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

- whwhiskey. where's ololiver? [cat meoeows] oliverer, come on!n! i helped pick the winners. i gagave some tickets to some e friends ofof mine and fafamily membebers whwho needed i it. i wawanted them m happy, so. i gave 'em things. i was s gonna gett the $1 million, but i gaveve it to my y fathe. and, u um... maybe ifif certain t things never happppened... this monopoly thingg would still bebe going on n t.

it's true.e. [draramatic musisic] ♪ ♪

- with s shamrock prproductios and d the "reuninion of winnnne" i think sosome of themem are prpretty legenendary, in terms o of whatat was captutured on fil. - - like buddydy fisher and mr. . hoover, gloria brorown was anan instant $ $1 million n win. she hahad won in s south carol. - gloria had said her r address was in t the hilton n head area of soututh carolinana, but she wawas from jacksonvnville, flororida. there wawas always s somethg thatat i was tryrying toto drive outut. i was s trying to o expand thes ththat they wewere tryingg to put o out there becacause i knowow ausa devevex neededs a groundnd ball, boy needs s something g easy.

- - [laughs] - i'm m kidding, he's good d at his jobob. - - it's been n a decade,, but t i enjoyed d it. first titime, yeah..... - wellll, i was ununemployed at that titime, right t in-- - mmmm-hmm, mm-h-hmm. - but t i am a sococial worke. i i just was taking a a break frorom... stressss. i'm nonot doing itit anymore, thank k god. [laughter]r] - yeahah. yeah. mm-hmm, mmmm-hmm. - no, , most-- - momost of my f family isis here. i hahad a friendnd, a personl frieiend and anonother frien, a a couple of f friends there ththat-- basicacally what i i was doig was a a lot of visisiting, job b searching g at that tit, so, yoyou know, trying t to relocatete. - one ththing that s struck e was thatat ms. brownwn wasnsn't as openen and frieney asas mr. hoovever was. she seemeded to be on n guar, whether oror not she s suspecd something was awryry or not,

she e just...shehe just wasn't as s forthcomining. - yeahah, yeah. - yeyes, yeah. - wellll, in hiltoton head, you knowow, um, , during thahat time i w , you u know, liviving with a a f, of course,e, and, um,, tryingng to job huhunt and d right now,w, i haveve my own agagenda, you knknow, i haveve my patieients to carare for. umum...i'm bususy, like totoy i'm m taking a t trip, you k , anand, um... umum day-to-daday-- i i work sevenen days a wewe, babasically, y you know, i'm on c call all ththe time. soso compared d to back thth, um, , and to nowow, i would d say that, , um... mcdonaldld's have mamade it so t i i can just l lie withoutt any ststress, you u know?

- um, a lilittle over r a yea, back and f forth. - many o of the winnnners we sayingng they liveved in one , but ththen had a p post officx where theyey would havave ththeir winninings sent tot, so they y would set up fakake addresseses. anand so, a lot of the e evidee that i w was gatheriring wawas around where they y liv, exacactly what s store they yn the mcdonald's monopoly piece at. - soso, i said,, "gloria,a, do you reremember ththe mcdonaldld's where y u wentnt to claim m the prize?" "absbsolutely."" "this isis a picturere." we tooook a picturure of it and d put it on n this board and shshe said, "o"oh, my go, that's exaxactly the o one," anand i said, , "you know w w, cacan you autotograph thatat fo" - "thanknks a millioion." - [lauaughing] - ththat picturere that s she signed,d, itit was not i in hilton h , sosouth carolilina.

itit was jacksksonville, f flo. - no, i susure don't.. - - the fake a address was a papart of the e scheme. anand so, rickck had thiss survrveillance p photo ofof a mcdonalald's right therere in jacksksonvi. and d i go, "oh,h, my god, that's pererfect." so i take e it with meme. "what t are you gogonna do?" and i sasaid, "i'm g gonna-- i'm gonna a use it. wait a and see. i'm gogonna show y you." anand, as she'e's doing itit, shshe's like,, "oh, m my god, thahat's just- that's not i it. that's's not it."" and i'm lolooking over-- it's's starting g to get louo, and d i'm like, , i'm looking b, "do o you want that herere? i mean----they almost can hehear that."" - mm-hmmmm. - [i[indistinct t speech] - that's w what i loveve. [indisistinct speeeech] every timeme i talked d to t, theyey would jusust lie, lieie. and it w was perfectct for ththe fbi becacause it wasas ry

buildiding evidencnce and helpg ththem build t their case.. but t we also wanted to mamake e that it t seemed likike we w were havingng fun. because, oncnce again, that's h how it woululd be at a a real shoot. - okay. - oh, wawait--oh, ththere's-- - - uh, doug b brought a lot of t that energygy. - upup there? okay. - okayay. [lauaughter] - okay.. okay.. - okokay. - that's t typical matathews. ththat's what t he would d . - thanksks a millionon, mcdonal. [lauaughs] - okokay, look r right inin the camerera anand say it r right therer. - thananks a millilion, mcmcdonald's.. - anand it was h hard sometits to k keep a straraight face, to be honenest with yoyou. it was verery hard at t time, 'cause thehe things wewe were doing with the ligight meter or the c camera and d sitting m anand fixing t them up, we had no o idea. - i gogot my mcdononald's millions----million at hiltoton head in south c carolina,

and itit made me a a... millionanaire. - [lauaughing] that's cutute. - pretetty close, , okay. - - what i figigured out at an eaearly age inin the buru is, you pupush it and d then u think itit's--you kekeep pushi. yoyou never knknow when you're gononna hit a w wall. anand, of coururse, i i never founund the botttt. the bottomomless tetea glass, r right? it's's perfect f for me. jujust keep gogoing. and, of f course, shshe did. - roron and i wiwill s-- ron-n-- ugh.h. - - ron and i i will sesee you in v vegas. thank k you, mcdononald's. [lauaughter] - we knew w it was such gooood evidencece haviving gloria a sitting heh, jujust making g the story y . and d doing it w with this sincerity-y--this fakeke sincer. it was----it was--asas a crimininal investitigator,

it w was an awesesome thining to beholold. - - there werere so many difft layersrs of the coconspiray thatat we were i investigatit, and d the more sophisticacated a scheheme, the e more diffificult it is to prorosecute thehe case. nonow you haveve actual video prododuction ththat you canan show a juju. that's v very powerfrful. [upbeat mumusic] - by t this time, , literally almostst the wholele office n, or a big m majority ofof the, have been n diverted t to workn what we e call opereration finanal answer.. ♪ ♪ - we workeked seven dadays ak on a a regular b basis, but at timimes it did d not feelel like workrk. we had g great camararaderie between alall of the a agents that werere working g it, anand we knew w the missioion- what we e were trtrying to acaccomplish was a noblble one and d a good . um, so nobobody ever complainined about i it. ♪ ♪ - things w were movingng fa, and natuturally, we always s want to move atat our pace.e.

we w wanna contrtrol the e timing of f things, anand we did n not hahave that luluxury. the gameme was runnining. there was s clock runnnning on h how long wewe could keep it t a secret.. throughohout this, we were e really, rereally rackcking up incncredible evevi, discovering nenew people,, provoving all didifferent eles of what wawas going onon. anand we kind d of knew the prprocess of how ththese were p placed, but t the one ththing ththat was stitill out thee was how isis jerry jacacobson doing ththis? that w was kind ofof this nagg, you knowow, thisis nagging q question mam. - whatat we had toto vet out here is,s, who-- who was s helping jejerry? - - hilda bennnnett was the cpcpa that wouould travel with mr. j jacobson toto thee vavarious manunufacturing g pla. anand we didn'n't know, are theyey in cahootots? onon an investstigation, you jujust don't cut sosomebody outut. anand so, we h had to survrvl ms. bennetett as well.l.

- you wantnt cheese? - yep. - i neneed to gett a large e coffee withth ten creamam and five e . - ananything elslse? - yep,p, another l large coffefe wiwith ten creream and fivive . - okokay. - - that is eqequal? - - yep. - - awesome, t thank you.. - you'u're welcomeme. - - have a grereat day. - thank k you. - oh, thatat's perfectct. the onone time i'v've seen uncle jejerry was upup in geo. mymy brother w went to go o . i stayayed in the e car. i didndn't get outut of the r bebecause he d didn't direry involve meme 'cause hehe ws always tryrying to prorotect. they donon't want me to get t involved.. - but giviving you a l little taste at t the same titime. - i guesess so, yeah, yeyeah. ♪ ♪ uncle e jerry wass a mimiddle-aged d guy. just n normal, aveverage hei, nonormal, avererage build. but sizeze doesn't m matter. like my dadad always u used toy

and ststill does s say, "as s long as ththis works,, thatat's all i n need. onone finger."." anand it's thehe truth. - and ththe famy that's b backing y. - yeah, and a a family that's bacacking you.. thatat's a big t thing. ♪ ♪ jerome w was gegetting the e tickets, but when i it came to.o...uh. - dispersising. - dispersing the tickets, i don't think he had the e resources s to do the eg $1 millilion hits eveverywher, so i thinknk that's where mymy brother totook the reieins of evereryth. so unclele jerry wasas gettg the tickckets anand selling g them to mymy br and thenen my brotheher would sell them m to other p people and d it was jusust a--literera, itit was a mononopoly of s scam. everery ticket was a little different. the agreement with uncle jerry wawas dependining on the v e of the ticicket. ththe $1 millilion tickets were going for 50 grand. uncle jerry would get the 50,

and then my brother would get half of whoever won. anand so, if t they got the papayments for 20 years and d so forth, , he'd get h, and then the winner would get half. so it was a better deal for mymy brother, , long-te, than i it was for r uncle je. [light mususic] ♪ ♪ i i really dididn't think muchch of it, 'c'cause someoeone had toto win, so..... in my y brother's s eyes, itit was, "okay, well, "instead of joe shmoe e winnin, i'm gonna make, you u know, johnhn shmoe winin." the money'y's still gonna gogo somewherere, yoyou know, wewere just redirectining it. the $1$1 million t ticket was supppposed to bebe our wewedding giftft. we w were marrieied november 24, 1 1997. - 1996. - 199696... let's start that over again. [laughter] cut thatat. whoops, , i'm gettining my a ass kicked d tonight. [laughteter] okayay. um, but ththat was gononna be o our gift, o our weddingng.

free o of charge.. we didn't have to o buy it. - the mcdonald's piece was in one of ththe little,, i guesess you'd cacall them ege, lilike your kikids get toyon atat the gumbaball machine. it was in there, in the back of the freezer, underneath two ice cube trays. i remember exactly how it sat. - it w was just chchilling. - it wasas just chilill. - - i always looked up to my brother. he wasas my protecector, pretty mucuch. he w would alwayays come to visit m me and throw me a couple thousand dollars, like it was me giving away a couple dollarsrs to the kikid. this is ouour son franankie. he dropped about $150,00000 and we j just decideded to takake a picturure, wewe kind of----thought it was kinind of funnyny. - i was s so upt over thahat pictu. because itit was such h dirty my around sucuch a cle, perfecect ba. - ah, , it was preretty crazy,y, but...wiwith that cocomes a pr. - - put it thihis way. uncle jejerry calleded my he atat least thrhree times a a k

toto tell jerrrry whwhat he had d to do nextx. and d he and i would tatalk, you knknow, sometimemes 30 minututes, sosometimes 4545 minutes.. and mymy husband w would meet him i in atlanta. [dramatic music] ♪ ♪ - i don't t know how m many people he e hooked up.p. - - it was w way more than i i thought i it was. - my b brother hadad a lolot of connenections all l over the p place 'c'cause he hahad nightclus anand certain n things that he e was doingg ththat i can't't really mementi, 'c'cause i'm s sure the fbfbi's gonna watctch this tapape some. [laughghs] but there was a a lot of t things thatat he was inint. soso my brotheher started, you u know, expanding to in-lawsws and brotother-in-lawaws and frfriends and d friends of friendsds and... anand that's h how he tookk thisis little smsmall operatan and d made it huhuge. - i i was workining atat the airlilines inin jacksonviville here,, anand a passenenger came througugh named cocolombo.

riright off ththe bat, he was verery personabable and, um,m, a gentlememan. my last name was italian, so he seemed to take a liking to me. first ththing he saiaid toto me, he wawas like, "hey, herere's some money, go o eat, go eaeat." and d i just thohought ththat was so o funny becacae that's h how italianans are. anand it just t made me fefl at e ease with h him, ththat this isis a good peper. i never r knew he wawas marri. i didndn't really y care becae i i didn't reaeally have a y relalationship o on that leve, you know, , in my mindnd anywa. one day,y, we were j just driving araround, and d he s, "hey, i i want to shshow you something,g," so we pupulled o. and,d, uh, he rereaches around thehe backseatt and hehe pulls outut the wiwinning piececes. itit was, likeke, the wholole . it's $10100,000. and i i was like, , "wow, so many y people arere trying "to wiwin this thihing, and d you're sititting heree with all four pieces." [laughghs] you know, i'm m like, "whahat"

"if you'u're interesested," hehe says, "just t walk in mcmcdonald's "and thihis is what t you gotto and d this is hohow it rolls" he goes, "i'll gigive you 20,0,000 now and i'i'll give yoyou anotother 10,00000 later." and i i thought, "wow, ththat's a lotot of mone" you know w what i meanan? i coululd go buy m me a car, you knknow, i coululd go do some stuffff, you knowow... 'causese back thenen, you kn, i'i'm working g at the airir, what a am i makingng? yoyou know, $1$10 an hour? i was gameme for somemething exhihilarating.. so he hahad me fly t to phill. beining with i'm'm with the airlrlines, i cacan do t. he picked d me up atat the airpoport, we d drove rightht to mcdonans anand i didn't't even have to t think for m myself, you know w what i meanan? just follow the script. anand that's e exactly whahat. and i was s just like,e, "um, i----i'm the wiwinner." anand he's likike, "huhuh. so y you're the e winner." it was j just too eaeasy.

but i i didn't knonow... the aftetermath that was t to follow.. i i mean, 'cauause there w was s that n nobody knewew, anand i just kept it t all to mysyself. - mymy husband,, he p picked the e winners, bubut he kept t picking itits on the easast coast. they were-e--they were kind of being ststupid aboutut it. sosomebody wasas bound to get s suspicious,s, so i i told my h husband, "i've e got a frieiend in jacacksonville.e. bring sosome women i into it and women of color."

- mymy name is gloria a brown-byerer, and i liveve in jacksosonvill. i've been here all my life. i didn't wanna be interviewed d anymore. i don't wawant toto talk to a anybody elsle ababout the mcmcdonald's t th. 'c'cause it wawas... a whole lolot. i was s a mcdonaldld's $1$1 million w winner. and...thisis is the fifirst te that i i've reallyly just had the opopportunity y to jus- to just t really jusust say, "o"okay, i'm g gonna lay a l my carards on the e table anand to tell l everythingn" i i mean...i m mean--even n th mymy sister wawas there, she don't t know all t the deta. i i mean, she'e'll be heararins

for the fifirst time h hersel, some of f this stuffff. i hahave a son, , and i raid him m as a singlgle parent. he, as a child, was very understanding. we had a relationship where, if money was not available, i'd didiscuss it w with him, and we w worked it o out toget. i alwaways had to o work, and i alwaways manageded to keep a a job, bubut it was a always a ststru. years passssed by and i dididn't see r robin for someme years andnd, um, when she c called me,, she told m me she e had got mamarried. i'm m thinking m maybe now she has s somebody t that can lookok out for h her and shehs vevery happy b being with h j. i think k it was in n '97. robin hahad called m me and d she hahad somethining shshe wanted t to discuss s w, but we cououldn't talklk about t it over ththe phon. so jerryry asked mee to comome and visisit. it wasas at their r home inin south cararolina.

mymy first i impressionn of j jerry colomombo was that he was a r real-life comedidian type guguy, you k. and he trereated me just like e i had beenen aroud the whwhole time.. but ththe thing ththat botheree is t that there e was neverr any timeme that she e and i cocould be alolone, eveven when wewe went shopopp, he went shshopping witith us. [l[laughing] one e night i hahad just sai, "can y you just leleave us ale for r a few minunutes? durn, , jerry." and thenen he left u us alone justst for a fewew minutes,, and hehe came backck. wewe were not t allowed to reaeally discususs anythin. fifinally he t talked to m e abouout a propososition, and d it was a p proposition that w would help p me. he askeded me, was i i familir with thehe mcdonald'd's gagame piece?? i sasaid yes. so he sasaid pepeople are p picked to be winnnners. this is s how it's alwayays been donone.

anand then he e told me thtt he would let me know what the next step was. when i firirst got thehe offer.. i thoughght to myselelf that it was s a blessingng that came knocking at my door. and... you know, i was going to church and i wawas doing--t-trying to do the right thining and... my son wasas young, and i wawas making..... probablyly about $2424,000 a y, it w was just..... by the t time tataxes and ststuff come o o, it's realllly nothing.g. and i jujust wantnted a betteter life, anand i just f felt like this was m my opportununity. and i sasaid, "well,l, ththis couldn'n't come to oe if i it wasn't m meant for m "

- my brother was always joking around, always making people laugh, always having a good time. veryry lightheararted, uh, but if youou pissed hihim off, then he cacan have a a temper as s well. but he n never was t the type of persoson who woululd grab u or, you u know, threreaten you. - oror rough youou up. - or roughgh you up. you knew i if he lookeked at u when he totold you exaxactly whwhat he wantnted you to o , you u knew you h had to do i. - ththe whole relationonship changnged. it got t to the poinint that i i didn't talalk to robinin an, i ononly talkedd to jererry colombobo. and i fifinally gott the ininformation n from hm that i i was gonnana be a $1 millilion winnerr and that h he needed m me toto come up w with some m mo. anand i'm askiking him, "w"" then he e said, "everybodydy that winsns has to givive someme upfront m money." and d i'm like, , "how much?"

anand he askeded me how muchch i could c come up ? i saidid, "i realllly dodon't have a any money," so he saidid, "can youou get momoney off yoyour house?"" [dramatitic music] ♪ ♪ cacan't back o out now. he's t told me toooo much. i momortgaged mymy home toto get my upupfront monen. ♪ ♪ i put alall the stufuff i i worked harard for on t te because e i believeded that t this was mymy blessin. i memet him on the s side of thehe road

and gaveve him my fifirst poportion of m my money. ♪ ♪ it f felt like s something had just b been rippeded from m. and, y you know, to meet t somebody on thehe side of t the road and giveve them cashsh money, that mucuch at one t time... that's m more than i i ever had in my y hand at onone tie in m my life, anand i just had to givive it all a away. i justst felt thatat i jujust had gavave my life y and i'm gigiving it toto someby i don't t know much h about. can i i even trustst this g? you u know. ♪ ♪

- befofore my husbsband was workining the mononopoly fraudud gam, we had my son, francescsco gennaro o colom. [indistitinct speechch] - say y hi to the e camera, frankikie. - hi, , camera! [laughteter] - - bye, camerera. - bybye, camera.a. eaeasy. - - basketballll. - [l[laughing] - i wawas, at timemes, rereally very y happy. i i had my sonon. i i had some m money. i should'v've at leastst been h having a gogood tim. but i wawas never sasatisfie, ever. umum, i went f from home t toe

thinking t that one was gonnnna make it t better. you dodon't have f friends. you can'n't bring frfriends into thahat lifestylyle. evenen though i adorored my husbsband, i fofound out hehe had a mimistress on n the side,, which i guess is a prerequisite of an italalian gangstster to h have a miststress. i was walklking down t the hay to c check on frankie, while e he was sleleeping, when i heaeard my husbsband on thehe telephonene saying, u. someme unsavory y words to h . anand i bargeded in and i i s, "w"who the helell arare you talklking to?" and i tookok the phonene fromom him. and i i took it, a and i slslammed it a across his s f. - theyey did get in a lot o of fights.. um, , she would d say a lott of mean,n, nasty thihings to hi. shshe was veryry abusive,, as far a as physicalal-- slslapping anand so forthth and so onon.

robin woululd just tryry swininging and c clawing at . i mean, , he would g grab her hs and d say, "stopop, stop, ststo" [doorbrbell rings]s] - anytime e i threatenened toto leave himim, uncle jerrrry would ststep . send 1 15 grand, b buy me a , um, whwhatever to o appease m. and,d, um... so i wouldn't leave. - my brother was always making money and he was never home. he a always hadd an excususe to go sosomewhere, to go o on a busininess trip,, to be sosomewhere. um...so o i knew he e wasn't ha. duriring the mononopoly situtu, my b brother wananted toto open up a a club in ladadson countyty, south h carolina.. i believe e he was trtrying to geget away fromom the life e of crime and he wasas trying toto make a lelegitimate b business.

soso he openeded up a placae calleded the fuzzyzy bunny. - the fuzzzzy bunny opopenes doors justst a half hohour , opening g the dos to a steteamy controrov. gurnalal? - well, dedebbie, we a are hee at the f fuzzy bunnyny, which is l located onn highwaway 78 and r royal, justst down the e road fromm the fafairgrounds s in ladso. and d the entertrtainment and the dadancing haveve begun herere at the c . - hehe had some e dancers, they w were wearining, um, bibikini tops.s... - and d pasti. it was n not full nunu. - wasn't't fully nududity. he wanteted to do classysy places. - he h had his mororals. - - yeah, he h had-- he had hisis morals. - i gogot girls in daisysy dukes, totops. i got t volleyballll courts being bubuilt outsidide, um.. i have l live concererts herere on the weweekends. basisically, ththat's aboutut it, realll. - he wanteted to make,e, likeke, a gentlelemen's club. and d his goal w was to openen p fourur or five o of these all l through hihilton headd and nortrth and soututh carolin. the coununty kekept on fighghting him and fifighting himim and d fighting h him. they kept t on shuttining himn for r this permimit, that pep. - - that's notot gonna ststop you frorom... - that's's not gonnana stop u. my attttorney toldld e

we c can--i meanan, whater we gototta do, we'e're gonna . i mean, , i'm out hehere trg to eararn a livingng for my fay justst like you u, anand that's . - i was prproud of himim for r actually d doing somemething legagal for oncece. - the onone time he e td toto do someththing leg. - right? - some p people haveve alreready tricklkled in to the eststablishmentnt her. - comingng soon, fuzuzzy bunny'. i hahate it so m much. and i i told my huhusband, i said, , "i know yoyou, "y"you couldn'n't just open a c club. you have t to try 'em m out." and i totold him to o stop. - - there is a an existingg court t order where the e club cacannot be opopened. - threree months l later, i thought t he had solold t or w whatever, so no o more fuzzyzy bunny. anand then onene night my y soni went o out to dinnnner, and hehe was like e two, ababout two yeyears old. we'r're driving g down the r, anand i pass f fuzzy bunny. anand i lookeded, anand there's s a bunch ofof s and d i'm like,, "damn, t there's my y car." i gogot a littlele closer, and i sasaid,

"a"and there's's my bibig, fat hususband." and i tuturned arounund and i jumped u up on the c curb and - and d jerry, he was s sitting bacack like a b big, fafat cat on t the phone.. and i i just punchched him right in t the jaw. i said, , "you are s so divorc" all the e guys are j just stag ththere just stataring, and d i said, "you're gogoing down.. all yoyou motherff**#*ers "are goingng down. evevery singlele one of yoy. i'm gogoing to thehe fbi," i s, "i'm goioing to the e witness protectition programam," i saidid, "so justst watch ou" so i g go to a payayphone; i calleded my parentnts. and d i said, "m"mom, i needu toto take two o names down" shshe goes, "what ththe hell havave you do" i sasaid, "well l i just threateneded three goooons "with h the fbi, s so if you dt hehear from meme in a coupuple, yoyou are to c contact thehm and d give them m these namem"

and unclcle jerry wawas the e top of thahat-- on that.....list. they beaeat me home.e. my h husband and two o big-ass gogoons. anand i said,, "this s is what i i want. i want a a moving trtruck he and a didivorce." hehe goes, "rorobin, you'u're never l leaving me. "there is no divorce. you're s stuck with h me." so i calalled uncle e jerr, and he s says, "you marriried the wrorong g" anand he askeded me to mararry. yeah. - yeah. anand i told h him no. i thouought, you k know, "i'm nevever gonna geget out of t" so i i stayed. but i was s a prisonerer in my owown home.

- jerry y colombo totold me that i h had to haveve a sosouth carolilina address. and hehe had a couousin that d atat this partrticular spo, and ththis was gononna bebe my addresess. and at t that point,t, i'm lilike, "oh, gososh." this isnsn't what i was expepecting. he coachched me on s some this that i i needed toto say and d work on anand believe. i had to l leave my vovoice one voicemaiail as if itit was my h. hihi, this is s gloria. leleave a messssage, and i'll g get back wiwith yo. hehe made me d do it titill i got i it right. you u know, he w wanted the right t tone, you u know. it hadad to be hapappy. one of t the things s that constantlyly crossed m my md

is t that my lifife was in d d. i had d no other o option but to takake this procecess throu. robin knknew all of f my famiy and mymy son. i jujust kind ofof felt like i w was trappeded. it was no way out, but to go through it. when timime to turn the g game piece e in, hehe picked meme up with t two . i dididn't knoww eithther one of f them. i alalmost feltt kidnapapped in a s sense, you knowow what i'm m saying? it's l like, "you're e here, andd you'rere gonna ridide with us and d you're gononna do what we sasay." "and you'r're gonna dodo it rig" all ththe way therere, jejerry colombmbo nenever stoppeped talking. telllling me whahat to do and d what you'r're gonna s. i mean, , he was jusust drill- and hohow you're g gonna do i. and ththey drove m me to t the mcdonalald's that they y had pickeded out thatat i was gononna go to.. he pararked the cacar in t the corner.r.

the tickcket was in n a little l abouout this talall wiwith a cap o on it. there e i was, walking g down this s block in a p place i i had never r been befor. itit was like e bank robbeby or somomething, yoyou know? they o on the blocock down a at the end.d. theyey don't wananna be seen. they down n the streetet, the gegetaway car.r. and d i'm like, , "oh, lord, this c could go soso bad." a lot ofof things wawas gogoing througugh my mind. am i gononna lie enough to o be believavabl? amam i gonna m mess up and then i i'm in trououbl? jujust all kinind of stuff was s going throrough my he. am i g going to jajail tody behind t this foolisishnes? and at t this point t in tim, i i was about t to panic.. and i'i'm saying t to myself.. "o"oh, lord, j jesus." i wantnted to cry y before i got intoto the placece and i saidid, "no, you can't t go in therere upse"

i had toto not be gloria a at that titime, i had to b become somemebody ele to makake it belieievable. hehere we go.. i had to g go in and stand d to this cocounter anand tell thehem that it t d like i'd b been a winnnner. the mamanager cameme out sa, "havave a seat."." anand i had toto give them my infnformation---- the e fake telepephone numbe, the e fake addreress. [dramatitic music] ♪ ♪

anand then thehey finally y ct and cocongratulateted me. the e manager atat the mcdono, the cashshiers, evererybody runnnning aroud so hapappy that they y got the wiwinnr come to ththeir mcdonanald'. and there i i was, i i couldn't e even hardlyy put a smilile on my faface. by t the time i i got to theh- got backck to the cacar, jejerry colombmbo wawas having a a fit. because e it had takake-- itit took too o long. and ththere he wasas, as s soon as i g get in the e, "okakay, what totook you so o " then i h had to explplain to h.

"w"well what w were you dodog all l that time?e?" "i"i was sittiting waitingn" you u know. "whahat did theyey tell you?" so they y told me ththey'd gt back--bebe getting b back with. i hungng around ananother day and thenen i came onon back toto jacksonviville. and wentnt back to w work like nothihing had hapappened anand i just h had to waiti.

- - they don't't want to se ththis club opopen up. - anand anybody y in the ladson-s-summervillele area knows ththat place h has been a bar r for 50 yeaears. it's's been a bibikers' clubub. it's b been a nighghtclub. it's been n a lounge.. - - my brotherer would use loopopholes afteter loopophole afterer loophol, and ththey finallyly came up with one t that was sasaying, uh, you cacan't have female danancers withihin 1,000 feetet of a schohool or somomething-- someththing to thahat nature,, what it t was. so h he turned t the fuzzy b buy

into thehe church ofof fuzzy bu. - ththe church of fuzzy b bunny's - - the churchch of fuzzy y bu. - the tranansformationon of theheir club intoto a church.h... - dadancing girlrls, alalcoholic drdrinks, anand the biblble? lowcountryry preachersrs say ththe switch f from fufuzzy bunny y club to fuzuzzy bunny c church is n nothing butut blasphemy. - i reallyly, honestl, didndn't see thehe big deal l , i'll be hohonest with h. 10100%, i swe. and d i mean, i'i'm a w, but i-i--i reay didn't't see th- the huhuge de. - those e two don't t mix, as f far as i'm m concerned. church a and strip j joints jujust don't m mix. - yeah, bubut they can't foolol people. nono good peopople is gonnna be goioing in thatat place. - - i don't sesee nothingg withth having a a place where e you can cocome in, say a fefew prayers,s, have a c couple drininks, see e some womenen dancing.. - - he liked t to be ththe center o of attentio, uh, and d if you messed witith him, he would j just play that game e as long asas it too. - mariananne, you're nexext on the l line with jererry colombobo, go ahea. go ahead, , marianne.. - - yes, um, i i think what youou're doingg is an ababomination n to god. and it's wrorong, it's wrongng in the eyeyes of.

and rereally, it's's wrong in morals,s, too. - all l rig. - thank k you. - - well, i guguess god hasn't talalked to youou lately. he came toto me in a a dream a cocouple weeksks ag, and he t told me whahat i'm dodoing is finine. - you say y that with h somewt of a smimirk on yourur fa, i meanan, you had d to have.. - i did hahave--i did d have a a dream one e night, thahat'. - wewell, we allll have dr, i don'n't know iff it's d divine intetervention. - thisis one was d divine. - - we never w went. - - no. - no--bubut it soundnded like a a fun time,e, though. - i mean, , a little p praye, a little p pasties.... - right? [laughteter] - all the e publicity y that s come outut of this s situatin with fuzzyzy bunny's h has eard owner,r, jerry cololombo, notitice from "the natioional enquirirer," comedy cenentral, the cable e channel, and this f friday, he e has a a scheduled d guest appepeae on thehe david letetterman sh. - oh, yeah. yes. - jerry colombo won a dodge viper. - jejerry colombmbo... - jerry cocolombo...

- jerry cocolombo... - jejerry colombmbo... - jerry cocolombo... [dramamatic music]c] ♪ ♪ - ththis is my f first letter of f congratulalation. they'r're congratutulating me for r being a $1$1 million wr and explplaining to o me that i'll be gegetting $50,0,000 for, u um, the nexext 20 year. the check k came in ththe mai, which--t-that went to my y fake addreress. and jerrrry brought t it to m, and i i told him i'll depeposit the c check, and thenen he said,, "you d didn't gett any cacash off of f it?" i'm lilike, "no, they gototta put a h hold on i" duduring that t time, mymy bank accocount was alalway, so i i had to gogo back to t thk and insisist on getting g something.g. soso i got $2,2,000 anand i gave i it to him..

when i it did cleaear, he wasas calling m me to add to t the 2,000 a and make iti. so i jusust took thehe mony and gaveve it to himim. didndn't ask anyny questions. hehe worked ouout a deal w we what i i had, he t took and, , for ththe first fifive years, i had d to give ththem... gigive jerry c colombo $2525,. nothining changed d for me. now, i nevever acted like i i had moneyey. 'cause i was in a deeper hole than i was before i didid it. took my y mortgage up higheher, of coururse. i wewent from papaying 30300 and somemething a momoh toto $1,000, so i wasas just likeke-- "phew!w!" thatat's when i i found outt abouout the taxexes. jerry cocolombo got t $25,000 eachch time befofore taxes..

i i didn't go o out and buy ananything. i couldndn't buy anynything. i i was so strtressed. wewell, jerry y colombo always h had to consnsult withth the head d man. "let me cacall uncle j jerr" unclcle jerry isis being reported t to about eveverythi. during t that time,, i felt l like uncle e jerry wawas the mainin mob man.. [chuckckles] withthin that fifirst yeara, mcdodonald's wananted me to o all thisis publicityty. but i jujust couldn'n't get t into it. jejerry cololombo's thining, "they wawant you to o adverte "b"because youou are ththe first blblack, "and y you're femamale. and d you got ththe $1 millil" and i'm sasaying to mymyself, "yeah, butut...

"i"i don't wananna keepep talking t to people "and telliling people e this sy over a and over anand over and overer and over.r." but t he said ththat wewe had to dodo this. wewe stayed inin the four r s. i think ththat was the firsrst time i e ever had the oppoportunity toto just ordr whwhat i want t off the memu and not woworry about t a t. thenen i came inin here and the gigirl took soso long toto come out t and i saidi, "thihis must be e real." soso, you knowow, it's jusust-s just allll beginningng to set . just--i i just don't't know how to desescribe it.. itit's undescrcribable. the e best part t about it,, the wholole thing, is that i i got a chanance to meeeet sherman n hemsley. the marketing company, they had a big celebebration. itit was sometething likee a prpromotion tytype thing and jejerry colombmbo said, "uncle jererry's gogonna be in n the audienen" and d i'm like, , "god..." [inhaleses] soso... theyey had this s big checkk for meme to hold

and take a a picture and ththen they sasay, "speak" i'm lilike... [s[sighs] here i g go. more l lies. i was kindnd of out ofof i. i could d hear the cameraras going. ththe whole titime i'm thihing about ththis mob manan in t the audiencnce. never seseen a pictuture of , didndn't know who i i was lookining for, bubut i kept l looking to o e whwhich one itit could be.. afafter that,, i finalllly just tolold him, "i"i don't wanant to dodo anything g else. don'n't--don't p put me outt to do anything else." jerrrry colombo o said, "uncle j jerry was i in the c. hehe said you u did great.t" it just was little things like that, that made sure, i guess, i i stayed onon my ts and d did what i i needed toto anand do it prproper. so i wasas still undnder thatat web the w whole tim.

i didndn't know whwhere to t. i i didn't knonow what to o. ththere's justst really no way o out of it.. and d i said to o myself, "now whahat's next?"?" - asas soon as i i got ththat check, , things chahan. i'm in hisis car, and we're e going to t this ba. we needed d to get thehe chk cashed r right therere. anand all the money wewent righght to jerryry's hands. ththe teller said to m me, hehe said, "geget that monon. it's $5050,000 taxeses on tha. make surure you get t that." but t i didn't t think ananything of f it. it just t kind of--- you u go numb, y you know, there's jujust no thouough. anand that's k kind of howow , i think,k,

wiwith that momoney, 'c'cause it's s not mine.. hehe said thatat he had to go o to uncle j jerry firs, gigive him hisis piece of f e anand then eveverybody gets a pieiece of piee and it hasas to go, yoyou kno, inin that ordeder befofore i can g get my mone. so i----i kept calalling him d calllling him anand he wouldlde callll me back a and say, "im gonnnna get the e money for r, "i gotot the moneyey on me, it's g gonna be lilike anotother week,"," or whateve, he just t kept puttiting me o. i heard d the differerence inin his voicece, like, lili- likeke, "don't b bug me. you're gononna get youour mone" i--i belieieved... that g gennaro owowed uncle j jerry moneye. i believeve the moneney got toog to not takake a biggerer piee of that pipie. because ththe spendingng habis became b bigger and d grande.

and i'm ththinking, "o"okay, that's w why i'm m not gettining my money" - i'm wondering if the local banks will have the money... - mm-hmm. [laughter] - you know, it's a small town. - it's a cute town. - it really is. - it's a great little town. - i love it! - it's like living in the '60s. - you coululd ask any numberer of peoplele, what wouould drive y you toto do what t these peoplpl? - and the e first onee i peeleled off, i i believ, was pepennsylvaniaia avenue,d ththe second o one i peelelef was $1$1 million instanant prize wiwinner and it wasas like, "wow, is t this for rereal" - a lolot of this s is stealig moneney, using a a device totot tricicking somebebody into i. and ththen two or r more do th, thatat's the "coconspiracy." dedevereaux's s gonna be so happypy i said ththat. but it's m more than t tha. - - breakfast t sandwich?? - yeyeah, that's's what it w . a breaeakfast sandndwich, a breakfasast sandwichch. - a lolot of 'em are goodod people, they make e bad decisision, whetheher it be ththey have fan intoto a financicial problem

and ththey hear a a nice way to get o out of it.. - thatat's your momotivation. "okay.y. "i'm gonnana do it bececause, you knowow, i need m money to- for mymy kid's heaealth or schl oror i'm gonnana retire."" - huhuman naturere makes us d do differenent thing. peoplele want to j justify what they y did or whyhy they did d it soso they can n really live with h themselveses. eveveryone, everyonene watching g this shw cannnnot stand in frontnt of a mirrrror, look at t themselveses in the s and sasay they've e never done sometething that t they wh ththey could c correct and take b back.

- a cocouple of yeyears lat, i hahad this comompany that s

calllling me on n a regular r bs trying t to get me to c come on thihis trip. i was vevery reluctatant, but they k kept sayingng it w was for allll the winnen. they w wanna find d out where we a are now, what we'e're doing, , you kno, justst a follow-w-up. a lot t of this ststuff i just wananted to blolock t and d just forgeget it and d you just k kind of wenen and d laughed anand talked,, and, you know, it t just--tryy to makake me feel l comfortab, but i i never feltlt comfortae about this wholele thing. - um, basicacally, whatat i'd like e you to do.o... - somebobody asking g me a a question f from over on this s side, somebody a asking me a a questn fromom over on t this side-- that's's when i knknew that somomething wasasn't rig. i was abouout to get s sick o the stomacach because e i knew. and i was trying to cut 'em short, and they wouldn't-- they wouldn't stop asking me questionons. - umum...so did you-- when did you decicide to moveve back to o jacksonvilille?

- - i felt likike an intererrn went o on because e when i ca- when i wasas in there,e, i was lilike, i coululd feel my adrenalaline buildiding a lilittle bit bececause i knew t that it was... that t they wasn't't asking me questitions. the ququestions ththey was asking me e was to jusust get t it on record, how i spent the money. but i felt it. that feeling is something else. - okay, lelet's-- lelet's rehearse it, okakay? and this----you talk to the c camera. - okokay, okay.. - you u can do it t slow becaususe this is s like a a rehearsal-l-- - it--it might have been, um, bubut you're a about to deprie someone of their freedom, you knknow, their r future, everytything from m family... itit's not meaeant to be t tt kikind of fun n for us at t . itit's not funun at all to d deprive libiberty to soso.

- we j just walkeded out of t, and i i was kind o of numb walking g out the dodoor, likeke, "oh, thihis is it. somemething is g gonna hahappen from this." - it w wasn't muchch longer r the fuzzy y bunny situtuation i got realal depresseded. i didndn't eat. i was s just so didistraught. thenen i got madad. i looked over at him you know, i told him about uncle jerry.y. i sasaid, "you k know he asked m me to marryry hi" as soooon as i saiaid the wo, i was sosorry, 'c'cause i couould tell it was a a real thining. 'cauause at first i thoughgh, this could be a setup, you know, maybe they're trying to find out m my loyaltyy and d it wasn't t a setup. anand so he wewent and cussed u uncle jerryry ou.

the nextxt day, we're drdriving downwn the r. jerrrry's in thehe passengere, i'm drdriving, frarankie's crying in n the car seseat. it's bothehering jerryry morere than it i is me. and we gotot in an argrgume. and so h he says, "rob, i i gotta put t him dow, lay y him down.. it's e enough." and so he took him out of h his car seaeat, and i'm lilike, "god, jerrrry, come onon." and d a little t teardrop cae downwn my face a and i thougu, you knowow, "i'm nevever gonna a get out ofof this." [baby crcrying]

[h[horn blareses] [crashining, glass s shatter] [b[bright tonene]