♪ jerorome jacobsoson. alalso known a as... jerry jacocobson. ththe absolutete head of s secy for simomon marketining. ♪ [brighght tone] [d[dramatic mumusic]

[indistinct chatter] - - hey, here'e's a man whwho ls lilike he has s something g to . - arare we all s set, ronnie? - wewell, i bet!t! ohoh! - - hey, carefeful. - lookoks like he'e's got flubur shoes s on, too, t today. [laughter]r] - a a wonderful l anonymous s dr mailed a a mono--a m monopoly game p piece, and righght here in the m middle of i it was a littttle winningng tickt of $1 mimillion. - - whoa! - hey, w wow! [cheers s and applauause] [d[dramatic mumusic] - somemebody won a $1 m million mononopoly ge at mcdonalald's, and god blbless him, decided d to send ththat moy to thehe children n of st. j. - well, ththis is a grgreat . uh, we a and mcdonalald's he a gameme going, which, uh,h, a person n won a game pieiece in--in texexas and maiailedt to st. j jude's anononymousy

and, u uh, mcdonalald's worket a way to p pay the gamame pie even thougugh it couldld--rey can't t be transfeferred. - - it's just t a wonderfufl chchristmas ststory that someoeone would g give that way a anonymouslyly and nonot want anyny recognitit, uhuh, for the e children at st.t. jude. ♪ - the e mcdonald's's monopolye went back k to 1987 and d so we didndn't know hohog the contesest was fixexed. - st. . jude's w was listedd as a w winner whicich, you knknow, was, u uh, certrtainly an a anomaly. we didn't t know if ththis is p part of thihis conspirar. - we didn'n't know howow jerrrry jacobsonon was invovolved in this frfraud schememe or if hehe was unclele jerry. i meanan, at firstst you just tk it's an alalias name but at l least it wawas at l least half f of the nam. - hey, h help me, fred, willll you? ooh, thihis is heavyvy. ooh, o ooh! - oddsds of findining ththe winning g piece wewere one in more e than 206,0,000,000.

ododds of somemeone givingng it, heavenen only knowows. [tenense music]] ♪ ♪ [seagulls squawking]

- my namame is marvivin bra. i liveve in miami,i, florid. jejerry jacobsbson is my y stepbrotheher, yes. he is s my stepbrorother. - yeah, i mean we e grew up as- i don't think brother brothers, but we grew up close. we're only a week k apart in age.. his dream inin life was alwas becocoming an fbfbi agent. - therere i was ouout onon my first t assignmentn. - - it never w worked out, bubut it's fununny. it's a fununny story.. if you s said to mee to descrcribe this s story, i would d say, "d"don't belieieve it," bubut it's trurue. don't t believe itit. [laughghs] jujust weird.. itit's just weweird how w it happenened. [tensese music] he had d discussed a about the game p pieces one e time. i think it was 1989 and we had discussed

how, you know, he--he would be able to possibly get the $25,5,000 game p piece, and, um, y you know, if we coululd do sometething wh it andnd, you knowow, whateve. ♪ a a month lateter oror six weeksks later-- i don'n't rememberer-- he s showed up w with a piec. and d he says, u uh, cash iti. there e was an 80000 number to, uh, , call, whicich i di, and d they gave e me instrucuc. i went to o the post o offic. i reregistered i it--whatevevee words are e at the posost offi- and d everythingng else, and i sentnt it in. ♪ i thinink i was ththe first pn to turn a a ticket in.n. ♪ he knew w i knew--i,i, um-- i'i'd keep my y mouth shutu. i guesess that's t the right y of s saying it.. he t trusted me e with it, you knowow? - no. no.

♪ - soso we were l looking into simon markrketing's "jerry j jacobson."" ♪ once we e got the title e iii surveieillae liststening to p phone calls, we had h him on the e wire all day, a all night.. - soso we had ththought, "hey, ththis may bee the mamain guy." soso then we s started fococug more on trtrying to figure e out who hehe was. - after r really digigging ino thisis jerome jajacobson backgrouound, wewe discoverered among other ththings that,t, you kn, he had b been a polilice offir in--inin hollywoodod, florid. [upbeaeat music] ♪ - to b become a popolice offici, yoyou have to o be a a level-headaded individi. honesty y and trustwtworthines is pararamount.

jerry y jacobson w was a patrn and, uh,h, he came t to me n the paparking lot t one morn. atat that timeme i was ininvestigatining the deatath of a newewborn baby.y. we hadad no leads s at all, and jejerry told m me that he ed some psychchic friendsds thatat read abouout the case and d that they y were willig to a assist. my reaction was i was grateful and i i did take h him up on the offffer. i don't knknow that ththere's anything w wrong having psysychics as f friend. i thought that was pretty wonderfrful. - - i met jerrrry at the hollywywood policece departm. we both h were on ththe same sd and d we starteded about the same t time, and one e day he shohowed up atat my front t door

to infnform me thahat my boyfrd wawas cheatingng on me. so that's s how i met t jerr. [laughining] [dramatitic music] we d dated off a and on, and d there werere some goodos and someme bad timeses, bubut, um, we e got marrieid in t tennessee.. i ththink it was '81, and jerry became a stepfather to my sons. - this big long silence isn't gonna be in there, is it? [laughghing] [disistant car p passing] one day he started to shave and he couldn't reach all the way up to shave.

itit was diffificult, and d it was getetting momore difficucult every titime he trieied to mo. byby noon, he couldn'n't lift hisis arms. he couldn'n't lift hisis arm, peperiod, so i t took him toto the hosp. [distant s siren blariring] and they r ran the tesest fofor multiplele sclerosis and guillalain-barré and a cocouple of otother this and he hadad the guillllain-ba. hehe says he's's got ms... [dramatic music] but technically it was guillain-barré and i--i t took leavee from m my work and d spent timeme at the h hospital wiwith him 'cause h his mother r was gona put hihim in a nurursing hom. ♪ i i gave him 1 15 minutes s ay to feel l sorry for r himself and after r that 15 miminute, we're gonnnna work, 'cause i i felt likeke if we e kept workiking, mamaybe we couould stay ahahd ofof the paralalysis.

so i f fed him and gaveve him showewers anand walked h him upup and down n the hall and all ththat stuff.. ♪ afteter six or e eight mont, he finally turned around before it got to his respiratory system. it was getting there, but it didn't quite take over. so--and d then the n next da; afafter the nenext couple e of, it stabibilized, anand then statarted turnining d a littttle bit. ♪ - there'e's always a a quest, why y somebody l leaves a law enenforcement t career e. many timimes there's's a gogood reason,n, but--but t there's alwlways a a question.. it's n not typicalal. um, and--a-and in his s case, you know,, we leaearned that t he had, you knowow-- hehe had a--a a condi--heaeah cocondition oror an accidedent, yoyou know, had him gogo out, i guguess, on a d disability.y. - he movoved to atlalanta becae therere was a dodoctor in atata oror a hospitatal that deaet withth nothing b but ms.

i i think the e ms really y tw his life c completelyy because i think he always wanted to o be in l law enforcecement, and hahaving the m ms compmpletely chahanged his l . [dramatitic music] - we movoved toto atlanta t together. i i got a job b shortly afafr wewe came herere in securiri. he starteded getting b bette. ♪ and atat that poinint, he wanted d to go backck to wor. sisimon marketeting offereredm a job workrking securirity for r the monopopoly promotit.

♪ - we a as the fbi i could not and d logically y would nott marcrch into simimon marketg and d start askiking questios about t jerry and d that procec. yoyou know, gegenerally whwhee fbi startsts asking ququestio, pepeople, you u know-- people getet-- get a littttle spun upup and wondnder, reallyly, why. - we werere working g hand in d with m mcdonald'ss just t trying to f figure out how mumuch they knknew about t simon markrketing. surprisingngly, mcdonanalds dididn't know w much

ababout the prprocess that simomon marketining went thrh with theheir promotitional game. - i wasn't't familiarr withth simon mararketing at tl ununtil this i investigatition . after r that meetiting withth the fbi,, i realalized that t i needed to learnrn a little e bit moe about sisimon marketeting anand the promomotion, so i s set up a memeeting with simonon marketingng undeder the guisise of trtrying to lelearn how the e security p proceduress were i in place. [dramatic c music] - we werere able to enlisist mcdonaldld's to d do these ininquiries on our b behalf, but i ththink also on theirir behalf, t too. - yeyeah, yeah, , no. we--we wouould--we wouould hae nonot told mcdcdonald's. because e if we're w wrong, wewe've--we'veve sullied somebobody's repututation for r no good rereason. - i don'n't know howow much he was m making at s simon. his wifefe was workiking. i i don't knowow if h he needed t the money..

- no, , i think hehe said hehe has a conontact to g get them oror something. i ththink it wasas contact.. it was n not him. it was n not him. itit was not h him. - - he--go ahehead. i'm-m-- - hehe--he--he g gave me thehe a it was notot him steaealing the t tickets, that he hahad a contacact how toto get the t tickets. i was undeder the imprpression jerry was s the securirity for. in othther words,, that anothther personn was takiking the ticickets or w whatever. i wasn't s sure. i i thought jejerry was sesecur. [tenense music]] - when i i met wiwith simon m marketing,, wewe went throrough the securirity procedudures anand the prococedures at the p printing prpress. they a actually hahad a veryry thoroughh and d comprehensnsive operatan fofor ensuringng the securury and integrgrity of theheir-- of o our game pipieces, so i was v very pleasesed with w what i saw.w. ♪ - mcdonaldld's reportsts thatat at the fafacility theh,

it was incncredibly sesecure anand that thihis idea thatat--that thihings arare--are loooose or that ththey could w walk riright out ofof there was--w-was, you knknow, alalmost imposossible. hihighly un--h-highly, hihighly unlikikely. the obobvious quesestion ws how ththis whole p process wo. how were----how were g game pieces pririnted, diststribu? - sisimon marketeting had thte game piececes made just northth of atlantnta by a s secure prininting busi. ♪ [countryry music] ♪ - - my name isis jack sisks. i i actually w was workingng in secururity at ditittler whwhen--for araround 15 yeyears, actutually. - my namame's perry y pealoc, and d i was ththe bindery y supervisoro. - naname's doylele grant, and i wawas shippingng clerk. - my namame's gilbenen peeple, and i wawas the parcrch clek

in the m maintenancece departm. - dittleler brothersrs printingg wawas a very s secure printing c company, and thatat's how we e got ino the lottttery busineness and into s scratch-offff game. - and i i think thatat's one e of the reaeasons that we gogot the u.s.s. postagage stamp jojob becacause the fefederal gogovernment s said, "hey, , this placece is reaeally securere," 'c'cause we gogot that and it wenent real welell. - - and then i it grew frorom . you know,, three e or four yeyears, anand mcdonaldld's millionos and mimillions of f dollars to pay t to print alall this st. - i was ththe directoror of sececurity for dittttler brothehers betwtween 1987 a and 2000, and i i worked witith jerry n ththey were rurunning monony becaususe simon anand dittler were reaeal close. [dramatitic music] ♪ - we had p people in dittlerer brothers s 24 hou. ththe dittler r brothers f faciy was vevery secure.e. you u had to go o through a guard d shack

to g get into ththe facility, you hahad to sign n in when you got ininto the facacili, then y you had to o go throh anotother guardd to g get into ththe room wherere the statate lotteries arare being prproduced along g with our g game piece. - whenen monopoly y was runn, itit would jusust about tae everythingng in thehe plant rununning, it would g get so big.g. that w was our larargest cusr by a long g shot. you'rere talking hundrereds of millllions ofof game piececes, you know.. - when we e did press s rus of winnersrs, wewe pretty mumuch surrounund ththe press. theyey had alarmrm systems.. they h had camerasas. the e gate was o opened and it w wasn't us,, alarm m would go o off. - wellll, we had a a big vat we had thehe winners i in. ♪ - therere were twowo locks. it's a almost likeke, you kno, backck in the cocold war, you'd haveve two peoplple in a a missile s silo, and d it takes t two. - jejerry was inin there foron to make susure that dittler r brothers were doingng their jobobs. jejerry would d stand behid anand look ovever their shshr

and get t their combmbinatio. then he e would raisise holy hl becaususe we allowowed him to do thatat. - alall the gameme pieces that w were producuced byby dittler b brothers were l loaded on t trucks. - securityty would actctually physicalally lock ththe back of f the truck. - once t that truck k left, we normalllly would geget on an n airplane,, fly to thahat city, and meetet the truckck the nenext morningng to unlocock it, break ththe seal, verirify what wawas loaded.. - my n name's briaian littera. i i worked security/q/quality conontrl for r the games s that mcdonons usually raran. we w would bringng the lalabels out---- frfree drinks,s, freeee fries-- and the twtwo pieces would asassemble togogethe, ththe label onon top of ththe. [draramatic musisic] the hihigher-levelel winnerss dodone by a cocompletely d dit more s secure prococess. i wowould usualllly get a cal sayiying that jejerry was gogoe

coming in n with, uh,, an indepependent aududitor. ♪ - - dittler sesecurity has to be e there, simomon has to b be there, the audiditor has toto be th, and the e customer s servicep has toto be there,e, and ththey all wititnessed ththe winner r run. - the e auditor wowould unlk the e suitcase.. ththere was anan envelope e e with sigignatures acacross ththe seal to makake sure thahat it was l the same c contents asas to when i it was packcka, and d inside thehere, ththere would d be a certan numbmber of seededs. thisis is what a a seed wowould look l like, one of w which was s a high-levevel winner. the rerest were cocommons, and d then i wouould insert m in varioious productction li. - no o one knew, anand no one w was supposesd toto know, where the e high-levelel winnerer was. ♪ - soso you go ininto the e mcdonald's's, you openen up the gagame piec, and maybe e you're a i instat $1 millionon winner. - i wowon! - i i won! - anand so when n these game piececes got toto the simonon marketing rededemption cenenter,

and itit goes throrough ththe process s of, "do o we have a a real winnener" ♪ they lititerally wouould be opd by a a person wiwith gloves-- it is all l being recocorded- and therere would alalways bebe an error r made in thehe winning g game pie. say, on n one cornerer thers a littttle chip out of thehe word. - we a also write e on the e $1 millionon winner a little c code on thehere wiwith a--a blblack light t n ththat you canan't see. so if you u show up wiwith a e thatat doesn't h have the code o on it, you'u're gonna g get caughtt real s soon. ♪ - we were e always a littlele bit overbrboard but, u uh, you knonow, we prorotected mcdcdonald's, and--a-and i thinknk that's a major r reason thehey used , and, uh, o of course jerry wawas in therere sort of tetelling themem how itit needed toto be buil.

- everybybody liked d jerry. i mean, , everybodyy in thehe office liliked jerr. he wasn't t real flashshy. we always s had thanksksgivin. everybodody sort of f broughtn a potltluck at thahanksgivin, and jerry y always brbrought in r ribs, and his riribs were dedelicio. they wouould just fafall off ththe bone, yoyou know? so everyrybody lookeked forwad to hisis ribs, but, uh, h he didn't s seem toto be big-heheaded at al. - - and he wasas always very g generous. if he madede ribs for r hims, he wouldld make themem for ththe whole ofoffice. jejerry was--h-he's a a generous f fellow. we got divivorced, and even w when he was mararried againin and i i needed somomething, hehe would be e right ther. there'e's nothing g stingy about him m at all. afafter we gotot divorced,, itit was like e even thouguh he wasas the headd of securitity for simomon, hehe still wororked under my g guideliness in dittlerer brothers.s.

i i told him if he ststole anythihing, i'i'd kill himim. [laughghs] [d[dramatic mumusic]

♪ - exciting. i'm not gonna lie. it w was excitining and d everythingng else, and, u uh, you knonow, i depoposited it,, and we split it. down the road, he came to me and he said that he couould do bigggger piece. i--i'd notot cashed inin anythg but a a $25,000 titicket, and i dididn't wantt any paparts of thehem. at t that time,, i was s going to n new york, , every tuesesday mornining and d coming homome evevery wednesesday night. i wawas buying m maternity c s in new y york for r my materninity shop. soso i approacached two pepeoo wewere manufacacturers in n nk that i deaealt with fofor mamany, many, , many years and i apprproached thehem ifif they woululd be interered in possiblbly doing a deal w with jerry.y. - i'i'd rather n not mentionon .

- no.. there wewe--i'm pretetty s-- well, , maybe his s nieces and nephewews. [lauaughing] no, i nevever heard ananybody refer to h him as unclcle jer. [dramatic c music] - for a whwhile, the e question w was, "well, whoho is uncle e jerry" ohoh, well thehere's a jery jajacobson wororking at sis. ththat must bebe uncle jerer. but ththere was alalways this infeference maybybe that uncle e jerry was-s--was somew connnnected to organized crime- italalian organinized crimee because ththe uncle coconnotatin giveves this kinind of almomost like a,a, you know, godfatather-ish sosort of moni. ♪ and d we found o out that there e was anotheher jerry invovolved in ththis namemed jerry cocolombo.

- - people eveverywhere are winnnning big playining the mononopoly game at mcdcdonald's. jerry y colombo wowon a dododge viper,r, and therere are twoo $1 m million pririzes left.. - my n name is frarank colomb. i'm brotheher of " "jerry" genennaro colomo. - and i'm m heather cocolomb, anand i am frarank colombobo's. - i rereally wanteted him toto keep the e car. you know, , i was, youou kno, a young guguy. lilike, hey, a a dodge vipip? ththat'd be prpretty damn n c. can i i borrow it?t? uh, bubut it was t too small. i meanan, he was a a big guy. umum, but it w was kinda f fy 'cause a all off--alall of my friends wewere callingng me, "heyey, your brorother won-- won ththe car. oh, my godod!" and d i'm sittining go--laugug in the b back of my y head goi, "yeah, okakay, he won n the c. sure." you u know, it w was kinda-- it wasas just amususing thatat people bebelieved it. it wororked. [b[both laughihing] [draramatic musisic] ♪

- i'm m robin cololombo. my hususband is jejerry colombm- gennaro cocolombo. ♪ hehe was part t of the coloo crime famimily. ♪ ththat commercrcial, ththat almost t cost him h his, bebecause he w wasn't suppppd toto do a commmmercial. - becaususe he's a h ham. he was e even gonna a be in a a movie wiwith jackie e chan, as a matteter of fact.t. i i said, "whahat? thatat don't eveven sound rir. you, a bigig-ass sicililian, and d a chinamanan, in a w western? i said, , "oh, my gogod." and d it was thahat "shangnghai noon----night," whatevever it is.. it wasas that. - mama, come getet this dogg outta a here.

- the e sicilian c culture, of couourse, is fafamily fit no m matter whatat, but when i i met her,, i didndn't want heher to knonow my last t name, 'causese i wanted d her to knoe anand not my f family. - asas a matter r of fact, for ththe first ththree toto four montnths, i didn't't even knowow his . he w would go byby a completey didifferent nanam, anand only didid i see a b brat on his w wrist one d y and i quesestioned hm on thehe name thatat said fran. i mean, this is s entirely d differet from t the name ththat he gave. - yes, uh,h, she--i went by y tony ayananatti. [both laugughing] i kinda kekeep that in the b background,d, you kn? not t too many p people know who mymy family isis until no. [upbpbeat music]c] - five f families have r run new yorork's italian-n-american m mafia. the nanames are fafamiliar: bonanno, g gambino, gegenoves, lucccchese, and d colombo. - - police in n brooklyn pulleded a man's b body out ofof the waterer ductct-taped insnside a blueu. policece say someoeone also d a a cinder blolock to thehe victim's s ankles.

- my namame is joe c colombo. i shouould be treaeated the se as anynybody else.e. - - joe colombmbo: real eststate brokerer, mamafia boss,, and one ofof the biggegest con in t the historyry of o organized c crime. - whatat was your r reaction n you learnened that thihis shog had ococcurred at t the colom? - - i just heaeard, like, , sho- about eighght shots, and itit's--i didndn't thik they werere shots. i thouought they w were firecrackekers. - his highgh profile causeded rival mobob bosses to o okay his mumurder. - ththe man someme called an undererworld bossss. ♪ - my b brother wasasn't the non, yoyou know-- when y you want "t"the sopranon" you u know, and he's, , uh--the guguy's talg to thehem, you knonow, all, " "hey, forgeget about i" and d all this k kind of nono. - - forget abobout it. - forget a about it. - ah, foforget aboutu. - forget a about it. - [scrcreaming] [blows lananding] - ththat's--thatat's the mov. nonow, did he e do thingss like thahat? absosolutely, yoyou know? bubut he did i it with humumor. you knowow, more likike, i guesess--

i guess ifif you got, , uh, marlrlon brando o and joe pepesi and puput them togogether, you'd probobably end u up with m my brother.r. [both laugughing] you know?? that's p pretty muchch it. - that wasas i. - uhuh, now thatat i think k about thisis, ifif you got a al capone and rodneyey dangerfieield and mashshed them totogether, you u get my brorother. i think ththat's a gooood anal. [upbpbeat music]c] ♪ - the e first timeme i met jere, wewe looked atat each othe, and itit was like e the chemisy bebetween us w was crazy.. um, like y you see in n a cart, you knknow, everythingng like, "boom, boooom." i was hahaving a lonong-distae relatitionship with a f federal agegent. it was n not that fufun. and, um, jerry wawas fun, so i i chose himim. my father was s military and ststrict. very strict.

so, yeah, that didn't go over so well, but i didn't care. - [sininging in foreign language] - i rebelled. - [s[singing inn forereign languauage] - wewe were marrrried inin panama cicity, florid. itit wasn't asas extravagagt as y you would t think because i i was pregnanant, so n no catholicic wedding.. - [singingng in foreign lalanguage] - my brother jerry had his hands in a lot of different avenues. he had some, uh, bookieing things that he was doing with bookikies and whahat have . uh, , he was in n charge of,f, sesecurity at t the taj mamal fofor a few yeyears. uh, , that was t the old, uhuh, trump tataj mahal. uh, he w would gamblble and,, he would w win a lot.. i dodon't know i if it was----tt was s rigged as s well. possibly.. everythihing's riggeged in life. - - trust noththing anymoro. - yeahah. he w was always s looking atay to makake some gooood easy mono.

- you knowow we had ththe lite gray m&m&m as well.. did you u know that?t? okokay, i useded to smokee a half a a joint a n night. i needed t to relax. i need t to put on something g funny and just l let me chilill. [l[laughs] well... when i wouould wake e up in t the middle e of the nigi, i i had to havave somethining , so i h had reese's's cups down in ththe kitchen,n, righ? so he had d to let me e knw there was s a gray m&m&m wrapped inin aluminum m foil and d he told meme, "don't t touch it."" - the ruleles say if y you fid the e gray impososter m&m', the winnining bag coululd be h $1 millionon! - showow me the momoney! - and d then, um, , he say, "youou're also g gonna win a publishehers clearining house" wherere they comome to youour door andnd knock. - you u have won $1 milillion frfrom publishshers clearing h house. - i i can't belilieve it! - - this is ththe truth! - realal people rereally wn the e publishersrs clearing g he sweepstatakes. - they're e probably g gonna s, "oh, bulullshit." you knknow, all ththat, but t i'm just t telling you whatat my husbanand told me.

♪ jerrrry wanted s something b . he kepept threatenening, "you know,w, i can goo work f for my unclcles up in nenew york," you knowow? i'm likeke, "welell, you knonow what? i thinink it's timime." [lauaughs] you knowow, you can n spend too much t time with s someboy and you dodon't play g golf and,d, um, i i mean, the e only golf f b hehe had was a about this s g and ththat was, wewell... [b[blow lands]s] [u[upbeat musisic] so h he went up p north and he g got with ununcle doc who o was a godfdfather. - no, they call that out of respect. he wasn't t an actual l uncl, but t he loved m my husbandd bebecause my h husband was old d school fullll-blooded s sicilian. he was hooooking him u up wiwith everyththing. - my namame's jennififer ethr. robin cololombo's my m mothe.

jerry cocolombo is m my stepfat. you couldndn't help nonot to l like him, and especicially with,h, um, yoyou know, his "c"career" thahat he was i. um, , it was defefinitely intriguiuing. at thehe time, youou know, hehe would shohow me duffffle bags ofof money anand whip it t out. "oh, here e you go. go buy y you somethihing nice" yoyou know? and thenen i'd say when i w was about 15, 1616 years oldld, that's w when jerry y got io the momonopoly thihing, and then t that defininitely, you know---- it w was--that w was a big d . he had p promised meme, um, a $1 millilion tickett wheneverer i turned d 18, because e nobody couould have the sameme last nameme. sin-n--since my y last namee was etethridge, um, you knknow, i wawas gonna bebe able to-- toto win a $1 1 million titic, anand i was lilike, "oh, hececk yeah. absolutetely." [chuckleles] - uhuh, with thehe monopolyy situatioion, um, uncle e dominic woworked for familyly members

in t the new yorork divisin and, um, a a mutual frfried of his kindnd of said,, "hey, i i got this g guy ththat's doingng this and d thi. yoyou might bebe interesteted," and so f forth and s so on, anand, uh, thahat was jeroe frfrom simon m marketing.. uh, he wasas getting the titickets. [t[tense musicic] - i don'n't know. it couldld have beenen. - i i think jerorome possiblbly starteted it on hihis own in the begeginning, and thenen people gogot wind ofof what he w was doing and then t they said, , "hey, lelet's see ifif we can ususe ts asas an avenueue to expandnd it" and i i believe ththat was brot toto my brotheher's attentntio. say, "hehey, there's's this guy, he's doioing this, and lelet's see ifif we can expand t the, uh, hohorizon." ♪ - but ththen jerry---- my j jerry-- receivived a phonene call that unclele dominic d die.

- - i--you knonow, you donot reallyly talk abouout that. so anynyway, my jejerry and jerry y jacobson became p partners onon the e monopoly t thing. ♪

first time i connected with kim, she told me that her husband had passed.

and that he took care of all of the internet connected devices in the home. i told her, “i'm here to take care of you.” connecting with kim... made me reconnect with my mom. it's very important to keep loved ones close. we know that creating memories with loved ones brings so much joy to your life. a family trip to the team usa training facility. i don't know how to thank you. i'm here to thank you.

♪ - working g any case is likike big puzzzzle. yoyou--you statart with a littlele piece, and you'veve gotta tryry to vt whether r that is lelegitimat, whether r it has anyny merit to. - here we e , hehere we . the undercrcover portition with m michael hoooover went, yoyou know-- went beyeyond expectctations. we had, yoyou know, michael l hoover cacalling aj g glomb. - we s suspected g glomb wawas a recruiuiter,

and hehe probably y didn't just rececruit hoovever. - isis there a c connectionn to u uncle jerryry? - - and so we e started lookining into himim, and thenen expandedd intoto other phohone lines - - we had covoverage on many lilines, includining jerry jajacobson, aj glolomb, and a a number of f the winn. - - the spiderer web of alall, - we dididn't know how big g this was.. we--we hadad this unclcle jer- it wasas-- eveverything w was very gege, nebulousus. so inside e the--the w wire ro, pepeople sittiting there,, gettining ready toto liste, and d nothing hahappens, rigi? you u put all l this efforort into it, and nothining happens.s. you'rere spending g your weekd doining that. - ununfortunatelely, in thee coconversationons on the w , the winnerers mostly had innonocuous convnversatios that havave nothingg to do o with the c crime, soso we start t coming up p w, "all rigight, "howow do we getet past winnns to recountnt how theyy

alallegedly wowon these pipi" - i i said, "looook, we c can do thisis. "why d don't we brbring all these e past winneners to vegas?"?" i justst said vegagas. it's all i i said. [upbeat t music] ♪ i don't knknow why y i picked v vegas. probabably 'cause of thehe fun mere e thing, which isis the immedediate, "n" you u know? but t i said, "hey, , just hear r me out. "l"let's do a a reunion of allll these pasast winne. let's brbring all ththese peoe togethther to tellll us," 'c'cause we dididn't knoww their r stories. tell us hohow they wonon thes, anand what thehey did witht, that kind d of thing,, 'cause, , you know,, mcdodonald's hasas big pockek. they getet some all-l-expens paid t trip to vegegas, balloonsns falling and ththe confettiti, anand they lovove that shi. you knknow, the ququestions wew, "mathewsws, whwhere are yoyou gonna dodo" embassy y suites. take the w whole flooror, rope e everything g off, righ? just in n case stupipid showsp and yoyou have thehem all linep in t these roomsms and d just arresest them all at t the same titime, right? great thining. [mimics s buzzer souound] nono.

no wayay in hell.. - [lauaughs] no, , doug. not gonna a do that. [laughs]s] how much i is that gononna cost? [laughghs] we--you u know, we d did have e budgetets to deal l with, you u? so-- - i can't t remember w what it . it w was like, "get himim out of hehere." you knowow, whatevever it was.s. "i c can't belieieve you u said that.t." - doug is s one of thehe hardrdest-workining agents i've evever met in m my life. very c creative, y you know? he'll dodo anything.g. he'l'll try anytything, anand he can t talk forevev. he is relelentless. [chuckckles] - thisis idea of "hostingng" a reunioion of past wiwinners in l las veg, you knknow, seemed so o outlandishsh up f, anand then we e realized,, "well,l, wait a miminute. "if you'u're not gononna fofollow throuough with iti, you u can promisise--" [lauaughs] "you c can promisese some pretty elalaborate thihings." everybybody likes s to go to v , so in prpreparationn for ththat wonderfrful conferee ththat we werere gonna havae all l expense papaid, we couldld contact these e winners, go outut and film m them to capturure their soso-called s,

and ththen the cararrot was yu get t this trip p to--to vege. - rick w was freakeded out about it,, bubut i wasn't't. rememberer, i'm the e guy ththat's just,t, you know,, "you knonow this is s gonna wo" 'c'cause i knonow it is, r ri? it's a all a shamrmrock, bab. shamrorock. [draramatic musisic] - - i was the e direct conot with the w winners, soso i could l legitimizee all l of the infnformation.. it was a all recordeded an, you knowow, it was 17 years ago, so it was a big tape recorder that i carried around in a b black mcdononald's briefcase.e. i evenen carried i it toto my friendnd's wedding in jacackson hole e becaus, you knknow, i had d to be ablele to tape the calls s whenever t they cam. it's's like i had toto flip the e tapes i'd d be like, "can i p put you on n hold for r a second?"?" you u know, and d then i'd d flip the t tapes and ththen put thehem back on.n. [t[tense musicic] - amamy would cacall them p and d say, "hey,y, look, "w"we're puttiting togethehr ththis media r release "of prprevious wininners, hohow they wonon it,

"what ththey did witith it, "some ofof their stotory that "i"it hasn't b been reallyly . you u know, we'l'll come to ou or y you can comome to us."" whereverer we were g gonna do i, whatevever hotel t that you waw. nobobody said nono to that.. mostst everybodydy was like, "tell l me when wewe're going to vegegas." - obviviously we w were not gonna dodo a reunionon, um, , but to thehe winners,, we tolold them, uhuh, "we'rere planning g this bibig reunion,n," and wewe started to get t them actualally excited d to be going to l las vegas.. - that w was kind ofof fundamel thatat was a bitit of a ruse. we, , you know----we didn't te rereservationsns in las veve. i i think the e pitch was, you u know, "we'e're gonna p put your stsy up on the e big screenen "andnd, you knowow, ovover a dinnener, "andnd everybodydy's gonna c. are yoyou intereststed in thehe reunion o of winners" and of couourse they a are. wewell, lockining them intno a ststory on camamera takes s a b minus s case and d makes it, , you know,, an a, a a plus case.e.

[distant cars passing] [upbpbeat music]c]

♪ - mymy name is d doug astral, i'm an f fbi agent,, and i wawas the lighghting y for the e shamrock p productin in thehe mcdonald'd's case. oh, so thihis is the l little-- yeah, i i remember t this. [laughs]s] ♪ - dougug astralagaga was a a relativelyly young agege. uhuh, you knowow, real----real enthuhusiastic, uh, , charismatitic guy. - whenen i came ouout of quant, i i wanted to o do somemething exciciting. - origiginally i h had stuckm wiwith the admdmin agent on thihis title iiiii, which isis, uh, of all thehe jobs, prprobably thehe most thanank. i mean, itit--it realllly is - a brutalal job, but ththere's a rereward pros ththat happensns, so in dougug's case, we letet him wowork on the e undercoverr with--withth doug maththews as t the-- the "l"lighting guguy." - i had d no idea what i w was doing..

i was s just usingng this l light meterer and presessing sometething on this gogoing, "i"it's great.t." this i is--i stillll have no ia how w to use onene of these. [laughghs] excellllent, but i i do beliee we need d more lighthting ovover here. ♪ rereally, the e point wass to engngage them in conversrsations. ththat had to o reconcile e witt ththey had oririginally ststd fofor mcdonaldld's to winin the prizeze. - we recororded thesee inteterviews witith them so the fbibi could thehen mamatch the titimeline match ththe facts. what t they origininally toldld mcdonald'd's, what they'y're tellingng us onon camera, whatat the fbi sort of f already knknew. - so that t once we hahad the e evidence s showing that you know y you didn'tt win ththis legitimimately, you'u've lied toto the fbi,, and hehere's the e evidence to prorove it, theyey would be e more willg toto cooperatete. - yes. - the fbi i was merelyly--whe- when thehe fbi took k a film cw

to a winnen, that winnener had alrereay cocontacted sisimon marketet, hehence mcdonana, claiming t to have beeeen a win. they're e already sasa, "i"i did th, and this i is how i obobtaind ththis game pipiece" anan individuaual could neneverm that's's entrapmet because ththey did it t befoe the law enenforcementt was ininvolve. entrapapment is totoe law enforcrcemt put the e idea io the peperson's hd and d to get thehem to do sosomg they oththerwe wouldn't h have do. we weren't't saying, "say thihis, say thihis, anand say thatat." we were sasayi, "how? what? where? whwh" ththose are jujust opportuts for him toto fill in t the blas and d tell us what he e wants to t tell us. - - remember j just keep looking atat me. - okok. - anand if you m mess up oror you feel l like

you wanna a say it agagain, we canan start allll over aga. - okayay. and i'llll try to lilimit mymy hand geststures. somemetimes it g gets in theho i'i'll make susure i don't't do. umum, okay, whwhy don't wewe gk to that t day that y youn in n new hampshe and cacan you justst sof dedescribe thehe day for u ? whatat you were e doing ine mornrning and atat work and d - - it was a a, uh--a susummer d. uh, no, wawait, uh, i wasn't't working.. it was s sunday, as a matteter of fact.t. uhuh... and ththere wasn't't a whole t of w work to do,o, so, uhuh, you knowow, justst browsing g through the sundayay paper as i am wawant to do.. - he was f fumbling ththrougt tryingng to figurere out how hehe won thatt particicular piecece. in r reality, a lilife experieience like t t is dririlled into o your memomory foreverer and ever. nobody w wins $1 milillion onon a regularar basis. - uh, i fofound the ininsert

and i founund the, uh,h, little teaear-off tabb and i gogot cold, very colold. - hehe was sweatating so bad. like, i knknow at someme point,, amy y even said d to me, "evevery time yoyou ask himm a ququestion, it's l like i gotttta get the towewel to dot h his head" itit was pouriring out.... - uh-- - becacause he wasas lying about eveverything.. - - well, suffffice it to o , i just----i just gotot cold all over.. - no, , i, uh, firirst i wasn'- i i wasn't so o sure aboutut. i went t to a lawyerer. - [lauaughs] - i i did. i wawant--you knknow, yoyou need to o protect yoyouf anand, uh-- - - no, i don'n't. uh---- - nono, it was, , um-- ohoh...

over i in, uh-- oh... - yoyou could zozoom in, 'cause we e did, zoom in onon his forehehead and d you could d just see the sweaeat. [tense mususic] - yes.s. - okay.. - yeah, , um-- - i'm leakaky. - [g[giggles] - you knowow, anand i'd sasay stuff lilik, "hey, soso nobody, l like, calllled you up p and said,, "'hey, w we need youou to be a a winner,' o or whatevere" and he'd'd go, "god,d, no! i'i'd never dodo that!" and it j just--just t pours. the sweat t would pourur. i wewent to a lala, uh, and d he adviseded me to p- at all cosost, prototect my idedentity. - itit just seememed odd to o mt many of f the peoplele i talkeo did not wawant to comeme forwd and ththey seemedd to havave knowledgdge ababout what t their lelegal rightsts were ababout, uh, being anononymous or n not.

- buddy fifisher was t the fatr of robobin colombobo, uh, , who was mamarried to jerry c colombo. [dramatitic music] - i'i'll never f forget it.. i was upupstairs in my bedrdroom, and d my father r called mee and d there wasnsn't manyny words excxchanged. he j just said,, "i wanant the big g one," so i knew w what it memeant. - he d did get onene of t the $1 millllion tickets anand he had n never brokeken w in his e entire lifefe. one e stipulatation ththat my granandfather mama, um, , he says, " "okay, if i- if i i get this s ticket, i do not----i'm--i'm n not dog a commerercial." [phone r rings] bubut i remembmber we woulue getting phphone calls,s, and d they wouldld talk to my grgrandfatherr and say, " "hey, we'rere tryig to get allll of the, u um-- the mononopoly winneners togetr for r some kind d of reunion" oror somethingng like thata. i i wanna say y it was vegeg,

so h he did makeke that trip. - nonow, had youour wife or r e in your whwhole famiy everer won anythg lilike that bebe? - - no, no. - never? - nonothing. - so this s was big. - it--huhuge. - soso you're ththe luckiestse inin your famimily, h? - yes,s, yes. - [laughs]s] - soso has any o of your ks or g grandkids p played monony or trieded to n or anyththing like t ? - yes, yeses, and wewe still do.o. - oh, gogood. - anand we stillll do, yes.. - have anyny of them n any y cars o- - nono. - [c[chuckles] - i thinink i won a a cheesebur. - [laughs] - you s--he did do one? i did d not know t that. oh. okay, yeah. i di--i i did not knknow tha. hmm.m. okay.. wow. [l[laughs] isis that arouound? [laughs] [u[upbeat musisic] - you know, the greed was crazy here,

which is great for us. [laughs]

[jazz mumusic] ♪

- onone night jejerry and ii were out w with our wiwives to dinnerr and wewe went to the m men's room m togethe. that soundnds horriblele but e went to ththe men's roroom toger and jerry y gave me a $1 m million ticicket. - this i is for you.u. and i toldld him, "i don't't wanna be e involve. i realally don't."." i--i had n not cashed d in anytg but a a $25,000 titicket. i i told him i i didn't nend the $1$1 million.. i told himim i was outut of i. i sasaid, "jerryry, you knowow? "i"i don't knonow what yououd withth these guyuys, "h"how much yoyou made, or anyththing else.. "therere's a timee and d there's a a place. ststop," and e everything g e. he said, " "well, justst do something g with the t ticket" [disistant classssical mumusic playining] so i i took the e ticket ani flflushed it d down the toto. [t[toilet flusushes] - didndn't--nothining. zeroro. - - i didn't, , either. how's ththat?

yeah, , how's thatat? i didndn't either.r. nono. i knknew i was d doing the e right thining. anand jerry hahad told mee it w was over anand that was. [distant c classical music plplaying] i'm m telling yoyou, ththe night i i flushed ththat t down thehe toilet, i thought t it was ovever. i thoughght it was o over. i swear r to you on everyththing holy,, i i thought itit was over.. [dramatic music] - if i even suspected he was taking tickets, i would have told on him in a heartbeat, and he knew it. and i thinink that's w why i dididn't know w it. i-i--i bet thahat's why i didn't't get a ticicket. [laughghing] ♪ afafter jerry y got sick w wis guillainin-barré synyndrom, there wawas somethining difft inin him. even thougugh he was well o on the roadad to mend,

he could have repercussions later on beining crippleded or bedridin or d dead. ♪ so h he had noththing to lose at t that point.t. ♪ - - my husbandnd, jerry, wewe got a lotot of mymy family memembers invovol, and d that isn't't all. my family members that won, that was just a little piece of the pie. [door creaking] [crickets chirping] you had al capone with the prohibition. ♪ you had d mike franznzese wiwith the gasas, and then n now you havave th- the momonopoly. ththat's realllly the highght ththree moneymymakers ofof the mob s so far. ♪ mymy husband p picked the e w.

he h had ticketsts. hehe flew evererywhere. i thinink uncle jejerry may e eveven got a l little jeala. - "unclele jerry" is jeromome jacobsonon. anand jerry isis my husbana, jerrrry colombo.o. jacobson b became unclcle jery because ththat's an italianan thing. my husbaband gave hihim tht out of resespect. [tenense music]] ♪

- if youour general opinion of manankind is running kind of low this holiday season, herere's a storyry that might makeke you feel l much, muchch better ababout the e human racece. ♪ - st. jujude childreren's research h hospital in memphphis has receceived a very ununusual gift.t. [car enginine revving]g] ♪ - yeah, that's's--that's uncle jejerry. ♪ - hospitalal officialsls are cacalling thisis a gift frorom an angelel in the trurue spirit of thehe season. ♪ - thisis is a happppy day. whoo-hoo!! ♪

- if you'r're out therere and yoyou hear me,e, we lovove you. [b[bright tonene]