Speaker 1: The real people, real celebrity joined the breakfast more than
Speaker 1: everybody is DJ en vi Angela, Ye, Charlemagne the guy.
Speaker 1: We are the breakfast Club. We gotta guess with us
Speaker 1: this morning. And you know what's so crazy, man, we'd
Speaker 1: be having rappers in here, right who acts so hard
Speaker 1: core and act like they didn't did so much and
Speaker 1: having done nothing, they probably think you're a chef or something. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you put in that work. Lelo Broncado Junior. Yes, thank
Speaker 1: you morning. So you got talking to the Mike. We
Speaker 1: know you from Sopranos, right, um, Bronx Tail in particular, though,
Speaker 1: one of my favorite movies, Brox Tail Colo. How do
Speaker 1: you say collogio was your role in Sopranos? Um? I
Speaker 1: played Matthew Bevilaqua. I would say stockbroker, low level guy,
Speaker 1: trying to get in with you know, Tony and those guys,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, ultimately you know I was killed
Speaker 1: on the show. Yeah you really talk like that. Yeah
Speaker 1: I don't know that. Oh yeah, yeah, that's my job. Now.
Speaker 1: You served ten years in prison or to eight to
Speaker 1: ten years I saved. I served eight out of a
Speaker 1: ten years eight everteen year sentence for attempted burglary, right
Speaker 1: and uh and all three the police officers was shot
Speaker 1: actually during that robbery. Right, So what what I mean
Speaker 1: you served your time so you can talk about it, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: if the statue limitations up, what happened? No, No, I didn't. Uh,
Speaker 1: I was you know, I was convicted of the burglary,
Speaker 1: you know. And then the commission of that crime. In
Speaker 1: a commission of any felony, when someone it results in
Speaker 1: the depth of someone else, they called that felony murder.
Speaker 1: That's what I was charged with, not intentional murder. Um,
Speaker 1: your friend who you were with is actually the person
Speaker 1: that he's in jail for life, right, he got an
Speaker 1: actual life. So explain to us what happened on that day,
Speaker 1: December ten of two thousand and five. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: at that time of my life, I was, you know,
Speaker 1: addicted to drugs. I was addicted to crack, heroin, crack, Yeah,
Speaker 1: both both both drugs and uh, you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, proud to shay I'm sober now eight years
Speaker 1: but um, you know that being said, that night, you know,
Speaker 1: we uh came to you know, uh, we got a
Speaker 1: little desperate. Um, we couldn't find any drugs knowing at
Speaker 1: anything I knew of a place where so you weren't
Speaker 1: acting at that time. So she had no money. No,
Speaker 1: we we did have money on us. It wasn't it
Speaker 1: wasn't enough to buy some heroin. No, No, it wasn't
Speaker 1: that we couldn't find heroin. The guys that we usually
Speaker 1: go to ran out. It was too late. We had
Speaker 1: money on us. It's not like we were going to
Speaker 1: rob the house for you know, a VCR or something
Speaker 1: that It was a house that I knew would have
Speaker 1: prescription you know, pills because I knew the guy from
Speaker 1: you know, way back when the prescription pills give you
Speaker 1: the same high as heroin in some cases. Right, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know you know opiates, know how to pay medication.
Speaker 1: It's all the same, you know on uh you know,
Speaker 1: on a your analysis, it would all come up the same. Gotcha.
Speaker 1: And uh we went to the house. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: I was really desperate to try to get in. Banged
Speaker 1: on the window, made all kinds of noise. No one answered,
Speaker 1: So eventually I broke the window. Um with your hand,
Speaker 1: with my foot, yan, the one is a high bat. Yeah. Um,
Speaker 1: you know they actually used my uh my boot and
Speaker 1: as evidence was they had microscopic last shards in the
Speaker 1: front which were consistent with the window. So you know,
Speaker 1: there was no saying that I didn't break the glass.
Speaker 1: Um The off duty police officer, Daniel Chotegy live next door.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, okay, he was off duty. I heard he
Speaker 1: had just finished the shift. Heard the noise came outside.
Speaker 1: I was walking away from the window, and that's when
Speaker 1: I heard a male voice. That's when I heard someone say,
Speaker 1: don't move. And you know, like I said, I was
Speaker 1: you know, it was high, I just small cracks. So
Speaker 1: I was very jittery and I was paranoid. And when
Speaker 1: when I heard the voice, don't move, you know, what
Speaker 1: did I do? I moved, I turned around real fast,
Speaker 1: and upon doing so, I was shot. Was shot two
Speaker 1: two one two direct hits and one that grazed me
Speaker 1: um where or where my abdomen um? And uh, you know,
Speaker 1: and then I just seen like blood squirting out of
Speaker 1: my stomach. I didn't, you know, I didn't know who
Speaker 1: that was that shot me. And I was kind of
Speaker 1: you know, I'm not gonna lie. I was afraid. You know,
Speaker 1: it was unarmed. I didn't have a gun that night.
Speaker 1: He said that name the other nights you might have
Speaker 1: had one with No, no, no, no, no, no, never
Speaker 1: carried a gun to my Okay, I mean I don't
Speaker 1: feel sympathy though, because he was trying to bring in
Speaker 1: somebody else, right, yeah, but your friend had a gun
Speaker 1: on him, right, So what happened? So you got shot?
Speaker 1: You fall on the floor. No, I didn't fall on
Speaker 1: the floor. I Uh, my adrenaline kicked in and I
Speaker 1: was trying to leave, trying to get, you know, as
Speaker 1: far away from that situation as possible. And as I
Speaker 1: was walking away, I heard gunshots. Um. And I didn't
Speaker 1: know at the time that my co defendant was armed,
Speaker 1: so I didn't know where all that was coming from.
Speaker 1: But obviously a gunfight ensued between the two of them.
Speaker 1: Um and uh, you know the all through the police
Speaker 1: officer was hit with you know, he was hitting the
Speaker 1: heart or the three fifty seven magnum and I'm coming
Speaker 1: back from now, yeah, and and he was he was killed.
Speaker 1: Were you were you mad at your cold, like, why
Speaker 1: did you have to get into a gunfight with him? Well,
Speaker 1: you know, not even that, not even that, I mean
Speaker 1: even further back then that you know, why did you
Speaker 1: even carry a gun and tell me that you had it,
Speaker 1: because you know, at the situation, you know, I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1: I was still someone pursuing an acting care I was
Speaker 1: pursuing my addiction a little more, but I was still pursuing,
Speaker 1: you know, an acting career. But do you also feel
Speaker 1: like maybe he was defending you? Because if you're doing
Speaker 1: are you doing burglary? And somebody has a gun and
Speaker 1: you didn't say he announced himself as a police officer,
Speaker 1: I shoot you twice? I mean he could have been
Speaker 1: defending you. Well, yeah, that you know, that is one
Speaker 1: way to look at it. Um, because he also got
Speaker 1: shot nine times. So he got shot nine times. I
Speaker 1: got shot two to three times. He lived, Yeah he lived?
Speaker 1: Album Yeah how many bullet? So the cop he he
Speaker 1: changed clips. Um, I don't know. I didn't. I didn't.
Speaker 1: I didn't see what happened between them. I only heard
Speaker 1: it right because I was already walking down the street.
Speaker 1: Had two guns though, unless he reload, only got six shots, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: three seven went the other way. So so yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: and uh, and then the gunfight ended between the two.
Speaker 1: I didn't see the aftermath or what happened. I was
Speaker 1: already on the corner of you know, Westchester Revenue in
Speaker 1: the Bronx and Arnal Place, and cops came on the scene.
Speaker 1: They didn't they weren't called to the scene. There was
Speaker 1: a bagel stored down the street and they were getting bagels,
Speaker 1: heard the gunshots and heard the gunshots. So came over there.
Speaker 1: And by the time they got there, I was on
Speaker 1: the floor. I was on the corner, and I was like,
Speaker 1: you know, fighting for my life. They didn't let you die,
Speaker 1: but they probably know you had it. Didn't know what happened. Well,
Speaker 1: they didn't know. They didn't know that there was an
Speaker 1: off duty police officer dead. Three houses, but the neighbors
Speaker 1: came outside and like calling them, like you know, and
Speaker 1: then uh, and then they called what they called buses, ambulances, right,
Speaker 1: they called the bus and they got they got three
Speaker 1: of them over there, and we went to the hospital
Speaker 1: and uh inside the ambulance. I remember trying to say
Speaker 1: I didn't do anything, but for some reason, my whole
Speaker 1: my voice you couldn't hear it. You did you did something.
Speaker 1: They were looking at you like, oh, you did something.
Speaker 1: You said, they're bleeding with gun shots? Yeah, right something? Why? Um?
Speaker 1: And uh, you know, we bought to the hospital getting
Speaker 1: the surgery. You know, they you know, they took my
Speaker 1: spleen out, part of my calling I had a collapse
Speaker 1: lung and then uh then I found out after coming
Speaker 1: out of all of that, that that an off duty
Speaker 1: police officer, so it was killed and uh, I mean,
Speaker 1: you know whow I was really? So they pressed you
Speaker 1: immediately about being an eyewitness. I'm sure, um, I can accomplish,
Speaker 1: I would think too, well, even more than accomplish, because
Speaker 1: they've seen, you know, the broken window so that you know,
Speaker 1: this is there was a burglary in progress, and you know,
Speaker 1: somebody was killed as a result of that. So it's
Speaker 1: you know, an accomplished wouldn't have it wouldn't have been
Speaker 1: as bad as actually being charged with murder itself. So
Speaker 1: you know, we were, you know, charged with murder. You know,
Speaker 1: before you know it, you had Bronx homicide detectives came
Speaker 1: there and you know, we were interrogated at bedside, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know the interrogation was you know, while I was
Speaker 1: you know, in debated with tubes down my throat, you know,
Speaker 1: and in what you know, the doctor called, uh the
Speaker 1: expert called twilight sleep, and you know, because I was
Speaker 1: administered like five different medications at the same time. And
Speaker 1: this is the this is the method in which they
Speaker 1: obtained you know, uh, statements of what happened. No words,
Speaker 1: just affirmative, just nodding. No, excuse me, no lawyer, you
Speaker 1: didn't have a lawyer. No, because they came in and
Speaker 1: did that, you know before, Um my family was able
Speaker 1: to say that he has a lawyer. So some No,
Speaker 1: I mean yeah, I mean, like you said, you know,
Speaker 1: did you tell him what you saw? Yeah? What I
Speaker 1: saw was that I got shot and I was unarmed
Speaker 1: and I didn't you know, have a gun. But at
Speaker 1: the same time, I take, you know, full responsibility for
Speaker 1: how my actions and you know, my drug addiction put
Speaker 1: me there that night, and how it costs you know,
Speaker 1: a heroic New York City police officers life. Did you
Speaker 1: have to go understanding and tell you? Uh telling you.
Speaker 1: They offered me a deal to do so, and I didn't,
Speaker 1: and they offered me a deal of a three nine,
Speaker 1: but there was nothing to say, so I took it
Speaker 1: to trial. Um. They even offered me fifteen years before,
Speaker 1: a week before jury selection, to not have to go
Speaker 1: to trial. Um, well, you charged with a murder at
Speaker 1: the time. Yeah, it was charged with murder. You took
Speaker 1: that the trial of a cop. Yeah. I had a
Speaker 1: you know, a very good lawyer. His name was Joe Tacopina,
Speaker 1: you know, top notch attorney, and we were very uh
Speaker 1: confident based on the cap. We were very confident based
Speaker 1: on the facts in the case that you know, there
Speaker 1: was there was no murder case. Um, I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: a burglary case and an attempted burglary case was a
Speaker 1: lot stronger. But we were you know, I took the
Speaker 1: stand in my own defense a trial because you know,
Speaker 1: I mean because you know this took place in the Bronx.
Speaker 1: You know, it was in the Bronx Tail, so you know,
Speaker 1: these juries are all from the Bronx. My lawyer thought
Speaker 1: it would be the you know, best idea to do
Speaker 1: so because they're gonna, you know, the jurors are gonna
Speaker 1: want to they're gonna want to hear me. So that
Speaker 1: after the Bronx Tale. Yeah, this this was just after
Speaker 1: the Yes, this was yeah, this was two Broxtel. This
Speaker 1: was like like thirteen years after Bronx Tail. So now
Speaker 1: so now what's the up. So what's next for you?
Speaker 1: Because you know, there's there's a mother that lost his son.
Speaker 1: I'm sort there's some children that cops hate you. I
Speaker 1: would never drive. They were actually protesting because you are
Speaker 1: in a new movie and they didn't feel like anybody
Speaker 1: should be casting you in a movie. The movies in Brooklyn,
Speaker 1: right right, well, Brooklyn, and we also shot in Pennsylvania,
Speaker 1: right Um. And you know, an opportunity that I was
Speaker 1: very blessed to have been given and very thankful for.
Speaker 1: You know, my friend Willie the Mayo and Paul Boorgayze,
Speaker 1: they took a shot on me and you know gave me,
Speaker 1: you know, the opportunity which I'm very thankful for. Um.
Speaker 1: But you know, I even heard you guys say it,
Speaker 1: and you know, in reference to the kid who got
Speaker 1: the heart transplant, okay a little while ago, that everyone
Speaker 1: deserves a second chance. I agree with that, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't see why I would be any
Speaker 1: different in that situation. Um, But you can see why
Speaker 1: people will be upset though. Absolutely, there's no question about that.
Speaker 1: But what I'm saying is I served my time. I
Speaker 1: didn't take no shortcuts. I didn't you know, take the
Speaker 1: stand on anyone. I put myself there that night, took
Speaker 1: a huge gamble, went to trial, was confident in the
Speaker 1: facts in the case, in my you know, involvement in
Speaker 1: the the the situation or lack thereof. And you know,
Speaker 1: while away, I you know, made the most of the time.
Speaker 1: I got sober. How how did you get off crack
Speaker 1: and herowin lot of time people go to jail, jail, Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: you go to jail and get worse sometimes. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well I got high. I was getting high right, and
Speaker 1: I overdosed in my cell and still continue to use
Speaker 1: after that. But then, you know, I got eighty days
Speaker 1: in the box, and when I went there that a
Speaker 1: lot of you know, soul searching and thinking, no way
Speaker 1: for you to get anything in you can get it
Speaker 1: and then get it anywhere. Yeah, Um, Riker's Island, you
Speaker 1: know it's readily available. You know, did you beat it
Speaker 1: with help or like you? I can't believe you got
Speaker 1: off cracking heroin cold Turkey. It's on you. Well, you know, initially,
Speaker 1: you know, I had to. I had to because I
Speaker 1: didn't know the ins and outs of Riker's Island. I
Speaker 1: didn't know. But you know, as I became accustomed to
Speaker 1: doing time and being in that situation, I you know,
Speaker 1: was able to you know, find drugs and you know,
Speaker 1: continue to use. You know, especially in that situation is
Speaker 1: very painful. It's facing the rest of my life. You know.
Speaker 1: For one night, um the overdose, still continued to use.
Speaker 1: That was about a year after I've been at Riker's Island.
Speaker 1: Then when I went to the box, I just I
Speaker 1: got a visit from a couple of friends and that
Speaker 1: visit changed my life. What did they say to you? Well,
Speaker 1: they came in. I was already sitting there, handcuffed to
Speaker 1: the whatever it was, the wall, the metal thing. And
Speaker 1: now when they came in, you know, when I saw them,
Speaker 1: you know, I had a smile on my face. I
Speaker 1: was like happy to see them, and you know they didn't.
Speaker 1: They didn't weren't too happy to see me. And they
Speaker 1: said like, you know, what are you doing? You got
Speaker 1: all these people that are here for you and want
Speaker 1: to see you, you know, get through this, and you're
Speaker 1: doing this. You're still you're still getting high, Like what's
Speaker 1: wrong with you? And for some reason that day was
Speaker 1: it just stuck and it really affected me and I
Speaker 1: and I just made the decision that day that I
Speaker 1: got to change my life. And uh that was November eighteenth,
Speaker 1: two thousand and six, and I've never got high since then. Damn.
Speaker 1: And now you know you said you first started using
Speaker 1: drugs while you were filming a Bronx Tale. Yeah, well
Speaker 1: the first time I ever smoked pot was was during
Speaker 1: the Bronx Tale. So how did you graduate all the
Speaker 1: way to cracking heroin from pot? It's you know, um
Speaker 1: with it, Hollywood. I mean, I mean a little bit
Speaker 1: of that. You know that definitely had a you know,
Speaker 1: an influence you know the past that I you know,
Speaker 1: eventually took. I mean, you know, being in that business,
Speaker 1: it's just lucrative. So you know, you got money, you
Speaker 1: got free time, and uh, you know it's a it's
Speaker 1: it's a recipe for disaster. And you know, like any addiction,
Speaker 1: it progresses gets worse, it doesn't get better. Now, now,
Speaker 1: what about the family of the slain officer? And I
Speaker 1: agree everybody deserves a second chance, but it's what you
Speaker 1: do with that second chance, because no, no matter what,
Speaker 1: even though you say you served your time, you know
Speaker 1: that that man is not coming back. And I could
Speaker 1: imagined him it was my dad or my son, and
Speaker 1: and the guy saying, well, I served my time, and
Speaker 1: you know, I'm sure the family like that doesn't mean
Speaker 1: it's I means nothing. My guy's dad, my dad is dead,
Speaker 1: or my son is dead. You know. So I think
Speaker 1: people would be more welcome to give you a second
Speaker 1: chance if there they're people could get the second chance.
Speaker 1: Like the person that you killed could get a second chance.
Speaker 1: He didn't have a gun, but every action is a reaction. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but he led them to the house. He was like,
Speaker 1: I know a house. I tell him on every time,
Speaker 1: but you might not. If you don't want nothing bad
Speaker 1: to happen, don't do nothing stupid, because anything can happened.
Speaker 1: I could be in a car with a bunch of
Speaker 1: knuckleheads and I do something and they do something, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna be charged. So what what are you? Are you
Speaker 1: doing anything for the family or like you're saying the
Speaker 1: second chance, like yeah, well you know that's that's what
Speaker 1: them you know. I mean, I think people who are
Speaker 1: worthy of a second chance should definitely get one. And
Speaker 1: I feel that, you know, my actions have you know,
Speaker 1: spoken volumes of the person that I've become. I mean,
Speaker 1: when you when you're incarcerated, it's the doc the Department
Speaker 1: of Corrections to correct itself. And I truly believe that
Speaker 1: I used the time for what it was intended for.
Speaker 1: I went there, like I said, I got sober, which
Speaker 1: is not easy. And also after I fought my case
Speaker 1: and was ultimately acquitted to the murder and went upstate
Speaker 1: convicted of an attempt at Burglary, I had sentenced to
Speaker 1: ten years, so that would mean an additional five and
Speaker 1: a half right from the you know, from the Riker's
Speaker 1: Island point. So when I went up state, I still,
Speaker 1: you know, I didn't have my g ed, so I
Speaker 1: knew that was one of the first things I wanted
Speaker 1: to do and U and it was satisfying, but I
Speaker 1: just felt that I should use the time as wisely
Speaker 1: as possible. So with whatever you know, money I had left,
Speaker 1: I figured, you know, investing in my education because they
Speaker 1: don't offer they offer high school in uh you know,
Speaker 1: state correctional New York state correctional facilities. But I enrolled
Speaker 1: in a male correspondence out of my own pocket accredited
Speaker 1: school in Georgia nor of course, Georgia Ashworth College, and
Speaker 1: I studied business management, and uh as you know, I was,
Speaker 1: I was able to earn an associate's degree. I earned
Speaker 1: sixty credits and it made a huge difference in my life,
Speaker 1: you know, do a huge difference in my life. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I came out and h haven't been in
Speaker 1: trouble one time since I've been home, done anything for
Speaker 1: the family though the family, But I've been to high schools,
Speaker 1: I've been to colleges, addiction centers. I'm actually going someplace tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Why haven't you reached out to the family. Absolutely, I
Speaker 1: just don't think it's it's in the appropriate time yet
Speaker 1: because they publicly, you know, I have denounced your role
Speaker 1: and very upset with your role. You know they have,
Speaker 1: of course, as they should be, you know, of course,
Speaker 1: I you know, I would be the same way if
Speaker 1: if the situation was you know, reversed, if that was
Speaker 1: my brother. Absolutely, and you know, I definitely have empathy
Speaker 1: and can put myself well, try to at least think
Speaker 1: you know what they're thinking, and I understand exactly where
Speaker 1: they're coming from. But I can't control the way they
Speaker 1: think and feel. But what I can control is my
Speaker 1: own actions, and I've tried to make them as positive
Speaker 1: as possible. And what would you say? And then you,
Speaker 1: I mean, what can you sorry? You know, I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't think they want to hear you say, you know,
Speaker 1: I didn't pull the trigger. They don't want to know
Speaker 1: what right. They just want to at least, I mean,
Speaker 1: at least they can look and see, you know, if
Speaker 1: they're watching TV, like you know, if I was someplace,
Speaker 1: you know, helping kids, you know, to deter them from
Speaker 1: making mistakes that I made, and used the situation in
Speaker 1: a positive way, you know. I mean, I've really, you know,
Speaker 1: worked my butt off since I got home to show
Speaker 1: people I'm a different person. If you didn't go to jail,
Speaker 1: you might have ended up dead yourself, though, because I
Speaker 1: remember reading about you getting pulled over you had a
Speaker 1: heroin in the car, and that was a few months
Speaker 1: was like a few months before that, you know, I
Speaker 1: was on a you know, I was on a you know,
Speaker 1: a downward spiral, and ultimately that you know, that night happened.
Speaker 1: And you're right, if I hadn't got you know, locked
Speaker 1: up that night and arrested, I probably would be dead
Speaker 1: right now. I don't know too many people that came
Speaker 1: back from a heroin, Like what's that highlight? Well, I
Speaker 1: never I never used it intravenously. I never shot it
Speaker 1: in my face. Sniffets sniffet um. The high, you know,
Speaker 1: the high was, you know, I mean it's it's uh it.
Speaker 1: You know, it's very deceiving and very you know, seductive.
Speaker 1: But there's a huge price to pay for it, because
Speaker 1: like anything else, it's always the best in the beginning.
Speaker 1: And what that does is it imprints a memory in
Speaker 1: your brain, a memory of euphoria that you never forget,
Speaker 1: and every time you do it, you feel less and
Speaker 1: less of that, and you chase it. And then you know,
Speaker 1: with heroin, which is an opiate, is a physically addicting
Speaker 1: drug because your body itself produces opiates. So when you're
Speaker 1: giving your body opiates from an outside source, your body says,
Speaker 1: we don't have to make them anymore. You're describing crack
Speaker 1: first when you said to hide that, m no, talking
Speaker 1: about heroin. Crack is not physically addicting, that's all in
Speaker 1: the mind. You know, you could smoke crack for ten
Speaker 1: days straight, take a nap, and you know it's like
Speaker 1: nothing ever happened. But heroin is not like that. You
Speaker 1: do a ten days straightoke, you to have, your body's
Speaker 1: gonna want it and if you try to withdraw yourself.
Speaker 1: I know I've seen people there like shaking and slating
Speaker 1: and throwing. A very horrible feeling and something that no
Speaker 1: one should ever have to go through, because I myself
Speaker 1: seen you know, you know, and have been in the
Speaker 1: grips of addiction. And that's why I choose to spend
Speaker 1: my time informing and using the experience to deter people
Speaker 1: from ever getting into that situation themselves, right and that
Speaker 1: you know, at the same time, that helps me to
Speaker 1: stay on the right path. Because when you were on
Speaker 1: Markers Island, they didn't have you in general population. No,
Speaker 1: they had me what was called CMC Central Monitored Case
Speaker 1: High Profile Cases. It was you know, like you know,
Speaker 1: any any movement has to be you know, they have
Speaker 1: to call Albany. Like it's it's not as if you're
Speaker 1: not a high if you're not CMC and you know
Speaker 1: saying you know, you're in seven cell and you're sink broke.
Speaker 1: Now you want to move to eight cell because they
Speaker 1: got you know, the sinks. You know it works. You
Speaker 1: can't just do that because being a CMC, that has
Speaker 1: to be you know, they have to make a call
Speaker 1: to Albany and say, well, listen, you know this CMC
Speaker 1: so and so wants to move to another sell for
Speaker 1: this reason and that they have to approve it right days. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it does. And I
Speaker 1: know Plexico Burrs was in there, but he wasn't in
Speaker 1: rikers Out. He wasn't rikers on, but not when I
Speaker 1: was there. We were up state together. Okay, we were
Speaker 1: up state together. We were in Oneida in UM two
Speaker 1: from two thousand and nine to two thousand and eleven.
Speaker 1: I remember you got there was like September and then
Speaker 1: he got released in like June of two thousand eleven.
Speaker 1: Why didn't have you in a general pop Well, because
Speaker 1: I would I would think, I mean sadly some of
Speaker 1: the imags would look at you as the hero because
Speaker 1: you was in a situation where cop got killed. Um well,
Speaker 1: I guess just because of the nature of the case
Speaker 1: and it was high profile. I mean, you had other
Speaker 1: guys with cases like mine, you know, other guys involved
Speaker 1: in the same type of stuff where I was. You know,
Speaker 1: but it's just high profile in prison because you knew
Speaker 1: the cops at it out for you. Uh yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna lie and say you know never that I
Speaker 1: wasn't um. But yeah, at times did they ever do
Speaker 1: anything to you? No, stove you out, No, I don't
Speaker 1: let you watch beat you up. I think you know
Speaker 1: it's all about in the way you carry yourself. Um,
Speaker 1: And you know you just mind your business and just
Speaker 1: do your time. You're gonna be all right. And what
Speaker 1: about your cody? Have you spoke to him while you
Speaker 1: were in I spoke to him out outside. Well, I
Speaker 1: haven't spoke to him since, you know, since I mean
Speaker 1: we you know, like you know, through people in the neighborhood.
Speaker 1: You know, it was it was you know, so and
Speaker 1: so said Alowe, you know, tell him a law. But
Speaker 1: when we weren't Rikers Island together, we used to see
Speaker 1: each other. When we used to go to court. We
Speaker 1: were in different buildings, but the ESCO Emergency Service Unit
Speaker 1: because we didn't go in the bus because it was
Speaker 1: a high profile. So we'd go in the van meet
Speaker 1: him and maybe a few other you know, high profile guys,
Speaker 1: and uh, we used to see each other in the
Speaker 1: van and you know, and uh, you know, go to court. Um.
Speaker 1: But then you know we had separate trials. Did you
Speaker 1: think you do you think he did he think you
Speaker 1: read it him up. No, absolutely not, absolutely not. I
Speaker 1: mean that's all you know, that's all. I mean, you
Speaker 1: can go online and see that. You know, none of
Speaker 1: that happened. I took it to trial. You know, it
Speaker 1: was a you know, a trial of you know, the
Speaker 1: consistent of over thirty days. A guy who tells on
Speaker 1: someone doesn't get ten years for an attempt at burglary
Speaker 1: right now, what about that? How much did that trial
Speaker 1: cost you? UM? Cost me about two hundred and fifty thousand. Oh,
Speaker 1: you had a real lawyer. Yeah, I mean I think
Speaker 1: he was gonna hand a Craig right hand the money.
Speaker 1: He ain't had the money. He had money, drugs, he
Speaker 1: just didn't. We weren't, like I said, we weren't you know,
Speaker 1: like two burglars going to robber, you know, just couldn't
Speaker 1: find anybody. Dealer wasn't nowhere. He ran out the other
Speaker 1: guy that you know, well when it rains, it paused.
Speaker 1: There was nothing around. So now since you've gotten out, though,
Speaker 1: people have reached out to you and tried to help you,
Speaker 1: and you you have been casting in a couple of
Speaker 1: movies and um, I even saw you did a music
Speaker 1: video with a pop star and people were angry about well,
Speaker 1: we never the video never went through right because of
Speaker 1: all the commotion that you know, my involvement was causing.
Speaker 1: They put the kabash on it and they never went
Speaker 1: through video. Was there a girl on Natalie she's a
Speaker 1: Russian pop singer. So um, And then you got casting
Speaker 1: in this Alec Baldwin film and so but that's good
Speaker 1: to go like filming. I know there's been some issues
Speaker 1: with people protesting, but you're solidified in that, right. No,
Speaker 1: that we already. I I'm already, it's already. I'm already
Speaker 1: shot my scenes. Do anybody say anything you like the
Speaker 1: actors like Alex Steward, Why didn't you? Oh? I didn't
Speaker 1: work with him. Oh, he's in the film. Mike Tyson
Speaker 1: is in the film, Michael Madson and a Bella Siura.
Speaker 1: You know, Danny Glover, William de Mayo. Um, you talk
Speaker 1: to Mike. I'm sure he understands. No, I didn't. I didn't.
Speaker 1: I didn't. I didn't speak to Mike. But I have
Speaker 1: a picture of Mike when I was on the cover
Speaker 1: of the Post last week. I have a picture of
Speaker 1: Mike holding up the paper. Yeah, so that was cool,
Speaker 1: you know, Um, yeah, no, a guy like that, I mean,
Speaker 1: he can definitely understand where I'm coming from. He was
Speaker 1: in a you know, do you think people ever forgive you?
Speaker 1: I think, you know, when enough time goes on and
Speaker 1: people see, you know, through my actions that you know,
Speaker 1: this guy's really changed. I think, you know, I'll I'll
Speaker 1: be worthy of it, and I think people eventually, you
Speaker 1: mean everyone, No, but I think that I'm I'm the path,
Speaker 1: you know, with the path that I'm on, I think
Speaker 1: that I will be able to convince you know, people
Speaker 1: because it's from the heart that I have changed. Will
Speaker 1: you ever forgive yourself? Um? Yeah, I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm you know, I'm proud of the person that I've
Speaker 1: become and that I was able to turn such a
Speaker 1: negative into a positive. And you know, like when I
Speaker 1: talk to these kids at high schools and colleges and
Speaker 1: I see the look on their faces when I'm speaking
Speaker 1: to them, it's just like such a fulfilling feeling to
Speaker 1: be able to do that, and to you know, even
Speaker 1: I mean, you're not going to be able to change
Speaker 1: or you know, every single one of them, but if
Speaker 1: you change five, that's you know, that's huge and this
Speaker 1: is you doing this on your note, on your own
Speaker 1: is not a condition of your No, no, no, absolutely not,
Speaker 1: absolutely not. It just that's you know, this is what
Speaker 1: this is what God wanted. You know a lot of
Speaker 1: my friends wanted to cop to get no. Absolutely no,
Speaker 1: absolutely not. Um but this is what. This is why
Speaker 1: God so fit to it that I didn't get convicted
Speaker 1: of murder and I didn't get killed. I'm still alive
Speaker 1: for a reason, Like everything in life happens for a reason,
Speaker 1: and that reason wasn't for me to be released after
Speaker 1: eight years and go back to doing the same the
Speaker 1: same stuff. Absolutely it was to come out and make
Speaker 1: a difference in my own life and in other people's lives.
Speaker 1: That's what I do. I read that you're also playing
Speaker 1: a priest in a movie. Is that true? Yes? Right?
Speaker 1: That was? That was That was That was my first role.
Speaker 1: It wasn't as big as a film as the one
Speaker 1: I just you know completed, right, but you know that one,
Speaker 1: you know has Eric Roberts, got a nice cast as well.
Speaker 1: They didn't do no background check on that one, no,
Speaker 1: so but you know when they offered me that film,
Speaker 1: the kid was from Yonker's His name is Frankie came
Speaker 1: to my house with a box of cookies and a script.
Speaker 1: Literally came to my house because you know we went
Speaker 1: to the same high schools. Much younger than me. Rang
Speaker 1: my doorbell and you know, said listen, I got the script.
Speaker 1: I wrote it. You know we're gonna we got some
Speaker 1: money and you know we want you to be in it,
Speaker 1: you know, and I really look up to you. Bought
Speaker 1: the cookies we able to eat. Yeah, that's the weird offering. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like a mix, like an assortment, a different you know
Speaker 1: you recording antically you don't drink right now, drink. I
Speaker 1: did read an article about you're going to clubs and
Speaker 1: how a lot of the people in the clubs, the owners,
Speaker 1: they feel like they don't want to. I want twice.
Speaker 1: You know I can't just you know, go to like today.
Speaker 1: To be here, I had to get a travel pass.
Speaker 1: I have it in my bag from my paroval officer
Speaker 1: to you know travel I'm restricted my traveling. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm restricted into where where I travel. Um, I cannot
Speaker 1: travel into any of the five boroughs without a travel
Speaker 1: pass from my parole officer. What do you say? You say, yer?
Speaker 1: Are you not allowed to drink? Or anything or is
Speaker 1: that a condition of your Absolutely, yeah, that's one of
Speaker 1: those stipulations. But at the same time, I know it's
Speaker 1: my worst enemy because I know if I have, you know,
Speaker 1: one drink, it turns me into a different person, and
Speaker 1: it's going to bring me back to where I was.
Speaker 1: And you know, even and maybe this time I'm not
Speaker 1: going to be as lucky. But about your family where
Speaker 1: they're very supportive of you while you were aware or
Speaker 1: and the whole time that you were on drugs, did
Speaker 1: they know did they say, okay, you know he's on
Speaker 1: heroin and did they talk to you, sit you down
Speaker 1: or was it something that you were able to hide
Speaker 1: from the No, no, no, it got to the point
Speaker 1: where there was no hiding it. I was, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean I was at rock bottom pretty much. I
Speaker 1: mean I was as bad as you get. And you know,
Speaker 1: my mom would cry and uh, you know, my mom
Speaker 1: and dad were just like, you know, so depressed on
Speaker 1: what I had become. My brother wouldn't even talk to me,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, I was I was a crackhead,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, you know, there's no other way
Speaker 1: to put it, right. I mean, did you clean up
Speaker 1: stuff around the house for him, like, did were you
Speaker 1: good with your hands maintenance? You know a lot of
Speaker 1: crackheads in the hood, they're good with the hands. It's
Speaker 1: good cheap label. No, no, I was. I didn't do
Speaker 1: any of that. I was usually out. Yeah, money man,
Speaker 1: he's not a typical crackhead. What are you doing cleaning?
Speaker 1: Cause number this guy right now. Listen, we had this
Speaker 1: discussion the other day. What do you think it's worse
Speaker 1: alcohol or crack? You know what they equally is bad.
Speaker 1: There equally is bad. Let me put it to you
Speaker 1: this way. Detoxing from crack, it's very uncomfortable and you'll
Speaker 1: go through the shakes and you'll you know you're sweat
Speaker 1: and you know you'll come down really odd, but you
Speaker 1: won't die. If you're an alcoholic and you drink every
Speaker 1: day for a certain amount of time, you cannot just
Speaker 1: stop because you will die. Okay, you need librium. People
Speaker 1: you know, are very misconceived about you know. Alcohol. Alcohol
Speaker 1: is a drug. Also rightly it happens to be legal,
Speaker 1: but at the same time, it's just as destructive as
Speaker 1: any of those other drugs. And usually it's the catalyst
Speaker 1: because once you drink, your judgment becomes impaired, and all
Speaker 1: the good things that you put in place out the
Speaker 1: window because now you think differently, you know. So you
Speaker 1: know I got to say they're equally as bad. Thank
Speaker 1: you for proving me an envy right now, he said
Speaker 1: equally as bad. You said, that's not proving listening. So
Speaker 1: um you UM, I don't want to ask you just now. Oh,
Speaker 1: do you have any remorse when you're in jail for
Speaker 1: the cop Absolutely, I still got remorse. I mean because
Speaker 1: I feel like you was more sorry for yourself than it. No,
Speaker 1: I mean, this is listen. You know, I accepted, I
Speaker 1: accepted responsibility, and I still do it for my actions,
Speaker 1: my drug addiction. How they made a contribution in the
Speaker 1: death of that heroic police officer Daniel. You know, that's
Speaker 1: something that I got to live with for the rest
Speaker 1: of my life. There's not one day that goes by
Speaker 1: that I don't think of December tenth, two thousand and
Speaker 1: five at least one time. Okay, sometimes it's twenty times,
Speaker 1: but at least one time, and say, damn, you know,
Speaker 1: I wish I could go back and change that night,
Speaker 1: and you know, and that guy would be alive. Still,
Speaker 1: you know, do you think that much time when you
Speaker 1: got that time, do you think it was so much
Speaker 1: time for you? Since you said you didn't have anything
Speaker 1: to do with the shooting and put a typical robbery
Speaker 1: case probably would have got a year. Um. Well, the
Speaker 1: sentencing guidelines since it was an attempt at burglary in
Speaker 1: the first degree, it was a sentencing guideline of three
Speaker 1: and a half to fifteen years. Judge gave me ten
Speaker 1: my first felony. You know, there was other cases in
Speaker 1: the same you know, in Bronx County that my lawyer
Speaker 1: spoke about in front of the judge prior to being sentenced.
Speaker 1: Guys with two and three felonies in the same county
Speaker 1: the same charge. We're getting seven and eight years and
Speaker 1: I got ten my first felony. But then someone died
Speaker 1: as well, right right? You know, do I think it
Speaker 1: was excessive? I don't want to use the word excessive,
Speaker 1: because I truly believe that it was you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: the sentence imposed came out of the judge's mouth, but
Speaker 1: I truly believe that the sentence imposed was one by God,
Speaker 1: because I think that he that is the amount of
Speaker 1: time that he thought that I needed, right and might
Speaker 1: blessed that it wasn't worse than that. It could have
Speaker 1: went way worse than that. Absolutely, I could have been
Speaker 1: convicted of murder too, and I would have got a
Speaker 1: twenty to life or a twenty five to life. Now,
Speaker 1: for our local listeners, west Chester Young because that seems
Speaker 1: like a pretty bad county as far as police in
Speaker 1: the court systems, do you agree Westchester County tougher than
Speaker 1: New York? I would say as far as being able
Speaker 1: to take a case like that to trial and being victorious, well,
Speaker 1: you you rarely see that in that in that county.
Speaker 1: I think. I think with that same case, with that case,
Speaker 1: um my lawyers, you know, and the lawyers that I
Speaker 1: have spoken to all said that I was lucky that
Speaker 1: that kind of case happened in the Bronx because you're
Speaker 1: you're going to get the best jurors in the Bronx.
Speaker 1: Had it happened in west Chester County, yeah, it would
Speaker 1: have been a very good shot. That a very tough place.
Speaker 1: I would have you know, maybe in a situation like that,
Speaker 1: maybe I wouldn't have taken it to trial. We heard
Speaker 1: from Robert de Niro, No, did you ever have a
Speaker 1: relationship with him? At all. Yeah, absolutely, yeah, we did.
Speaker 1: You know, that was his directorial, the first movie he
Speaker 1: ever directed. And you know, did he turn you on
Speaker 1: the drugs? No? No, he spot he did the exact opposite.
Speaker 1: He tried to you know, he tried to tell me,
Speaker 1: and he even came to my house and he went
Speaker 1: to the wrong house. He rang the next little neighbors.
Speaker 1: That's that's an awkward intervention. And I'm trying to intervene.
Speaker 1: I go to the wrong guy's house. No, but no,
Speaker 1: but he's you know, he's I mean, what a great guy.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I mean, the guy taught me
Speaker 1: so much. And to give a you know, you know,
Speaker 1: an unknown at fifteen years old, the shot of a lifetime.
Speaker 1: You do look like it could be you look like
Speaker 1: Robert there a little bit. You know, it made sense,
Speaker 1: and you know, I mean the decisions that I made
Speaker 1: in my life definitely had to you know, let him down.
Speaker 1: And I you know, I don't. I mean, I understand
Speaker 1: that he hasn't reached out, but at the same time,
Speaker 1: he still hadn't. He never said anything negative. He kind
Speaker 1: of like, you know, just said that it was unfortunate
Speaker 1: for everyone involved, which you know is what you're supposed
Speaker 1: to say in that situation, right, and you know, I
Speaker 1: mean I haven't reached out to him, but you know
Speaker 1: one day after, you know, I mean, yeah, after, I
Speaker 1: truly believe, I mean, I think it's still too whirling now.
Speaker 1: I mean, not reach out to him for a job,
Speaker 1: reach out to him just to make things right and
Speaker 1: just to look in his eyes and say, you know,
Speaker 1: do the family first though before Robin? Right, Yeah, no, absolutely,
Speaker 1: I I mean I would have did that already. Believe me.
Speaker 1: I want to sit ye and say, you know, listen,
Speaker 1: you know, you know I'm truly am you know, I
Speaker 1: truly apologize and I am really sorry. But you say,
Speaker 1: you know what, they're gonna see this. So if you
Speaker 1: had something to say to them right now, I had
Speaker 1: something to say to them right now, you know. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm sorry, you know, for your loss, and
Speaker 1: I'm sorry for my involvement, you know, but please find
Speaker 1: it in your heart to forgive me. You know, I
Speaker 1: didn't you know, I wasn't. I didn't. You know, I
Speaker 1: wasn't the one who who killed you know, your brother,
Speaker 1: and you know, hopefully in time and you know, even
Speaker 1: if there was anything I can do for them, I
Speaker 1: would do it, you know, but I just you know,
Speaker 1: with the situation, it's going to be really hard to
Speaker 1: get them to forgive you and to open up to
Speaker 1: you in a way which was you know, it almost
Speaker 1: becomes amicable. I don't think that's ever a possibility. I
Speaker 1: really don't, you know, which I understand. I'm not. I'm
Speaker 1: not mad about it, you know, I understand because you know,
Speaker 1: in the situation was reversed, I probably I don't know
Speaker 1: what I would do to forgive you. It might help
Speaker 1: them to heal as well. Yeah, do you feel like
Speaker 1: she'll get blackballed for anything in the future, Like I've
Speaker 1: seen Chad's commentary has spoken out and said that you
Speaker 1: better not try to reach out to him, and right,
Speaker 1: he would never reach out to you because he was
Speaker 1: in a Bronx tale with you. Although right, do you
Speaker 1: feel like there's certain roles or moving forward that you
Speaker 1: might get black balled? Um? Yeah, absolutely, I think to
Speaker 1: a certain extent that would definitely happen. I mean there
Speaker 1: are you know, I mean, it's a business, and in
Speaker 1: that business there are all different kinds of people, and
Speaker 1: there are some that will be more willing to give
Speaker 1: you the opportunity and maybe know someone who was in
Speaker 1: a situation where they were involved in, you know, a
Speaker 1: drug addiction, and you know can understand and empathize and
Speaker 1: what you went through and how it was the drugs
Speaker 1: that put you in that situation. But now that you've
Speaker 1: used the situation and made yourself a better person. You know,
Speaker 1: I tend narcotics anonymous meetings three to five times a week,
Speaker 1: try to help anyone in that situation, right, you know,
Speaker 1: and try to talk to them. And you know what
Speaker 1: I think about you were in prison, did you write
Speaker 1: a did you think about writing your man um Like
Speaker 1: I said, the first three years in rykazal And I
Speaker 1: couldn't think about anything else but that case. I had
Speaker 1: a case file, the whole case files was like, you know,
Speaker 1: a stack of papers that I used to have, you know,
Speaker 1: laid out on my bed and try to strategize. And
Speaker 1: you know, I was in the law library a lot
Speaker 1: and learning how to shepherdize cases in different case law
Speaker 1: pertaining to that case and the charges that I was facing.
Speaker 1: Trying to you know, educate myself as much possible in
Speaker 1: the law, to know what I was up against and
Speaker 1: to help my lawyer, help me. So that's all I
Speaker 1: could think about at that time. And then when I
Speaker 1: was you know, acquitted of the murder and you know,
Speaker 1: had an additional five and a half to serve, I
Speaker 1: spent my time educating myself and learning business management. It's
Speaker 1: a it's a major that encompasses a lot. I took
Speaker 1: you know, four accounting courses, financial management, politics, psychology. I
Speaker 1: learned so much and you know, and truly say I'm
Speaker 1: a much better person for it. You know, we appreciate
Speaker 1: you for winning us. Yeah, which the best man yeahs
Speaker 1: on your request to redemption. Yeah, thank you, Thank you
Speaker 1: guys for the opportunity. Um, the movie. The movies could
Speaker 1: have come out I think early next year. And I
Speaker 1: also want to mention one other thing. I got something that,
Speaker 1: uh is in the works right now, a film that
Speaker 1: we currently trying to raise money. A film called Valhalla,
Speaker 1: which is the Westchester County Jail. It's a jail movie. Um,
Speaker 1: it's a jail movie, but it's more about what I
Speaker 1: just spoke about, Like, the most important thing to somebody
Speaker 1: incarcerated is not you know, UH, is not beating someone
Speaker 1: up or you know, the most important thing to someone
Speaker 1: who's who's locked up is their freedom and how did
Speaker 1: they get that freedom? And that's by learning the law.
Speaker 1: And when I read the script, I said, wow, that's
Speaker 1: that's really the way this is. That's an accurate depiction.
Speaker 1: So for you know, for that reason, I'm very passionate
Speaker 1: about the project because I want to kind of show
Speaker 1: people what jails really like. And uh, you know, so
Speaker 1: we're we're really close to securing the financing. That's something
Speaker 1: that I would be a producer on and also starring.
Speaker 1: We're looking to start by June July on that and Valhalla. Yes,
Speaker 1: with that being said, thank you all for the opportunity.
Speaker 1: I appreciate it. Thank you so much. Lelo Broncado Junior
Speaker 1: is the Breakfast Club. Good morning,