a candy bar. All of a sudden, the cops walk up to the car and I'm like, dude, we're about to get in trouble for him stealing candy bar. No, there was some, it was like a, it looked like just a husband and wife in a regular, like minivan. And I saw the badge.

And they immediately were like, why is two 18 year old kids from Maryland with a 39 year old black dude from New York City? That's what they saw. And immediately knew something was off. So they searched the car. They had like three different, you know, three different type of officers come out. One was in a suit. One was just regular, like, plain clothes. And then they searched through the whole car.

I didn't find anything but a couple straws and let us go. But that was kind of where it ended at that point for me. That's when I was like, all right, that's my sign. I need to stop. So if that happened like 20 minutes later, you're in prison for 10 years. Yep, for trafficking. How much drugs are you picking up? About 300, again.

Every trip was like a 300 pack. And how much money or are you getting fronted? I was getting fronted. Okay. So what was the value of a 300 pack? If you do the math. So. The wholesale.

Yeah. I don't know how much was I paying for it. How much are you paying? Whatever 300 times 15 is, I don't know if that I'm at this again, this is like 10, 11 years ago. How does a kid fresh out of high school build a relationship to get fronted like that? I just got really lucky. Like that's like even people say it about me now is like the one thing I possess is the ability to find drugs no matter what. Like I like I mean, I was always just really lucky.

Like when I go back to the weed like I had a buddy and his buddy had a neighbor and the neighbor had it upset. pounds of weed and like I ended up getting close with the neighbor somehow and that's how I got my weed connect so then you know and then this guy with the pills like I had a buddy my buddy was from New York he's doing life in prison right now the the kid that introduced us he introduced me to this guy this guy just happened to have pills and I was just buying like one or two here and there and then one day I met up with him and we were just cool and like I had also already gotten raided this point I already knew a little bit of the game and like I think he saw that in me and like saw that like I was smart and kind of knew what I was doing how to move and

everything and um he was like I'll give you five he's like you give you I'll give you five of these and when you get done bring it back to me and that's how I just work my way up from five from five to 10 to 10 to 15 15 to 20 and just worked my way up to where he was just handing me the whole thing and just saying go ahead no after that raid um normally cops don't just like back off after they lose one they double down where they still you know heavily on top of you not that I I could like, like, not that I could tell. I mean, like, it, there was always like this weird van parked in the neighborhood

that I always wondered, like, if that was like some kind of surveillance van or something, but there was nothing traumatic to where, like, they were, like, once the house got raided, like, leading up to the house getting raided, if people pulled into the court or if they saw me walking down and meet people, cost would pull up immediately.

Like, it was that surveilled. And then after the raid, that kind of just went away. I've been told by people, and again, I don't know, the whole, like how it inner workings of how the police force works, but once they raid your house, that if they don't find anything, it's hard for them to continue surveilling you. And that it kind of, it violates so many rights to get raided. Again, I don't know.

This is just what I was told. So that's what I was told, though, is that once they come up with nothing in a raid, they can't keep going. Yeah, because then it becomes like harassment. Right. Exactly. Yeah. So back to that stop where, you know, the cops come before you end up picking,

Do you end up picking up after that stop? No, we went home. So you knew in your mind, I got to be done with this. Yeah, I mean, because all I would have taken is us to get it and then be still watching. And like, then we're getting pulled over again, you know, and I was done. I was like, I'm going home. What does your dealer say? He's right with me.

We had talked because they pulled, I had a person drive me because, like I said, I always tried to switch cars. So I had a person drive me, and he pulled me to the sign. And he's like, I don't like the way, like, they pulled the driver to the side and was, like, talking to him separately from us. And he was like, I don't like the way that they're talking to him separately because they didn't do that with me. They're either me or him. So, like, at that point, we kind of went home at that point. And then at that point, I wasn't allowed to really make the New York trip anymore. He was like, now, I'm going to bring it down to you on a bus.

Don't make this trip no more. Because I'm sure, like, he didn't trust me to hold it down if I was to get in trouble. I mean, why would he? You know, like a little 18-year-old white kid. Yeah. like he's going to hold it down if he gets federal trafficking so he was like I'll bring it down to you like don't don't come up here anymore and that was the end of that looking back on it now do you think if you got pinched you would have snitched and you could be honest yeah I mean like I I I I probably

I mean I don't know for sure because back then I was so hardcore gangster now if it happened yeah I'm snitching I am not I am not a gangster I am not you know hard I'm I'm not going to jail for 10 years back then I thought I was the shit. So like I don't know for sure but probably. I mean you get in the bullpen and things change at that point. Yeah, everyone talks a big game until I wrote a little song to remind you choice hotels get you more of the experiences you value. The can be a hotel's got it all a rooftop bar have a ball bring a date your squad or even your mom book direct at choiceotails dot com. It's a fan and then you really kind of find out yeah I mean look how many people that everyone thought was so hard and now you're finding paperwork come out about every single one of them.

Yeah. Like, it's different when you're in there. Look at Takashi 6-9, all those individuals and stuff. We all knew he was snitching. Yeah, but what I'm saying is like he vouched for that life, made it about in the music, this. They all, all these gangsters talk like this huge game, but they're not about it, you know? Yeah, or finesse two times. I was surprised by that.

Who? Fenest two times? I don't really follow the whole rap world. Yeah, it's another Jake. He broke the chain on that one. 1090 does a great job of exposing people. Yeah, that was a wild boy, man. I was really surprised by that one.

Well, because it's always funny when these individuals go out and talk this big game. I didn't rat. I did my time. And then you're setting yourself up for failure. Like, no one would say anything if you didn't come out and publicly say that everything's good. It was like, look at Gunna. Like, you know, Gunna definitely told, but nobody really seems to care. I mean, a few people do.

But he never was, like, one to really, like, portray. I don't think so, at least portray that hard lifestyle that I'm a gangster's lifestyle. Yeah. So, you know, but when you come out talking about like I'm going to hold it down, I ain't going to, you know, then you, like you said, you open yourself up. So does he end up bringing you more drugs or do you tell him now? No, no, he does, yeah. Oh, so you do. Yeah, I'm heavily addicted at this point.

Like, I got to do something to support my habit. But it didn't last much longer after that because now, like, he wouldn't give me the full amount. He would only give me like 30 at a time, which I'm doing 20 a day. So 30 at a time, ain't going to cut it. So it didn't last very long. It just kind of fizzled out after that. Now, if you're doing so much personally yourself, how do you afford that? How do you make money?

Or are you selling enough to make up for? I'm just pretty much selling enough to support my own habit at this point. There was no real money being made at the end. I mean, in the beginning, like the first like five, six months, I was killing it, you know, as an 18-year-old kid. I was definitely making like three, four grand a week, like, which is a lot for an 18-year-old kid. But yeah, at the end, it was just all going on my nose. And where are you living? With your parents?

Still with my ex. Still with your ex. Who's paying the bills? Because it sounds like her mom. Yeah, it was a really weird scenario with her parent. Like, so it was a townhouse. And her and her brother lived, like, it was only two bedrooms upstairs, one on each side of the house. And her mom just never came upstairs.

So we'd have like full-blown parties upstairs and like leave drugs and everything just laying out in the open. But her mom never went upstairs. Like even after the house got raided and everything. like it was just a free-for-all there. So I was staying there. I wasn't leaving. She didn't care? Yeah, no, it was cool.

Everything was fine. Bless you. All right. Thank you. Yeah, what kind of mother is not like, why is my daughter dating a drug dealer? I don't know, man. I think her mom was just, like, very naive, too. Like, she didn't want to believe.

Because also her older brother had been a heroine out for, like, 10, 11 years, stole him in the basement. And her mom was just so naive to all of it. Like, you know, we had her mom convinced. convinced the reason the house got raided is because the neighbors didn't like her and didn't like all the people coming in the house like all the friends and parties and stuff and she was convinced that that was the reason why so yeah yeah i guess kind of a cool mom yeah yeah yeah i mean she let her you know my my ex is doing good now that she's doing really well but at the time her life got just as bad off as my did she she was into drugs too oh yeah yeah for sure that that's how we kind of connected addicts kind of have a way of connecting with each other and that you guys fuel each other's addiction. Yep, exactly. Exactly. So she's doing well now. She's got kids and everything. Your kids or not? No, I went in the Army and we split up when I went in the Army. Oh, you decided. So why, what made you decide to get? Right after the whole pill thing went away. I got on Suboxin, worst decision ever. And then I went in the Army and I just need to get away. I was like,

I'm done. I need to get away. And I went in the Army and I made it through boot camp, or basic training. but then I went to AIT, which is like your schooling after. And, yeah, I was in AIT now. I got a little bit of freedom. You kind of move around the base to what you want. Within the first two months, I found somebody selling pills at the Dominoos. And, yeah, they caught me. Wait, how does a guy that's coming off drugs heavily after years of addiction past basic training?

Like, how are you physically able to do that? I don't know, man. You don't really have a choice either. Like it's not like you really have an option to like, I think also a lot of people think it's a lot harder than it is. Like it's definitely mentally and physically straining. But they set it up. They want you to do well. They want you to make it.

You know, like I had also been on Suboxone for like six months at this point. So I wasn't like as bad off as if I just came straight off the street. But yeah, I mean, I didn't have any problem in basic training. Until you got caught with the drugs. Yeah, then, well, that was at AIT. That was at the schooling. So the Army caught you? So.

Who caught you exactly? I got caught underage drinking, and I got put in what's called the ASAP program, which is like Army's substance abuse program. So they regularly drug test you. And, but I'd also got my wisdom teeth taken out. So I thought that, like, since I had this prescription, they wouldn't be able to tell if I'm taking the prescriptions or if I'm taking, like, something I'm buying off the street.

well they can they found out that so oxycodone hydrocodone all those they show up different on a drug test and that's how they ended up getting me good to know

yeah yeah I didn't know that one either and what do they say when they're reading you the report are you like dishonorably discharged right away so I got other than honorable I was also just very much not happy in the army and um so I got I got in trouble twice for drinking underaged

and then I got the dirty drug test I had to go in front of like the battalion the commander, which is like a colonel. And he asked me, he's like, either you have a serious problem or you just don't want to be here. And if I had said looking back, like, I have a serious problem. I just want to help. They probably would put me in rehab and let me like kind of continue. But I just didn't want to be there anymore. And then I had my aunt and uncle.

They were going to let me live at their house in Texas. So I was going to get out to Texas still have to be able to make a light for myself. So I told him I don't want to be here anymore. And then I shortly after got kicked out. And then you go to Texas. And I go to Texas. Did Texas help kind of change your life? Yeah, to an extent, for sure.

So that's where I think I got the foundation of like trying to make a better life for myself, for sure. My aunt and uncle were great people. And they really wanted to help me. Like, they just genuinely cared. And they knew that I had a hard upbringing. And they just genuinely wanted to do something different. But I was still very much had that drug-addictive mentality. Like, I hadn't gotten past that.

I can use every now and again and not get physically addicted mentality. So I started actually working there. That's when I first got a decent job and was like making good money and was able to save and everything. Because they didn't charge me rent or nothing to live there. And yeah, but then shortly that all came to an end. I actually saw somebody at a gas station there. It came up and asked me for like $5. And I was like, all right, yeah, if you know where to get tar, I'll give you $5, which is,

black tar heroin. I happened to find the one guy in Texas that was from Maryland. He had Maryland tags, and he was the one that ended up getting heroin in Texas. And that's where I got black tar heroin, and that was like, that was like, that was probably the closest I've ever came to death, too, because that's just so potent that, like, it would just knock you out every single time. What exactly is black tar heroin? It looks like, like, it's just gummy. It's just really gummy. it smells like straight vinegar

and it's just this gummy substance and it's real sticky it looks like tar it looks just like tar but it smells like vinegar and at this point I'm already playing with needles so you know I was shooting it up and yeah it was

intense it was intense did you get into any type of dealing to support yourself while down there I wasn't there very long my life at this point is moving so quickly like I'm just getting place to place to place to place trying to do better to just trying to like you know trying to get out of the situation running from myself

essentially is what I'm doing so um I tried a little bit but it's also a lot harder to sell I mean because like this is something I'm completely unfamiliar with like if we're talking like powder heroin yeah I can move that I can I know what to do with it I know how to cut it this is something I'm so unfamiliar with and also this is Texas where like heroin's not big this is like meth country and so I never really got big into dealing that. I was just specifically a user at this point. And I did that. I was, and I ended up getting caught and having to leave and go back home at that point

after like a couple months of using. So now you're back in Baltimore? Now I'm back in Baltimore. And now there was this, so right before I went in the Army, there was like everyone was kind of switching to heroin at this point, right before I went in. And there was this guy who went by Brill. and he was like a big dope

he was like everybody was going to everybody who used to do pills is now going to him to buy dope and I get back home and my brother is now selling heroin and I mean like pretty decently sized selling heroin and I was like

yeah what where are you going like who are you getting him from he's like broil man I'm like how is broil still around it's been like four years and he's still selling heroin which like that's another thing about like in the city like you get popped quick.

Like it doesn't, it does, you don't last very long. Like, if people start dying, people start overdosing, like, it's not long before you get indictments rained out on you. This is four years now, and he's still selling. He's still, and it's raw dope. So in Baltimore, you have Scramble, which is, like, very cut dope, and it comes to little capsules, and then you have raw, just pure powder heroin. It comes in half grams and full grams.

And he's been out here for like four or five years now, just selling raw heroin, which I know has got to be killing people, or at least making them overdosed. I don't know about dying, but they're falling out. And he's still out there. And my brother is going down there. He's getting it from Brill. So he's basically doing the same thing I was doing for the New York guy. He's now doing for Brill.

He's going down there and getting it, bringing it back up to the county to sell it because you make a lot more money in the county. You know, you get it down there for cheap, way cheaper than you wouldn't. The county, you can double your money easily. So that's what he was doing. But yeah, Brill was like the main dude

and he had like multiple people work under him. It was weird. So like a lot of the county kids who were scared to go to the inner city. So what he would do is he had right on the county line where it wasn't like the bad areas where he met all the county kids. With the RAM Declaration of Deals,

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Yeah, man, he was the shit. He was so, I mean, I remember when I first met him, he had this old little minivan. And now I see him, he's like four years later. I mean, this dude is stunned. I mean, just, you know, brand new car, like all nice. clothes. I mean, he's always a really genuinely nice guy, too. Like, not your typical, like, cocky dealer where he treats you like a junkie. Like, he was just a really nice guy. Like a really nice guy. But these flashy type of guys, they're kind of on the radar. So, like, when I say flashy,

I'm not talking about like a bends or not like that. Like, it was like, we knew he had money. Like, you know, he has like, not, you don't see like the gold chains or nothing like that, but he has a nice brand new car. He's got nice clothes on. And I'm also seeing him for when he first, started out in the old beat-up Dodge Caravan and now he's like you know actually like got people working under him and stuff like that yeah so but yeah he he's definitely known and that's the thing is like we all wondered like how is he everybody knows who he is and he's still not getting in trouble because you could ask every single person like you got to remember like I said 75% of my graduating class is now on heroin and you ask every single one of them they will all tell you they want to broil or somebody

who worked for Brill so how is he still operating without punitive? Why do you think he never got busted? He was working with the police. Well, not working with the police. He had, that's the dude from the show, HBO, and he had, he had, like, a cop on the gun trace task force that was protecting him in his operation while also taking down the competition.

And that's how he was able to escape. And he wrote a book about it, too. It's called the Real Antonio Shropshire Organization. The Real Antonio Shropshire Organization. and he breaks it all down and everything. Basically, like, he was able to move without any punitive action in order for, like, the other cops, they would just take out his competition and he would just keep moving around.

Are you glad you didn't get yourself heavily involved with that way? Yeah, because they all got super time, like super, super time. I think Brill got 25 years. My brother got 35, all suspended, but two, and he's still in prison of this day, just in and out nonstop. guys got, I mean, nobody got less than 10 years in that whole indictment. I mean, all the cops that were involved, they got 25, 18, all tons of years. Like, well, my, so I know I'm kind of like bouncing back and forth, but there was a distinct point that once I came in from Texas, like a few months later, my brother had just gotten raided.

His house had just gotten raided. And we were sitting on the step. And I'm like, what do you go? He actually hit it from the cops raiding it by putting in his ass crack. And they didn't find it. I don't know how, but he did it. And he pulls it out. So we do the last little bit.

And I'm like, you know, what are you going to do? Like, I'm going to get clean. Like, you know, this is like, the one thing I've noticed from like all the oxy-cotton dealers I knew. And like my own experience is that once they've raid your house, if you keep selling, the next thing I'm going to do is you're going to get you in the car. They're going to try to pull you over, get a sting operation where you sell to an undercover. I was like, you know, what are you going to do? Are you going to stop? Are you going to keep going.

And I'll never forget he looks at me And he goes, nah, now's the time to hustle harder And he gets up and walks away And our lives have been drastically different From that moment on Next thing I know he's called up in a federal indictment You know, he's in and out of prison nonstop I was able to fortunately enough

Make it out of that life And like do well and, you know, be successful to a degree And I always think back to that day of where we sat there And it blows my mind Like the differences and how the two played out Do you ever reflect back on, you know, what would have happened had you had been busted, had you had been caught and like what life would be like if you were in prison right now? All the time, man.

All the time. I mean, you know, I think about if I had spent 10 years in prison, I don't think like I was always very much success driven. Like a lot of myself identity comes from being successful. Like a lot of like what makes me feel good about myself is having some degree of success. And if I was getting out at 28 years old or 30 years old just now, I'd just now be getting out and thinking about like I got to start from scratch. And I'm watching, you know, even right now,

I don't feel like I'm as far along as I should be. I feel like I should be much farther along. And seeing all my friends are married with kids, they have to greet, you know, like they have good jobs and houses and I'm just now getting out of prison. I would probably go right back into that revolving door. I think it takes a lot. I respect, you know, a lot. I respect you for having to go through that and making something out of it.

Like it's hard. It's got to be hard. I mean, it would break me for sure. You know, it's interesting to see this perspective of someone that could have went down the path. A lot of these individuals go down but didn't. And you're also kind of living with that thought in your mind of, oh, wow, that could have been me. Yeah, all the time. It puts your life in perspective.

All the time. I just think, you know, I don't like to preach and say like, oh, God, this, God, that. but for some reason for sure God has looked out for me I mean there's I mean even my brother's house getting raided like even that little circumstance well I didn't have much on me but I left the house like six hours before

it's every single circumstance that like I just get lucky somehow so you know I that's why at this point in my life I'm trying everything to help other people other addicts and trying to live a better life and be a better person because I've been given too many breaks

to just waste it at this point. What's your life look like now? I'm quiet now. I, you know, I don't mess with anybody. I don't talk to nobody. I mean, I go to like a meeting,

I probably shouldn't say that. I go to meetings and stuff like that, but I don't talk to a whole lot of people. A lot of my friends have died a lot. Like, pretty much everybody I grew up with, like, they're all like not here with us anymore or they're in jail or something. So I keep to myself,

I really, I focus on the business. I focus on trying to make my career better. And I go to homeless shelters and try to hand out food and stuff like that. Like I just, any little thing I could do to give back, I try to do right now. Do you think that, I know you started your business, do you think that entrepreneurial mindset was always in you? It just you kind of applied it to the wrong thing. In the wrong ways. Yep, exactly.

I've just always, I've never really held a job my whole life. Like, even like I had like a couple little here and there things. Like literally to get into contracting, I held a job. like two years and then started my own business doing it. Like I just never wanted to be able to. I never wanted to work for anybody else. I always wanted to do it myself. I just know that's the only way you're really going to make money in this world.

You're never going to make it working for somebody else. What's your relationship with your mom? Like, no. Now great. So I, um, there was that slip. I had a little while back, I had a slip up and I almost died. I was in a hospital for eight days in the ICU on life support and everything. And ever since then, like,

We've been super tight. We've been super tight. I think it kind of came the realization of her. Like, I could have been dead. And I also came to the realization, like, she was the only one there for me when everything went bad. So me and my mom were like, we're super tight. My stepdad, we're cool too.

But he's just, he's a very hardcore military man. And, like, he's just different than what I grew up with. So, like, but we're all cool. Like, we're all happy now to an extent. And, yeah, it's good now. It's definitely good. That's awesome. Yeah.

What advice would you give to your younger self, if you went back in time and like you were standing in a room with him. I always think about this and I don't think I'd give any advice. I think I'd let it play out exactly how I played out. Like kind of like when Novak said is every single decision I made in every single bad event and every single negative thing that happened to me is what brought me here today. And I wouldn't change where I'm at today for anything. The only thing I'd probably say is that like when things get bad and you feel like it's never going to end,

it always ends. Like anything you're going through right now, it seems like it's the absolute. worst situation in the world and nobody's ever going to forget it and you're going to be devastated by it, but it ends. It's very short-lived. And then you're right back. The world moves in cycles. And like, you might be on top now, but you won't be next year and vice versa. You might be down now, but next year you could be up. And that's the most true thing somebody's ever told me. You got to weather the storm. Exactly. You got to, you know, as much as there's highs, there's the lows that counterpart it and what, you know, the people that make it are the ones that go through it. Yep, exactly. Well, Jay, thank you so much for coming today and sharing your story. And we wish you the best with your new merch business, your contracting business. And, yeah, keep in touch.

All right, man. Thank you.