Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast - Discovering Your Path to Redemption in Prison | The Convicted Vegan

Episode Date: July 18, 2023

Discovering Your Path to Redemption in Prison | The Convicted Vegan

Like, my scams were good, but any holes that I had through networking, you realize, like, oh, I could have done that. Oh, I could have done this. I could, all these little things, suddenly it all comes together. And you realize, oh, wow, like, it's a huge learning experience, especially if your intention is to get out and do it again. You're going to do it out and do it much, much more efficiently, efficiently, but also much bigger. exactly what I did Hey this is Matt Cockt and I'm going to be doing an interview with Anthony Bucci and he is an author He actually got out of prison the same time That I got out he wrote a I believe it's a memoir about his life

He's got an interesting story I actually listened to a clip of it About a week or so ago and so yeah check this out your book is about your life right because i watched a clip on you my book is about it's it's a fiction but it's based on you know actual events and you know some of me and other people but the names have been changed to protect the guilty right so when um so where are you from new york where were you born where'd you from boston boston okay where were you Right. You're raised in Boston?

Yeah, I was born in Boston, right in the north end of Boston. And then we moved to the outskirts in a town city, actually, called Medford, Massachusetts. And my father was a club owner in Boston and a club manager. It was every drinker. So I grew up in basically a mentally and physically abusive household when I was a real young. and that set the stage for my future. Right. So how long did he own this?

Was it multiple clubs or just one club? How long? He owned a club called the New Yorker. It was in the combat zone, a real rough section of Boston. He would get drunk at work, come home, and then physically abuse me, my mom. He would fight his friends when he was drunk. He was out of control, alcoholic. And so my mother moved this out of there when I was around six years old.

We moved to a suburbian town called Stoneham, Massachusetts. And it was nothing like Medford. It was like the slow lane compared to the fast lane. But things followed me because I had a cousin who was a mobster and he took me under his wing while my mother was at work. She worked like three jobs. I was a little nine, ten-year-old kid making collections. dropping off envelopes, witnessing what happens when you do not pay. And, you know, it evolved from there.

Did you still see your father? Like, was he still in your life? Yes, but he moved to Cleveland, and he asked my cousin to look up for me. But my cousin... Your cousin, he was mobbed up, you know, to Chicago mob. You lived in Vegas. He flew money to Switzerland from Maya Landsk. He dated Anne Margaret.

He was a very colorful guy, and he was like my idol. So my father, instead of giving me to the sheep, he gave me a little wolf. And that molded me into who I was because I wasn't thrilled with that lifestyle. Right. So did you end up going to school or did you drop out? Like how? I went to high, I ended up going to school and went to actually to a Catholic school in Stoneham. called St. Patrick's, and then I went on to just junior high and regular high school.

I graduated both. Did you get in trouble? Were you getting in trouble in high school? My trouble was out of high school. Like, I kept it okay in school, but I was hanging around with all older guys, friends of my cousin and my cousin, and not, you know, the trouble happened on the streets. It was like a little architective streets at like 12 years old running wild. well so when you graduated like what were you what were you doing how it kind of when you say you're in trouble after you graduated what was happening well my trouble was more with other factions and

other groups than the law because I was pretty lucky they grew me to never talk on the phone when you're doing a job always mask up and you know so I was doing them bringing in the houses is that they would say to go into and um trucks you know robbing trucks stealing trucks um stuff like that it was all sanctioned it was like i was told where to go what to do and i did it no questions asked even you know i had to get physical once in a while but i wanted to make my cousin and the guys happy so i did whatever i had to do yeah you whenever you watch something like um goodfellers or something. They always make it seem like the truck driver, you know, is in on it, you know, when they grab a truck or something. But I'm sure that they're not, I'm sure sometimes they're

not in on it. Exactly. Sometimes they are. I mean, a lot of people get into situations, I own the bookmaker money or, you know, things like that are getting in debt. And, you know, they come to, they came to guys like my cousin or other street guys that I was around. And, you know, a lot of them were inside jobs, but some weren't, some, You know, we're just in the particular merchandise that guys wanted. So that was my thing. And then I turned into our drugs, selling drugs, because that was easy money, too. And what, so what happened at that point?

I had a good run, actually. I had a good run, actually. I didn't take my first actual pinch done I went away with until I was like 35. But I had other brushes with the law. I had a couple trials I beat, assault battery and a police officer. I was in a club fire guy and caught fit me with a billy club on the shoulder and I turned around and broke his jaw. But, you know, I really didn't know was a police officer. So I beat that at trial, you know, I had drunken drive-ins, assault with dangerous weapons, threats to kill, just craziness.

But I never had a conviction. My first conviction was in 1998. or we pled guilty to distribution of marijuana. And I was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for my first federal sentence. For marijuana, how much marijuana? 180 pounds. Oh, wow.

That's a lot of marijuana. Yeah. Well, really. But it was enough to, we didn't even reach the mandatory minimum. them. Well, later in life, I was, I'm sorry, I was going to say, how did you get grabbed? Is they pull you over? Were you set up? Yeah, I had a couple friends. They got a load of marijuana in from California. They were scared to drive it out of a pocket lot. So I got in the truck,

I drove it out and bring it to them. For that, they gave me 180 pounds apart. Now, I took that part and I sold it to one person. And just my luck, the two guys that sold it to me got pinched buying five kilos of cocaine three years later. They said that they sold me marijuana in their statements. Actually, not sold. I could charge with selling, but they told the feds that they gave me 180 pounds for driving the truck. And there was another guy I knew who I was close with two who got caught selling cocaine also and said he bought the 180 pounds. So they put this case together against me that was really weak. But they probably just wanted me off the streets because I was, you know, running wild. They were trying to get me for

years. And they put this case together and they threatened to indict my mother for money laundering if I didn't accept the plea. So I accepted a 41-month plea for a ghost weed absolutely no evidence not one fall called nothing just so my mother wouldn't get in trouble and that's what i did i go i got 41 month sentence i started in the law went to a camp was like crime school i just made contacts met new guys right i got out 41 months later running i see you laughing so you know oh i know like i always say like i went into pr i feel I feel like I went into prison with like a GED and I got out with like a master's degree because, you know, you go in there and like my scams were good, but any holes that I had through networking, you realize like, oh, I could have done that. Oh, I should, I could. I could. All these little things. Suddenly it all comes together. And you realize, oh, wow, like it's a huge learning experience, especially if you're intent.

is to get out and do it again, you're going to do it out and do it much, much more efficiently, but also much bigger. Exactly what I did. He built some of the nation's largest banks out of an estimated $55 million, because $50 million wasn't enough, and $60 million seemed excessive. He is the most interesting man in the world. I don't typically commit crimes, but when I do, it's bank fraud

Stay greedy my friends Support the channel Join Matthew Cox's Patreon Hit the ground running I upped the ante I started dealing with like Big numbers in the weed game I was going back and forth

to California I had a place in Vegas And I took my second pinch Believe it or not It had nothing to do with marijuana It was a one-time 15-minute conspiracy helping out a friend of mine

who I considered a friend cocaine dealer was getting his brother all messed up on Coke so we warned him stopped selling it. He didn't and we robbed them and took three kilos from him. I ended up not making a penny giving it back to my friend because he was hot up on cash

and needed money. Not making one cent I got 21 years in federal prison. My friend turned on me, took the stand for three days. One of my code offense was a cop. He was from a police force and they wanted me to give him up and I wouldn't. When I get arrested, you know, was looking at 20 years. I immediately lawyered up. I didn't say one syllable to the feds. You know, there's not one statement, not even my mother's maiden name. And the reason I operate like that is not just because I was brought up like

that with the Code of Silence. It's just that personally I couldn't even look in the mirror if I sent somebody away like they were doing me away from their kids and family and all that. So to me it's more than doing the right thing. It's more personal. It's like I do the right thing because of myself, first and foremost. And so that's what I did. And because I wouldn't cooperate, there was no plea offer. And I had to go to trial. I was supposed to go to trial. and I got 21 years for a one-day, 15-minute conspiracy involving only $84,000 of cocaine. I didn't make a penny, and I got, like I said, that massive amount of time. So I was very, very bitter when I entered the prison system.

I mean, did you appeal it? Did you file a 25? You did all of it. You went through it all? I did everything. I actually became a paralegal in prison. and they called me, the First Circuit called me the Postal Child for tenacity. I appealed so many things.

But, you know, it's not easy to win. I actually had a lawyer one time tell me, pack your bags, you're going home. And what they did is they took a state case into the federal court to deny me, something that had never been done before on a courtroom closure issue because the judge closed the courtroom to the public for no apparent reason other than seating. There wasn't enough room. So what he did when I, you know, I thought I was going home, my lawyer said back his stuff.

Like I said, he took the state case and said that my lawyer should have known better and should have appealed. So I lost. And so I remained in prison. And I did 16 years, 15 and a half, 16, almost 16 years. And like I said, I became a paralegal. And in prison, I was, when I first got me back up, when I first got to prison, I hit the ground run and I had a, it was pedal of the metal. Anybody crossed me, I was ready to fight or whatever they wanted to do.

I was still in that mode of violence and anger, and I was very, very bitter because once again, guys I trusted, guys I loved gave me up. so I had enough though I had like three years in solitary confinement under my belt between the prison sentences and I was lying in bed in prison and I said this is it

you would end my life I have to change and I chose the latter I started writing my book Infinity Crow it's based on true crimes crimes of guys I helped, you know, do legal work for. And I've changed the names, obviously, to protect the

guilty. And it's basically for, it's a fictional account of true life stories for, you know, and my characters are five different races because in Boston, especially in the Bradville prison system, we all stick together. Like, are you from Florida? Yeah. So if you ever ran to Boston guys in the can, you know that if something breaks out, all Boston guys have to be there for each other or there's a problem. So if you don't jump in for a Boston guy, he's in a beef or he's getting junk, then you're in violation and then there's a problem. They're all in the Boston car. The Boston car. Yeah, exactly. So I based my book basically on the solidarity and the

brotherhood and the way Boston guys operate in prison. But, I bring this to the streets. And it's, you know, I'm just looking for some help or a break. I mean, I have good contents. I have five-star ratings on Amazon. And it just, you know, you know how it is. It's just breaking into the industry. That's not as easy as it's as it's given, well, as it appears to be,

because you see all these stories of guys breaking in. but although there's probably millions of guys that don't make it. Yeah, it's, it's, you know, it sounds good. Everybody thinks like, oh, you got a good story. It'll be a movie, you know, for sure. Real, well, listen, that's not how it works. You know? How many people do you, how many, you know, you kind of know that

because how many horrible movies have you seen that you're like, how did this story get made? It got made because Tom knows Jennifer from high school. and Jennifer's husband works at Sony Pictures and they're looking for this kind of story and you happen to have that kind of story and it doesn't matter that the story's horrible. Like the content of what is produced

is more a handshake deal or more of a friend of a friend than it is the actual content. You know? Yeah, right. You know, like I've got a great story. I don't have a movie. you know and everybody says well it should be a movie and trust me tons of producers have contacted me

i do the same thing too i watch shows and i scout them out and i say to myself my story is so much better than this yet i can't make it and every time i get traction it's always the same thing well we're working on something else we'll get back to you uh COVID you know put us so far behind you know you've heard all the stories too yeah yeah you have a very color story before I came on here I researched you and I was like wow I should be I should be interviewing this guy yeah I've yeah I've been interviewed a bunch times that I've done the things and I've listened I've had the meetings and and you know what I really what I focus on now is more trying to get you know my the stories I've written trying to get those made into

documentaries because getting it you get a documentary made it's easier to take a existing documentary that's been made and turn it into a film or you know or as some kind of a series you know so the low hanging fruit is documentaries and some of the documentaries

are amazing so you know I'm working on that and I've got a few of them in in the works but it's the same thing it's like we're partnering with so and so we're going to have a meeting next week then it's next month then you have the meeting we're going to have another meeting

we've got to talk to Bob and Tom then we have a another meeting with six people on it and we all talk for an hour and they're they all had their running assignments and then they have to get together with the team and discuss it and then they have to meet this other production company is like man it's been a year like it has been a year so you know that's just what happens and it just spins and spins and everybody keeps telling me yeah but once it does happen it starts happening much quicker what is that I've heard almost the same, similar stories.

I had one guy, he said, the production company, read the book, it loves it, it loves your story, they're just having one little wrinkle, how to make Vinny, the older Vinny. There's a lot of scenes like flashbacks, they have to work that out, but they're very interested in.

They're going to make you an off on next week. Yeah. That was like 60 weeks ago. I'm still in a hoodie. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. I'm just being on a story right now, you know. I mean, I'm working on a story right now with the production company.

But, you know, but who knows? Like, they literally came to me. We talked about the story. They love the story. I'm like, yeah, I haven't finished the story. They're like, we're asking you to finish the story. You know, so. Don't you wish you just, don't you wish you had the money to just back it yourself?

Yeah. Well, I keep telling myself, look, I only need one to go through. I need one to go through. And the rest of them should start to fall in line. Matthew, why did you just do a couple of bank fraud jobs and do it yourself? Yeah, well. The judge was very, very stern about my ability to commit fraud again. He was very clear that that wasn't something that I could do anymore.

Yeah, I think, you know, oh, listen, I've had sizzle reel shot on some of my stories. You know, I've had stuff like, I mean, literally like, The production company comes down. They spend like, you know, 15 or 20 grand to shoot a sizzle reel for a week. Wow. And then they've got it. They're pitching it. And it's, you know, it just keeps getting pushed back.

And listen, I even had one that was looking like it was going to happen. And then Time Warner came in and merged with the Discovery Channel and stopped everything. It was like, oh, my God. It's like, you can't make this shit up. I had a meeting. with a production company, I was supposed to go to meet with Blumhouse production in L.A. They love the concept. They love the story. We had a bunch of meetings. I'm supposed to fly out there. And COVID happened. I mean, you know, and then, of course, that just put everything off.

And then the people that were involved in the whole thing, six, eight months later, they don't even work there anymore. So, you know, it's just one thing. And I keep thinking, ah, you know, what does it matter? It's not like it's my full-time gig. I, you know, I answer emails. I take meetings. You know, if it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, that's fine. I'm happy being out of prison.

I can watch YouTube whenever I want. I have a subscription to Netflix. I get to turn the channel. I don't have to write it on the schedule to ask everybody if we can watch this show next Tuesday. I can watch a show. I do whatever I want. So, you know, if I want to sleep in,

You know, I do, I don't sleep in. But if I wanted to, I could. You know, so there's... Yeah, that was the hardest thing for me. The most difficult thing for me in prison was taking orders. And you had to let go of all your power and all your attitude. But once you master it, it becomes a very valuable tool. Because you can use it from any facet of life.

Like now I have patience. Before I didn't have any patience at all. Like a guy cut me off or something before, you know, the people I used to have road rage and all that stuff. Now nothing bothers me because the prison experience of getting strip searched a million times, bending over, spread your ass, all that like stuff, you know, that's private and, you know, things you don't want to share with people, you add to. So it makes you actually a stronger person from the experience. So, you know, I got a lot of good things out of prison. Then, you know, you can be looking at things two ways in life. Either you look at the good or the bad, and I take all the good from that bad experience.

Yeah. That's how I'm living my life. I definitely shrug off all of the things that upset other people. I just shrug off. Like, I'm like, eh, that's, you know, say just like you, driving, somebody cuts you off. somebody does it, it's like, ah, it's fine, you know, I'll take a little bit longer. It's not that big of a deal. If nothing really bothers me, like I, but I do have to constantly remind myself to like be humble, be appreciative, because that whole wanting to be a big shot, you know,

wanting to do everything you want to do and you don't have the money to do it, you know, like that, you have to step back every once in a while and go, wait a second. Like I could put that on a credit card, but it's like, yeah, but then. I don't want to run my credit card up, but I've got to make payments. And what if this thing doesn't happen next month? And you know what? We're not going to dinner tonight. You know what I'm saying?

I mean, it's fine. I'm good with lean cuisine, you know, with frozen dinners. I'm good with that. Yeah. So, you know, you just step back. And it's, to me, it's just like life is so good out here. Like, why jeopardize that? Every day, we got to work on post-traumatic growth.

turning that evil, nasty experience into something positive. I don't, for me, like, now my mantra is compassion is now my strength. Like, things before that would really bother me upset me. Don't really bother me anymore, like I said. And helping people now is, like, my niche. I love to help people. I've done some podcast, and I've got some direct messages, DMs, and, you know, thanking me so much.

hearing my story actually helps people because, you know, I was in the ashes and the seeing me rise, you know, but I'm not rising to the level I want yet, but I'm setting positive vibes to the universe because I strongly believe, and I hope you do, of the law of attraction and, you know, believing in yourself, having self-love, because if you don't love yourself, the universe is never going to reward you with abundance. And I'm trying to help people. You know, I've had, I became a life coach since I've been out. I've life coached people for free. I've never charged one person.

When I was in prison, well, I'm going to get back to that. I want to share some things I did. But I, one of the things I did was train dogs for the handicap. And, you know, I'm giving back to society. I wanted to help. And one of the things, another thing I did was I trained. A guy from the Boston Marathon, he lost his leg. And he had a cane corso dog, and it was really pulling him.

So I spent a lot of time and I trained the dog to walk without pulling and walk off leash. And, you know, he's very happy. But I don't charge people for this stuff because it's my way of giving back, trying to, you know, be a better member of society and, you know, do good things because good things will come back to you. I don't expect them. I'm nothing I do I expect. But, you know, it's just the way it is. It's the law of attraction.

And that's how I'm living my life. I'm not bitter. I'm not mad. And it all goes back to. Like I said, when I was in prison, I got in trouble. And I had, I was at the end of my line. I was literally, like I said, in the ashes, in the darkness. And now my kids were mad at me for going away again.

They stopped writing me. It had been years since I talked to them. My friends fell off the map guys that were helping support me and, you know, give me, you know, spending money and all that. They dropped off. All they had was my mom. You know, I couldn't end my life, but I just needed to change. and I did, and when I got out of solitary confinement, guys lost them

were like, what did they break you? You were down there for six months, and you came back a new guy because I got out, I volunteered and took care of sick and terminally ill inmates that were in the prison. I gave up my preferred housing and moved to a lousier part of the prison just to, you know, helped them.

And I ended up helping four guys, and then when I became camp eligible at that prison, the warden who I, one guy I helped I helped until two days before he died, and all he did was rave about me at the hospital. So the warden came, said, you're doing tremendous things. When you get camp eligible, anywhere you want to go, I'll send you. So I said, okay. So I transferred to Massachusetts to Fort Devons, because my mother, you know, she was around in Massachusetts.

And my mom came to visit me every month, nowhere to where I was, New York, Pennsylvania. It didn't matter from New Hampshire. So I wanted to do something nice for her So I went to Devons I volunteered and I got in the dog program And that's where I became a service dog handler And I graduated three dogs To, you know, different places

A hospital for troubled kids A courthouse where Children would be testifying They were like consoling them And you know PTSD dog for a guy that was in the war So you know something I'm proud of, but it was my way of giving back. And, you know, I educated myself in prison.

I took 55 educational classes. I became a paralegal. And probably one of the things I'm most proud of is when prison reform hit in 2019, in 2016, and let me back up, my mom had a debilitating stroke through her spine. It was a real stroke, and she's paralyzed. My father had died while I was in prison. My sister died the year I was in prison. I got locked up. It was just my mom and me now for immediate family. So I went to the warden and I asked for an immediate release. They said no for a few years.

But when prison reform hit in 2019, it changed the law, you could now go to the federal court. So all these things I did to change myself as a human being and be a better person, be somebody's society and my kids could be proud of, ended up helping me. And I had to help me. had no ulterior motive at the time. So I put a motion in to my, like I said to the warden, he rubbed stand denied me. Then I went to federal court. And the judge saw the case, gave me a hearing date. I got a pro bono lawyer who ended up being a friend of mine that I met in the visiting room. And she would come visit me and we would discuss law because she, you know, thought I was okay at the law. And I would help her like, you know, give her insight from a

prisoner's point of view, what we're going through air and stuff. that she could bring up in motions. And she volunteered to help me. We had a hearing, and I watched it over the prison, you know, over the video. And I won an immediate release in October of 2019. I was the first federal inmate to win a parental compassionate release. I authored the motion. That girl, my friend, Alison Corey, she argued it,

and I walked out of prison two years early and I was the first one in the United States to win a parental compassion release. I set president and I get messages all the time from guys that have gone home thanking me for finding that loophole in prison reform. So, you know, that was a good feeling because a lot of people have gone home

to help their mothers and fathers because of me. I was the first one. And that's what I'm doing today. I held my mom. She's handicapped. She's paralyzed. I'm her caregiver. I'm showing her a better quality of life. I take it to the casino to see her brother, you know, things that she couldn't do

because I wasn't home and I was all she had. So that's what I'm doing now. So it's, you know, things are okay. Last year I had a setback. You know, I went all the way back to that dark place. When I got out of prison, I mended my relationship with my children. My toughest critic was my middle daughter. I had four kids.

Kalina, Tamar, Carissa, and Dante. Tamar, my middle one, you know, she, like I said, she was my biggest critic. She was working at Encore Casino as a detective there, you know. And then she had some contacts and she got in to, she became a state trooper for the year I got at home. And we mended out. Anything that, you know, was bothering us.

We mended it. We had an unbelievable, terrific, like closest father, daughter. bond possible and she took the job she was mastered she did unbelievable at the academy they were raving about her she cut like night 17 inches of some off her here she had ear all the way down to her ass and you know they they were always picking on her and stuff and she was like unbreakable she said you you guys can't break me she was a terrific shape and she became a state trooper she loved it i was so proud of her. I used to cook

for every night. We talked every day. I was the only one who had a key to her apartment. That's how close we were. And she pulled over last March to help I disabled boat motorist and she got killed. So I caught it. F. Black?

Yeah, a truck hit her. So I was in that dark place. I have been in that dark place, but I'm getting out of it now. I'm share my story because hopefully somebody else that sees it, you know, can benefit from it because I've had a lot of messages, like I said, from people saying, I heard your story and maybe get up off the couch and start living my life again and move forward because you're doing it. And if you can do it, anybody can do it. And that's what I'm doing. I'm living

every day to the limit. The best I can, yes, I'm grieving, and I'm able to finally talk about it now, but I know my daughter would want me to move forward, finish my infinity crew project, get this made into a movie or series. I have both written already, and that's what I'm doing. I'm striving forward every day. I have a positive mindset, and I'm going to continue to rise until I am that Phoenix, because I will get a deal, and I have that, it's definitely going to happen. It's just I have to, the right person has to see it. Never know. Maybe you might get a deal and say, I got a guy I know, you know, has something. Or I might get a deal and help you, you know, it's how it works, making good contact with good people like yourself.

Right. What is it that you're hoping? You're hoping for a movie or a series of some kind? Yeah, I wrote a series. I have a pitch document. I have everything, you know, needed to sell it. And, you know, I've had great reviews on Amazon. That's where it's available. And, you know, I just don't. have the because everybody who reads it says it I could see this as a movie I could definitely see this as a series it's awesome my book is a cross between the town and oceans 11 and you know it's it's something I you know save my life so I put my heart and soul into it because I started writing this in solitary confinement when I decided to move forward and be a better person so like I tell everybody this

book saved my life so I just need it's like you the right person, the right investor to look at it and have some belief in me and, you know, like me as a person and, you know, want to help. And that's what I'm, you know, looking for. But these podcasts to me are a channel to help people who are in a dark place,

you know, share my 180, my story of redemption and how if I can change, anybody can change because I was a guy that didn't care about nobody or nothing, just Anthony. and now I'm the opposite I'm compassionate and I love the fact that I have feel now and you know my high went from black to ruby red

I'm living a good life might not be profitable yet but it'll come just like you just keep stay positive bro um yeah I appreciate that I'm you know look let you know this is a thing too is like I was you know I've talked to a guy the other day

and I thought to myself And I actually said to him, I said, you know, it's funny is it may like I'm enjoying the whole going through talking, doing the meetings, you know, the whole process, right? Like in a way, I thought, you know, I said the other day to the sky, I was like, you know, it may be the worst thing that happens is I do get a deal. You know what I mean? Be like, you get a deal and then one day you go see the movie and then it's over. It's like I'm enjoying. You know, it's kind of like, you know, taking a road trip. Like, you enjoy the road trip, and then you get there and you're like, yeah, the destination wasn't all that great. So, you know, I'm just enjoying every day. Like, I'm supposed to go meet with some production crew in about a week or so in Miami, you know, and I talk to people and I do speaking engagements and I do all these things. But I have to constantly kind of stop myself, like, and just, you know, enjoy. just that moment of like, wow, like you just got out of prison. And you're about to get on a plane and fly to, you know, to New York to be interviewed by, you know, this production crew. Like that, that's amazing. Just walking through the airport, getting on a plane is amazing. You know, especially from what, three, four years ago, you're laying in a bunk bed. You know, stealing concrete walls. Yeah. Yeah. I'm late, four years ago, I'm laying in a bunk bed thing.

and how am I even going to be able to support myself? And now... I think you're being a little... I'm sorry. Oh, no, sorry. Go ahead. I was going to say, I think you're being a little humble because when your story hits, it's going to be really big, and you're going to be making a lot of money,

and you're not going to want for nothing. So you're going to... That day it hits, you know, whatever it takes off. You might be thinking like that, but the aftermath of everything and how your life is going to change, but it's going to be unbelievable. And that's how I've been visioning it for years. When I was locked up and I was lying in my bunk looking at the ceiling, I would actually dream awake of that red carpet. And I'm going to see it because my stuff is amazing.

It's a masterpiece novel and I'm going to get there. And I believe it. And I believe 100% of myself in what I wrote and how it saved my life. and, you know, even if a fact of, if I get a documentary first and somebody sees me, because they're offering me documentaries, too, like you, and maybe it'll be the reverse way, first, the documentary, then somebody would take a liking to us, you know, and take a chance. But they'll see, it'll be worth it, because, you know,

I see your man of discipline also, and being in prison, it's instilled in us to most guys, I was awake at real guys one. I was awake at three half this morning. Came down, wrote for about an hour and a half, two hours, went upstairs, laid down with my girlfriend for like 30 minutes, got up, came back down, worked for a little bit more. You know, I actually just noticed a minute ago when I was looking, like I got paint on my hand, you know, I was painting a painting, you know, just before I came in here and turned this

on. Like, I'm just, it's all day. I do this until my girlfriend gets home. she makes dinner and then so it's like 10 12 15 hours a day sometimes but i don't really feel like it's worked because i'm doing what i want i'm probably making minimum wage but i'm also probably working 60 to 80 hours a week so i'm able to pay my bills so i'm i'm thrilled with the way things are going i have a good time i enjoy my life and like it's funny because i'm even right now i'm so focused on getting the story that i'm working on done um

but every little piece is like such a great little adventures like how do i write this how do i say this what do i put in what do i not put in i'm ordering documents and then the documents come in my girlfriend even gets into it now she helps me order documents through the freedom of information act and she's like oh my gosh we just got this in you know we're trying to figure out like you know who started the investigation like who cooperated like it you know i always heard it was this person. Then we get those documents and that person did cooperate, but we couldn't figure out why. You know what I'm saying? Like, it was a girl. Like, why is she cooperating? And we noticed in the notes from the detective that her boyfriend's always there. So then it was like, she's making

the calls, but she wasn't arrested. So then we order all of his documents and we find out, guess what, a couple weeks before they first sat down and started making controlled buys, her boyfriend was arrested for being a felon in construction in possession of a firearm so he and she started making buys not because she got in trouble but it's her boyfriend so she does it with him so it's like we started we're slowly unraveling this case

because the people that are involved they just don't know they don't really know exactly what's happening and even if they do they don't have the detectives names they don't have the dates so we order the documents and I slowly get to put together this door And then when it's done, people are like, this is an amazing story. But it really wasn't an amazing story until I researched it and put it together. It was a couple newspaper articles and a bunch of people that didn't really know what even happened in their own case.

So I love that. I love putting that together. I love having fun. It's like being a little detective. I'm doing the same thing now that I was doing in prison. Only I don't have to, you know, I'm not teaching GED. And the real estate course, you know, I make very big. videos and I do paintings and I write stories and, you know, I have fun and then hopefully

something happens and, you know, it's good. You know, and it's funny because it's a lot like you, like I was, I was just thrilled to get out and be able to be there for my mom. You know what I mean? Like it was. That's great. I was so afraid she was going to die before I got out of prison. She's died since then, but at least I got out for a few years. I was able to spend a couple of years with her. Priceels. Yeah, exactly. You got out early too, right?

You won something to reduce your sentence, I read. No, I got my sentence reduced twice. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it was, unlike you, it was for cooperation, you know? Cooperation that the government wouldn't give me. Like they asked me to do, they asked me to be interviewed by two different programs and write an ethics and course, an ethics and fraud course, and then they wouldn't give me the reduction.

it's like well you came to me you asked me to do this you said you would reduce my sentence and they said no not enough so i had to file a 255 for that and then a second my second reduction was another inmate i was dealing with i worked with the government on his case he was hiding Ponzi scheme money and what's even funnier is because of my cooperation he got six more months and two years later he got out on the cares act Like even the time that he got, the extra six months that he got didn't matter anyway. He went from 19 and a half years to 20 and he got out in like seven years. So, but once again, they wouldn't give me anything for that. I had to file a 2255 on that and get a five-year reduction for that. And so I got out just in time to be there, you know, for my mom. and you know no matter how you feel about that like I'd have cut every guy's head off in that fucking prison

to be able to spend two more years with my mother like that's all I cared about so um but yeah I mean yeah oh no I was supposed to be get out when I was my out date was 2030 okay that's that's a long time

I was supposed to be in prison right now that was too much much time anyways for that case. 26 years, 26 years and four months for $6 million. I mean, I was, I was in prison and guys were coming in with $20 million in law, $30 million, and they're getting like five years, 10 years. And I'm like, how the fuck did I get 26 years? This is insane.

Right. But anyway, so I'm glad you got out and you're able to be there for your mom. Like that's the ever. The better thing was, yeah, that I got to spend time with my daughter. Had I not got out, I would have been getting, I would have got out February of 22, one month before her accident, and I would have never rebuilt my relationship with her and had the close, beautiful bond that we had. So it's like, to me, it's a blessing.

Even though I had to do all that time, the fact that I got out, and I can every day know I had the best relationship, my daughter. daughter. That's what keeps me going every day because had I not won that motion and stayed in prison, I'd be living a life of guilt. And I don't have that right now. You know, the other thing is, like, the lifestyle you were living, you may have been killed. You may not even have made it to the age you are right now. You may have been, if you were on the street, like, you might have beat that case that you, you know, that the, um, the case you lost at trial. you may have beat that case and been shot dead three months later on some other dole or some other

whatever you know you don't know so it it really you know losing that case and going to prison may have been a blessing you'll just never know to me the 41 months wasn't enough so did i need 21 years no but anything less than 10 or 15 wouldn't have changed me i don't think so you know it took that much time to change a guy like me the way I was maneuvering and operating it reckless and selfish and, you know, not there for my kids when they were doing their homework and, you know, thinking that a father was just to provide, you know, the best of food and clothing and cars when there's so much more to that. And I've learned that the hard way and I can't ever have it back. But, you know, I doing the best I can't every day.

to, you know, live life right and, you know, do the right thing. It's funny you say that because I say the same thing. I always say, look, like, I don't, I'm, you're never going to convince me I deserve 26 years. But I definitely needed to go to prison. You know what I'm saying? Like, there's no doubt, like, you know, once in a while I'll talk to somebody and say, man, I can't believe that, you know, that they, they sent you to prison for all that time. I'm like, well, you know, look, like, nobody sent me, like, I sent me to prison.

like the government didn't frame me they didn't they didn't lie about this they didn't like like i'm the one that made me go to prison like i'm it's not like i'm innocent you know i mean no you know so there and there's tons of guys and you know there's not tons but there are guys in there that you'll i would read their case and i'd be like how how did you end up going to prison like you i got a buddy that invested $50,000 with a guy that guy opened up well it was supposed to be a thin thin clinic. But Finfin became illegal. So, but they built out this entire, they built out like a little medical center, a little clinic. So the doctors were like, look, let's go ahead and do pain management.

Okay, so they do pain management. Two, three years later, they ended up getting busted for it being a pain, a pill mill. My buddy who put up the 50,000 lives in L.A. the clinic which he was not managing or running was in New Orleans he gets indicted he goes to trial because he's like I didn't have anything to do with this he loses at trial he gets 19 years wow you know what are you talking about they had people on the stands that they had drug addicts on the stands that they'd arrested that were saying that he gave me I came in and he was there

I came in and he gave me my prescription, or he gave me, I was, I was sick and he gave me a couple pills. Even though they proved that he was in L.A. when that patient, during every single one of that patient's appointments. Like, I wasn't there. Didn't matter. Went to prison. The jury, know what happens? Because I went to trial. I know. It's so intimidating. You walk in that courtroom and they have that high ceiling. in the United States of America versus Anthony J. Bucci or whatever that guy's name is, you're dead right from the start.

Yeah. It's like crazy. And those prosecutors are so well-schooled, so intelligent. But, and it's like, no matter what lawyer you get, you're dead because they have all the money and resources. And, you know, once in a while you win a case

if you have the right jury and the right mindset of the jury. but, you know, I had a guy I thought I was in my trial. He winked at me halfway through. Then they played a body wire that they wore on my co-defendant. And the judge said to the jury,

you can not use the content of this body wire against Mr. Bucci only against my co-defendant. But once they heard it and heard my co-defendant talking that I was involved in the grant, how could I win? He wouldn't sever the trials. And then I

that I did the 2255 and I argued that when you drop of a drop of ink into a glass of milk you can never get it out in other words they're tainted but you know what they said they said we have great faith in the American jury system today and they did it we like it's you can't win

so I took it all I took this life lessen hard and 15 and a half years I lost but you know what I was guilty I was running the streets a muck. I was wrong. I wasn't there with my kids when I should have been. And a real tough guy is the guy, and I'm telling the public this because it's the truth. The real tough guy is the guy that's there for his wife and kids and, you know, wakes, when they wake up in the middle of the night having a bad dream, he puts them back to bed. And that's the real tough guy.

And I wasn't a real tough guy back then. And I'm trying to change and hopefully someday become one, you know, beating up people and through all that crazy stuff. isn't tough it's stupid it's foolish and it's selfish and that's how i'm not going to live my life anymore it's funny i was talking to a guy one time and he was like you know i was just trying to provide for my family and i was like you want to try and provide for your family like you took the shitty way out like that's the shitty way out you went rob the fucking bank if you really wanted to provide your family you go get a second job you know like you went in the bank you got caught you went to fucking jail for 15 years like that's not providing for your family that was the easy

way out. That was your excuse. You know what the crazy thing is, Matthew? We are so, we are intelligent human beings. We wrote books. How many people write books? All those years we both lost in prison, we could have been making millions of dollars.

You'd probably already have a movie deal. I'd have one. And, you know, we'd be talking right now. We wouldn't even be talking right now. We'd be in my mansion in L.A. But instead, we took the hard route and hopefully things turn out the way they're supposed to. Yeah. You know, I was going to say one more thing because I'm thinking about it is that I had a buddy who went to trial and, you know, during voir dire, you know, when they're picking the jury and the lawyer was questioning one of the potential jurors and he said, can you find, you know, obviously, do you think you can find, you know, my guilty, you know, my client not guilty if, you know, your presented evidence that doesn't prove that he's guilty. And the guy goes, I don't think so. It was, why do you say?

that he said well i mean he was indicted for 34 counts he did something like you can't have that guy like that's but that's what they think he just said it most of the jurors don't say it you know he at least he's like you know he said he was obviously he was struck he said but i was like well at least you said it that's what all the juries i think think they said well he's been indicted he must have done something. So it's impossible to get, well, it's very unlikely that people get a fair trial. And just like you said,

they have all the money. You'd have to be a multi, multi-millionaire and blow all your money on an amazing defense and still end up with a great lawyer to be able to get a fair trial. So, but well, listen,

I don't know if you have anything else you want to cover or? Well, I'd like to say anybody who hasn't read my book in this. You can please support me and grab it on Amazon or

70 other, the Bonds and Nobles and 70 other platforms online. All you're going to do is Google Infinity Crew, Anthony J. Bucci. I am the convicted vegan on Instagram. I'm, I'm vegan. And Anthony J. Bucci on

Facebook, I'd be honored if you guys followed me and became friends and even want to talk, DM me. I handle my own stuff. Just a regular guy now. I always was. I'm doing the right thing. And if I can help anybody, I live beyond it to help. Hey, I appreciate you guys watching.

Do me a favor. If you like the interview, hit the subscribe button, share the video. Leave me a comment in the comment section. And we're going to leave Anthony's, the link for Anthony's book on Amazon in the description. box so i appreciate you guys watching and uh check out the rest of the videos on the channel thank you see you