removed from the school, removed from any irvine school, banished. completely banished. >> reporter: the school's investigation backed kelli 100%. that was when things started to really get weird. on a school day in 2011, as kent easter made a 1:15 p.m. call to irvine police using an alias and a phoney accent. >> just had to go over to the school, i saw a car driving very erratically. i'm concerned one of the parent volunteers there may be under the influence or using drugs. >> what's your last name? >> command dravikar. >> reporter: trying to set un e uncleli for a bogus bust. the cops discovering these illicit items in her car. >> a bag of marijuana protruding. >> they put it on the police car for everybody to see. which was really hard. because i kept thinking, my daughter's getting out any minute. and i'm just thinking -- the

whole world is looking at this right now. and i said, please, they're not mine, i swear to you they're not mine. >> reporter: she was right. they weren't hers. tests showed the easters' dna on the marijuana pipe found in peters' car. the phone call? police traced it to this newport beach hotel. not where you'd spot erratic driving in irvine. and that man captured on the hotel surveillance video. kent easter. >> when the police were able to determine that the defendant's law firm was next door, the pieces started to come together for them. >> reporter: kelli was cleared. police gathering evidence indicating the easters had planted the drugs and paraphernalia in kelli's car the night before. >> the case of an irvine lawyer charged with planting -- >> reporter: the easters were each charged with false imprisonment for trying to set kelli up. jill copped a plea and was sentenced to 120 days. kent easter wanted to go to trial, forcing kelli to relive her trauma and anguish on the stand.

defense attorney painted him as jill's hapless stooge. >> a husband trying to appease a difficult wife. >> reporter: new evidence, this e-mail from jill to kent, a honey-do list from hell. she has legal assignment for kent and wants them done in 24 hours. exhaust the criminal code against kelli. file suits against the school district, the school, and whomever else we possibly can, tomorrow. then a bizarre twist. jill easter appearing as a surprise witness for kent. appearing, but never actually testifying. claiming she'd gone deaf. kent was found guilty and sentenced to 180 days. but the toll of the whole ordeal left kelli eager for another kind of justice at a civil trial. >> you know, that was hard for me to want to do. why would i go through another trial? but -- it was the principle.

i mean -- i needed to get out there, get my story told, stick up for myself. >> reporter: she sued the easters, saying she was forced to endure extreme distress, fear, and public humiliation. still, kent easter remained defiant as this exclusive deposition video shows. >> sir, did you knowingly participate in a scheme with your wife to frame kelli peters? >> no. >> you maintain that you are innocent? of framing kelli peters for drug possession? >> yes. >> okay. it seems to me -- don't you think you'd feel better if you just said, you know what, i did it, i screwed up, i regret it, i'm sorry? wouldn't that feel good just to say that? >> this is a therapy session or a deposition? >> reporter: what would shrink at trial though would be kent easter's resolve. as he admitted at last to planting those illicit drugs. >> how did you respond to the

fact that he was willing to say that he had done what he'd always denied doing? >> not only that, he also said, "kelli didn't do anything to my son, it was all made up." that made me start crying. that was more important than anything, i think, i'd heard out of his mouth, ever. >> he tried to fall on his sword and say, well, i admit it, i did it. and i think the jury saw through that. >> reporter: the jury sided with kelli, taking just a few hours to reward her $5.7 million in damages. >> and she was vicinindicated. that number is vindication for her. >> reporter: with the easters divorcing and kent easter file fog bankruptcy, any collection of that judgment might go a little, oh, what's is word -- slow. but kelli peters is exultant nonetheless. >> why was it worth going through the civil trial, even though you're not sure if you'll see any money from the easters? >> i think it was really important to face these people.

it was kind of like having a little one on one with them. i feel like they thought they were smarter than everybody, and we needed to go in there and prove who the smart ones were. who the good people were. they just can't get away with stuff like that. >> you've got healing still to do? >> yeah, but i have to heal fast. i need to get out and work. >> fresh start? >> fresh start, yeah. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm chris connelly in irvine, california. next, the vigilante groups taking up arms against drug cartels in mexico. a tumultuous tale told in the oscar-nominated documentary "cartel land." that's right. just announced. ford explorer...edge...escape... and expedition... are available with 0% financing for 60 months. ford suvs. designed to help you be unstoppable. no wonder ford is america's best selling brand.

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the global market in illicit drugs has turned into modern war. and ground zero is mexico. drug cartels battle authorities and each other. tonight an up-close look at the enormous costs of this war as vigilante groups take on the cartels. a story told on the oscar-nominated documentary "cartel land." here's abc's matt gutman. >> reporter: brewing in that barrel is the stuff of war. it's meth. cooked by masked and heavily armed men deep inside the mexican jungle. the cooking process and the shoot-outs that ensue in a war to control the drug trade, just some of the rarely seen images blasted at you in the

oscar-nominated documentary "cartel land." it's a chilling look into mexico's drug war. a war so brutal, just this week the pope made an emotional plea to mexico's youth to resist the temptation of the cartels and pray for the victims of this deadly battle. >> this is war that's happening in the country just south of us. war in which 100,000 people have been killed since 2007. this is a car that we're responsible for. >> reporter: filmmaker matthew heineman spent nine months in a mexican state to bring the war home to us. according to the dea mexican cartels supply as much as 80% of all meth sold in the u.s. >> that's why there's been this fight for power in this area. >> reporter: and a large portion of it cooked up by the knights templar cartel. their byproducts are extortion, kidnappings, torture, and murder. the cartel wielded almost

complete control for over a decade. so much grief and injustice, so little government action, that citizens decided to fight back. in 2013, organizing themselves into a vigilante group called the alter defenses, or self-defenders. led by a larger than life small-town doctor, jose manuel morales. heineman was there to capture the heady early days of this movement. their goal, to take down cartel members one by one. as the movement grows larger and more powerful, heineman discovers this is not just a story about good against evil -- >> i came away thinking there is no difference between the

knights templar and the defenses. they use the same means, murder, extortion -- >> there are definitely members of the group that operate that way. but not everyone was like that. everybody's trying to protect their villages or their towns. what unfortunately took place was power corrupted. >> reporter: that evil whipping up increasing violence from which not even the documentarian was immune. were you ever a target of the cartel? >> there's countless times when i was surrounded by people, threatened. there's many, many close calls and scary moments. >> reporter: the government issued an ultimatum to the vigilantes. pledge allegiance to the government and enjoy immunity, or go to jail. fearing prosecution, most surrendered and were rearmed. but morales holds out because he believes the government itself has been corrupted by the

cartels. >> the very institutions that are there to protect them either weren't there, or they were working in collaboration, direct collusion, with the cartels. >> reporter: u.s. authorities say it's widespread corruption that makes this the drug war so difficult to fight. last july the mexican government was called into question when narco king man el chapo cauguzm busted out of this prison in mexico city through an underground tunnel built into his cell, what many experts believed was pulled off with help from the inside. months later authorities reportedly tracking him to this secret hideout. seen here this video released by the melks can government. but el chapo outsmarted the mexican marines by slipping away through this mirrored wall, designed for this exact moment. >> it's incredible that right out of that closet and that mirror is this perfectly constructed secret passageway. we're going to go down the

stairs here. it led to a tunnel and then the city's drainage system. hundreds of yards el chapo and his lieutenant crawled through here, you can't even crouch, three feet high, extremely claustrophobic. you can tell why they came out of here looking so feltsdy. he was finally caught and sent back to jail but not without exposing the weaknesses of mexican law enforcement in the face of the cartels. and they rely on tunnels, not just as escape routes but also as smuggling routes. this is terrifying. but it only has to be comfortable enough to do one thing -- smuggle drugs fast. so far, authorities have uncovered more than 180 tunnels along the 2,000-mile-long border with mexico. the cartels smuggle not just underground but over it too. brazenly muling across the open border. the cartel scouts keep getting away. in "cartel land" we meet another

armed vigilante group fighting on this side of the border. arizona border recon is led by tim nailer foley. >> once i learned how the cartels pretty much control both the human smuggling and the drug smuggling, we shifted our primary goal to keep cartel activity out of the country. >> reporter: which is why initially foley appreciated the order of defense 1,000 miles to the south. >> they're taking back what is theirs from the cartel and it's nice to see they're standing up and going back at them. >> reporter: but "cartel land" reminds us that power corrupts. the film showing that over time, morales made too many enemies. he was ultimately arrested on gun charges and taken to jail where he has languished for over a year and a half without trial. when he heard "cartel land" was nominated for an oscar, morales sent heineman this audio recording from jail. >> translator: i'm grateful for the noble gesture you had in

making this documentary movie, that you had to suffer with me daytona in the battles we all endured together. >> reporter: as those battles continue, the chefs keep cooking up addiction and sending it northward. >> at the heart of this is america's voracious appetite for drugs. you know, it's basics of supply and demand. as long as there's a demand for drugs up here, there will be a supply of drugs coming from mexico and south america. until that stops all this violence that comes with it won't stop. >> reporter: for "nightline" i'm matt gutman in los angeles. >> you can see if "cartel land" will win the golden statue at the oscars february 28th right here on abc. stars share their favorite memories at disneyland's 60th birthday bash. ♪

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finally tonight, 60 years ago disneyland was born. there's no place happier to stay for celebration, stars, singing, dancing, even sharing memories about the magic. the happiest place on earth is turning 60. >> the most famous entertainment attraction in the world -- >> reporter: walt disney's very first theme park disneyland opened in anaheim, california in 1955. now iconic characters and stars are celebrating our parent company disney's diamond anniversary. "dancing with the stars" derek hough is master of ceremonies. >> we had this entire parade, hundreds and hundreds of dancers. it's going to be big. >> reporter: even the year's

hottest droid bb8 will be in attendance. along with musical numbers. "be like you" from "the jungle book." ♪ walk like you talk like you >> reporter: the song guaranteed to get stuck in your head for another 60 years, "frozen's" "let it go." ♪ let it go let it go >> reporter: be sure not to miss the wonderful world of disney, disneyland 60, this sunday, february 21st, at 8:00 p.m. on abc. we leave you with one final note about the passing of one of america's greatest authors, harper lee. her novel "to kill a mockingbird" left a lasting legacy. president obama and first lady michelle obama paid their respects today saying, "what that one story did more powerfully than 100 speeches possibly could was change the way we saw each other, and then the way we saw ourselves." thank you for watching. tune into gma tomorrow. and as always we're online 24/7

on the "nightline" facebook page and abcnews.com. good night, america. have a good weekend. >> hi, i'm chris harrison, host of the all-new "who wants to be a millionaire." this season, we're mixing things up a little. no more jumping questions, no more easy answers-- just a single player determined to win that million dollars, one person answering the question, "who wants to be a millionaire?" [dramatic music] ♪ welcome to the show. are you guys ready to play "who wants to be a millionaire"?

[cheers and applause] let me tell you about today's first contestant. he loves taking tests-- seriously-- and has gotten a perfect score on the sats and the acts not once, but five times. nobody likes him. from holmdel, new jersey, please welcome chris cho. [cheers and applause] hi, man. >> what's going on, buddy? >> how you doing? good to see you. >> great to see you. [applause] >> really? >> it's true, because i have a test prep company, and to do it right, i need to take these tests at least once, twice, three times every year, so. >> and you ace it every time. i can't say i score perfect every time, but i crush it pretty regularly. >> wow. that is impressive. all right, well, we're gonna put it to the test today right here, right now. let me tell you what you're up against: 14 questions, with the money values growing from $500 all the way up to $1 million. every question you answer correctly moves you one step

closer to that top prize. remember, you can walk away at any point with the money you've earned. give me an incorrect answer, you walk away with nothing until you get to that $5,000 threshold. then again, $50,000. when you get to those spots, you can't walk away with anything less than that. also, you have your three lifelines. of course, we've got this beautiful audience. we can use them. your "50/50" will take away two incorrect answers. and your "plus one." who's your plus one today? >> my girlfriend kara. she's right there. >> hey. how many times has she aced the sats? >> you know, if we did preparation every day, she'd kill the-- >> she'd ace it too. all right. >> she would. >> all right, buddy. well, i wish you luck. i'm glad you're here. you ready to go? >> i'm ready to rock. >> let's play "who wants to be a millionaire." [dramatic musical flourish] ♪ okay, chris, here's your $500 question. in the 1980s, "world-class pole-vaulter" greg smithey

promised "a tighter, stronger, and more toned lower half" in what workout videos? >> [laughs] chris, this is hilarious, 'cause one of the things that kara and i spoke about was actually the "buns of steel" videos, so i feel very good about the answer being "c," "buns of steel." that's my final answer. >> that is correct. [applause] maybe a bigger question-- why were you guys talking about the 1980s videos "buns of steel"? >> [laughs] um, well, you know, as we get older, which, you know-- >> things start to just--yeah. >> you know, we got to work on things. >> believe me, i'm going there, buddy. thanks for reminding me. all right, good start. here's your $1,000 question. >> awesome. >> according to a computer scientist at uc berkeley, in theory, which of these weighs 0.000...

000... 000... 000... 000... 001... >> that's a lot of zeros. >> grams more when it is fully loaded? is it... >> huh. you know, it seems like such a simple question, but i'm gonna talk my way through it. it can't be a ferris wheel, obviously, 'cause human beings are just a little heavier than that. um, a baked potato doesn't seem like it weighs much, but that's a lot of zeros. and it can't be a glock handgun 'cause bullets have some legitimate weight to them. so although it seems like a really weird answer to me, i'm gonna go "d," amazon kindle. that's my final answer. >> [exhales] i just don't want to read all those zeros again.

>> [laughs] >> you're right. it is amazon kindle. >> whoo! [applause] >> electrons that store data use more energy than others, and that gives them more mass. >> okay. >> but you already knew that, mr. sat. all right, here's your $2,000 question. after posing nude in "playboy" at age 19, who received a quilt from her godfather steven spielberg, with a note that said, "cover yourself up"? >> i feel like drew barrymore posed in "playboy" for some reason, so i feel strongly that that's her. it can't be reese witherspoon. melissa joan hart was, like, samantha the witch. so i'm gonna say it's drew barrymore, "b," final answer. >> you are correct. [applause] by the way