We're All Insane - I Didn't Know I Was Smuggling Cocaine

Episode Date: August 23, 2026

In this episode, I sit down with Niki as she shares the unbelievable chain of events that led to her preparing to self-surrender to federal prison. Nikki opens up about losing her grandmother at a young age, growing up around addiction, unresolved childhood trauma, and the lifelong need to prove that she had everything together. Sponsored By: → HERS | Ready to reach your goals? Visit https://forhers.com/insane to get personalized, affordable care that gets you. → Wayfair | Find furniture, decor, and essentials that fit your unique style and budget. Head to https://Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. → AquaTru | Go to https://AquaTru.com now for 20% off (your purifier) using promo code INSANE. AquaTru even comes with a 30-day best-tasting water guarantee.  On This Episode We Cover:  → 00:00:00 - Introduction  → 00:00:41 - A childhood growing up with parents addicted to crack→ 00:05:21 - A last-minute trip to Vegas→ 00:06:20 - Who did Nikki meet on the flight to Vegas?→ 00:18:06 - What happened when Nikki and her friends flew to Guadalajara?→ 00:23:16 - What were the red flags?→ 00:27:48 - Stopped at a checkpoint→ 00:31:36 - Why did a federal agent suddenly contact Nikki?→ 00:35:29 - How did this unexpectedly lead the federal government to Nikki?→ 00:40:14 - What was it like being interrogated by federal agents?→ 00:42:23 - $2 million worth in her truck…→ 00:45:32 - What was it like living in legal purgatory for 8 years?→ 00:50:26 - How did Nikki manage to reduce her sentence?→ 00:54:44 - Why is Nikki actually excited to finally go to prison?→ 01:01:19 - How does Nikki feel now that this chapter of her life is finally ending? Further Listening → I Sent My Boyfriend’s Brother to Prison More We Are All Insane: → OFFICIAL MERCH NOW AVAILABLE - code INSANE10 gets you 10% off for a limited time → Join We’re All Insane Mailing List for EXCLUSIVE Content + Discounts  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So my name is Nikki. I am originally from Florida, and I am going to be self-serendering to federal prison in October. I think that the main part of the story, which I'm sure most people want to hear about, is why the hell I'm self-surrendering to federal prison. But I think it really needs to be told in the sense that there are a lot happened before and so much has happened after in my life where I think it needs to be discussed because there's so many people that have similar stories to mine, like childhood and trauma. And I think it puts people in very vulnerable places and allows certain things to happen. So I was born to two parents who were addicted to crack, tail as old as time, right? And I was raised by my grandmother. And she was essentially

the only mother I ever knew. And I loved her. Like, she was my mom. But she died of a brain aneurysm pretty abruptly. When I was 12, I found her in the bed. And, It was trauma, but at the time, like, I had to, like, nothing happened. Yeah. You know, they put me in therapy. But it was the 2000s and early 2000s slash late 90s. And they were just like, oh, she doesn't need therapy. She's fine.

Look at her. She's playing like a normal kid. I was not normal. Right. I became this super angry, very bitter with the world child. But also in that, it caused, it lit a fire at me. I was like, you know what? I'm not going to be like my parents.

Never going to be like them. not going to be like the rest of my family. I'm going to be successful. I'm going to be educated. I'm going to be the person that people meet and they go, damn, she's got her shit together. Right. And so I guess I've always kind of had that persona. I think if you ask most people that know me, they would say, yeah, Nikki's got her shit together. She's always had an amazing job. She has a great career. She makes great money, all the things. She's always had relationships, albeit not great ones. But the persona I put out there was, is everything was wonderful. It was not. So at any rate, you know, I ended up going to college. I met my first boyfriend who became

essentially a life partner. We were together for 10 years and we were domestic partnership. I mean, I was with him from 19 until I was 30. That's a huge chunk of life. Right? Like, I feel like in those in those years, it lasted a very long time. It probably would have been better at two years, but 10 years taught me a lot of how to be with somebody, but I lost myself in that. Like, I put a lot of value and stock into who I am in that relationship. And then moving forward with all my next relationships, I didn't find value in myself unless I was with a man. And this is like even a sicker part, but specifically white men, I needed the validation

from a Caucasian man. I don't know if that's because I was raised by the Caucasian side of my family, and I never felt like I was accepted. And I know I wasn't. And I still am not. But, and that's fine. but I think that probably played a huge role in who I am and why I seeked that validation so strongly. So he and I were together for 10 years.

The 10 years we decided that it was not going to work. So then I found myself in a position again where I'm like, I got to prove myself to the, I'm going to show him I'm going to get the better relationship. I'm going to show him that I am going to have a much better career than he ever had, which I always did anyway, but I just needed it for myself. to show the world and to show him. So I guess really I've been trying to just prove everyone else that I'm better, even though like we're all flawed, which I didn't realize at the time. And in a way, I feel like we can look back at things like that and be like, okay, this is kind

of positive because it fuels that motivation and that drive. Oh, 100%. But at the same time, it's like, but I wish I was doing it for myself. Right. I didn't realize that all this motivation my entire life, because I'm a, I'm a coin doer. People call me a doer. If I say I'm doing something, this podcast, for example, I said I'm going to do it. I did it. That's what I do. But all of that drive has always come from trying to show other people instead of self-validation. So, and this is all like reflection over the last seven to eight years. I'm realizing this. That's who I have been. But I can get into that later. So anyhow, my ex and I broke up and I was just working, living in Florida. I met another guy and we started dating. And I ended up going to a wedding

back home. And a lot of my old friends were there. And one of my very best friends who she and I had stopped talking some years before, which was really upsetting because we were just like, when you see two people together that like each other as much as we liked each other, it's almost obnoxious. People have said, you guys are so annoying that you like each other that much. But we had our falling out. And that was years before. And we hadn't spoken since. But we both ended up at the same wedding. And, I don't know, true to our form of friendship, we ended up just saying some smart-ass remarks to each other and laughing. And they were just kind of like, okay, we're back. We're so back.

And we were pretty much inseparable after that. She was in a long-term relationship also that she was coming out of. And, you know, the four of us at one point were very close. And so anyhow, she broke up with her boyfriend. I was out of my relationship. So we were just like, we're in this, you know? And so her birthday was coming up in June. It was her 30th.

And I was like, well, our whole thing back in the day was is we loved Vegas. We'd go to Vegas like twice a year. Like that was our candy land. You know, that's where we love to go. I was like, should we do a Vegas trip? She's like, hell yeah, let's do Vegas. And we had another good friend that used to go to Vegas with us too. And so the three of us talk about it.

We talk about dates. The other random friend, her schedule is a little more stringent than ours. So we really had to kind of dictate it around her schedule, but still around my friend's birthday. And we were supposed to go one weekend. We had bought our flights. We got the hotel. Everything was booked ready. Let's go.

And then out of nowhere, our friend was like, look, I can't do that weekend? Can we move it to the next weekend? Sure. Why not? Whatever. So technically this trip should have happened the weekend before. This happens to be the weekend that starts the chaos that has been my life for the last 10 years. Of course.

Right. Why would have happened to do that? Yeah. Like, it's so happenstance. So it's six o'clock in the first. morning we have a 640 flight out of Tampa to Vegas and the best friend and I that had rekindled our friendship. I'm just going to call her Bridget. Bridget and I had seats together because we booked together. Our other friend is further back. And you know, like we were on a Spirit Airline RIP, right?

So we're sitting here and we're like, God, I hope no one's sitting with us. We hope no one's sitting with us. Like we wanted the road to ourselves. And I think probably the last three people and this guy sits down and he's like, the window seats mine. So my friend moves over and we're all sitting there together. Super early flight. Obviously, we're exhausted. And then a family of six is in front of us with like very loud, rowdy kids, right? One of the kids is obviously on the spectrum.

And he's a little older. He's 13 and he's very fussy in this time. And the mom's trying to console him and settle him. And I'm just like, I look at my friend. I was like, we need some sleep because we've got a two-day, like, we're about to go hand. Bender. Yeah. We got a bender coming out.

We need to get our shit together. And she's like, yeah, yeah, you're right. Everyone falls asleep. The plane's silent. I would say, and it's a long flight. That's like a three-hour flight. I would say like an hour into the flight, we are all jolted awake by this blood-curdling scream.

I mean, 30,000 feet in the air, the last thing you want to hear is someone screaming at the top of their lungs. We, all three of us, sit up and look over at each other and we're like, and it's the kid in front of us, the kid that was on the spectrum. And he is just having full-on meltdown in the mom. mom's trying to get it together. Then all of a sudden, this guy at the front of the plane, he's like, you need to get some fucking control dots there.

I'm going to come back there and do it for you. He's cussing out the mom. The mom's cussing back. The dad's trying to get up and go fight the guy. The guy's trying to come back here and fight him. The mom's screaming, he has autism. And we're all three sitting here, my best friend and Bridget and the guy. And we're just like...

What is happening? It was so anxiety-inducing in the moment. So I just like look over at both of them. I was like, well, I guess it's not sleeping time. anymore. It must be drinking time. And in unison, they both just go. I'm like, okay. So the guy, he's like, look, I don't have any of my cards on me. I have cash. Do you mind getting the drinks? And I'll just pay for all our drinks. I was like, hell yeah, I don't want to pay for my drinks. Of course I can do that. So, you know, it's like maybe 30 bucks for three drinks on a plane.

I think we all got mimosa. He hands me a $100 bill. I was like, I don't have a change for this. He's like, just keep it. I said, oh, okay. So then we get another round and he hands me another $100 bill. And I was like, I have leftover money from the other one. He's like, no, don't worry about it. This happened at least five times. We had five mimosas on that plane, and he's just handing me cash and handing me cash. And we're all kind of like sharing our life stories. He was on the plane to Vegas because he had a business meeting with one of his business partners who was going to fly out in two days from Florida. He was going early. And then his parents were driving down from Indiana to meet him and drive him to Mexico because he had recently started,

well, he was going to get married to a woman that was pregnant with his baby. And she is Mexican and she doesn't have a visa to be here in the States. So he was moving to Mexico to be with her. I was like, oh, my God, that's such an amazing thing. Like, good for you. You found love, whatever. And he's telling us about all his businesses. He has in Indiana.

He had a business in Dubai. I will tell you, I am a very big judge on intelligence. And I've met a lot of people in my life to this day. And I don't even want to give this to him. He is the most intelligent person I've ever met in my entire life. If you have tried everything to lose weight and you're still just feeling stuck, I am here to tell you that this summer is about to be different. Weight loss by hers is designed to help support you in reaching your goals

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This episode is sponsored by Vinted. Okay, I have to be honest. I feel like my closet is one of those things that I'm constantly saying I'm going to clean out and then somehow I just don't. I'll look at something and be like, I'm definitely going to wear this. And then six months later, it's still sitting there completely untouched. And if you're the same way, this is actually a really good excuse to finally go through your closet.

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Start your build at Chevrolet.ca. And I was just taken aback by it. I'd never met someone that smart. And so business oriented, and myself, very much so business oriented. And at the time I was young and didn't really have a lot of direction on how to make something like that possible. And also we're talking like 2017, 2018. I mean, the internet was there, but it wasn't, it was not chat GBT there. You know what I mean?

It wasn't AI there. Or even Instagram wasn't like giving you shit that you need like it does now. And so I got this businessman. who's just handing me $100 bills and he's just like telling me all this very useful information and I'm just eating it up. I'm like a sponge. I'm like, give me that. So we exchanged numbers. He's like, yeah, I'm going to be here for a couple days by myself. If you guys want to all get together, we should. And we're like, okay, yeah, cool, we'll let you know. So we part way as we meet up with our other friend from the back of the plane and we're all talking. She's like, what the

hell? Why didn't you guys buy me a drink? And I'm like, sorry, girl. Right. You weren't in the seats with. Sorry. You were not traumatized with us. We were trauma bonded at that point. She didn't even hear the whole ordeal. She slept through the whole thing. She was well-rested for that trip. We were not. Yeah. So I was like, so should we text him? They were like, yeah, let's do it. So I text him. And I'm like, hey, it's Nikki from the plane. Do you want to get together tonight? He's like, yeah, let's do dinner and then we'll go out. I was like, okay, well, I'll let you know when we get the Uber. He's like, no, I'll send a limo. So he sends a limo to our hotel to pick us up to go to dinner. We go to dinner. Everything's paid for. He take, okay, I love a shirt club. I, every country I go

to, I go to a strip club. It's art to me. I also worked at a gentleman's club as a bartender. And I would just remember looking at the strippers and being like, my God, like, good for you. You know, I don't look down on people like that. I truly believe it's an art form. And if it's not over-sexualized, then it's even better to me. So anyway, I was like, I kind of want to go to a strip club. And he's like, let's get a table and some bottles. And I said, and that's not cheap. Hell no, we took the limo over there. And he got us the table. He got us our section. He got us the bottle service. And we're just like. This is like the best trip ever. Yeah. Vegas was I'm so glad we went on this weekend because we would have never met him.

Right. And so, you know, we're having a great time. And we always make this commitment. We're only doing 48 hours in Vegas. You just don't need more than that. Like, rookies will go for a week. Hell no. I can't.

I won't live. Yeah. But he was like, oh my God, you know, I think we're all just getting. Also, I have never seen four people who just met someone, like, collectively all just get along amazing. There was, it was like we had all known, like, we had known him for years. And so he was like, look, I think we're all like, viving really well. I don't want you guys to leave. Can I rebook your flights and get you another

hotel? And we were like, I mean, the two girls were bartenders at the time. So like their pay is contingent on being at work. I had PTO. And I was like, yeah, I mean, I can put it at PTO. He's like, look, I'll pay for all of the money that you guys will miss out on for work. Just give me a ballpark estimate. I've got it in cash. And I will rebook everything. And I'll get you the hotel. And we go, okay. Okay, count me in. So we're staying a couple more days in Vegas. Oh, my God.

And we go up to his hotel room because I think we were going to go gamble in his hotel. And we went up to the room because he wanted to change his shirt. He opens the safe. And when I tell you, there was cash, like the safe's what? Like this big? It was just stacks and stacks and stacks of hundreds. I've never, like, I also lived on Martha's Vineyard. I've seen wealth.

And a lot of those people do like to carry a lot of cash. So it's not like crazy to me, but just like seeing it in person. And he's like, wild. I go, how much is that? He goes, oh, it's like 150. And I was like, oh, okay, obviously. You're my name best friend. Whatever, right.

Quick question. Was he flirting at all with any of you guys throughout these couple days? No. Okay. No, it was very like older brother. So the other friend, the random friend, who I haven't named, but she's like, they were the same age. And they're both four years older than Bridget and I.

Okay. So they were around 34. So vibes were like totally normal, platonic. Okay. Everything plutonic. So much fun. Like, we were going down to... Like, not creepy old man.

No, not at all. Okay, gotcha. He's an attractive man. He is a very attractive man. But no, nothing inappropriate. Like, just super chill friend vibes. And we were going down to the casino. He was gambling in, like, high rollers.

He would hand us $500 and be like, go, have fun. Do what you got to do? Like, he's just giving us cash to go gamble with. We were like, okay, do you want any of our winnings back? No, keep it. I don't care. Okay. Well, right.

cool yeah and so he ended up his friend his business partner came they met and he left and his parents were finally coming and we were finally leaving and we were like well it was so good to meet you like good luck with your future endeavors your marriage all the things and he was like no like I want to keep in touch he's like I know you're specifically speaking to me he's like I know you're really interested in business and honestly like based on all of our conversations I think you are going to do some amazing stuff like I would love to mentor you and do whatever and I was just like like, okay. And I was like, yeah, like, I would love that because I need that guidance and I needed that direction. You know, I just got in. He's clearly doing well. He's clearly doing well. I'm like,

okay. Yeah, please mentor me. And also, I again, had just gotten out of this relationship where my whole existence existed in it. I'm like trying to find myself at 30 years old. And I'm so lost, like uncomfortably lost and trying to keep shit together. And I was not doing a great job at it. But, you know, you live and you learn. So this person enters my life and I'm just like, okay, I have a direction again, like I have an objective again, and it could be a great one. And we, so we go our separate way. As I go back to Florida, he goes to Mexico and he hits me up one day and he's like, look, I'm still trying to build business in the States because here in Mexico, the money is just not great. He's like, I, he opened two restaurants in the town he lived in where his

fiance was and he's like it's just it's not what I could make in the states he's like there's a lot of businesses in south Texas that we could start would you be interested in starting a business with me and I was like yeah I mean I would need more information I've never ran a business but I'm willing to learn so he's like why don't you and some friends fly out to guadalajara we'll meet there I'll get us a hotel we'll we'll go over the business plan and how we're going to operate and I'll set I'll prepare you to set up the LLC and we'll go into details and I was like Okay. So I went and then two of my other friends went. How long in between the biggest trip and this would you say it was?

Maybe two months. Okay. Yeah. So in two months, he opened two businesses in Mexico and was just like, I need more money. Gotcha. Okay. So one of my friends from high school that I've known forever, he came. And then another girlfriend of mine that I had met through a mutual friend in Tampa when I went to college in Tampa, she came. And so we all three went to Guadalajara and we met up with him. And I mean, it was a good time.

It was the same thing. He's spending money on us. He's taking us dinner. We're sitting up at rooftop pools. We're talking. And then he and I go into the details of the business. He's like, look, distribution companies in South Texas are very, very popular. I said, oh, okay, I don't know anything about Texas.

Also, truth be told, and everybody who knows me knows I have a disdain for Texas. I had very bad experiences there years before. And I'm just like, oh, God, Texas, here we go. You know, whatever. Anyway, so he's like, but these are very big businesses. And so what we would need to do is we need to start an LLC. We need to buy a 18-wheeler truck. We need to hire a driver with a CDL.

We need to get warehouses to store the merchandise to distribute and sell. And I said, okay, so he flew me to South Texas to vet warehouses. And when I got there, he was not wrong. There were warehouses. I'm not kidding you. Stacked from floor to ceiling with, from my perspective, was just shit, just junk. But I was watching these people in these warehouses and they're sorting through it, the packaging it all of. I'm like, so this is actually a fucking business. Like, this is actually a thing. So what did he say the business would be? So we would be distributing goods, like essentially like

the stuff that I was seeing. Like home goods mostly is what the whole thing was. And so it looked like random junk, but people were. It's sellable. Okay. Because it's cheaper in Mexico to, go to buy those things, bring it here, and resale. Gotcha. Okay. So that was kind of like how the business was presented. And so I went to South Texas. I got us a warehouse there.

We needed another stop in Dallas. And the reasoning for that wasn't clear to me, but I'm not questioning anything because he seems to know he had a plan. I mean, he showed me a whole business plan. I've never seen a business plan before. I was like, yeah, it looks good. I don't know how I'm looking at. Right.

But I trusted it because he hadn't given me a reason not to trust it. And none of my spidey instincts were going off. Not that even if they had, I would have listened to them. Yeah. But they weren't at the time. Did he discuss pay with you at all, like how much you would pay you? Yeah. So he paid me biweekly.

He also paid for my apartment. And so, you know, I had my apartment in South Texas because he was like, you've got to move to South Texas, which I was like, look, I will have a place in South Texas. But I lived down there for a good while. Yeah. And I was miserable. And it's not for any other reason other than it just, it wasn't my vibe. Like, I wasn't able to communicate with a lot of people. And I need connection.

I need community. It's predominantly Spanish speaking down there. And I understand Spanish. I don't speak Spanish. So it was really hard to communicate with folks. And so I was like, I will either move to Dallas or I moved to Houston. Both are probably about five hours from the valley, which is what South Texas is called, where I lived in McAllen.

And he was like, okay, so you pick where you want to go. So he paid for both apartments. So I had South Texas. and I had a lived in downtown Houston right next to the Astros Stadium, like in a high-rise. I mean, it was a beautiful, beautiful apartment. I loved it. And business was good. We ended up getting our truck and that was a pain in the ass.

The whole process of starting a business. Like, honestly, now I could start a business easily. After going through what I went through with that business, it was awful. A lot of learning curves and just legality shit, especially with DOT and trucks and stuff. How long was the process of just completely? like getting the whole business started? Like six months. Okay.

It was just daily. I'd be like, oh, I got to get this document now. Yeah. This document now. And our driver. And he's still in Mexico? Yes. Okay.

And the driver ended up being his stepdad. So he got, he paid to get his stepdad licensed with his CDL license. So that was cool. So I had met his stepdad and I met his mom, wonderful people, lived in, they're born and raised in Indiana, like just very, well, his mom was born in Japan, actually, but she was raised in Indiana. They're just like very nice for some humans. And anyhow, his stepdad would come and stay in the McAllen apartment whenever we would have loads to take.

I wasn't in the warehouse on the day to day. I was only there when we had a load to send out because I had to sign off on it to send it to send it to Dallas. And to put, there's like this, I haven't called it a clip. It's a clip that all trucks put on there, some kind of security clip and it has to be signed off on. So that's what I would do. And anyway, so that was that. And when I would come down to Texas or South Texas, I'd sign off and then I'd take my ass back to Houston. It was very just cut and dry.

And when I'd be in the warehouse, we had two employees that worked in the South Texas one. And I think there's probably like five in the Dallas one. And I didn't really know them because I didn't hire them. He did. But they were really nice guys. Like, I mean, they were Mexican. And that wasn't weird to me because I was in South Texas. And I was definitely the minority there.

white people are the minority there. So it's like it wasn't weird. And same in Dallas. Everybody there was Mexican as well. Also still not weird. It's Texas, you know, heavily predominant Mexican population. And so one day he calls me and I'm on my way from leaving South Texas to go back to Houston. He's like, you got to go to Dallas.

And I was like, why do I got to go to Dallas? And he's like, something got taken out of the warehouse. And I said, well, what got taken out of the warehouse? He's like, it doesn't matter what got taken. And you just need to go there and figure out who took it. And I said, you want me to go ask the staff who took mysterious item? Like, without knowing what it is? Yeah, more information.

What the hell are you talking about? I was like, what do you mean? He's like, you need to go there and talk to them and figure out who took it. You also need to talk to the owner of the warehouse and have him pull whatever video footage you can get. If you know me, you know that I am somebody that gets bored so easily. I am always looking for change, especially in my home. I'm always looking to revamp a space, make something more cozy, or find something that is better for storage. And just making my home feel more like a home and more put together without spending an insane amount of money.

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BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Video footage. I don't know. These cameras are not great cameras. Like, I don't know if we're going to be able to see anything. He's definitely not the person that you argue with. So he was getting really pissed off at me. And I was just like, all right, he's my boss.

Yeah. You know, you don't bite the hand that feeds you. I said, okay. I'll go to Dallas. So how far was that drive? Oh, my God. That took me probably seven hours. Okay.

Because I was there in different direction. So I had to cut across. And I was already halfway to Houston. Okay. So you were in the car. I was in the car, yeah. And so I go to Dallas. I got, well, the whole time I was calling the owner of the warehouse.

I was like, look, can you pull any footage between this time frame and this time frame? He was like, yeah, I'll see what I got. But honestly, there's not a lot of cameras that face your warehouse. And I was like, okay, well, see what you can do. I appreciate whatever. I looked at the footage. There didn't seem to be.

be anything. Again, don't know what I'm looking for. So it's kind of like, well, this person has a backpack. Is that their backpack? I don't know. Right. So I'm talking to my boss and I'm like, I'm confused. Like nobody seems to know, first of all, no one understands me. Second of all, nobody seems to know what the hell I'm talking about. And he was like, well, our investors are really concerned that something was taken. I said, investors, what do you mean are investors? I don't know anything about investors. Who are investors? He's like, he's like, we needed more capital to start Nikki. Like, we had investors. I was like, you didn't tell me that. I didn't know that. He's like, well, it wasn't pertinent. Like, they gave me the money. I put the money into the company. I said,

okay, cool. Well, I don't know what to tell you, unfortunately. I don't know what's missing. And no one's talking. And I sent a text to one of the girls that worked at the warehouse. She did not respond. So I don't really know where we go from here. Well, I ended up finding out maybe a couple days later that he fired like three of the people there. And that also everyone there was related to the investors. And I was like, well, that's weird. But okay. Yeah.

I mean, I guess people do like to keep business in the families, so that's whatever. So now I do feel weird. Things are very weird and things are starting to take even weirder turns. Like, there's also so many missing pieces. Correct. But I let that be. Because in my head, blind trust, I let this, I just, I assumed he knew what he was doing. Yeah.

So I did. And then where I go down. down to South Texas again for another load and I find out. And then he calls me, I'm on my way back to Houston again. And he's like, you got to turn around. And I was like, why? He's like, the truck is, it's stopped. It's not moving. So there's trackers on the trucks. And I said, what do you mean? It's stopped and it's not moving. He goes, it's not moving. You've got to go back. And in my head, his stepdad is an overweight old man. He's like 70 something years old. I'm like, oh my God, did he have heart attack? He also didn't drive the truck very well. So I was like, oh my God, did he wreck? I'm like,

thinking the worst case scenario or what I thought was worst case scenario at the time. He's like, no, it seems to be stuck at the checkpoint. So I don't know. And maybe people do and don't know, but in a lot of the border towns, like in California and Texas, there are checkpoints where they stop everybody,

not just like the trucks that go into the way stations on the interstate. It's like an actual, it's as if you were crossing over a border and you were going into the U.S., but you're already well past the border. Like, it's just their checkpoints. Yeah.

And they stop cars. They ask if you're traveling alone, whatever, whatever, and then you keep moving. But they're very stringent with the trucks more so than cars. And he's like, well, you're going to pass by the checkpoint on your way back. See if the truck's there. I pass by it and the truck is there. And I call him and I was like, yeah, the truck's there. I don't see your dad, but I do see the truck.

And he's like, okay, we'll go back to the apartment in South Texas until, and then I'll let you know what to do after that. And I go, okay. So I'm sitting in South Texas again. And did anything ever come up the first time when he had you turn around, like to find... To go to Dallas? No, nothing. Like, because I didn't find anything. Okay.

And he kind of just let it go. We fired whoever and it was what it was. Okay. So now you're at the other apartment. Right. Back in South Texas at that apartment and waiting on further instructions. And he calls me the next morning and he goes, well, the truck was seized. And I said, well, okay, that's a term I don't really know, but why is the truck seized?

And he's like, well, the truck was seized because, and he said, the reasoning they have online is that there was an X amount of, and it wasn't, it didn't explicitly say cocaine, but it said some other term that I don't recall. And I said, so did your dad have drugs on him or something? Like, did he do drugs? I don't understand. And he's like, no, I don't know. Well, I said, well, where's your stepdad? He's like, he's in jail. And he's like, you got to go get him. I'm like, going to get him. Not going anywhere near that. Like, what are we talking about? I was like, I'll get him an Uber back to the apartment, but I'm not going anywhere. So I got him an Uber back, and he's just like, I don't know what's going on. I need to get back to Indiana. I have just had the worst night of my life. Again, 70-year-old man sitting in a prison. Like, he was unwell. Did it seem like he really didn't know what was happening? It did. Okay. And I felt bad for him. I was like, look, I'm really sorry. I'm sorry. I couldn't get you sooner and whatever, whatever. Did he give you any of it?

information of what happened? He said that he got stopped and that they wanted to look in the truck and he said, okay, and then they took him. They didn't really tell him a whole lot and that they said that they would be in touch with him after they discharged him or whatever. So I said, look, I'm talking to my boss. I'm like, look, I don't know what's going on. We need to figure this out though. But I'm going back to Houston. There's no reason for me to be here right now. And he said, okay, yeah, go back to Houston and I'll let you know. I call him. I call him. I call him. He doesn't answer. Now I'm freaking out. I'm like, oh my God, why isn't he answering? Now, I'm freaking out. Like, I'm like, what am I supposed to be doing here? I did have a random bartending job in Houston just because I like to keep myself busy. And so I was still working, but I was like, I need to know what we're doing. Like, what's going on with the truck? What's all the details?

He doesn't really respond. And when he does, it's very spotty. And so I get a text message from a random number and it says, Ms. Burke, this is federal agent, blah, blah, blah. I'd like you to come to this address to talk about your truck. Okay. Well, I've never dealt with a federal agent before, but I don't really believe that federal agents just text you randomly. It seems more like you give someone a phone call, not text them.

Yeah. Yeah. So then I get, and I didn't respond to it because I was like, I don't know what's happening right now. Then I get a phone call maybe two days later from a block number. And I'm like, oh, my God, it's probably my boss. Like a lot of times where he lived, he didn't have service, and he used WhatsApp because that's, like, very common down there. And if he didn't have service, you just couldn't get a hold of him. That's what I kind of chalked up not being able to get a hold of him with as that.

And he, it wasn't him. It was said federal agent. And he's like, yeah, we just want to get the truck back to you. And I was like, can you get any insight on what's going on? And he's like, well, we just come down here and we'll talk. And I said, okay, I'll let you know when I can because I was still working in Houston. and I would have to like plan some days off and come down. And so I don't know, but I was just like, I need to talk to an attorney.

So I call an attorney in South Texas and I kind of give him the rundown of what happened, what the verbiage was as to why the truck was seized online. And he goes, I'm not your attorney. I'm just, you know, I'm giving you some very friendly advice right now. I would not go down there without an attorney. He's like, that is going to be the worst mistake of your life. And I said, oh, this is really fucking bad. And did you ever call the boss and be like, hey, these federal agents are reaching out to the answer?

It was like, well, we did talk. And he was like, do not talk to them. And I said, okay. And now I'm just like replaying everything in my head. The way things have happened, the way the money moved, just all the things. And I'm just like, this is really fucking bad. Okay. This is really bad, you know.

So I never went down to South Texas. I was like, I mean, if it's that bad, they're going to contact me. Exactly. They're going to find me. They're going to find me, right? It's the federal government. You don't run too long. And I wasn't running.

I was always there. You know, like just hit me up. Let me know what's going on. I don't know why you couldn't tell me over the phone, but whatever. So years go by. Years. Two years maybe go by. And I am managing in a restaurant in South Texas.

I left corporate America for a while. And actually, I just started a new corporate job in conjunction to my bartending job. And I was seeing a new guy. And just what happened? What was happening in the two years with the boss? Didn't talk to him again. Silent. He's silence. He went ghost. Did you talk to anybody in the business? No one responded to me. I lost everything also. Like I couldn't afford both those apartments.

And he stopped paying. So he just ghost you. You lose everything. Lose everything. I lost my car. I lost my homes. I couldn't pay. I couldn't afford for everything. And you still have like just no answers. No answers. Okay. So you end up going off and doing your own thing. Yeah, rebuilding my life essentially and just kind of putting pieces together. So what was your mindset about him and the company and stuff? Like, I know that you said that you thought like, okay, this is bad, whatever, but did you? It was worst case scenario in my head. I was like, this is a thing. Okay. And in my head, I was like, well, if it's bad enough, someone will come talk to me, you know, that was my mindset. I'm not going to go down there without

an attorney. And at that time, there was no way in hell. I had enough money to, afford an attorney. Gotcha. Okay. So you go about your life. I go about my life and I'm go back to being my, I'm successful, I'm doing all these things. I'm showing the world, whatever, bullshit that I was on. And I had the friend, one of the friends that the random friend, not Bridgett. She became a flight attendant in that time period. And her home base was Houston. So she was doing training there. And she was like, hey, I'm in Houston. Do you want to get together? She had texted me and I was like, oh, yeah, that sounds great. Like, let's get together.

This friend is a bit of a hot mess. Like, we're talking, the girl went through like three cell phones a month because she would break them. She'd get drunk and just black out and do crazy shit and lose everything, like her purse, her keys, whatever. This is the friend she was. And I loved her dearly. I do love her.

So anyhow, I get a text from a random number and it said, hey, I think I found your friend's purse, and your number is in the purse on a Post-It, which ironically, I had just gone to the Houston Rodeo and met a woman. And she was like, oh, look, we need to connect. Can you put your phone number on this post-it? So in my head, I'm like, oh, my God, this is this woman's purse. So I reach out to her and I'm like on Facebook. And I'm like, hey, did you lose your purse?

Someone just contacted me saying they found it. She's like, no, I haven't lost my purse. And I was like, oh, my God, it has to be the friend, the flight attendant friend. it has to be hers. And so I'm like, well, her phone's probably in there too. So there's no way I can get a hold of her. So I was like, I guess I just need to go get it. And I text the person back.

I was like, yeah, it probably is my friend. I'm just so sorry to hear that. Like, I really appreciate you grabbing that for me. I will come get it. But I was still just like so sketched out. And it had been like, and this is going to sound fucking awful. But it was like an ongoing joke with my friends and I, like, we would be like, oh,

because the federal government's coming for Nikki, like, ha, ha, ha. Yeah. And so I was with two of my friends when we went to, it was at Dillard's, the girl found it at Dillard's. When we went to Dillard's to go get it. And I was like, we're walking up the stairs. I'm like, what if this is the federal government, like, tricking me or something to, like, get a hold of me?

And they were like, oh, God, Nikki. Like, this is just great. I mean, it's also been two years at this point. And it's probably, yeah. Yeah. This is just like an ongoing thing that we would just say all the time anyway. And so I walk up the stairs. I go.

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a Q-U-A-T-R-U dot com. Promocode insane, I-N-S-A-N-E. This episode is sponsored by Vinted. Okay, I have to be honest. I feel like my closet is one of those things that I'm constantly saying I'm going to clean out and then somehow I just don't. I'll look at something and be like, I'm definitely going to wear this. And then six months later, it's still sitting there completely untouched. And if you're the same way, this is actually a really good excuse to finally go through your closet. Vinted is a secondhand marketplace app where you can sell clothes you're not wearing anymore

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2025 for the Cadillac definition of luxury. Question. Why did it have to be so dramatic, I don't. That was literally, I said, you guys weren't on the run. No, they also knew where I lived. Like, what are we talking about? Why? You had all my tax information. My address is on there. Just come to your house. Correct. Not this whole, in their heads. It's like embarrassing. It's also just like you thought I was running and playing sight. Like, I was here. I was. I was. I was here. Bizarre. And because I didn't go to South Texas to some random address by a random number of the Texas.

Sorry, I'm actually thinking I might get fucking killed. I'm a 30-year-old single woman. You want me to come to a random address? No, eat a dick. Literally. It's so annoying, okay? So. You know it pissed me off so much.

I was so irritated. I was just like, here we fucking go. This is happening now. So they take me into a black unmarked SUV in the parking garage of Dillards and proceed to interrogate me for five hours. in this time span, men are coming in and out of this vehicle, different branches of government, essentially, interrogating me. Honestly, definitely a Netflix thing.

Oh, I was going to point. At this point, it's like this is kind of cool. I was like, this is insane. This is comical. Like, this is my life right now. And so anyhow. And they're questioning you about, I'm assuming the business. The business and my relationship with my boss and all the things.

And I'm just like telling them what I know. And that was it. Right. And so they took me to an immigration. prison because that was the only thing available at the time. And I had just started this corporate job. I was two weeks in. I was in training when I got that text message from the Dillard's person.

And then I went to prison that night. And I was supposed to work the next day. So that was a fun. I had to lie. How long did they have you there? I was there overnight. I was probably there for 24 hours total. But so my boyfriend at the time came and got me.

And I was like, I got to get an attorney. I got to find an attorney. I am not kidding. I went back to my corporate job. at the time, this was right before the pandemic hit. So we're talking like 2019, maybe like September of 2019. I spent the next three weeks of my working days at my new job vetting attorneys all across the United States, like pay, how much is going to cost me. And attorneys, I mean, historically, we all know are expensive federal attorneys, it's a new ballpark. Yeah, it's upfront retainer of 50K or more.

That is just how they operate. And so that's, yeah, I vetted them a lot of them. I ended up landing on the attorney that I did. Amazing man, genius in his field, and he knows everybody in Texas. He knows all the prosecuting attorneys. He knows all of the AUSAs. He knows all of the judges. So, like, this is the person you want in your corner.

Also, a very patient man. I'm very type A personality, and I know I drove that man nuts. Yeah. So I meet with him, and he's like, all right, well, let's get this going. Did the agents give you any information of why they were questioning you? Yeah. So our truck, and I don't know measurements of drugs. Also, again, because of my background with my parents,

I have vehemently wanted to be removed from drugs my entire life. Growing up, my friends knew you just don't do drugs in front of Nikki. It would upset me and I would leave. Even marijuana. Like, I don't smoke. I've tried it a few times in life. I can count on one hand how many times I've seen. cocaine and that was at like frat parties in college. Yeah. And I would abruptly leave. So anyway,

he's like, there is about $2 million worth of cocaine on your truck. I said, I was not being paid enough. You were funded by the cartel. That was our investor. The cartel was regularly following you to make sure that where you were going was where you said you were going. So I've been being followed for God knows how long by cartel just to make sure I was doing what I said I was doing. Cool. Awesome. What? Okay. Yeah. In my head, I'm really, I'm like, I am the most cookie cutter person on the planet. And this is now... It makes sense because, like, just to keep you in the dark with everything. So it's like, why would you go off track if you don't know anything? Yeah. Exactly. I found out later on in the story that the two friends that came to Guadalajara with me ended up opening a similar business.

with him and were told not to tell me. The girl, my friend that I brought there, she was basically the me of their business. And my guy friend was the stepdad of their business, right? Yeah. So it was a conspiracy and those were my co-conspirators. And so basically the pandemic hits and it pushes everything. All the trials, all the things, right? Like, everything keeps getting pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed because they're not doing in-person hearings. Finally, they start doing virtual hearings, and that's all fine and well. And so now I'm two years in to a federal case where I can't leave the state. I can't leave the country. I have to check in with a, and it's not a probation officer, there's a different term for it. I wasn't on probation. I was on, um, um,

I don't know what the term is. I'm still on it. But basically I checked in with a probation officer. I was not on probation. I would do drug tests, which I don't do drugs, so it didn't really matter. And it just sucks, too, because it's like, I know that's their job. But you would think that they could background you enough to realize, okay, she didn't know. Or, like, the fact that I had never been in trouble before.

Right. Like, you're not doing drugs. I don't do drugs. Right. Right. In their head, I'm just like some drug doing, dealing, wheeling, crazy. woman and I'm just like that is so far from who I am. So like when people watch this, especially the people that have known me my entire life,

they're going to be in sheer shock. They're not going to know. They're going to be like, this isn't real. Like there's no way this is real. So I end up finally also in this has been going on for eight years, right? Like I have been in this, this purgatory for eight years. But in the eight years, I never know if I'm going to surrender to prison or not in 90-day increments. So every 90 days, I have to be ready to leave my life and go to prison.

I don't know how many people would handle that, but it makes it incredibly impossible to do anything in life. Get certain jobs, buy a car, buy a home, start a new relationship, like all of that kind of goes out the window. It's very difficult to do. So these whole eight years have been, it's been very hard. But going back to the whole, the legal side of it, finally, I get sentenced. I plead, I, you know, I was like, legal, so federal system. It's not what people think of in the criminal. Like, people are like, oh, good behavior.

That doesn't exist in the federal world. You do 80% of your sentence. That is what it is. You get 10 years, you're doing 80% of that. You get 15% if you behave properly or whatever the math is. 85% I guess is what you do. And so that's just what it is. And so the judge ultimately sentenced me to three years.

If I had taken it to trial, she would have had to give me 20 years if I lost. And that just wasn't something I was willing to gamble on. So I said, I will take whatever else I can get. She could have given me 10. I'm thankful for the three. But she, you know, she's a very, she's one of the strictest judge. in the United States, like federal judges, so I didn't expect anything less from her.

But I was still grateful for the three years. Also going back to, like, taking it to trial, because a lot of people that I've told are, like, why wouldn't you just take it to trial? Because when the federal government has anything on you to indict you, don't fight it. Right.

Especially as a minority. Especially as a woman minority. There's a percentage, 3% of federal cases that go to trial are found not guilty. And of that 3%, less than a percent, or is any person of my, color. This episode is sponsored by Vinted. Okay, I have to be honest. I feel like my closet is one of

those things that I'm constantly saying I'm going to clean out and then somehow I just don't. I'll look at something and be like, I'm definitely going to wear this and then six months later, it's still sitting there completely untouched. And if you're the same way, this is actually a really good excuse to finally go through your closet. Vinted is a secondhand marketplace app where you can sell clothes you're not wearing anymore and make some extra money from things that are literally just taking up space. And I like that it's actually simple. You take photos, list your items on Vinted, and once it sells, Vinted creates the prepaid shipping label for you. So you're not sitting there trying to figure out the shipping part yourself. And probably my favorite part, there are no seller

fees. So you keep everything you earn. And I don't know about you, but that definitely makes me more motivated to actually list things instead of just putting them in a pile and completely forgetting about them again. So if you've been meaning to clean out your closet, this is your sign. Ready to clean out your closet and make some extra money, download the Vinted app for free and start listing. With no seller fees, you keep every dollar you earn. And for a limited time, enjoy free shipping in the U.S. on Vinted. Ever feel like healthy eating is harder than it should be? I get it. Nutrition can feel complicated, but it doesn't have to be. On Be Well by Kelly, I simplify the science of nutrition so you can feel better, balance your blood sugar, and build

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Right. Again, not something. Also, it's like three or risking 20. It's like... Correct. So it just wasn't something I was willing to gamble. Did you ever find out if his parents were aware of what was happening? I think his dad was indicted. Okay. I still am unclear on that and I didn't ask a lot of questions about that. But his dad, I know,

or I'm pretty sure was indicted. I think I found documents about it later on. Now, was the boss getting in trouble or no because he was in Mexico? Well, so it was also the pandemic. So he was in Mexico and then he went to Japan because that's where his mom's from. So he flew from Mexico to Japan. But when the pandemic hit, they were sending every American back. So I think in 2020 at the end of the end of the end of, to 2020, they sent everyone back to the U.S. And when he landed in LAX, the feds were there. And they detained him. So he's been in federal prison since 2020,

essentially. Gotcha. And I think ultimately he was sentenced to six years after it was said and done. So I don't know how that plays out with the tiny... That's nothing. Literally nothing. You're telling me I'm getting half of his sentence. This crazy. But whatever.

Bizarre, okay? Do you want to hear something even crazier? My co-conspirator, my friend, the girl, who had identical charges to me. Also, her truck had more cocaine on it than mine did. Her sentence was to finish law school. This girl will never... Did she get a different judge? She had a different judge.

She's also white with blonde hair and blue eyes. Wow. Yeah. The federal system is obviously not fair. It's fucked. And, you know, people talk about this all the time. And I've heard, obviously, I know people are treated differently, but when it's actually happening in your face and you're just like, and she knew what was going on. She admitted to knowing.

She admitted to being told not to tell me. So she knew. And she will never see a prison. She got to go to law school and live her life out, buy a house, and just do what she wants. And I've been sitting in hell for eight years, fighting for any piece of freedom I can get to get out of this. Yeah. You know, that's what it's been. It's been a fight.

Like, it's been a fight to live and present as a normal person. It's been a fight to control my mental health. It's been a fight to take care of myself and prioritize myself. I feel like I've been in fight mode for eight years. And this other person is just like, hmm, right. Life's good. I can't believe he only got six years also. Yeah, exactly.

It makes no sense. Like, he was the head of it. Exactly. So in true fight mode, which is, who I am, I don't like to settle for less, I ended up being able to finagle reducing my sentence. Okay. And when was the sentencing? It was three years. Okay. No, when was, when did that happen? That was three years ago. Okay. So I was resentenced in April. Okay. Of this year? Of this year, finally. And it was the judge, new judge. My judge retired. That's how long this has been going on. This

woman retired, which she's not even there anymore. I got a new judge. It's a guy. And he sentenced me to a year and a day, specifically a day, because the way that plays out is that I get that 15% off, but on the back end, because of some federal laws that Trump passed, I get time reduced also. So it breaks down to about six months, which, thank you God. Like, obviously, I'm so thankful for that. Am I bothered that I'm going to have to sit in a federal prison for six months? Yeah, yeah, obviously. I'm also grateful that the prison I'm going to is coin Camp Cupcake. It's literally the Martha Stewart prison that she went to. So everybody's been calling me the modern Martha. But yeah, I'm grateful that I'm not going to some scary place. I'm grateful that it's only going

to be about six months. You know, it could have been 20. It could have been 10. It could have been three. So it just took a lot to get here. Yeah. And it's been a long, long journey. And honestly, the legal stuff isn't even the hardest part. It was literally just like navigating life during all of this. You know, I watched a man die during this. I got domestic violence by my boyfriend that I started seeing that I had known since middle school, all because I found out that he was having like an intimate sexual relationship with his first cousin. So I'm now his punching bag.

And like the best friend, Bridget, the one that we went on the trip with, she killed herself in this time period. It's just like a lot of trauma that occurred over this short period of time in conjunction to this experience. Yeah. And at the same time that your life is falling apart. And I'm trying to keep it together. Like I have to take care of myself. I have to have a career.

I still have to provide for myself. And I'm spending all of this money because I didn't buy a car. So I rented a car for eight years almost. I think I did the math recently. And over the eight years, I probably spent about 200. $125,000. I mean, I depleted my 401k that I had been saving since I was 18. But I mean, and when I tell people that, they're like, why didn't you just take the three years and go? You'd have been done by now. I could have served it three times at this point. And I said,

well, I mean, what's the price of your freedom? Yeah. I wasn't willing to give up three years. Granted, these eight years haven't been great, but I've been here and not there. So I don't know. I go back and forth with that, like if it had just been easier to swan follow it and take the three years. But in these eight years, I've learned so much about myself. I honestly can say I am the best version of me that I have ever been. I am so self-aware of who I am. I don't seek validation from anyone anymore. Everything I do, I do for me. And I do not think I would be mentally or even physically who I am today had none of this happened. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. I also lost 110 pounds in this time period. Like I make sure that every day,

I wake up, I do something for me because historically I didn't. I did things for everybody else. And I think there's beauty in that, you know, learning, whether, not the easiest way to learn it, but I still think there's beauty in it. And I like, I love that I can find this beam of light in such a dark, dark time. And so when I got this new sentence, I told everybody and everybody just looks at me and like with a sad face, like, oh, six months. Because in their heads, when you're telling people this entire time, they're like, oh, you're not going.

You're not going. It keeps getting pushed. It keeps getting pushed. You're not going to prison. I'm like, no, I'm going. And it's frustrating. Yeah, it's very frustrating for people to tell you you're not when you know in your heart of hearts you are. And I know they're trying to be nice.

But so anyhow, I tell them, yeah, I talk to the judge. I asked for six months to get my stuff together and I'm going to surrender later on. And they're just like sad for them. face, I have never, I have never been more excited in my life. I actually have control now. I can plan the next eight months of my life. I can use those six months to be productive, which is what I usually am anyway. Like, I cannot wait. I cannot wait to get there. I can't wait to get it done. I'm sure I'm going to meet amazing, brilliant women because I mean, these are white collar offenders. They've got to be intelligent. Yeah. I'm so interested to hear all about their stories. And it gives you time to be

with yourself. Yeah. And like you said, not only just that, but to build something for yourself. Like it really, it forces you into that solitude. Yeah. And like you said, too, you finally have that control. Like now you can start, you know, dates and times and you can plan. How long until you go? October. Okay. So I'll go in October, hopefully be out beginning of May. Okay. you know and honestly in that time period I really want to spend it figuring out how I'm going to build doing things for others when I get out I mean there's just like such a huge space for I know I'm not the only person going through this and if I had somebody there navigating with me who had the experience who had the foresight who knew how this work attorneys yes do these attorneys are inundated with cases they don't have time to pick up the phone when you're freaking out and be like oh hey it's the this, you're going to be okay, because that's what I was doing. I was calling my attorney freaking out regularly. They don't have time for that. They're not going to answer you. But if there's somebody there like an advocate that could be like, look, this is what you're about to experience. This is what

this term means. Your attorney will explain it different in more depth, but just be aware that this is how this is going to play out. There's a need for that. And if I can be that for anybody, I would love to. There's also so many different aspects of your story that I think by sharing your story and all the different parts of it could really, really help a lot of people. This episode is sponsored by Vinted. Okay, I have to be honest. I feel like my closet is one of those things that I'm constantly saying I'm going to clean out and then somehow I just don't.

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please contact Connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor. Free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. For sure. I mean, just the vulnerable state that I was in at the time, I wasn't okay. I should have really been going to therapy. I should have been really taken care of myself mentally. you know, the toll that that last relationship took on me, the trauma from childhood I never

dealt with. I mean, there was just stacks of things that needed to be addressed. You were a perfect victim for that. I was prime target. Like, there's a reason why he didn't go for Bridget in my flight attendant friend. They were not. They weren't going to have it. I was, I was an idiot. I was naive. And I take full responsibility for everything that happened to me. And, you know, and I'm not a victim. I let it happen. And that's what it is. And I, I was an, and I, I've learned a lot, and that's why I'm so thankful that I am the person I am now, because I didn't let it win. I didn't let it consume me.

I didn't let it be who I am. When this actually is put out there, everyone who knows me in this new life of mine, none of them know about this. Nobody knows. This has been such a secret of mine, such a heavy weight I've carried and tried to mask for so long, so long. And honestly, this just feels great getting it out and being able to let people that I know know that this is what's been happening. Yeah.

You know, they know I'm different, but why is she different? Oh, she's just different because of this. Now, I'm different because I had to be different. And I'm glad I am. Yeah, I suspect there will be a lot of confused folks. I'm sure. Yeah, it is all very weird. And when I get out, I have to be in an ankle monitor.

No, or two weeks, two weeks. Right. Where do you think I'm going? You took my passport. Where the hell do you think I'm going? Like, it's just all about money. It's all about controlling people, us, all of us, and money. Because I'm going to have to pay for that ankle monitor.

I know that. I'm probably going to be paying out the ass for all kinds of things when I'm out. Right. And now I see why people that are convicted felons, especially like the lower level ones, not like the white collar ones because clearly they have money and they're fine. but the ones that get out and have nothing, I see why they go back. They're going to break the law because they can't abide by the law

because they don't have enough money to do that. Yeah. It's just it's set up for failure. I'm not going to let that be my case. That's just not who I am, but I understand why these people have dealt with what they've dealt with and gone through, what they've gone through. And like going back to like, you know, talking and helping others, like I really think there is also a big,

big opportunity for women because obviously women tend to be the ones that are taking advantage of in these kind of scenarios not that say men aren't but women for sure and women when women are in vulnerable places and especially if they put value in men and are very men oriented they're going to do stupid shit they are that's just what it is yeah and i think hearing from someone who also did stupid shit might be helpful well i think too it it raises awareness in a whole different way You know, because I think, too, especially when you're young and naive and vulnerable and money's flying, it's easy to think nothing bad can happen in any aspect. Exactly. And I mean, like you said, you have to be, I think, very mature and ahead in life to have been in your situation and questioned it, in my opinion.

Yeah. Like I don't think, I just, because like you said, there weren't any red flags. There weren't things that you were like. I mean, it just seemed like, wow, this is an amazing opportunity. Exactly. I mean, in hindsight, I look back and I was like, okay, that was weird. That was also kind of weird. In the moment, I didn't question anything.

So, yeah. And it's okay to admit that and to have that have happened. Like, I think that it's very easy for a lot of people to say, I would have never done that. Or how could she not have known? Exactly. But put yourself in the situation and you're a young girl having fun. I mean, there's so many, there's so many people all the top of my head that I know that would have jumped at that kind of opportunity. And been like, oh, my God, my new business, you know, like they wouldn't have thought twice.

So, and like you said, I think especially because in that time that he was spending with you guys, he probably was, you know, getting to know you guys, feeling it out. Who's his best option of the group, you know? But no, and I think that, like I said, your story, it's, it's crazy. It is crazy. And I feel like, and thankfully, truly thankfully, it is ending or going to end where it is because it could have been truly so much worse. So much worse. So much worse.

I am so happy. I can't even express. I know I keep saying I'm so thankful, but the level of happiness and thankfulness that I feel now that this is this chapter is ending. And I know I still have some time to go with it. But I mean, shit. Imagine if people completely just put it all on you, threw you under the rug. You know what I mean?

Like anything. Anything. Literally anything. I have a perfect scapegoat in that scenario also. Yeah. You know what I mean? My name's on the dotted line. You know, I'm a woman.

Right. You're signing off on these trucks with millions of dollars of cocaine. Yeah. Crazy. Crazy. So yeah. It's crazy being on the cartels, uh, payroll. Literally.

And having no idea. And having no idea. I should have been making so much more money. Right. I know that's, it's so funny when you said that I was like literally that because that's a very good mindset. You're like, damn. I'm like, okay, all this is really happening behind closed doors and I'm not, you know, top pay.

Yeah, literally. The hell? That's wild. Yeah. But I'm so glad. You reached out to me a while ago. Yeah. So I reached out to you, what, two years ago?

Yeah, it was a long, I remember it was a while ago. And I would think, well, no, I would, I remember I would think about you sometimes. You're like, whatever happened to that girl? Because I remember when you reached out, you were saying you were going to go to prison. And I was like, did she go? Is she okay? And then when you reached back out, I'm like, okay, she's. She's back.

She's back. Yeah, no. So I'm so glad that we got to do this because I think, you know, that on its own, because I know when you sat down, you're like, I don't know if my, and I have people say it all the time. Like, I don't know if my stories is crazy or this, that and the other. But, you know, every story needs to be heard for so many different reasons, you know, and your story truly is one that, like, when it's read and just off the bat,

it has crazy shock value. It really does. Like, when I saw it, it was like, the fuck. Like, she wants to come talk on my show before she. She goes away. I'm like, it's amazing. Like, please come share your story. No, so obviously, I'm so grateful that, you know, you wanted to be here and do this. And you should never stop sharing your story. And I think there's so, there's so much work that can be done. And obviously, I think that at this point, like you said, like you're becoming and you are the best version of yourself that

you've been in your life. And that's so, that's amazing. But it's also, like, that's so obvious to me. Like, I feel like before you even said it, like I was just like, obviously she's like, you know what I mean? She's the best version of herself right now. And I feel like that's only going to continue and grow. And I feel like the fact that through all of this your mindset is, okay, like, what can I do to help others not go through this instead of just being like me, me, me, you know? I think that says a lot about your character and who you are. And that's really, really powerful. That's something that, you know, it shines through, really.

I appreciate that. I hope that it translates that way for others as well.