Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast - I Was Falsely Labeled a $20 Million Kingpin

Starting point is 00:00:00 And they called me a mob boss. This is the modern day mafia. It was money laundering and racketeering. More than $20 million. What are you talking about? I don't even know how I was called the ringleader when I'm barely there. I was working at a school for children with autism. So I love the job, but it wasn't really paying the bills.

Starting point is 00:00:21 Like I was an assistant teacher. And so eventually, one of my friends who lived in the apartment right next to us, he would be on his balcony from like one to seven the morning every night. And finally I'm like, what are you doing, man? And he's like Amazon. I'm like, what is that? Like I didn't even know what it was at that time. Like I think Amazon was like a new thing.

Starting point is 00:00:44 Right. He's like, I buy stuff and I sell it. I'm like, what? It's like, yeah, I literally go online or I go to stores and I buy the clothes out and I sell them. Buy low and sell high. Yeah, exactly. Like it sounds pretty easy. So I'm like, what do I do?

Starting point is 00:00:58 And I was still working at it. with the children with autism. And he's like, go get your Sunday paper every week and look for the ads. I'm like, and compare it to Amazon. I'm like, okay, that's easy now. So, and we didn't have a lot of money, like at all. We didn't have extra money to spend. Like, we paid for rent.

Starting point is 00:01:14 And my wife was a teacher. But, you know, we weren't like racking the dough. Like, it was like, we paid for our bills and we went out for dinner every once in a while. So I'm like, okay, I'll check it out. So one day in the pouring rain, I saw, a radio shack deal for cameras, like $60 each. I'm like, wait, Amazon's selling it for $120, and it's $60? This is awesome.

Starting point is 00:01:39 This is what he's been talking about. And so I spoke to my wife. I'm like, do you mind if I take $300? And that was a lot for us, you know? And she's like, you know, I believe in you. And I'm like, I better not mess this up. So I went in the pouring rain. Even the manager is like, why do you need six cameras?

Starting point is 00:01:55 I'm like, oh, I just need them. You know, I like taking pictures, whatever it is. I didn't want to explain to him. him. And so I'm like, I went to my friend with these cameras. I'm like, what do I do do I do now? He's like, you send it to Amazon. I'm like, how? Like, do I go to UPS? He's like, no, you print out a label and they'll do everything for you. I'm like, okay. So I put them in a box, like nervous, like what's going to happen to them? I just spent $300. Oh my God. About a week later, they sell. I made like $20 a piece. I'm like, oh my God, this works.

Starting point is 00:02:21 If I'm taking the money, buying other deals, buying other deals. And eventually, we had my daughter. And it's hard to talk about her because of everything. I'm very close to her. And my wife didn't like bringing my daughter to the daycare at her school. It was just hard for her to take breaks and happen to go in there and, you know, and take care of her. Like she wanted, like, her to be hands-on 24-7 with her as our first child. Right.

Starting point is 00:02:50 And so I started doing much better on the Amazon. I started, you know, getting new, I guess, vendors. I started to learn the business. And so I said, listen, I'm going to quit my other job. So I was just doing the Amazon on the side. I'm going to do it full time. And I'm going to take care of our daughter. And we'll get a nanny on the side, you know, because I'm being a little extra money.

Starting point is 00:03:10 I did that. And I worked out of my apartment. I had shipments coming all the time to my apartment. We hired the nanny. And my wife was much happier. And eventually we got our first home. I was doing well enough. And my wife was able to stop working.

Starting point is 00:03:26 And we had our son. my oldest son, and things were going great. You know, it was a great life for us. How long, what was the period of time between starting the Amazon thing and to the point where you were buying your own house, you bought a new house? I think it was maybe like three years. That's great.

Starting point is 00:03:46 Yeah, I needed a good tax return, and, you know, and homes were less expensive then. Yeah. And we did have help. You know, my wife's grandmother was, you know, she's helped us out a lot. And so, yeah, we had a little home, three-bedroom home, and we're in a great neighborhood, gated neighborhood, an amazing community, and we just were loving life.

Starting point is 00:04:06 Like, my wife was home with the kids, and I was doing a business where I could be home, and I could support my family. Like, I don't really need a lot. Like, I don't, I'm not the type where like, oh, I need this, I need that. We're able to go away every once in a while, and that was the perfect life for us. You know, we were becoming a part of a community. And so, um, eventually my wife's grandmother who was very close with us

Starting point is 00:04:28 who we used to visit in New York in North Woodmere every year she got sick she she ended up having a she had to go on dialysis and she lived by herself her husband passed away many many many years ago and so we're like well she can't live by herself you know she'd never wanted to be an inconvenience her grandmother she's like no leave me I'll be okay I'll be fine I'm like no no no no so we're like no I'm sorry you're moving in with us.

Starting point is 00:04:55 Right. And so it was, she was a health risk. So I had actually fly there for the day, pick her up from the hospital, and then get on a plane with her. So I'm like, of course. So I went, I picked her up, and she moved in with us. And there was some ups and down because of her health, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I mean, her great-grandchildren with her every day. You know, it was such a blessing.

Starting point is 00:05:18 And I would drive her dialysis a couple times a week, drive her home. but it was the least I could do because my dad's parents passed away by then and my mom's dad was no longer around her mom was around but my wife's grandmother was like a grandmother to me like she kind of replaced my dad's mom so I spoke to like every day

Starting point is 00:05:39 so to have her with me like it wasn't an inconvenience at all like I love spending time with her she was a typical Jewish bubby like she you know she just took care of you like you know she was you know the most important was food and your shoes. Don't spend money on anything else. And so she took care of it. And she loved my kids. She loved us. And I wouldn't have had it any other way. And my business kept on growing. I was still working out of my garage. You know, and I'd have pallets show up in my

Starting point is 00:06:08 garage. And, you know, and the neighbors were like, what are you doing in there? Like, do you have like a store? Like, can I come up and buy something? No, it doesn't work that way. Right. And so we eventually moved to a bigger house. You know, because it was getting a little tight having two kids, having a grandmother, and having a business out of there. So we moved to a house, a bigger house in the same neighborhood. And I just kept on growing my business. And it was great. Everything was good. And we had my second son. So it was moving along how you hope life would move along. Right. Everything was good. Can you explain a little bit more about the business? Like you're finding deals, like retail deals and selling it to Amazon and kind of

Starting point is 00:06:49 How does that work? So basically, Amazon makes it very convenient for you. You know, like, especially, like I said, with the shipping. Like, you could literally buy, like, 500 of something, and you just box it up and you ship to Amazon, and they do all the work. You know, they'll literally, they'll ship it to the customers. You know, if there's returns, they'll send it back to you. You have to put, like, little stickers on it to show.

Starting point is 00:07:13 Because let's say I send 500 computers, and someone else sends the same one. So you separate it with stickers. They're called AISN labels. And as you grow, because I'm a go-getter, I would literally go online and type in electronics and call up every company and say, do you have any deals? Do you want to sell to me? And if one person picks up, I have the 100 phone calls, then it's golden. You have a supplier forever, hopefully.

Starting point is 00:07:41 And so that's what I kept on doing. Whenever I wasn't busy, if I couldn't find you, I'd call. I make phone call after phone call. because it wasn't, it's not cheap to keep up, not that we had a luxurious lifestyle, but having a home, you know, sending kids to private school, I had to work my butt off.

Starting point is 00:07:55 It's not as simple because everyone comes up to me like, oh, I want to do Amazon. I'm like, it's not that easy. You can't, you can't buy everything. You know, just because it says, you're not going to get a deal on everything either, just not a profit in everything. Exactly, just because, oh, this is 20% off

Starting point is 00:08:08 because I didn't mind teaching people. Like, because I don't mind helping people out because no matter what everything sells, you know, if you have a good item. But they're like, oh, I found this for 20%. I'm like, but how much is it selling for an Amazon? Oh, I'm buying it for $10. I'm selling it for $12.

Starting point is 00:08:23 Yeah, you don't make any money. You know, like you have to take, it was hard. Like, if I found one deal a week, I was so happy. It was really hard at first. I just kept on plugging away, kept on making phone calls, kept on looking at ads. I go to stores and go to the closed-out sections. You know, I go to Costco and I'd be like, oh, I was known as the Pop-Tart guy in Costco. Like, I'd go there, and the guy knew, oh, you're here for the Pop-Tarts.

Starting point is 00:08:45 I'd buy out every Pop-Tart. When quinoa, with a storage of quinoa, I'd buy every piece of quinoa, every bag. I had my friend pick it up in his car. I gave him a dollar per quinoa bag. His car is like literally stinking on the highway. But I did what they had to do. I mean, that's just how it goes. What is quinoa?

Starting point is 00:09:01 What is that? It's kind of like rice, but it's like healthier. They're like little seeds and then you bake them in water and they kind of like pop and they're like little... By the way, I didn't know what it was either. Yeah, I was going to say. I've heard it before. I think I've had it. Kind of like a little grain.

Starting point is 00:09:15 It doesn't taste very good. Yeah. But people loved it. Yeah. You know, I'd buy, you know, fruit roll-ups. Anything that sell. Because I didn't have a boss paying me. So I would, if it made 10 cents and made $10, that's fine with me.

Starting point is 00:09:28 Because if you buy enough, you're making, you know, money that you didn't have. Every dollar counted. And these listings just come up on, they just come up on Amazon. Like if I'm searching for Kainwa or Fruit Rollops, do they just pop up? So I would. Like your own store. How does it? So you make a storefront, which mine was called Hollywood seller, because I, I'm

Starting point is 00:09:46 kind of lame so I'm thinking I live in Hollywood and I sell so Hollywood seller and when you ship it to Amazon it takes a couple days to process sometimes Hollywood you live in Hollywood Florida yeah yeah the people most people don't know there is a Hollywood Florida yeah I'm sorry so it takes it a little bit to process because sometimes they ship it to other warehouses to like categorize and if you're buying something that's already there it would basically add your name to the listing but if you have some that's not there which I usually would buy something that's already there because it's more popular and people are going to

Starting point is 00:10:19 buy it, then you have to create your own listing, which I did at times, but it was a harder sell. Yeah. Summer always changes how I dress, and living in Florida, it gets hot. I don't want to wear heavy clothes all the time. Lately, I've been wearing a lot from Quince. I love their European linen shirts. They're light, comfortable, and they actually look good without feeling overdressed. Their linen pants are great too. And they start at just $34. It's becoming one of those brands that I keep coming back to because everything I try on is high quality and easy to wear. Quince offers the same kind of quality you'd expect from an expensive brand but cost 50 to 80% less. They work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middleman. So you're paying for quality, not big brand names. And Quince isn't

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Starting point is 00:11:43 go to buy a product, they'll have, several people are listing the same, the same product over and over again. It's like, okay, but these are clearly, even the descriptions are, they're different, but that's the same product. Yeah. And sometimes they'll sell it by just a little bit less

Starting point is 00:11:57 than the other guy. Yeah, so that was, that was the annoying part, because especially because I bought, like, good items, people would drop it by a penny, and I'm like, why are you even doing that? Yeah. You know, no matter what, and there was, like, kind of a way it worked

Starting point is 00:12:10 where it switched off sellers, like, every, like, 30 seconds. So, like, when you go on Amazon.com, you see the name pop up right away, opposed to the right side that has a list of sellers. So I'm like, eventually your name's going to pop up and you'll sell 10 of them in those 30 seconds. So why are you doing that? Do you also get higher on the pages if you have better reviews or something? Yeah, 100%.

Starting point is 00:12:34 So I took a lot of pride. Like, if people wanted to return something, I would just say yes. Because you don't want any negative feedback because then that will affect how often you're on the main page, how often you stick out. I had a thousand rating and I took so much prior to that because I did good customer service. And that's what helps things sell. People will actually go back to you. I had repeat customers, even though they had no idea who I was.

Starting point is 00:12:58 They just saw my seller name. So for sure, yeah. Or they have the little thing that says this is a product that's returned often. Yeah, 100%. Yeah. I'll buy those all the time. But sometimes I would get something back and I'm just like, this wasn't what I sold. Right.

Starting point is 00:13:13 Like what happened here? Or I'd sell like a drone and the remote would come back, but not the drone. And I'm like, okay. And it's a little bit of a battle to fix that, you know, as far as getting a reimbursement with Amazon, but they're pretty good about it. If they understand, like someone tried to screw me. So you just show them the invoice and you show them like, you know, this is what I bought. And I dealt with a lot of big companies.

Starting point is 00:13:37 So right away they'd be okay. And maybe it was our fault. Maybe it was a customer. But customer service was everything. and the customer is always right. So you've got to be very careful. Like, there's no pride. There's like, I want to keep my business going strong.

Starting point is 00:13:49 Right. So it's around 2019. And like I said, my business was doing well. And I was able to pay the bills. You know, I think I was increasing by maybe, you know, like $50,000 I was making per year. It was going up about another $50,000 almost every year. Nice. Yeah, it was good.

Starting point is 00:14:07 I was happy. I never thought I'd make that kind of money. And then COVID came or COVID was around. that time, maybe it was a little before and it was just my business fell apart. You know, there was no supplies because all the manufacturers were shutting down. And the only one who was getting inventory was the big suppliers. Like I had no chance. But if I got my hands on something, you're probably making double because you can't get it. Like a Nintendo Switch, which is I think was coming out around that time. If you got one, you're selling it for like 800 bucks. Like it was

Starting point is 00:14:34 unreal. So I'd go to stores hoping there was one left because that's the only way I'm making money. There was nothing available. Like it used to be easy. My suppliers are calling up, but I got this. You want it? Sure. And then 2019, my second son is born. My wife's grandmother passed away before that, unfortunately. And I just kept on doing well with business.

Starting point is 00:14:57 I mean, after COVID, I started to pick up again, you know, because everything came back. Like I said, I have a lot of suppliers, but I would pick and choose my suppliers based on if somebody – I'd always ask them, do you know somebody else that I work with? Because that's, like, a reference in the Amazon life. Like, have you worked with my friend before? Because besides that, I don't know you. And it sounds good, but I don't want to, not that I'm questioning you, but I don't want to take a chance because you don't know anyone else I know. Like, I want to work with people that are known in the business.

Starting point is 00:15:23 So a good. Why? I think it's almost like, you know, you're buying, you're going to a specific doctor. Are you concerned they're going to give you their, it's bad product? I just, no, well, no, it's not really that. It's more like, you know, like, what are your business, like ethics? Like, do you make it difficult to do a transaction? Do I have to chase after you to get my product?

Starting point is 00:15:43 Right, right. If I have to return this, or you're going to take it back? Have you been around? If I get stuff that's expired, even though you told me like, you know, it's not expired, but oh, you're like, it's only a month expired, you know, so it's okay. Yeah. Like, it just wasn't worth it, you know, and I had a consistent, you know, suppliers. So I only had so much capital.

Starting point is 00:16:00 So I didn't really need that much more anyway, but I always had more capital left, you know, to buy a little more. But I was just like, you know, it's fine. I'm supporting my family. That's fine. So I had a good friend who was, you know, very well known in the neighborhood. And he said one day, he's like, you know, I have a supplier that I know that's been the business for a while, you know, as far as wholesale and, you know, buying closeouts, buying deals. Would you like to talk to him?

Starting point is 00:16:28 I'm like, yeah, of course. Because, you know, I know you and I trust you and you're well known. So you're a good reference. So he's like, okay, here's his number. Reach out to him and see if there's anything that you. would like to buy. And also, it's can I sell? Because on Amazon, you're not allowed to sell everything. Like, Amazon has to approve you. It could be whether you're grandfathered in, you have a good account. So we're like, you know, this guy's a good seller. He could sell this. But even nowadays,

Starting point is 00:16:53 there's a lot of things you can't sell because you need like, you know, you need approval from the supplier, whatever it is. But I had such a good reputation, so most things I could. So I reached out to the guy and he's like, okay, I'm going to send you a list of UPCs because that's how you type in on Amazon, the UPC, and it'll say you're approved or not approved. So I'm like, okay, it looks like a lot of stuff I could buy. So let's start doing business together. So he'd make me a list. You know, we'd make an invoice, you know, it's just a keep track.

Starting point is 00:17:23 I'd wire him the payment, which either with suppliers, you could either use credit card, but a lot of the wholesalers, it's wiring, which I guess it's fine. No big deal. It doesn't make a difference. And we consistently, I was buying from him maybe like every week. than, you know, I was buying it from him a little more often. And it was improving my business. It wasn't, like, high-ticket items where I'm making tons of money.

Starting point is 00:17:46 Right. You know, some things that would literally even take a loss, but I'm like, you know, we're doing business and that's okay. Well, what are they? What are these to it? Sure. So a lot of it was either, like, over-counter goods, like, you know, or medications, like Advil or Rogain or things like you'd get from, like, you know, like a pharmacy or something. But also it was like electronics like D-Wall like tools or sometimes I get laptops, sometimes, you know, vacuum stuff that I didn't really buy the over-counter medications before,

Starting point is 00:18:14 but I bought all these other stuff. Every electronic you could think of I bought. So it was stuff that I've already had in my inventory. And I also, you know, I saw that he was a family man, the guy I was buying it from. He had three kids. He was a single dad would take him to school. So I'm like, you know, I respect that. You know, you work hard for your family.

Starting point is 00:18:33 I think that's great. because that's how I feel. You know, his family was very, his kids were very important to him. And about six months in, um, after things are going really well. And I still have my other suppliers.

Starting point is 00:18:45 I'm still buying from whoever I can. Um, I'm taking my son to school, um, about five minutes away. And on the way home with my daughter and my dog, I see flashing lights behind me. And I'm like,

Starting point is 00:18:57 okay, I'll pull over the side because that's what you do when there's a flashing lights. What you think of like an emergency vehicle or, Do you think it was a cop? I just thought I was, you know, a cop car, and they need me to pull over because they're going somewhere else. Right. Especially in my neighborhood where we have a lot of, we have something called Hutzella, which is like a Jewish ambulance. So flashing lights are unfortunately going on a lot.

Starting point is 00:19:18 They come and they help people. I didn't really look into like what kind of, I just saw flashing lights. I didn't know if it was a cop car, whatever. Next thing I know it's behind me. Like it stops behind me. I'm like, okay, I'm not really sure what I did because I wasn't speeding. being, okay, so the cop gets out of the car, the police officer gets out of the car, and I opened my window. He said license and registration.

Starting point is 00:19:42 I'm trying to grab, and he's like, get out of the car. I'm like, okay. And I know my daughter is a little freaked out, and my dog is quiet because my dog is like a baby. And he's like, give me your keys, give me your wallet, give me your phone, basically give me everything that you have. and I'm like, what's going on here? He said, now go stand by my vehicle. And I'm like, what is going? Like, no one said anything about what's going on here.

Starting point is 00:20:09 Like, I have no idea. I still have no idea. I see officers talking to my daughter, I guess trying to calm her down. I have friends that are driving by saying, you know, Yosh, what's wrong? And I'm like, I have no idea. I don't know what's going on.

Starting point is 00:20:21 All I know is that I'm standing here. They tell me not to talk. The officer just stand here. Don't move. I see a paramedic. I see, you know, other cop cars. they're pulling up? They're just there already, like,

Starting point is 00:20:33 because there's like a circle to get into my neighborhood. And so they're like around that circle, I guess maybe in case there's like an axe or something. I don't know. You know, maybe the paramedic in case, you know, I got from something dangerous. Maybe they thought I was dangerous. I have no idea.

Starting point is 00:20:46 And then they asked me, where's your wife? I'm like, she's at the gym. And so like, okay, what gym? So they're like, okay, we're going to go get her. And so then finally, after about maybe 45 minutes, So like, get back in your car and we're going to follow you to your house. And I'm just like, okay. Like, I'm kind of freaking out.

Starting point is 00:21:05 Are you asking what's going on? No, I was just quiet. I just, I didn't say anything. Maybe I should have said I was just kind of freaked out and confused. And so they follow me. And I don't even talk to my daughter really. I just say it's okay because I'm like, what am I supposed to say to her? You know, I don't even know what's going on.

Starting point is 00:21:23 I pull around the corner because my house is a corner house. I see an armored truck. I see police cars. I see people with, you know, with big guns. And all I'm thinking is like, is that armored truck for me? Like, am I going in there? Because I'm already like, what's going to happen next? I pull into my driveway. One of the officer comes up to me and he shows me this paper.

Starting point is 00:21:45 I think it was like kind of like a summary of like maybe my rights or like, you know, or, you know, we have a warrant. I think it was maybe a warrant to check my house. I'm like, okay. And my wife pulls up and my daughter runs into her car. my daughter wasn't going to go to school that day. She ended up going to school that day. My wife's like, it's fine, it's fine.

Starting point is 00:22:04 I'm like all white, like, you know, this isn't fine. Like, what are you talking about? So my wife leaves, and I have to stand outside. I'm just standing there. Still not an explanation of what's going on. No idea what's going on. And it's so hot.

Starting point is 00:22:16 It's maybe like 10 in the morning. And finally, I'm like, you know what? I have to pray because we have to pray in our religion by a certain time for the morning services. So I go to the office store. I'm like, it's okay if I go inside because I also have to put my straps on my my to fill in. And he's like, you know, I'm actually Jewish also.

Starting point is 00:22:34 Let me ask my supervisor. I'm like, okay. And he's like, yeah, you can go in. He's like, actually, you know, I probably should be putting them on also. I'm like, and because I'm like a little nutty in the head, and it's automatically kind of like, do you want to? And he's like, no, maybe next time. So I'm like losing my mind.

Starting point is 00:22:50 And I go inside and I have to sit by my couch. I can't move. I just need to pray. I'm praying my heart out. I'm like, please. God, like what's going on here, like this can't be happening. This has to be a dream. And all I see around my house is a table with like someone with a computer, and officers everywhere going through my house, you know, grabbing things, put them into bags,

Starting point is 00:23:11 I guess for evidence or whatever. And I'm just freaking out. I'm like, I don't, I don't even know what to say. And if I my wife gets back, she has to sit next to me on the couch, can't move while we're watching our house being taken over. Like it was unreal. It was like a scene from a movie in my mind. Like I can't believe this is happening. About two hours, we're just sitting there. You know, and kind of talking but not really talking because we're like, what are we going to say? Like, we can't get up and like, we don't even want to ask questions because we don't even know how this works.

Starting point is 00:23:43 About two hours in, one of the officers, he comes and says, okay, let's go to the kitchen. Just to me. I sit in my glass table and there's like four. huge officers at like the counter of my kitchen. Then I have sitting next to me, I have one of the main officers, and then I have the prosecutor just sitting there. And for like 45 minutes to an hour, they start asking me questions. And I didn't think it was a big deal because they're asking me questions about,

Starting point is 00:24:15 and I know everyone says you should ask for a lawyer, but to me it was like not, they're asking me questions about like, where did you grow up, what did you do for a living, who are your suppliers, you know, how long you've been doing Amazon? and of course I'm terrible with dates so I'm like I don't remember I don't but I'm like what's the big deal and I think they started to get flustered because they start looking around like who else has a question so then they got a little bit tougher on their quiet like that'll like a little more of a mood you know and I'm just like then I

Starting point is 00:24:41 start freaking out I start having a panic attack and I'm like can I just go back to my wife because I couldn't deal anymore like I was I was being nice I was sitting there talking all of a sudden he got tough and these big guys like at the table I'm like I'm like I'm kind of like this is scary. You know, this is very real. And they started telling me how, you know, there's a bunch of people stealing stuff from, like, stores and trucks. And I'm like, no way. I'm like, no way that's even possible. That's what I said. I'm like, like, how did they steal so much? Like, like, you're talking about tons of inventory. Like, did they go in with like a big bag and just stuff in the, in the, in the grocery bags? And they just went on the truck because how does this even, how do you, I don't even know

Starting point is 00:25:23 how you steal a piece of gum. You know, sometimes you can't even steal that. But how did they take all this stuff? So you're saying you that people are stealing items, like large amounts of items and selling it on, are they telling you that you're selling it? So what they're saying is that they stole this stuff. They gave it to the guy who sold it to me. Okay.

Starting point is 00:25:46 And now I'm selling on Amazon, this stuff was stolen. And I'm like, I don't know. How's that my fault? I'm like, I didn't know. I'm like, I didn't know. I do this for a living. I've been doing this for 13 years. And they just got tougher and tougher.

Starting point is 00:26:00 And like I said, I had a panic attack. I went to my wife. Are they telling you that you did know or we believe you did know? No. No, not at all. No, just telling me what happened. And I just start freaking out because, like, I've never been to anything like. I don't even get tickets.

Starting point is 00:26:15 Like, I don't even speed. Like, my whole house is being ripped apart. You know, and my daughter saw this. My wife is like, you know, what's going on here. So I don't even know what to say. You know, I just, so I, they take me back. I'm like, can I go back to my wife?

Starting point is 00:26:28 And they said, yeah, go, you go back to your wife. And I say them, like, you know, because it was during one of the Jewish holidays about to come up where we have to build like a hut called Sukas. So I'm like, am I going to be allowed to finish that? Because I'm thinking I'm going to be taken away. I'm like, can I finish that? Can I take my son to hockey tonight? They're like, you're not going to jail, but I would get a lawyer.

Starting point is 00:26:51 Like, okay. and by the way your accounts are shut, your Amazon business is shut, you know, so I start freaking out even more. Like I, and then they ask, you know, like, you know, we can leave your guns here. Because, you know, and I'm like, my wife's, you probably shouldn't because he's having a panic attack. I don't feel safe. So I'm like, whatever. You just do all the talking.

Starting point is 00:27:13 Finally, they leave after maybe like five hours. They just leave. And I'm like, I'm like looking around. Like, I can't believe this. I can't believe this happen. I don't have my. cell phone and so I go up to our house phone and I call a friend I'm like I need a lawyer and that's the first person I called I called a friend and I said I need a lawyer like here's a number to a lawyer

Starting point is 00:27:34 and so my parents come by that night my friends come by um you know and I just they watch the kids and I would go to a lawyer and I'm just like anxious I'm like let's hire him let's hire him because I don't know the first my lawyer he sounds good and my wife's like maybe we should wait and I'm like okay, we'll wait. So eventually my friend gets in touch with this high profile law firm. And I'm like, okay, that sounds good. You know, they're high profile. They're very expensive, but, you know, we could figure it out.

Starting point is 00:28:04 You know, we always make it work. And I started calming down for a couple of days. And then they sit with me. We have to take, we have to drive to one of their offices, and they interview me, and they tell me what the story is. And there's like, this is unreal. Like, this doesn't even make sense. So they've, by the time you get there, have they already contacted the,

Starting point is 00:28:21 state prosecutor? No, they didn't speak to the state prosecutor yet. They didn't officially file charges yet. Okay, so the only thing they know is what you told them happened. Yeah. And I was there for like three hours. What do you know at this point has happened? I know that some guys were stealing stuff,

Starting point is 00:28:41 and they're selling it to the guy that I bought from. That's all I know. And so they think that I knew about this. It was all about you knew. You knew what we were doing. I said, no, I didn't. I didn't. I've been doing this forever.

Starting point is 00:28:54 And, like, how would you think I know? I had invoices. I wired. I'd do my taxes. Like, what part of it shows that I knew? Right. You know? Yeah, where are the text messages?

Starting point is 00:29:01 Where's the emails? And even if I knew, why would I pay, why would I have the guys give it to him and then give it to me? Right. Why would I just pay the guys directly? Or why would I pay so much? Like, I was paying prices based on Amazon. Like, I'd be like, no, I'm giving you five cents for a $20 item because I know it's stolen. Right.

Starting point is 00:29:18 It made no sense to me. Right. You would be. So, okay. that if you knew it was stolen, you'd be giving them whatever, five or ten cents on the dollar, as opposed to you're actually buying,

Starting point is 00:29:29 you think you're buying from like a wholesaler. Yeah. And you're giving them, you know, 70, 80 cents on the dollar because that's what you typically can. Yeah, and also, I was also basing it on Amazon, because on Amazon, you have something called the Amazon calculator where you could actually see

Starting point is 00:29:43 what you're making. So I would see, okay, as long as I'm making something, then, you know, there's only so little you can sell it for because you have to make money too. So I'm like, okay, that's fine. Whatever you said, that's fine, because I'm making some money. Right.

Starting point is 00:29:56 You know, and so about a few weeks later, the lawyer calls me and says, you know, they officially filed charges, and it was just like a hall list. It was white caller. It was a two-way communication device. It was money laundering, eight counts of dealing and stolen property,

Starting point is 00:30:14 and racketeering. I'm like freaking. I'm like, what? Like, what are you talking? about like where did all these charges come from and they're like well we know you we told you're you're basically going to go in like trump style and just take a picture and leave but you might be there for a couple days i'm like i start freaking out i go in my closet i'm like laying on the floor crying i'm like no no no i'm like talking about i'm like no no this isn't real this can't happen

Starting point is 00:30:39 there's no i didn't do it like i didn't do anything my wife's like it's fine it's on a friday like right before my sabbath and um just like calm down it's fine we're gonna be okay like what else my wife going to say? Like, you know, this, you know, she's going to make a say that this is really bad. And she's very strong, my wife. She's been through a lot. Like, she's, you know, I'd even get a chance to meet her dad. He passed away before we met. Like, she's been through a lot. So she's very tough. She's very strong. And she tries to make the situations better when I can't, which in that case, I can't. So Monday, I had turned myself in. My lawyer was like, and I said, on Sunday, you know, I, I, uh, I had actually, I spoke to a therapist who said, by,

Starting point is 00:31:19 By the way, when you go in, you need to get a bunch of white shirts, white underwear, and white socks, and you just put them over each other, but no logos. And you can wear that because it's going to be cold. And I'm like, okay, so my parents went looking all over the place for any shirt, socks and underwear that had no logo on it. So I'm like, okay. So I said bye to my brother. I said by to my parents.

Starting point is 00:31:41 I said I was really scared. And I don't know what's going to happen. I picked a few people that, but I try to keep it normal for my kids. Like my kids didn't even know because one, I left the morning and two, I told them, listen, I'm a little upset because I have to go camping. Like, they didn't know I was going to jail.

Starting point is 00:31:57 And they know I hate camping. And I said, I'm also going with my brother who were on a business trip. I didn't have the heart to tell them. And so I even had my father-in-law take me to the jail because I didn't want to sit by to my wife like that. Like, I didn't want to walk away. Right.

Starting point is 00:32:14 So he picked me up around five in the morning. He drove me to Westwood. palm. It felt like it was a five minute drive, even though it took a 45 minute drive. My lawyer was there. I started having a panic again because I saw the jail. I'm like, I can't believe I'm going in here. It was freaking me out. And he's like, tough. He's like, he's like kind of redneckish side. He's like, he's like, tough. You know, you'll be fine. No, I won't. I won't be fine. No, it's bad. It's bad. No, I just, I've never been in a, I'm not using stressful situations. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:32:45 you know so my lawyer's like you got to go and the officer came to get me he's like I want to you know I'm going to put handcuffs on you I'm like okay that's you know it is what it is and it was still like kind of COVID time so they brought me into like a medical room and I'm like oh you know are these supposed to be so tight I feel like such a baby I'm like you don't I don't what am I doing that I'm talking to myself like who asks these questions he's like no that's how it's supposed to be like he wasn't even being mean like they're actually being nice like he's like okay and and then they take me too. to the, I guess, the holding cell where I went in and they have a phone in there and I called my wife.

Starting point is 00:33:21 She's like, you're calling me already? Like, it's only been an hour. Like, what's wrong with you? I'm like, well, what else am I supposed to do? Like, I'm going to call and talk about. I don't even know how long I'm going to be here. And then we go to the intake rooms. Like, they check your profile.

Starting point is 00:33:35 They check, you know, your hearing, I guess. And, you know, and everything about you. And that wasn't so, that wasn't a big deal. It's like going into, like, an office and being interviewed. and I was still a little anxious. And then I found out that I couldn't be wearing all these white clothes. I was only allowed one layer of these clothes. I was like, okay, well, that was kind of a waste.

Starting point is 00:33:55 And then I grabbed my bed, and I'm taken to where I'm going to be for, I don't know how long. Were you there several days? I was there for 12 days. Really? Yeah. Because the bond was very high. The bond was $1.35 million. And if the bond was so high,

Starting point is 00:34:14 then why didn't they arrest you initially? They let you stay out that entire time. Yeah, about two weeks. Why do you need a huge bond when they let you out for two? They didn't officially file charges, I guess, and they wait to file charges. And it was crazy because the first, they woke me up like a five in the morning in my first, my next day, because you go to court that day. And I remember going downstairs to the courthouse and I'm waiting.

Starting point is 00:34:39 And the officer is like, oh, man, the news is here. I hate when the news is here. I'm like, oh my God, that's for me. Like I said to my lawyer, I'm like, the news is here for me. Like, this is getting crazy. Like, now the news is here. I go in and we try to get the bond lower. They wouldn't lower it.

Starting point is 00:34:55 And, you know, I'm there for like four days. Then on, I went on Monday. That Friday went to court again. Where I went to, like, the main courthouse. Like, I went into like those buses that you tell your kids, like, you see that bus? That's where bad people are. Like, you don't want to go on that bus. And I'm just like, I'm almost like,

Starting point is 00:35:14 at that point, because I'm like shackled and I'm just like, oh, whatever. It is what, this is how it's going to be. You know, what am I supposed to do? I'm done being scared. You know, I just have to go with it. And I finally saw my wife, you know, it's only been like five days. And my rabbis were there and my parents were there. And it was a hard scene to be part of, you know, for any parents. I felt terrible from everyone, but my parents to see their son. And, you know, especially my dad, who's, he's a little, he's protective of his kids. and he can't do anything. Like, imagine, like, you know, your parents,

Starting point is 00:35:48 I'm not telling you imagine, but, like, your hands are tied. You literally can't do anything to help your son at this point. But they end up lowering it to about $830,000 in the bonds. How much was it the first time? $1.35 million. And, but I wasn't allowed to use the internet.

Starting point is 00:36:07 House arrest. And we had to come up with the money. Like, it wasn't easy. Like, we had friends that thank God. We had to put up our house as collateral, and we had another friend who put up their house as collateral, which was like a lifesaver. They saved my life to get out.

Starting point is 00:36:21 And next week I was out. I would have been out quicker, but the order on the order sheet was, you know, was, it said I can't be around the internet. And I said, I'm like, this doesn't sound right. Like, how am I going to go into my house to not be around internet? Like, it's there. The Wi-Fi is flowing. Right. And so it took, of course, two days to change it to no using the internet.

Starting point is 00:36:43 and then the house arrest officer was on vacation, so I had a wait another day to get out. But I was okay at that point. I was fine. I told my wife, I was a strong one at that point. I said, I'm fine, it's fine. Just make sure the kids are okay. We had such a big community that took care of us.

Starting point is 00:36:58 So I was at the point where if you guys were okay, I'm okay. So finally on Friday, when I was about to be put into the general population, because I was in a holding step by myself at that point, I was out. I was on my way home. and I was obviously very relieved. I, it was hard because I haven't seen my kids in 12 days. And, like, I felt like I was seeing them for the first time all over again.

Starting point is 00:37:21 Like, they came home to school. And they were running to me, like, dad, sorry. They missed me. They missed me a lot. And my wife, you know, my wife is funny because, like, we both didn't know what to say to each other when we saw each other. And she's like, you stink, man. She's like, I'm throwing all these clothes away.

Starting point is 00:37:42 and you better shower like five times. And like I felt like I tried to queue with my hygiene, but it was, it's not easy. You know, you give a little bar of soap, you know, whatever. And she's like, you better shower. And then we had to make sure the house for us phone was tied correctly. Like you had to hook it up to your phone service the right way where there's no caller ID. There's no whatever. And luckily it worked.

Starting point is 00:38:05 And my wife's funny. She's like, does this record sound? Because like, you know, my wife hasn't been with me for a while. And she was like, do you guys hear? You know, it was right next to our bed. So not to get grabbing, but that's how it was. Right. And they're like, no, no, no.

Starting point is 00:38:20 And they left. I ate like all the food we had in the house because like I, you know, I had the kosher food, but it was like a snack pack. It was like the size of like a tray. You see it like kids lunch. Yeah, I've seen it. But it was special because having the kosher food is like, you know, it's good food. You know, it was like nothing.

Starting point is 00:38:36 So I lost a lot of weight even in 12 days and I just ate everything. I had pizza, then I had some chicken, then I started to feel normal again, you know, sort of. It was still very weird having a monitor on my leg. I'm like, you know, this is so strange. And yeah, and then I was back home. So what's happening once the lawyer, you know, talked to the prosecutor, and I'm sure he contacted you, like, what are they saying? They're saying these are very serious charges, and that's why. the bond was high. That's why he's on house arrest.

Starting point is 00:39:13 Even though I was not a flyerous, I gave my passport that day. They said these are various charges. Now you have to fight them. All these charges, racketeering. Like, he knew. He knew. I was on the news and they called me a mob boss. Right. Yeah, I actually have two articles pulled up and one of them says, the alleged leader of the retail theft operation that spanned across South Florida was pleaded, not guilty.

Starting point is 00:39:39 It was like a family tree. And then 14, modern day mafia, 14 charge in Florida retail theft ring that stole $20 million in goods. $20 million. I'm like, where is it? I'm like, can you find it? At least I don't know. Like, where's my boat? Where's my...

Starting point is 00:39:55 I had one bank account. Like one, I had my personal and my business. No, I don't have like, oh, you know, sometimes you'll pay this account. I had one bank account. There's no payment, no money in the Cayman Islands. No, no. As much as like I would love a vacation spot. because I'm the type that I would go to the same vacation spot every time

Starting point is 00:40:12 because all I need is a beach and a drink and I'm good. There's nothing, nothing. You know, we had the same car forever. Luckily, I paid off my truck before this happened because if not, I probably wouldn't even have my car, you know, like, so that worked. And my daughter's Bonitzel was coming up, so we're about to put deposit on a place.

Starting point is 00:40:28 And luckily, I'm like, you know, let's think about it. But there was no extra money. It was nowhere. I mean, it was what I had. You saw everything that came in, you saw everything that came out. As simple as that. And, you know, and the text messages, like, I kept every message because for business,

Starting point is 00:40:44 I want to be able to backtrack. I had tons of text messages with all my suppliers, but I kept all them. Why would I keep all my text messages? I'd be like, oh, delete, WhatsApp. You could delete everything. It never comes back. Right. I kept everything.

Starting point is 00:40:57 I kept all my invoices, everything. I even overpaid on my taxes because I, my lawyers, like, this could be a write-off, but you don't know. I'm like, I'll just pay it. It's fine. Right. Like, I like to just go to bed and be like, you know, I worked hard today. I'm going to bed

Starting point is 00:41:08 I'm going to start a new day because a little amount of worries as possible. So how does this progress forward? Like what's happening? You're out and what is your lawyer are they coming to you and saying you know, hey, we'll offer you a plea

Starting point is 00:41:23 or what do you know? There's no plea. There's no deal at that time. They're just like, you know, you're looking at many, many years. What's many, many years? About five, ten years? No, at first it's about,

Starting point is 00:41:33 we're looking at like 30 years. How much money are they saying you made? So when they interviewed me, I said, you know, they said, how much do you have in sales right now? I said, I have $5 million in sales. But that doesn't mean anything because I had losses. You know, I'm working with a small percentage. I probably made about $100,000 off this person. And maybe I made that year maybe like $250 total.

Starting point is 00:42:00 Right. So I don't know, like even if you have five, like anyone could do $5 million in sales. You just get a product and you take losses. It doesn't mean you made $5 million. I wasn't even close. You know, there's fees, there's returns. But I guess the picture was this guy made a lot of money. He had $5 million sales, and most of his money was made from this guy.

Starting point is 00:42:18 You know, so he took advantage of the system. And he knew. It was all about he knew. You know, and he ran this big mafia operation. Is there talk about just talk about a trumped up charge. So are you, I was just thinking, it's funny. because my prosecutor was like, you know, $55 million. I'm like, I've never seen $50.

Starting point is 00:42:41 Are you out of you? But what they did was they just took all the loans and added them together. And it's like, okay, but if this house costs $200,000 and I got a $200,000 or a loan on it, that's $200,000 in fraud. So they added that to it. It's like, I didn't make anything on that. They took it based on what I said. I said I had $5 million sales and that was like, wow, that's a lot of money.

Starting point is 00:43:03 But this is only $100,000 of profit from this. one person. Yeah. This is only, so it's not, yeah, so it's not, okay. Over the course of, what, six months to a year? About, about, maybe like six to eight months. Okay. So, um, so what, so they're saying nothing.

Starting point is 00:43:25 So you're, you're saying, typically like you're saying, you're saying, I'm going to trial. That your lawyer's saying, he's going to go to trial. We're going to fight this. You know, we're going to do depositions. And adventure I moved on from that lawyer because I learned that, you know, it wasn't the best thing to pay hourly. It was adding up a lot, especially

Starting point is 00:43:42 a good lawyer. They were great. Like, I really got connected. They were very, you know, they weren't just to hold your hand type. Like, they were ready to fight for me, but we just couldn't afford it. You know, after the bond and everything, we had to be smart.

Starting point is 00:43:52 So then we eventually went to another lawyer. We played a flat fee, and we just started to fight. You know, got an investigator, got a forensic accountant, the prolly numbers together, and everything just looked like I said. Like, nothing changed, you know,

Starting point is 00:44:05 but it was kept on being, these are serious charges. Like, they kept out, And the house arrest was just destroying me. Like I couldn't even go in my backyard. You know, so mentally, not only am I fighting this, but I'm trying to be a dad. I'm trying to be, you know, a husband. I'm trying to calm down my parents who were very strong and mentic.

Starting point is 00:44:22 I had to go to therapy. I went to group therapy. I was on medication. I wasn't even allowed to drink. Not that I'm a big drinker, but I couldn't have any way to relax. Are you allowed? I mean, what are you doing for work? I wasn't allowed to work because they're afraid I was going to take the money.

Starting point is 00:44:38 use it for another illegal operation, which I didn't even, my lawyer is like, he didn't even have an illegal operation in the first place. Right. But I was nothing. You know, my wife worked, and luckily we live in a community where they helped us a lot. They know me based on my reputation. My community knows me. I'm an honest guy.

Starting point is 00:44:55 I give a lot of charity. I help. I'm almost too, I'm sorry. I'm almost too good to people where, like, I get involved in your life if we need help. It was from my grandparents. Like, they were just good, natural people. and I took that upon myself where even if I see someone sat in the corner, I'll be like, are you okay?

Starting point is 00:45:13 So they knew me. They're like, they're like, yo, there's no way you could do this. There's no way. We know everyone. Even people that didn't know me once they heard. Like, I heard about you. There's no way. People would ask me every day, are you okay?

Starting point is 00:45:24 But it was just draining me, you know, the monitor would go off even when I was home. You know, and I know they were just doing their job. Like it was constant. I'd be in my temple praying, which was my therapy, it would go off. You know, my highest holiday, you don't. or it would go off. And like, it was just...

Starting point is 00:45:40 When you say go off, you mean it's notifying them? Yeah, I'm in the wrong place, the wrong time. Right. That's what... Okay.

Starting point is 00:45:46 Yeah. Yeah, sorry. And it was just mentally... Like I said, I did whatever I could to be strong. I'd go to therapy. I go to group therapy. I was on medication.

Starting point is 00:45:55 You know, I tried to meditate other ways. Going to services was a, was a lifesaver, even when it would beep because that was like my way of connecting the God and saying, you know,

Starting point is 00:46:05 I'm going to get through this. Just please help me. Just help me get through. Let me stay strong of. Let all the facts come out and let it be over. But my prayers became stronger than ever. You know, my connection to God was stronger than ever, which was a blessing. So once these things are happening and the thing is the bracelet is going off, I mean, do you have to call in? So yeah, they either call me or I call me because the first few times it went off, I was freaking out. I'm like, what am I doing wrong? Because I'm home. I'm not even like,

Starting point is 00:46:35 I'm not even, you know, anyone, I'm not even where if I'm allowed to go to temple, I'm not even there. I'm literally home. Sometimes I'm standing right next to it. Right. And so I call me, I'm like, why is it going off? Why is it going off? I'm okay. Like, it's fine. Just, you know, stand close to it or pull up your pants, you know, so it's not covering it or whatever. Or push the reset button. Sometimes I would call too much. Like, you don't have to call us every time. And I'm like, but I'm freaking out. Like, I don't want a violation. Because I'm like, but, you know, you didn't call me, so I called you. You know, I was almost too cooperative where I was like, because I was like, you know, know this guy who like I didn't want to go back to jail. Right.

Starting point is 00:47:10 I knew a violation would do that. So I'd call them all the time. I'd let them know where I was, you know. But the hardest part was the religious aspect of it. It was so hard to, you know, focus on my religion, which was my strength, when I'm worried about this thing beeping. You know, it was just, I guess it's just not, you know, it's not with the technology nowadays.

Starting point is 00:47:29 Right. I feel like it should just give you an Apple Watch that just has like a sensor or like, go find my Apple Watch type of thing. but it was tough. It was so tough. You say the federal system, they do. Like, you don't have a phone. It'll be a, it'll be a phone.

Starting point is 00:47:45 You have a specific phone that you carry with you now. Yeah, so I carry that too. Okay. If I didn't, oh, so I'm sorry. So I had not only had the monitor, I had like this big, like, old school cell phone that went inside a base to charge. Whenever I was home, I had to go on the base.

Starting point is 00:47:58 If I didn't take that with me, violation. So I had to go everywhere with me. Yeah, no, I mean, they just, now if the federal, that you just have a cell phone. And what happens is it's tracking the cell phone. And every once in a while, it rings and you have to hold it up.

Starting point is 00:48:14 And then you have to read something. So you read it, but while it's seeing you, and then it's valid, it verifies it, this is you. I wish I had that. So it verifies you, and then you put the phone out again. You're good. And it was hard. It happened like an hour and a half later, 10 minutes later. It's just a constant, that's why make sure it's with you.

Starting point is 00:48:31 And that's it. But that seems like a very easy system, that one. But I know the... It was tough. And it was especially hard because, you know, I was a marathon runner. Like, I was actually before this happened, I was training for my first full marathon. So I was in the best shape of my life. And so running was very therapeutic to me.

Starting point is 00:48:48 So it was nice, you know, someone got us a treadmill, but it's not the same. So you do... It's nice to be home and you'd rather be home than the alternative, but just figuring out how you're going to keep your day busy and how you're going to, you know, mentally be strong and physically be strong. It was so hard being trapped inside. Like, I like to be busy. So when I'm trying to figure out what to do with myself, like, it was just mean the dog. Like, the dog became my best friend. Like, the dog would even look at me, like, where are we going to?

Starting point is 00:49:15 I'm like, nowhere. We're staying home. And but my dog was my best friend in a sense that I would have some panic attacks from time because I'd be worried about the monitor, you know, beeping. Or I actually, in that period, I actually had a kidney stone. and so I was in terrible pain. And my dog only goes upstairs when it's nighttime, sleeps in our bed. If you sleep hot at night, you know how disruptive that can be.

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Starting point is 00:51:15 So, you know, I would have rather have a person around, but like if you have no choice, you get a close to whatever's there. So it was like a therapy dog. So that did help me a lot. But it was so lonely sometimes. Like, I felt like there was no one around but me for so long. How long does this go on? About two and a half years.

Starting point is 00:51:33 And I have a question. When does this news, the news NBC6 thing drop? Is that drop when you get out of that 12 days? No, that was before. The news story about, you know, the mob boss and all that stuff, that was before. Like, it came out because my friends called me and they're like, you know, you're on the news. And I'm like... Before you got arrested, this came out?

Starting point is 00:51:55 Yeah. I sent you the video. Okay. As far as I know, because I haven't even watched the videos. So because the only reason I say that is because my friends called me and said, well, no, there was one news story when I was in prison when I was in jail. Okay. And I think there was a pre-news story because my friends called me. And they couldn't call me while I was in jail.

Starting point is 00:52:17 So they called me and said, you know, we saw you on the news. I'm like, and my first thing is like, wait, you guys watched the news. Okay, okay. So, wait, sorry. Stop, stop, listen. The timeline is this. The timeline is you're driving home. They pull you over.

Starting point is 00:52:29 You get raided. And then a few days later, he hasn't been officially charged yet because they let him stay out. A few days later, this comes out saying mob boss. Your friends are calling you saying what's going on. And then a week or two later, so you get the lawyer. A week or two later, they then file the indictment. They file the charges. You then turn yourself in, right?

Starting point is 00:52:54 That's the timeline. I think it would be interesting for you guys to watch a video. It's only two minutes, but it's like a whole, what they do, a whole. There was a story, yeah. There was like, you know, we got, yeah, we got him. It was like, you know, the, yeah. Can we watch it? Let's watch it.

Starting point is 00:53:08 Yeah, yeah. Can I get, you want me to get my, uh, I sent it to you? You want me to watch it on the thing? Yeah, I'll just over there. My trauma is a little away, so it's all good. Oh, it's, it's what? He said his trauma. He's, he's, he's.

Starting point is 00:53:19 I still have PTSD when I hear flashing light of sirens, but I'm, I'm okay. It's all good. I'm just curious to see. how like, you know, because you how they portray it. Yeah, yeah. How they portray it. When you hear the story, it's like, oh, it's like, what's the big deal?

Starting point is 00:53:32 But then you look at what the news puts out there. It's like, it's like my first time watching it actually. Oh, yeah, this would be fun. And we're back with an organized retail. That's me. Where are you? Oh, yeah. Well, this nine-month RICO investigation revealed that there was dozens of people

Starting point is 00:53:52 involved in this a multi-million dollar. operation. What seems sometimes as one incident in one store often is part of such a larger picture. It is well organized. It is profitable. It is criminal. This is the modern day mafia and criminal organizations that were taking down. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody says this was more than just some neighborhood shoplifters. This was an operation running from Orlando all the way down to Miami. Investigators tell us people were placed in different roles, from boosters who would go into the store and steal the items to the person who scanned in the inventory and those who lined up the sale of the goods through online sites like Amazon. MDPD says the criminal organization caused more than $20 million in losses this year alone. It's really a great day for all of us, for consumers as well as the businesses that are affected.

Starting point is 00:54:49 Oh my God. Bro. Yeah. Right now at four, a massive auto theft ring busted me. Auto theft ring, okay. Man. This is how it went. I mean, there's nothing I could do.

Starting point is 00:55:03 You have to fight no matter what. Once you get charged, you have to fight no matter what. So this goes on for two years? You're fighting this for two years? Yeah. Two years. Bro, what do you do for me for nothing? You've got no way to make a living for two years?

Starting point is 00:55:19 My wife was working. I started a fund. that people were very supportive. I had my parents help out. And what fund is this? This is called, it's a Jewish version of a GoFundMe. It's called the Chesed Fund. Okay.

Starting point is 00:55:32 It's still going on because I still need to, you know, pay my bills, I have to pay the restitution. So when you say, I mean, is this, can anybody donate to the fund? Is it like, is it like, so is it on GoFundMe? It's a Jewish version of it. It's called Chesed Fund. That's a tough one. Well, I'll tell you.

Starting point is 00:55:52 So I made a domain. It's called Helpyosh, H-E-L-P-Y-O-S-H dot com. Okay. And that brings you to the fund. Yeah. And then show what people can donate. And obviously every dollar helps. Right.

Starting point is 00:56:07 I mean, I am working. Thank God a friend, a good friend, you know, gave me a job that I'm able to do. He's been such a, everyone's been a blessing. But what he's done or his family has done for me, they saved my life. Like they really did. Everyone has. I don't want to take away from everyone. Right. But he worked to get me this job, him and his staff, and I'm working, but it's still not easy.

Starting point is 00:56:30 You know, and I'm just grateful for the opportunity I have now, and I just need to start over. I'm not even starting over. I'm starting from negative. I wish I was starting from zero. You know, it's it's, I backtrack a lot. You know, like you said, like, you know, it's, it's hard to, you know, be away for a long time and not work and to catch up, you know, between mortgage. and there's only so long that you could do a forbearance. There's only so long you could say, I'll make this payment in a few months. Like, eventually you have no choice. And I have a loving community.

Starting point is 00:57:00 And people all over the country, not just my community, who just, I called people from fifth grade, you know, who remember like, oh, Yosh, I remember you were so kind. I'll help you in any way I can. Because I tell people kindness lasts forever. Like, it's a resume you could take everywhere with you. And that's what I take pride in. Like, that's part of my resume of life.

Starting point is 00:57:20 that I was good to people because that's just, and maybe that's why I got into this because I trust people and I'm too kind, but that's a reputation I like having. How did we, I got a text message. I don't even think it was a, was it a text message or did, did Packhouse call me? So he gave me your number.

Starting point is 00:57:43 Right, but he called me first. He talked to me first and he said, what a good guy. Yeah, he called, I think he called me and said, hey, you know, I know a guy. You know, here's what's going on. And he kind of explained it to me. I was like, okay.

Starting point is 00:57:57 And then he sent me, I think he sent me something on you. No, I think he just sent me your Instagram or something. He sent me something on you. Because I said, can I see the guy first, see what he's saying, see if he can speak well. And, you know, if he seems, you know, credible, what's going on. So he said, I think he sent me some stuff. I'd have to check. and then he put me in contact with you

Starting point is 00:58:21 and then by that time I think I'd already go on your Instagram and seen because I remember seeing the reels and I thought you were good on the reels because you were just talking

Starting point is 00:58:32 because you're just, you're just explaining what's happening and you know you were but you were able to talk directly to the camera which is harder than you would think

Starting point is 00:58:41 he's been great like he really like he we spoke a little bit and he was actually in China I think China when we spoke so we took time I am. And a friend of a friend gave me his number.

Starting point is 00:58:53 And right away, he's like, you know, everything's okay. And I'm going to try to help you in any way I can. Packhouse is great. It's funny, I probably shouldn't call him packouts. Because I wrote Devereoli's story, I just always thought of him. I just, you know, he's Packhouse. You know what I'm saying? He probably should call him David.

Starting point is 00:59:09 He was actually, I found out, Adam, I went to Weird Al a couple weeks ago at the concert. And he was there. And I've been waiting to meet him. I'm like, I wish I knew you were there because I want to thank you. because he doesn't have to, you know, he's a busy guy. He doesn't have to take time to speak to me. Oh, yeah, bro, he's got, he's making inventions. Like, he's, he took time.

Starting point is 00:59:28 He does great stuff that, it's funny, both of those guys. Same thing with Devereoli, is that, um, is that they do stuff that, like, you think, like, I would like to do this, but how do you even go about doing it? Like, you don't even know how to do it. Or how to even, and, like, yeah, I got an idea for an invention. and boy, wouldn't that, that'd be kind of a cool invention. And then you put it aside because you think I'll never figure that out, and that seems extremely difficult.

Starting point is 00:59:55 And it seems like I got to hire a guy to do the patent. I got to hire a guy to put it together, a guy to design it, put it together. Like you start naming all the things you need. I need the money to do it. Then I have to fund it. Then I have to get the product. Then I have to advertise it. I have to do marketing.

Starting point is 01:00:12 Like, this is a massive project. But Packhouse has figured out how to do all that. I think one of his ideas he did when he was on house arrests. Yeah. And I'm like, I wish I had that advice because I had so much free time. I should have thought something. It was the something beat. It's a thing that helps catch the beat with the guitar or with the, I'm sure I'm sure I, I

Starting point is 01:00:31 butchered it. But yeah, yeah. But he's done other stuff. He's got stuff for like a water pack. He's got a bunch of different things that he's working on. He's really, like I said, I'm the type that I really appreciate when someone takes her time to, especially going through this, you know, even a few minutes, people call me up and like, you know, they give me advice, they comfort me.

Starting point is 01:00:48 because you need it more than ever. Like, I couldn't have done this on my own. Like, I wouldn't have survived without the support I had. So what happens with the lawyer? What's the back and forth between the lawyer and the prosecution? So basically, we did a lot of motions for us to get more privileges with the house arrest. At first, all I wanted to go to services, and that was approved. and then like after a year I was able to go running.

Starting point is 01:01:19 So there's a lot of communicated, but it was like two terabytes of discovery. So all it is right now is just receiving discovery, having the investigator go through a different account. So it was a lot of work, you know, and there was me waiting. Like, you know. How often is your name even mentioned?

Starting point is 01:01:38 Because you seem like the last leg. Yeah, so it's 200 pages of affidavit. And I think maybe like 20 to 30 pages have my name. but just to a certain extent, like, not even like, you know, like in a, in, I think of a negative way. It's just about my business. Like, it was like, like, I could tell you exactly what was an affidavit, but it kind of, obviously the words were a little extreme compared to, you know, what I actually, you know, what I actually did and, you know, how I did my business. And because that's what they assume. And that's what you get to fight.

Starting point is 01:02:09 But it was not much. Like, it was a very small percentage. Like, I don't even know how it was called the ringleader when I'm barely there. Right. Right. But I mean, in the affidavit, they're saying, like, he knowingly sold, knowingly this. He had all his bank accounts, and he communicated with them over 20,000 messages. I'm like, yeah, because we did a lot of business. Right. But that, but you only have one bank account.

Starting point is 01:02:31 Yeah. And they'll say, like, knowingly. And it's like, you don't know that I knew anything. There's no proof that you knew anything. There's no text. And there's no, there's no code words. Right. Because it was literally. I was going to say, but for you, for you to prove that, you have to spend. and half a million dollars and go to trial. That's right. Yeah.

Starting point is 01:02:50 That you don't have. Yeah, exactly. So we had to, you know, interview, you know, everyone, like literally and, and make sure that they really knew who I was and, you know, and got the right answers out. Like, you know, he was never there, you know, when this, he was never at the purse of the supplier's house. He never, you know, he had all the, he had all his receipts. Like, it finally started to come out.

Starting point is 01:03:11 Like, you know, like, hmm, he did run his business the same way for 13 years. never changed whether this was my supplier or someone else. It was the same way every time. I never did anything different. It was you show me a product and I pay you and I either pick it up or I have it ship whatever it is. I never changed the way I did things. There was nothing like oh this is, wait, why did you do it this way before? It was always the same. You buy and sell. Even from that day one, when I went to Radio Shack and I got those cameras, I'd buy it and I put in a box and I'd ship it. It never changed, no matter if I got five items or I got 500 items. So how long does this go on before?

Starting point is 01:03:52 Do they come, get to a point where they're talking to your lawyer and saying? Yeah, so eventually after about two years and a few depositions, they start discussing, you know, different options as far as pleas, a plea deal. And so we presented one. My lawyer thought was a good time. So he presented his offer. They came back with theirs. I'm like, you know, I need to think about it because...

Starting point is 01:04:16 What was the initial offer? The initial offer was, I think it was three years in jail. And I'm like... He was suggesting you go to jail for three years? Yeah. They wanted me to go to jail. They wanted me to do time. You mean...

Starting point is 01:04:30 The prosecutor. You're making it sound like your lawyer said he'll go, he'll do three years. My lawyer's like, my lawyer said, you know, probation. Yeah. And maybe some more house arrest. And no felony. No, no, he's not taking a felony. And they came back and said, no, he's going to do, I think they said about three years, a felony, probation for whatever amount of years I don't remember, and restitution, a lot of restitution.

Starting point is 01:04:59 And I'm like, my lawyer is like, I don't think we should take a felony. I said, I don't think so either. My wife's like, no, we're not taking a felony. You didn't do anything. Right. My wife was very strong. I'm like, I'm like, sweetie, I just want to end this. But I understand.

Starting point is 01:05:11 She became a negotiator in the end. And so we came back again. He said, okay, you're going to do six years probation. Plead guilty on one count of dealing in stolen property. The rest of the charges are dropped. You're going to pay $250,000 in restitution and 100 hours community service. And this is about two and a half years in. Is that a felony?

Starting point is 01:05:34 Has a felony, yeah. Convicted felon. Is it, shit, I forget what they call it, where you, once you finish, they... No. No, no. My lawyer asked, can we just kind of like hide, like put it on the side, like type of felony? I forgot the term. No, there's one where once you're done with probation, it's no longer, the felony falls off.

Starting point is 01:05:51 This is the everlasting one. The everlasting gobstoff. Right. The taste is always there. The bad taste. And so I was actually at work because they finally approved a job. And I saw it. He called me at the offer.

Starting point is 01:06:06 I was in my car. I started tearing up and I'm like, this could finally be over. Like I could finally be free. And I'm like, I can't be selfish. Like I have kids who I almost, you know, I almost left my family. I almost gave up, you know, and I just, I'm like, there's a time where I told my wife, I'm just going to walk out. I just can't do this to you guys. But it was selfish because by leaving, what am I doing?

Starting point is 01:06:29 You know, I need a fight. And I just need a man up with this house arrest. So I told my lawyer, let's do it. You know, we're going to come up with the money because we had to give a down payment of like $50,000 for its restitution. and we agreed to it. And it was not easy agreeing to it. But like I said, I would take a bullet for my family. And it wasn't just my family.

Starting point is 01:06:51 It was my community. It was my parents. And, you know, we used to go on our Sabbath to lunch for people's houses. And I was not one. You know, we're a family who's part of the community. And I felt like even when I was there, I wasn't there. I felt like when I was a dad, I wasn't really a dad. When I was a husband, I wasn't really a husband.

Starting point is 01:07:09 But I thought about it, I'm like, let's just do it. Let's just take the deal. And so I'm a felon. You know, it sucks. I'm not seeing it lightly, but what am I supposed to do, fight for another three years? They could drag it on longer. And I don't know if I can mentally handle it. I've got strong, but how strong do you expect me to be?

Starting point is 01:07:26 No, I have kids. My son was five when this happened. So it's hard. You know, it's hard when your family is everything. You know, and my daughter already went through. hell, she was in the car when I got pulled over. You know, her life changed. My relationship with her changed.

Starting point is 01:07:44 I'm not the dad. She's my little princess, and I can't even be like her, you know, her king. Like, how long do I want my kids to suffer? I took it. And in February 11th, we officially did the plea deal. Has anybody else in this case been arrested? I don't know what the charges, what, would it happen with them? I know.

Starting point is 01:08:08 You know they were arrested. Yeah, not arrested. No, no, no, everyone was arrested when I was arrested. I mean, I'm a sentence. Like, has anybody else been sentenced? Yeah, that was on the show. I think everyone was officially sentenced at this point. I don't look into other people's cases, but I know everyone was sent.

Starting point is 01:08:23 Because that was, I was told, like, by the way, everyone has an agreement already. You're left. So, and it was just like, you know, my families, like I said, like, we couldn't even have get-togethers. I couldn't run. All these things that I missed, like, is it worth missing them longer and just falling apart? And I just thought, you know, it's not total freedom. I still have probation. I still fell in.

Starting point is 01:08:46 I still have to pay restitution, but it's a lot closer than the freedom than what it used to be. You know, so I, yeah. So everyone's, all the other people, whatever happened with them, you know, that's, that's them. You know, my therapist said, just worry by yourself because I can finally be selfish for the first time of my life and focus on me. And maybe that's a good thing because I put everyone first all my life. So now I'm regrowing myself mentally. you know, physically, I'm still there for everyone. I'm still thankful for everyone who helped me.

Starting point is 01:09:15 But now it's time for me to recover, and that's what I'm doing. So you mentioned your sister-in-law? So my sister-in-law is in the case. She, and I haven't been allowed to see her. How's she in the case? I don't understand. So she worked with me. She worked for, well, she didn't work for me.

Starting point is 01:09:36 She did stuff for me, but she worked for the supplier, you know, as far as inventory take and counting inventory. so she was a part of So they just threw her name in there? Yeah, and she You know, she was put away for a little bit also And, you know, it's hard because she is like the best She's the best aunt

Starting point is 01:09:55 You're ever going to find She loves my kids more than anything Like she, she's a gift You know, she doesn't have her own kids But she is such a gift in her life And not seeing her It's not only hard for me But she's a part of the family

Starting point is 01:10:07 Like not seeing her when we have get-togethers It kills us inside because she's that one who's always joking around with the kids and doing the things that as a dad, you're like, no, I don't really feel like it right now. Yeah, but you're on probation, and she's on probation, right? I don't know what her, I still can't see her right now, so I don't know what her situation is. You just need to put, I think you should just, if you put a motion into the judge,

Starting point is 01:10:32 explaining that, look, this is a family member. You're told. And they say no? The judge said no. I haven't seen her for almost three years. Wait, the judge said no? Or you ask your... I think it went to the prosecutor.

Starting point is 01:10:44 I'm pretty sure. Like the problem, that's like, listen, here's the whole thing. Once you're on probation, you don't really have to deal with the prosecutor. Like, if you're making a phone call, sure. But I talk to my lawyer and say, can we just ask the judge? Because I'll bet you the judge will immediately go,

Starting point is 01:11:00 yeah, this is a family member. You can't keep them from... It's like saying you can't see your wife. Yeah. What are you talking about? We have kids together. So I think if you put one into the judge, The prosecutor can be a douchebag.

Starting point is 01:11:14 Like that's, you know, that that's, that's on them. If they want to be an asshole about it, they can be an asshole. But the judge is typically, typically, especially in state charges. I want to know, the judge was very nice. I was not to say that. She was very nice. She was very understanding. I'm sorry, I'm going to cut you off.

Starting point is 01:11:30 Well, I'm saying that's the whole thing. In state, the state judges, it's usually, they're very fair. Federal judges can really almost feel like a prosecutor, but state judges. but state judges are typically look at things in a very fair light. You go to them and say, this is a family member. I have children. This is my children's aunts. We're done with the kids.

Starting point is 01:11:52 Like, we're on probation. We're not scheming. We're not getting together. Like, at this point, for you to have gotten probation, all of everybody's on probation, the judge already kind of knows, like, come on, this was not a big deal to begin with. They made it seem like a huge deal. They've got you like Tony Supraint. Yeah, I know, I know.

Starting point is 01:12:12 But the judge at this point, it's like, guess what? Tony Soprano doesn't get probation. You see what I'm saying? Like, if this was a big deal, people would be doing a decade or five or six years in prison. They said, eh, give them probation, because they know you're not a problem.

Starting point is 01:12:27 So, and the judge properly, a proper motion, which probably go to the judge, and the judge would say, okay, fine. Yeah, yeah, you're right. You're right. It's the end. That sounds great, because I, my kids, I, I miss her so much.

Starting point is 01:12:41 Like she, I'm not just saying that she is the most amazing, loving aunt that you're ever going to have in your life for your kids.

Starting point is 01:12:48 And I know it's hard for her because my kids are literally her kids. Right. Well, I mean, I would do that.

Starting point is 01:12:56 And that's nothing. That's, that's, that's literally, it could be, it's a two-page motion. Chat GPT could probably write it

Starting point is 01:13:03 if you gave it the proper prompts. Okay. You could submit it yourself. All he can do is say no. Yeah. The prosecutor can't do anything.

Starting point is 01:13:09 He can't, He can't go and say, oh, he put a motion into the court. We want to revoke his probation. He can't do that. I absolutely, I am allowed to go to anybody has a constitutional right to the court. You can't. So even if he went to the judge and said, I'm mad because he did this, the judge would be like, that doesn't, that's irrelevant. Like, it doesn't matter that you're irritated about that.

Starting point is 01:13:29 Is every right to ask me that question? You know, I said yes or I said no. Honestly, I can't see how they could even argue and say, I bet you that they would, just immediately say, we don't have a problem with that. You know what I'm saying? In front of the judge. Sounds great. In front of the judge.

Starting point is 01:13:46 Alone, it's different. No, the answer is no. Oh, we're going to ask in front of the judge. Oh, no, wait. If we aren't, we thought about it. We don't have a problem with that. Sounds great, because I don't want another day to go by without her in our life. Well, I would definitely do that.

Starting point is 01:14:00 I mean, usually the judge, especially the longer time goes on and the less problem you are, like, hey, he hasn't been picked up or anything. His name hasn't come up. There's no, there's nothing. that's happened here. Like, this guy's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, I'm a plus student. So, yeah, so they get to a point where they're like, yeah, listen, this, he can do that, he can do that, he can do this, you know, it gets, it gets, it gets lighter, like, as the longer I was on supervised release on probation, that's

Starting point is 01:14:26 federal probation, the longer I was on it, the, the, the first year was like the hardest. And then, then they gave me another probation officer, if you, they kept, you know, there's, there's, there's even security levels, right? I was at the highest one. And then it, it, it very, quickly, you know, by the last two, the last three years I was on it, I almost never saw this woman, never. She would call or send me a text every once or while or that was, yeah, I really think, you know, with probation, they really want me to get my life back on track, you know, and I really respect that because that's all I want to do. Right. You know, and, and I want to give back by, you know, doing things like this and, and helping people get straight because we

Starting point is 01:15:05 never know what's going to happen. And sometimes we're afraid to speak up, sometimes we're afraid to share our story because we don't know what people are going to think. So it's important to, you know, be like, you know, there's always someone to talk to you to give me strength, you know, because some situations are, they suck big time. They're very, very tough. And like I said, you can't do it on your own. You can't. And especially family. You need family. And I want my sister-in-law back in my family because then we'll be officially back as a whole family. I just want people to hear and know that I'm a priest of anyone who's giving me an opportunity. to do something like this because I want to share my story not for me but for everyone else that

Starting point is 01:15:44 it's important to to have people around you that have been through it and can make you strong because I I've met people that did that for me and now I want to give back and yeah and maybe that was too much in the end but no it's fine you know you should go on Ian Vic on who you don't know oh I love that you said that keep that in is your and your fun is your fun still up yeah well and And it's, it's, it's, it's H-E-L-P-Y-O-S-H-H-O-S-H-com. Hey, you guys, I appreciate you watching. Do me a favor. Hit the subscribe button, hit the bell so you get notified of videos just like this.

Starting point is 01:16:22 Also, if you want to donate to Yosh and to his fund, we're going to leave the link in the description. We're also going to leave any socials to, he actually has a podcast. I'm not sure if it's a full podcast, but I know he does videos. and if you want to go there and subscribe to his channel, we're going to leave his social media links. And we'll leave the fund so you can go there and donate if it's $5,000, it doesn't matter.

Starting point is 01:16:51 Anything helps him and his family. And I really do appreciate it. Thank you very much. See ya.

Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast - I Was Falsely Labeled a $20 Million Kingpin

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