Speaker 1: Hey, it's the dec and I'm Charlie Webster.
Speaker 2: This is Surviving L Chapo The Twins Who Brought Down
Speaker 2: a Drug Lord Season two. Hi, it's Charlie Webster here,
Speaker 2: host of Surviving L Chapo The Twins Who Brought Down
Speaker 2: a Drug Lord. I know you guys have been waiting
Speaker 2: for season two, and I've got some really good news.
Speaker 1: It's coming out next week.
Speaker 2: But as we've been putting the finishing touches together on
Speaker 2: the new season, a huge development just happened and I
Speaker 2: wanted to bring you up to date. If you remember,
Speaker 2: whilst I was recording with the Florest family in the
Speaker 2: safe house, they found out that Jay and Pete's older brother, Armando,
Speaker 2: had cooperated with the Feds to provide evidence that implicated
Speaker 2: their wives, Valenviv in a money laundering conspiracy. There was
Speaker 2: a lot of upset in the house and the realization
Speaker 2: that the wives.
Speaker 1: Might end up serving prison time.
Speaker 2: The information Armando gave was related to the twins drug
Speaker 2: debts that were collected when Jay and Pete went to
Speaker 2: prison back in two thousand and eight. The debts were
Speaker 2: outstanding money that was owed to the brothers for drugs.
Speaker 1: It was collected by val Viv and Armando.
Speaker 2: Some of the money was handed over to the government,
Speaker 2: but there was more that the government claimed they didn't
Speaker 2: know about that Valenviv used to live off. The government
Speaker 2: inded of Valenviv in twenty twenty one. Last year, the
Speaker 2: wives filed a motion to dismiss the money laundering charges,
Speaker 2: arguing that they were promised community as part of the
Speaker 2: Twins cooperation deal. A hearing was held and Judge Matthew
Speaker 2: Kennelly spent two days listening to evidence from both sides.
Speaker 1: He denied the motion to dismiss the charges.
Speaker 2: The wives were left with the choice to either go
Speaker 2: to trial or plead guilty, partly due to a concern
Speaker 2: around negative public perception. The wives decided not to go
Speaker 2: to trial and pleaded guilty.
Speaker 1: On July seventeenth.
Speaker 2: Viv was sentenced to three and a half years in
Speaker 2: prison and required to pay a five hundred and four thousand,
Speaker 2: eight hundred and fifty eight dollars forfeiture. On Monday, the
Speaker 2: twenty fifth of September, Val headed to the courthouse in
Speaker 2: Chicago for her sentencing. The government had requested a five
Speaker 2: year sentence instead. After hearing VAL's testimony, Judge Connelly gave
Speaker 2: her the same sentence as vs. Three and a half
Speaker 2: years in prison and a five hundred and four thousand,
Speaker 2: eight hundred and fifty eight dollars forfeituat. I jumped on
Speaker 2: the phone with Val on Monday afternoon, straight after her sentencing.
Speaker 1: How are you feeling.
Speaker 3: I'm okay, I'm okay. I'm just I feel like I'm
Speaker 3: just that it's over with. I needed it to be done,
Speaker 3: and I just, yeah, I'm so happy. I just I
Speaker 3: got it over with. But I feel like, I, I
Speaker 3: don't know, it's bittersweet, right, and I'm just happy that,
Speaker 3: you know, I got it over with. You know, in court,
Speaker 3: I apologize to my children, you know, for the pain
Speaker 3: and cause, and I just regret putting them through this again.
Speaker 3: I've been through so much ready, especially with their dad
Speaker 3: being away for all the years and how to go
Speaker 3: through that. So you know, now it's like I feel
Speaker 3: like it's different when it comes to mom, you know,
Speaker 3: especially since they've had me for so many years and
Speaker 3: I kind of had to be mom and dad when
Speaker 3: Jay was away, and so now it's like I won't
Speaker 3: be there, and I just feel like it's going to
Speaker 3: be really hard for them, But I feel really blessed
Speaker 3: with the time that I did get because I got
Speaker 3: three and a half years, and I feel like that
Speaker 3: was a blessing for me. I'm really just trying to
Speaker 3: be positive and I just want to I really want
Speaker 3: to put this behind me, and I know we're going
Speaker 3: to get through this. I know that, you know, our
Speaker 3: family is very strong, and I feel like our bond
Speaker 3: is unbreakable, and I think that you know, it's only
Speaker 3: going to make us stronger. And I know one day
Speaker 3: they can definitely put this behind us and finally just
Speaker 3: start over. And you know, with our new lives, it's
Speaker 3: just a lot, it's definitely a lot, but at the
Speaker 3: end of the day, I just feel like it makes
Speaker 3: us stronger. I feel like we've grow, We've grown so
Speaker 3: much from everything that we've been through, and I feel
Speaker 3: like I just wouldn't be the person I am today
Speaker 3: if I hadn't gone through all the ups and downs
Speaker 3: and all struggles. And I feel like I do realize,
Speaker 3: I do realize the mistakes that I've made, and I
Speaker 3: do honestly understand why I got the three and a
Speaker 3: half years. And I feel that when I was in
Speaker 3: court just listening to the prosecutors and listening to the judge,
Speaker 3: I do understand, and I do take accountability for my
Speaker 3: mistakes for sure, and I did take accountability for money laundering,
Speaker 3: and I did say that this is what I did.
Speaker 3: And I think that was very honorable for me to
Speaker 3: get up there and gracefully say that, you know, everything
Speaker 3: that I'm being charged with, I did do that. However,
Speaker 3: I did believe that I had immunity, and so I
Speaker 3: think that that made the difference whether the government agrees
Speaker 3: with that or not or just going to agree to disagree.
Speaker 3: But at the end of the day, as far as
Speaker 3: the crime I committed, I did definitely money launder, and
Speaker 3: I did say that I'm a different understanding of what
Speaker 3: I was doing. And to be honest, Charlie, I just
Speaker 3: hope that, like, by sharing my story, you know, I
Speaker 3: just want to bring awareness to like other women that
Speaker 3: have like walked in my shoes and have that are
Speaker 3: going through this and sometimes you're living that life and
Speaker 3: it's like a really fast lifestyle, right and you don't
Speaker 3: realize you don't realize the consequences that comes with this life.
Speaker 3: And I think that, you know, I'm hoping that they
Speaker 3: you know other women can make better choices than I did,
Speaker 3: because I felt like I did make a huge mistake,
Speaker 3: and I just feel bad that, you know, my kids
Speaker 3: are going to suffer because of it, and I feel
Speaker 3: regretful that, you know, they're going to have to go
Speaker 3: to this all over again because they've been through so
Speaker 3: much already.
Speaker 2: What do you think now about the fact that the
Speaker 2: government pursued you like this.
Speaker 3: To be honest, Charlie, I feel like I was really upset.
Speaker 3: I felt like I was being targeted. I felt like
Speaker 3: I felt like they wanted to make an example to me,
Speaker 3: which is hurtful. The prosecutors that are in charge today
Speaker 3: of the case, you know, I just like they're doing
Speaker 3: their job, and I know that if they were, you know,
Speaker 3: the prosecutors back then when my husband was was cooperating,
Speaker 3: I feel like things would have been a lot different,
Speaker 3: and I feel like everything would have been a lot
Speaker 3: more clearer, to the point where I wouldn't have made
Speaker 3: certain decisions and I wouldn't have made these bad choices.
Speaker 3: And so I'm not upset and I'm not mad, I'm
Speaker 3: not angry. I honestly do understand that this was not
Speaker 3: okay with them. But I feel like it's different today
Speaker 3: and what it was. I wish that the prosecutors today
Speaker 3: were there back in two thousand and eight because everything
Speaker 3: was like everything was smoking mirrors, you.
Speaker 2: Know, I mean in a word speaking just after your sentences,
Speaker 2: So I can imagine it's not really I don't know
Speaker 2: how much it sank in. But how do you feel
Speaker 2: about and how you're going to cope with prison? Is
Speaker 2: there anything you've thought about and has it come up
Speaker 2: in your head about your own safety?
Speaker 3: And definitely, Charlie, like when I was in court today,
Speaker 3: it's like we had to put on the headset and
Speaker 3: they had to basically, you know, blur the channels so
Speaker 3: no one can hear what the judges talk, what the
Speaker 3: judge is saying to us. And there was things that
Speaker 3: need to be taken out of my report that have
Speaker 3: had to be redacted. Of course, where I would be
Speaker 3: serving my time was definitely one of those issues. But
Speaker 3: I must say that it is scary more so of
Speaker 3: just the fact of being alone. And I think that's
Speaker 3: what scares me, you know, just.
Speaker 4: You know, it's it's really hard to just you know,
Speaker 4: your time alone, and I think that's part that scares
Speaker 4: me the most, even working with you and like just
Speaker 4: having these hard conversations. I was never used to that, Charlie,
Speaker 4: And I think that by doing so, I was able
Speaker 4: to really open up and tell my story, and I
Speaker 4: think it really made a difference. So and I think
Speaker 4: that in season two of our podcasts, I think that
Speaker 4: you know, the listeners are going to hear a lot
Speaker 4: more of our stories and depth, and hopefully they too
Speaker 4: can understand, you know, what we've been going through. They
Speaker 4: might not agree, but at least they'll understand our journey
Speaker 4: for sure.
Speaker 1: There's so much more to the Flori's family story.
Speaker 2: Join us the Sea season two as we take you
Speaker 2: on the fifteen year journey from the day the Twins
Speaker 2: handed themselves in right through to now and find out how.
Speaker 1: They got to this point. Fifty and I are really
Speaker 1: excited to share the new season with you.
Speaker 2: Make sure you hit follow to be notified as soon
Speaker 2: as it drops on October the fourth. In the meantime,
Speaker 2: we've just dropped a little episode in your feed so
Speaker 2: you can catch up on everything that happened last season
Speaker 2: and check out the trailer for a sneak peek at
Speaker 2: the new season.
Speaker 1: Can't wait to see you on October the fourth.
Speaker 2: Surviving El Chapo The Twins Who Brought Down a Drug Lord.
Speaker 2: Season two is hosted by Curtis fifty cent Jackson and
Speaker 2: me Charlie Webster, produced by myself and Jackson mcclennan, assistant
Speaker 2: producer and research support by Katie Hurtz, Edit and sound
Speaker 2: design by Nico Prolella, an original score by Ryan Sorenson.
Speaker 2: It's executive produced by Curtis fifty cent Jackson and Me
Speaker 2: Charlie Webster. Curtis fifty cent Jackson presents a Lionsgate Sound
Speaker 2: and G unit audio production exclusively for iHeart Podcasts