WEBVTT - The Winning Numbers of the Beast 0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:03.640 Ridiculous Crime. It's a production of I Heart Radio. Oh hey, 0:00:03.720 --> 0:00:06.080 Elizabeth Dotton, what are you doing here? I was hanging out. 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:09.880 Do you happen to know anything that's ridiculous? Do you 0:00:09.880 --> 0:00:12.800 know what's ridiculous? I do? Would you let me know? Yeah, 0:00:12.840 --> 0:00:15.520 I can let you know that there. We don't have 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:19.439 a lot of novelty songs lately. That's ridiculous. We like 0:00:19.480 --> 0:00:22.080 in the eighties and then into the nineties, we'd have 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:27.880 like top like top forty novelty hits, you know, like, um, 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:31.080 what about like the Bahama Men, And like, uh, well 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:34.479 it's not now how many it was like fifty years ago? Okay, 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:36.320 I think that was the two thousands. But yeah, I 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:38.720 get to your point. I'm trying to overestimate because I'll 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:40.760 tell people it's ten years ago in the nineties and 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:44.760 it wasn't so well, I'm I'm airing on the side 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:47.200 of caution when I say fifty years So you're telling 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:51.200 me that post Malone is not novelty songs. I'm kidding, 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:53.680 Like no, but like you know, Disco Duck and that 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:59.080 kind of stuff. Duck, Yeah, all the Duck songs, all 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:03.360 the two thousand's next like or just one hit wonder 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:06.000 catchy kind of I don't know what we're talking, like 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:11.640 the ninety nine balloons. Sure, no more novelty song actual 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:14.640 novel yea, so like rock me on a des By Falco. Right, 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:17.160 And here's the thing though, I don't listen to current 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:19.640 popular music, so maybe there are a ton of them. Yeah. 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:21.600 I was gonna say, maybe you should be over there 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:26.400 on TikTok checking out the novelty songs. Maybe you's ridiculous. 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:31.600 You don't go on TikTok. There we go, so ridiculous. Well, 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:33.200 I got a story for you. It is kind of ridiculous. 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:36.040 I'd love to hear it in the mood always. Okay, 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:38.360 how about a story of a man who was famous 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:41.960 for hosting a TV game show called Bowling for Dollars 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:44.679 and then the same man he went on to be, 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:47.400 you know, be the guy, the mastermind if you will, 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:51.480 to rig a state lottery. Yeah, it's called the Triple 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:54.880 six Fix. And this is a story. It's about as 0:01:54.920 --> 0:02:17.640 Pennsylvania as it comes. Nice. This is Ridiculous Crime, a 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:22.120 podcast about absurd and outrageous capers, heist and cons. It's 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:30.200 always murder free and ridiculous. Elizabeth What do you know 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:34.799 about Pennsylvania? Nothing? Nothing, zero. You're in. You're in. Luck. 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:36.720 I happen to have a few fun facts for you, 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:40.160 isn't it. William penn is the founder, correct, and he 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:43.680 likes the woods. That's Sylvania. Yes, we'll get into that. 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:48.079 That's the extent of what you know. Okay, Well, Pennsylvania 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:51.799 is the fifth most populous state, although the people there 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:57.320 will tell you it's actually the fifth most populous commonwealth. Yeah, 0:02:58.000 --> 0:03:01.839 it's known these days as a decider presidential elections. It's 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:04.800 also home to the Philadelphia Eagles and their battery tossing fans. 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:08.559 And it's home to the Steelers, the Flyers, the Penguins, 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:13.519 the Harrisburg Senators. Isn't gritty gritty? That's gritty Philadelphia Flyers. 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:20.760 Oh and the Four Seasons Total Lands one of my 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:24.440 all time favorite things ever. Very good. The Hersy Amusement 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:27.200 Park and factory tour. You can see how chocolate gets made, 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:31.400 now beyond sports chocolate. That kind of makes Europeans gag. 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:36.120 We have what else we need to know about Pennsylvania crime. Well, 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:39.440 you already got into the name part. His name for 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:42.680 William penn Sylvania means Penn's Woods. Do you know the 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:44.440 story of how it got that name. It wasn't him. 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:47.280 He did not name it after himself. Someone else named it. 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:53.080 Penns Woods, right, that's somebody else was King Charles, the 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:55.680 second King Charls the second of it was the king 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:59.640 of Scotland and the King of England after Oliver Cromwell died. 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:01.400 It's a whole deal we want to get into that. 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:04.600 The point is in one King Charles, he went over 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:06.600 to William Penn's daddy and he's like, hey, man, I 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:08.320 know I owe you a bunch of money to help 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:12.000 me win back my kingdom. So I owe you some duckets. 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:13.880 How about this, I'll give you some land in the 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:17.320 America's And Pops is like, give it to my boy, 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:20.240 all right. So he's like cool, gives it to his son. 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:23.400 He's like, hey, William Penn, look send the money. I'm 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:25.000 a little light on it. I'm gonna give you land 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:27.840 in the America's And uh, how about that? And he's like, oh, 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:31.320 that's very nice of you, your majesty, thank you very much. 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:33.360 He's like, yeah, man, you'll love it. The place has 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:36.039 got a ton of trees. I think we should advertise that. 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:40.680 So let's call it William Penn's tree Land now William 0:04:40.680 --> 0:04:43.880 Penn's Woods. He's like, yeah, yeah, I like that. There 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:45.719 it's done. Well. It's like no, no, no no, no, no, no, 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:47.440 don't name it after me. I'm a Quaker, so we 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:50.239 can't have that. Let's name it New Whales. How about 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:52.600 that New Whales's kind of got a whole new vibe 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:55.320 to it, and you know, it's the America's everything's new there. 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:58.400 And he's like, no, I don't like that. I already 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:00.719 got my guys working on it. They're using a good vellum. 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:04.800 So let's just go with williams Pen's Woods. And he's like, no, 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:09.159 I bro, come on, your majesty. Could we just name 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:14.720 it something other than that? How about okay, pensil Okay Sylvania, 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:17.680 Like Elizabeth said, that's a good one. And he's like Kings, like, no, 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:19.839 I don't know. I told you got the charter going. 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:24.880 He's like, okay, I'll split it with you. Pensnsylvania my Sylvania, 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:27.560 and he's like I love it, and eventually got shortened 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:30.960 to Pennsylvania. Now. I spent a lot of time Pennsylvania 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:34.160 as a kid. I like Pennsylvania a bunch, just like 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:40.920 on your own yourself. I took my bindle hobo hopped 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:44.359 onto like a train going east, and I didn't stop 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:46.479 until we ran out of continent. And then I was like, 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:50.640 back up a state, Take me to Pennsylvania. No, I 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:52.640 have a cousin. I haven't. I have a whole family. 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:55.320 But they have a whole family lives in a camp Hill, Pennsylvania, 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:58.120 which is just near Harrisburg, which is the capital of Pennsylvania. 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:01.240 So I would be there hanging out around the same 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:04.960 time that the star of today's story was just getting 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:07.479 out of prison where he'd been spending his time for 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:10.440 fixing the state lottery. And now I'd like to introduce 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:14.320 you to the former host of Bowling for Dollars and 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:18.320 the hero of our day, Nick Perry. Nick Perry, that's 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:22.480 not his government name. Government name was Nicholas Perry Katson Faunas. 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:24.840 He was Greek. Yeah, yeah, heeded. The dude was a 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:27.280 World War Two veteran navy man, tough guy, you know, 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:30.240 like actual, you know, Assault of the Earth gets back 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:31.640 from the war and he's like, what am I gonna do? 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:34.240 It's a new country. You know, I'm gonna get involved 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:36.640 in this radio I think I got a good voice 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:39.200 for radio, gets involved. Then there's a new medium that 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:41.960 pops up called television. He's like, hey, I'm gonna bounce 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:45.240 over to that. So he starts working at the television 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:48.360 station from Pittsburgh, gets a job and he's hosting a 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:53.320 live televised Polka party. Yeah. First television station of Pittsburgh's like, 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:58.680 you know what, we need live polka? So this is about, 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:02.880 you know, nineteen fifty Okay. In night he gets hired 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:05.120 to become this new thing that's been invented called a 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:08.000 TV announcer. He's like, yeah, I'm gonna be this guy 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:10.320 I announced And they're like, okay, that's cool. What are 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:12.760 you and that stuff on TV? Talking about it? So 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:15.520 I guess his job at Pittsburgh station w T A E. 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:18.640 Now w T A E. This is where he becomes 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:21.400 what you might call Pittsburgh famous. This is where he 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:24.520 gets his shows. The two most popular shows in Pittsburgh 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:28.640 television at the time, Bowling for Dollars and Championship Bowling. 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:31.200 He's a bowling guy. Oh big, Now can you guess 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:34.600 what Bowling for Dollars was? Like? I think I think 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:37.400 they may have had a version out here. I believe 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:39.440 I remember when I was a little kid. One it's 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:44.360 stayed a popular idea. Yeah in the so I don't know, 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:45.960 I don't I just remember the name of it. I 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:49.120 don't remember the show itself. Imagine family feud with no 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:53.240 questions and instead bowling balls. So they're just like your 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:56.000 families competing a bowling man. So it's just like semi 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:58.840 pro bowling. It's like amateurs. But then they also have, 0:07:58.960 --> 0:08:00.440 like you know, they have the whole fani le vibe, 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:03.000 like come on, mom, pick up that seven tent split 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:08.200 all right, exactly, and it's just visiting. Well, is it's corny. 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:10.640 I'll admit it's totally corny, and it's a lot of 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:12.680 fun to watch. We'll we'll put up a clip on 0:08:12.720 --> 0:08:14.960 Instagram so you can see what this looks like. It 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:17.360 is worth it just for the fashion a loan because 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:19.440 the clips were gonna put up. Or from the seventies, 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:23.040 which is love It, Love It great oranges greens you 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:27.160 haven't seen since then. So now you can imagine Pittsburgh 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:30.120 in the nineteen seventies. You this guy Nick Perry, He's 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:32.360 been a fixture in the Pittsburgh scene for a while, 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:35.560 and we get into the seventies and Pittsburgh's cooking along 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:38.120 even though everything's not really going well for the city 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:40.880 in terms of the steel industry is shutting down, so 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:44.199 it's a hard time for this, you know, industrial city, 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:47.360 this blue collar city. Nick Perry is there for the people. 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:51.240 He keeps them Pittsburgh proud, got it right now, Just 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:53.120 give you a sense of this. When he would go 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:55.960 on to his show, he loved to like play up 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:59.480 as being a TV announcer. He made sure that he 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:02.680 was brought on with the right flair. So he had 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:05.200 this this catchphrase you would always hear, and they say, 0:09:05.800 --> 0:09:09.280 it's the man with all the dollars, the kingpin himself, 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:15.280 Nick Perry, right, just the cheesy right now. The newspeople 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:18.080 at the station, they still love this guy. He was like, 0:09:18.120 --> 0:09:20.600 you know, not he's you know, not a hard journalist, 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:22.880 but he's not just like a hand that. They're like, oh, 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:26.560 that's totally one of the crew. And they love him 0:09:26.559 --> 0:09:30.000 because he loves Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh loves him. The news 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:33.760 anchor Stu Emery at w t A, it's such a 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:37.000 good news anchor name do you remember here with the 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:39.800 traffic on the fives we'll be back with weather. His 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:45.839 real name is like Philibert FT News, so Philibert FT. 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:50.440 He said, and I quote Nick Perry was very Pittsburgh, 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:52.520 and he was very Pittsburgh and his questions and the 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:54.560 kind of people who were on the show. He was 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:57.040 down to earth and humorous and fun and his strong 0:09:57.080 --> 0:09:59.680 personality came through and he was just about his dapper 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:02.640 and restaurant as I had seen. All right, Yeah, we 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:04.920 put a little more on Pepper on this also a 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:09.480 dapper dresser now w t A E News director Joe 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:12.800 Raveto he also had something to say about the what 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:16.480 we call the essence of Nick Perry. Joe Rovito said, 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:18.880 and I quote Nick became a local star with bowling 0:10:18.920 --> 0:10:21.280 for dollars. That was his real breakthrough to the public. 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:23.920 He did a beautiful job with it. He was very knowledgeable, 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:27.520 a bowling enthusiast. He took it all very seriously. It 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:28.839 was a big deal of him, and he was a 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:32.080 very conscientious guy. As a reporter, anchor and host of 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:34.559 that program. Knows he calls him a reporter because he 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:38.760 talks to people. Yeah, reporter. Now during the seventies, as 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:41.280 I said, he becomes this beloved figure the city needs him. 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:44.400 He loves Pittsburgh bowling for dollars. To give you a 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:48.320 sense of this, it was regularly drawing more viewers during 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:52.080 its nighttime broadcast than the nighttime news at the time 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:56.400 on all of the other stations. Yeah, that's they're like, 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:58.680 we don't need to know what Gerald Ford said about inflation. 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:03.840 Just give us this of intense splits exact escap Nick 0:11:03.880 --> 0:11:06.280 Perry also would turn to the people of Pittsburgh who 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:08.400 go out there, give them some love. They give him 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:09.880 some love that I kind of like to picture it 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:13.920 like you've seen Anchorman, the Will Ferrell movie. So swap 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:17.800 San Diego for Pittsburgh news anchor for bowling for dollars, 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:21.040 and you basically got the vibe. That's what it sounds like. Okay, 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:24.680 So in V one we get our big complication, the 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:27.959 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. They decided to snatch business away from 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:29.880 all the mobbed up numbers runners. And they say, you 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:31.720 know what, we can do this, We can do bad 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:34.760 all by ourselves. So they come up with the Pennsylvania 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:36.600 State Lottery. Now this is a thing at the time. 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:38.960 A lot of the numbers and for those who don't 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:43.160 know numbers, Elizabeth is a game where somebody would basically 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:46.240 draw random numbers and then everybody in the community they 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:49.920 would be guessing what those numbers would be right every day, 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:52.000 and so this was what the lottery replaced. It was 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:54.160 basically the local numbers game, and you had you go 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:55.720 to your numbers guy and tell the numbers you think 0:11:55.720 --> 0:11:57.880 you're gonna win. And the numbers were picked usually from 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:01.560 like either a racetrack, how the finishes of horses went, 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:03.760 or some something in the newspaper. It would be something 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:06.040 that nobody could control, so that way everybody could see 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:09.160 whatever is occurring. Well, the lottery needs this same type 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:11.319 of thing, so they decide, you know what, We're gonna 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:14.160 do a TV show and we'll broadcast the numbers. And 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:16.719 so they have this nightly broadcast that will show the 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:19.160 winning numbers as their drawings, so everybody can see it 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:21.160 at the exact same time and they know nothing hanky 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:23.080 going on, right, So who do you think they pick 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:28.440 to host this show? Did w T A S. Nick Perry? Ye? 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:31.559 So Nick Perry, he's selected as the announcer at this 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:34.920 farmer World War two veteran. This he's also, by the way, 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:37.880 a like a Sunday School kind of guy. He he's 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:42.079 a choir leader at his church, like Salt of the Earth. 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:45.760 Good guy. Right, And three years later a grand jury 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:49.199 would determine that Pennsylvanias should bring charges against Nick Perry 0:12:49.280 --> 0:12:52.320 for colluding to rig the state lottery. So had what 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:56.640 happened in this time? And now I'd also like to 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:59.760 point out that this dude had the rank to merity 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:03.199 to rig the lottery and to rob the lottery live 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:08.680 on the air. Oh right, allegedly all allegedly, but I 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:12.120 guess I would say allegedly, because so he did it. 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:14.960 He did it, the state says. So, now, after this 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:17.480 short break, we'll get into the triple six fix of 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:40.319 the Pennsylvania lottery. He doesn't do you like to play 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:44.440 the lottery? Z babies? Uh? You know I always talked 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:50.040 to people about how I've talked to everyone random I stopped. 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:52.480 People know I always wants to talk about the lottery. 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:55.000 I've said many many times. I have this plan if 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:57.120 I won the lottery, like how I would divvy up 0:13:57.160 --> 0:14:00.480 the money. And I don't want it to get into 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:05.280 it now proprietary information, but I'd be really good at 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:07.800 winning the lottery if I ever bought a ticket, thoughts 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:10.120 you just said about to ask you have these plans, 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:12.719 but do you play? No, you can't win if you 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:15.640 don't play. That's that the ads tell me, yeah, right now. 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:17.760 And then they'll say like warning, you know, if you 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:20.440 have a gambling problem, don't do this. Do you have 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:23.240 a gambling problem? Is that way? You don't do it? No? 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:25.960 I don't know. Okay, Well for you, those are the 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:29.080 people who don't know about lotteries. They have various ones. 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:31.960 There's the scratch off kids, right, and then there's like 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:34.680 the the weekly draws, like the Mega millions where you 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:37.520 pick six numbers, and then there are smaller lotteries. They 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:39.240 are more based on what I was talking earlier about 0:14:39.240 --> 0:14:41.520 the numbers game, where they have what's called the daily 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:44.000 Number or the daily draw. Right. So the daily draw, 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:46.320 a person goes in Pennsylvania, at least they go and 0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:48.320 they buy a ticket, and they can spend between fifty 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:50.560 cents and five dollars on this ticket, and then they 0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:52.400 can pick a certain amount of numbers based on how 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:55.080 much they spend, and they get to pick three numbers, 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:58.320 so the numbers between zero and nine and the order 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:00.280 of the numbers matters. So if you put three, one, 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:02.080 four and the numbers are one four three that are drawn, 0:15:02.120 --> 0:15:04.520 you don't win. It's got to be exactly the way. 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:07.160 So there's there's two forms. It's the numbers and the order. 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:10.880 Right at one minute before seven pm every night, Nick 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:13.760 Perry and a local senior citizen go onto the w 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:16.400 t a E set and they appear on screen and 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:19.800 the senior citizen gets to select at random the numbers. 0:15:19.880 --> 0:15:23.240 And keep in mind the senior also gets picked at 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:25.760 random from all of the area senior citizen's homes. They 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:28.000 don't go and pick the most like charismatic, They just 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:31.200 pick citizens at random and they put them on TV 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:35.880 Summer Winners Summer completely. You should look up on YouTube 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:39.440 w t A E. Daily. Yesterday, I'll put up one 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:42.120 clip of the moment when the rigging occurred, and you 0:15:42.120 --> 0:15:44.960 can see the how it goes. How it so this 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:47.600 randomly selected senior citizen who gets to go up there 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:50.200 and randomly select the balls. They're supposed to stand there 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:52.000 as the balls are and if you've seen this, they'll 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:54.400 be in like a clear like bubble and they'll be 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:57.200 bouncing around. And so for this one, each number has 0:15:57.240 --> 0:15:59.520 its own bubble. So there's zero, three, nine balls and 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:01.360 each one they're all jumbling around and all of a 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:03.600 sudden once shoots up to the top. And the senior 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:05.720 citizen is in charge of turning it around to the 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:07.920 camera can see it, which is not the job I'd 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:09.560 give them, but you know, it works out for some 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:11.800 great fun. And when you watch now, if you have 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:14.200 all three winning numbers and you get them in the 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:17.080 order they were selected, you could win five hundred dollars 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:19.880 for every dollar you bet. So the most you can 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:25.640 win is two dollars from two thousand five day. Sorry, 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:29.280 quickly redo my math there. Yeah, you load up your 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:33.040 tickets all right now. If you don't, you dots you 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:37.480 get the two anyway. So lottery officials in the TV station, 0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:41.520 everybody's taking these daily drawings very seriously. There's millions of 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:44.480 dollars riding on it, right. So the machines they get 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:46.960 locked up after each drawing. They have like a whole 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:49.360 special space. They're locked up in the space that has 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:51.960 two keys required to open the lock, just like a 0:16:52.040 --> 0:16:57.280 nuclear submarine watching nukes. The Pennsylvania Lottery official they had 0:16:57.360 --> 0:16:59.240 a turn a key. The w C A E. People 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:01.560 turn a key. And also, by the way, the official 0:17:01.560 --> 0:17:04.400 would regularly, the state official lottery official would regularly visit 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:06.920 w t A, and they would check the machines, check 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:09.200 the balls, and make sure everything was up to code. 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:11.080 I bringing up up to stuff. They take the locks. 0:17:11.240 --> 0:17:13.679 So they didn't know when these periodic inspections would be. 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:16.320 They don't know when the ball checkers are coming exactly. 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:18.400 Nobody knows when someone's gonna show up going. I'm here 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:22.840 to check your balls, totally totally random the States balls. Meanwhile, 0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:24.800 by the way, since you were focus on the balls, 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:27.359 the State's balls, they were measured in wide and determined 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:30.200 always to be exactly. Can you guess how much would 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:33.320 it be a pink pong ball? Ways, no, good guess? 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:37.040 One point seven five milligrams. Now, for comparison sake, a 0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:39.479 dollar bill weighs about a gram, So it would take 0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:43.520 about five hundred and seventy lottery balls to weigh them 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:46.520 same amount as one dollar bill. That's how light these 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:50.000 things are, five hundred and seventy of them anyway, so 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:52.560 they made sure that they all were exactly the same weight. 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:55.920 Close good guess? Good guess? Well, I can tell you 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:58.160 about it now it's not gonna be easy to rig 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:00.320 a lot of getting ahead of it's fun. Don't mind 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:02.719 your getting ahead yourself. The science is there to ponder. 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:04.240 It is right there before us, which is how are 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:05.480 you going to get these balls? And you've got a 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:09.359 senior citizen working as like your helper as your stage assistant. 0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:12.520 Can't be something that they're gonna mess up. So what 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:16.280 do you do to rig this? Right now? Nick Perry, 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:19.280 He's like, okay, I got an idea for big pay day. 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:21.879 We rigged the lottery. Now he's facing the same question 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:24.399 you're asking. He's like, but how do I do it? 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:26.879 He's like, okay, and you know what I need? First? 0:18:27.200 --> 0:18:30.120 A money man. So he's like, okay, I'm gonna get 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:31.800 two for the price of one. He happens to have 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:34.840 these two childhood friends. They're called the Moragos Brothers. The 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:37.920 Morogos Brothers are a pair of like basically Greek small 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:41.720 time hoodlums, and they're Peter and Jack Moragos. They run 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:45.760 a cigarette vending machine business with Nick Perry. So they 0:18:45.760 --> 0:18:47.720 take Nick Perry's legitimate money and they run it through 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:51.520 this vending machine business and they, you know, they get 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:54.720 a little business juice. Right. So he comes and he's like, hey, guys, 0:18:54.760 --> 0:18:57.320 I got a new business venture. They're like, tell us 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:00.359 all about it, Nick, and like how they've gone. How 0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:04.640 Nick has gone from like hey, everybody do He's got 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:09.119 two faces. So this Nick Perry, he goes, okay, you guys, 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:11.680 you're down, and they're like, we do business. We trust 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:13.119 you. You You say it's a good idea, We're gonna do it. 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:14.680 We're in. So he's like, okay, I got my I 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:16.760 got my money. Man. So then he goes, okay, now 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:18.840 what else do I need? I need an inside guy. 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:21.159 So he's like, okay, this is gonna get difficult, this 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:23.040 is risky. This is where I can all. I can 0:19:23.080 --> 0:19:24.720 blow it all right here, so I gotta be smart 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:27.560 about this. It's like, okay, I know who I need. 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:30.400 He goes and sidles up to fifty two year old 0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:35.760 Pennsylvania Lottery official Edward Level, like, hey, man, looking good 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:39.320 in them chinos today? You ever thought about some bell bottoms? 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:40.840 With those? I can get you in a green number. 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:45.960 He's just sexually harassing him. Okay, you fill up the 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:51.720 bell bottomed boy, get you a turtleneck. Looking good anyway. 0:19:51.760 --> 0:19:55.240 So this dude Edward Plevel. He's essentially the security guard 0:19:55.280 --> 0:19:57.840 who's in charge of guaranteeing these machines have nothing going 0:19:57.880 --> 0:19:59.800 wrong with them at the ball's way exactly one point 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:03.480 seven five milligrams. And so going to him is that's 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:07.760 the move right? Clevels like you wanta do what? Hey? 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:12.320 I like it? Plevels into it. He wants to get right. 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:15.000 So he's like, okay, now I got my money guy, 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:16.800 I got my inside guy. I need a fixer. I 0:20:16.800 --> 0:20:19.679 need a tech specialist. So who can make this all happen? 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:22.840 Nick Perry turns to someone friend of the show close 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:25.000 to him. He's like, hey, the w t a e 0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:28.280 art director. I was thinking this, Oh look at you, 0:20:28.359 --> 0:20:33.040 criminal mastermind. So Joseph Back, the art director and renowned 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:37.320 for his hands painting, really good with hand painting, especially 0:20:37.359 --> 0:20:39.680 the campagnted letters and so forth, and which is as 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:42.720 an art we've discussed. Perry sidles up to Joe Back 0:20:42.760 --> 0:20:45.439 one day. He's a gay man, how you doing? I 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:51.159 really like that leather Jackie harassing everybody where? Did you 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:55.040 get them shooting? He's like, hey, man, what would you 0:20:55.080 --> 0:20:57.159 say if I told you I could? You could make 0:20:57.200 --> 0:21:00.439 a hundred thousand dollars. Joe back looks him up and 0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:03.720 down in the most Pennsylvanu way possible. He listening me, says, 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:09.600 who do I have to kill? Oh? I think that 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:11.840 it was going to be an indecent proposal. I ain't 0:21:11.880 --> 0:21:14.639 laying down for this one. But someone's gone out. So 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:17.080 he's like, all right, I can make a hundred the 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:20.000 easy way or the hard way with no wet work. Okay. 0:21:20.080 --> 0:21:21.639 So he's into it. He's like, what do I gotta do? 0:21:21.720 --> 0:21:24.600 He's like, I want you to swap some balls. He's like, swapa, 0:21:25.520 --> 0:21:27.720 this is getting a little interesting. Nick, what kind of 0:21:27.720 --> 0:21:29.840 balls are we talking here? And he's like, I'll come 0:21:29.840 --> 0:21:35.600 back to the gutter yea, and show me those pants again. 0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:38.760 Spin around. He drops one of the balls on purpose 0:21:39.880 --> 0:21:43.240 and take it up a little smack on the tish. 0:21:43.680 --> 0:21:46.800 So Nick Perry, he gives Joe Buck a scale and 0:21:46.840 --> 0:21:48.959 he goes, Okay, I need you to go buy thirty 0:21:48.960 --> 0:21:51.040 ping pong balls. I want you to weigh them. Just 0:21:51.080 --> 0:21:53.800 go to any sporting good store, paint them to match 0:21:53.840 --> 0:21:56.960 the official lottery balls. You gotta number the seven, the eight, 0:21:57.040 --> 0:21:59.080 and nine to match exactly, and you won't be able 0:21:59.080 --> 0:22:00.600 to take home an example, so you have to do 0:22:00.640 --> 0:22:02.880 it for memory. And he's like, bro hand painted letter 0:22:03.160 --> 0:22:06.159 is my jam I got this? So Joe back, He 0:22:06.240 --> 0:22:09.399 takes the thirty ping pong balls, he takes the scale, 0:22:09.440 --> 0:22:11.520 He goes home, and he gets to work. Now, of 0:22:11.520 --> 0:22:13.760 course it's gonna acquire a little experimentation. He's like, how 0:22:13.760 --> 0:22:16.040 am I gonna do this? So he tries, like, first, powder, 0:22:16.080 --> 0:22:17.800 seems like, maybe I can put a powder coating on 0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:19.840 it and I'll make the balls different the way, different amounts. 0:22:19.880 --> 0:22:22.040 That doesn't work. He's like, how about an applicate. Maybe 0:22:22.040 --> 0:22:23.480 I can put like an applicat on there that like 0:22:23.520 --> 0:22:26.399 the sticker is heavy. That doesn't work. He's like, I 0:22:26.520 --> 0:22:32.119 got it white latex paint, right, basically house paint. He's like, 0:22:32.200 --> 0:22:35.000 I'm gonna his house paint. So he injects the ping 0:22:35.040 --> 0:22:38.679 pong balls with latex paints and then paints the outsides 0:22:38.760 --> 0:22:40.800 and so he can make the fake balls. They would 0:22:40.800 --> 0:22:43.119 all still bounce and jumble around in the machine, but 0:22:43.200 --> 0:22:46.480 they won't. Only one ball will be lighter than all 0:22:46.560 --> 0:22:49.320 the other nine, Like, there's nine balls in there. I 0:22:49.359 --> 0:22:51.560 guess ten balls in there. There nine and then he 0:22:51.600 --> 0:22:54.120 has one ball that's not waited, so all the rest 0:22:54.200 --> 0:22:57.520 they will bounce around and float because there he has them. 0:22:57.560 --> 0:22:59.920 He's been experimenting make sure that they will bounce around. 0:23:00.119 --> 0:23:01.800 Only one has the lightness to make it to the 0:23:01.800 --> 0:23:04.200 t C. I was thinking like he would maybe paint 0:23:04.280 --> 0:23:07.080 the numbers on there with like he'd put some sort 0:23:07.080 --> 0:23:09.600 of metal into the paint and make it heavier paint. Oh, 0:23:09.600 --> 0:23:11.600 that's a really good idea. Yeah, they did not go 0:23:11.680 --> 0:23:14.840 with metal paint. They just decided to. They didn't call me, no, 0:23:15.320 --> 0:23:18.240 they really should have. Unfortunately you weren't born, so that 0:23:18.359 --> 0:23:20.840 is part of the that was a little difficult. So anyway, 0:23:20.840 --> 0:23:23.359 they decide add weight to nine of the ten balls 0:23:23.480 --> 0:23:26.400 in each machine, and they pick weight. We can't do that. 0:23:26.600 --> 0:23:28.320 We've got to let there be two balls because if 0:23:28.320 --> 0:23:31.200 it's just one ball, it'll be very obvious. So we'll 0:23:31.200 --> 0:23:33.840 mix up two balls. And then the odds are basically 0:23:33.840 --> 0:23:36.159 only a few combinations. So they pick the four and 0:23:36.320 --> 0:23:39.560 six balls to not doctor and they don't do the rest. 0:23:39.600 --> 0:23:42.280 So now they're only eight combinations that could possibly be 0:23:42.320 --> 0:23:45.560 the winning combinations for those like yourself and I with 0:23:45.640 --> 0:23:48.720 the math skills. We have. The combinations end up being 0:23:48.760 --> 0:23:51.840 triple four four four six four six four or four 0:23:51.960 --> 0:23:55.240 six six, or they are six four four six four 0:23:55.359 --> 0:23:59.600 six six six four and lastly the best combo triple 0:23:59.680 --> 0:24:03.879 six six six six, the winning numbers of the beasts exactly. 0:24:04.240 --> 0:24:05.720 So now all this left to do is purchase some 0:24:05.800 --> 0:24:08.560 lottery tickets to it. So the Moragos brothers now come 0:24:08.600 --> 0:24:11.600 back into the picture. So if they go and they 0:24:11.640 --> 0:24:14.680 meet up Nick at the local St. Nick's Orthodox Church, 0:24:14.760 --> 0:24:17.120 because that's for all the good criminal conspiracies go down. 0:24:17.640 --> 0:24:19.840 He's like, meet me in a pu seven. So they 0:24:19.840 --> 0:24:21.880 slide on behind the pew behind them, they start talking 0:24:21.880 --> 0:24:23.960 about how to buy tickets. They exchange for like their 0:24:23.960 --> 0:24:27.880 cigarette concession business profits and here's your recent payments. He's like, okay, 0:24:27.920 --> 0:24:30.760 here's the plan. Keep the profits, go buy a bunch 0:24:30.760 --> 0:24:32.920 of lottery tickets. They're like, oh really. He's like yeah, 0:24:32.960 --> 0:24:35.160 but hey, we're gonna do this like real LaCOSA Nostra 0:24:35.280 --> 0:24:37.560 mafia stuff. Spread it out. Be smart about to go 0:24:37.680 --> 0:24:39.919 to one person and buy ten thousand dollars worth of tickets. 0:24:40.280 --> 0:24:42.520 It's like, okay, okay, we're gonna go to Philly. He's like, 0:24:42.560 --> 0:24:43.879 wait minute, you gonna go to Philly. Why did you 0:24:43.880 --> 0:24:45.919 go to Philly. That's Nicky Scarfolk's place. Don't go to 0:24:45.960 --> 0:24:48.160 Phillies Like, that's why they'll think it's the mob. They'll 0:24:48.160 --> 0:24:51.280 put it on Nicky Scarfolks. Brilliant. He's like, actually that's 0:24:51.280 --> 0:24:54.560 pretty good. Pittsburgh may come back to us. Go to Philly. 0:24:55.000 --> 0:24:56.320 They're gonna go to Philly and buy up all the 0:24:56.320 --> 0:24:59.520 tick sets now to maximize their score. The Morago's brothers 0:24:59.560 --> 0:25:03.480 smart hoodlumps they are. They're like, okay, how about we 0:25:03.520 --> 0:25:06.679 take out a bank loan and really out here. So 0:25:06.720 --> 0:25:09.160 they take out a twenty dollar bank loan. Don't tell 0:25:09.240 --> 0:25:10.959 Nick Perry. They go and buy a bunch of more tickets. 0:25:11.080 --> 0:25:13.040 Now they got this extra twenty grand and all the 0:25:13.040 --> 0:25:14.960 money Nick Perry front of them. And they go and 0:25:15.000 --> 0:25:18.280 they pile into their giant white Cadillac because nobody's gonna 0:25:18.280 --> 0:25:21.119 remember that, and they tour around the Filly area and 0:25:21.119 --> 0:25:23.320 they buy up all the lottery tickets that they can afford. 0:25:23.440 --> 0:25:26.480 Do you think they did like method acting or like, 0:25:27.359 --> 0:25:29.040 you know, I just imagine that they get out of 0:25:29.080 --> 0:25:31.840 the car and they go into the little convenience store 0:25:32.400 --> 0:25:35.880 and their play their play acting, like oh, someone told 0:25:35.880 --> 0:25:37.760 me I should play the lottery. I never do this. 0:25:37.960 --> 0:25:41.440 Let me buy. I don't know how many should maybe two. 0:25:42.280 --> 0:25:45.080 My grandpappy sent me down here to buy some lottery tickets. 0:25:45.119 --> 0:25:47.160 I don't know anything about it, but his favorite numbers 0:25:47.160 --> 0:25:49.320 are four and six. Could you help me figure them out? 0:25:49.480 --> 0:25:51.000 And they just keep doing this, and then they have 0:25:51.080 --> 0:25:54.000 to wear costumes and disguises from shop to shop. I 0:25:54.080 --> 0:25:56.479 wish they did that. You're gonna be so disappointed with 0:25:56.520 --> 0:26:00.399 what they actually did. Oh yeah, So they purchased fourteen 0:26:00.760 --> 0:26:04.080 dollars in one dollar tickets and they're now looking at 0:26:04.080 --> 0:26:06.399 basically about a four point two million dollar come up 0:26:06.440 --> 0:26:08.919 if the tickets hit, and they will hit because it's fixed. 0:26:09.560 --> 0:26:13.040 So yeah, exactly. So later on in that same day 0:26:13.119 --> 0:26:14.679 there will be the daily draw because they have to 0:26:14.680 --> 0:26:16.760 get the tickets for that same day. So they're all 0:26:16.800 --> 0:26:19.160 trying to get this all done before the seven o'clock draw. 0:26:19.440 --> 0:26:22.879 They get it all done, and that's when Nick Perry 0:26:22.920 --> 0:26:25.399 steps onto the w t a E Set, ready to 0:26:25.440 --> 0:26:27.800 do his part to rig the state lottery. Everyone else 0:26:27.800 --> 0:26:30.359 has done their parts, it's time for Nick Perry. He 0:26:30.440 --> 0:26:34.080 catches SIGHTE a lottery official, Ed Plevil lottery official gives 0:26:34.119 --> 0:26:38.440 him the nod exactly a lot of the sting. He's like, okay, 0:26:38.480 --> 0:26:41.160 gives them the nose swipe. They use the two keys. 0:26:41.200 --> 0:26:44.800 They unlocked the lottery machine storage area. They am so nervous. 0:26:44.920 --> 0:26:47.200 Right now, we o the machines up to the TV 0:26:47.320 --> 0:26:53.360 station set plevel. He leaves the machines and the balls unattended, just, 0:26:53.080 --> 0:26:56.320 you know, just walks away. I gotta go move my car. 0:26:56.720 --> 0:26:59.960 He's gone for thirty minutes now. Normally they bring the 0:27:00.040 --> 0:27:02.679 senior citizen on to the set to practice during this 0:27:02.720 --> 0:27:04.840 time with the machines while the cameras are on. Instead, 0:27:04.880 --> 0:27:06.680 they don't. They leave the senior citizen in the green 0:27:06.760 --> 0:27:08.880 room for the full thirty minutes. Nobody tells her what's 0:27:08.920 --> 0:27:10.800 going on, so she's just sitting and there, confused, like 0:27:10.840 --> 0:27:14.520 what's coming now? Que Joe back in action. The art 0:27:14.560 --> 0:27:17.200 director does his part. Joe back passes the weighted balls 0:27:17.240 --> 0:27:19.639 to a stage hand and asked the stage hand to 0:27:19.760 --> 0:27:23.080 put the doctor balls into the machine. Possibly a mistake, 0:27:23.119 --> 0:27:25.399 possibly not change out. The stage hand is in on it. 0:27:25.720 --> 0:27:28.720 He's been contacted, so box the stage hand act fast. 0:27:28.760 --> 0:27:30.040 He's like, I need a guy to help me. So 0:27:30.080 --> 0:27:32.280 they make their move, they get the balls in, they 0:27:32.320 --> 0:27:35.680 swap out the other balls. Everything's going huge pay days 0:27:35.760 --> 0:27:39.000 lined up for everybody involved to pull it off. Nobody 0:27:39.040 --> 0:27:42.639 sees them. Now we are a few minutes before seven pm. 0:27:42.760 --> 0:27:45.320 It's time for the daily Draw. If you can believe it, 0:27:45.480 --> 0:27:47.520 can you guess how many people are watching? Oh like 0:27:47.760 --> 0:27:52.120 nine million people, very close six six million people. Six 0:27:52.160 --> 0:27:54.360 million people tune in to watch those lotty numbers, which 0:27:54.400 --> 0:27:56.320 is more than all the other news stations are getting 0:27:56.320 --> 0:27:58.680 at this time. So every most to Pittsburgh that is 0:27:58.680 --> 0:28:01.240 watching TV at this time is watching this event. And 0:28:01.240 --> 0:28:03.919 now wait a second, this is a state lottery, state lottery, 0:28:04.080 --> 0:28:06.399 so this is actually all over that's just at the station. 0:28:06.440 --> 0:28:09.639 There's six million. It's just six million people watching this station, 0:28:09.760 --> 0:28:12.840 and that so that it's broadcast at other stations, broadcast 0:28:12.880 --> 0:28:16.679 throughout yest it. I'm slow good, don't cool with it. 0:28:17.040 --> 0:28:20.080 So now the daily draw. They had the local senior citizen. 0:28:20.119 --> 0:28:22.080 I told her she's waiting in the green room. Well, 0:28:22.080 --> 0:28:25.200 her name is Violet Lowry, and they say, Violet Lowry, 0:28:25.240 --> 0:28:26.960 could you please come up to the set, And so 0:28:27.080 --> 0:28:30.680 she was like okay, she calls on up there, so 0:28:30.760 --> 0:28:34.160 we have viol Lowry creeping up to the set. Joe 0:28:34.160 --> 0:28:36.439 Buck is on the and the wings watching, the stage 0:28:36.480 --> 0:28:38.760 hand is watching. Nick Perry is waiting on the set 0:28:38.800 --> 0:28:41.120 for her to get there. She's the last piece of 0:28:41.120 --> 0:28:42.800 this puzzle. All she has to do is take the 0:28:42.800 --> 0:28:45.040 weighted balls and turn them around in the right order. 0:28:45.680 --> 0:28:47.800 And after this quick break, I'll tell you what happens 0:28:47.800 --> 0:29:12.160 when she steps onto the Okay, Elizabeth, yes I left you. 0:29:12.200 --> 0:29:14.040 We were at the W T A E. Set. The 0:29:14.120 --> 0:29:16.840 tensions were hot. Oh I am on pins and needles 0:29:16.880 --> 0:29:19.800 this whole all those ads played and it went on 0:29:19.880 --> 0:29:22.160 for a really long time, and the pins and the 0:29:22.200 --> 0:29:24.680 needles have been puncturing my bed. D Well, I'm here 0:29:24.720 --> 0:29:27.200 to relieve you of that pain and anxiety. Thank you. 0:29:28.480 --> 0:29:31.760 I want you to picture it. Oh, yes, close your eyes. 0:29:33.400 --> 0:29:37.520 Eighties something year old Violet Lowry arrives on set. She 0:29:37.640 --> 0:29:40.160 shows up ready to pick some numbers. She's there for 0:29:40.200 --> 0:29:43.040 the balls. She's escorted from the green room, where she 0:29:43.080 --> 0:29:45.040 has been asked to wait for half an hour. Finally 0:29:45.040 --> 0:29:47.880 it's six. Someone takes herund to the set. The stage 0:29:47.920 --> 0:29:51.200 hand rolls the large lottery machines into play. Nick Perry 0:29:51.240 --> 0:29:53.760 stands off stage, ready to do his bit, waiting for 0:29:53.800 --> 0:29:56.560 ast two. At sixty nine, the announcer goes to work. 0:29:57.160 --> 0:30:01.120 It's the man with all the dollars, the king pit himself, 0:30:01.280 --> 0:30:06.520 Nick Perry, Lottery official Ed plevel leads Violet Lowry to 0:30:06.800 --> 0:30:10.280 the lottery machines. The machines kick on on the bubble. 0:30:12.760 --> 0:30:16.120 The balls start going. There's all this frenetic action. The 0:30:16.200 --> 0:30:18.760 fans are kicked to life and everything that. Everyone's excited. 0:30:18.960 --> 0:30:21.800 The ping pong balls bouncing against each other. What's gonna happen? 0:30:21.880 --> 0:30:24.400 The balls start to lift on this currents of air. 0:30:24.560 --> 0:30:29.480 They're all jumbling around. Looks perfectly normal. Then, as Nick 0:30:29.520 --> 0:30:34.120 Perry explains the game to those watching, I quote, good 0:30:34.160 --> 0:30:37.400 evening everyone, It's time for the live drawing up the 0:30:37.480 --> 0:30:43.200 daily number Thursday. Each of our three machines contains ten balls. 0:30:43.360 --> 0:30:47.120 Numbers zero to nine will draw one digit from each machine. 0:30:47.240 --> 0:30:51.880 Now mix the balls in the first machine and the second, 0:30:52.720 --> 0:30:56.440 and now the third machine. Drawing tonight will be Senior 0:30:56.480 --> 0:31:00.320 Citizen bio Let Lowry are supervising comes of a state 0:31:00.360 --> 0:31:05.600 Lottery Security Officials District Manager Ed Plebo. Violet Lowry watches 0:31:05.640 --> 0:31:07.960 the doctor balls jumping around and tumble. She looks a 0:31:07.960 --> 0:31:10.560 little intimidated. The first ball lists up the shoot and 0:31:10.880 --> 0:31:13.360 Will kind of goes do it. She lives over. She 0:31:13.520 --> 0:31:17.160 twists the number around and she shows, oh, it's a six, 0:31:17.720 --> 0:31:21.479 and now Violet draw the first digit please sex, and 0:31:21.960 --> 0:31:30.080 the second digit six, and now the third digit six, 0:31:30.440 --> 0:31:33.360 and there you have it. Pennsylvania's daily lottery number is 0:31:33.480 --> 0:31:37.479 six six six. If you've got it, come and get it. 0:31:37.560 --> 0:31:42.960 If not, better luck tomorrow. Just like that, the lottery 0:31:43.000 --> 0:31:46.760 had been robbed. Is the winner. Nick Perry and his 0:31:46.800 --> 0:31:49.520 group they all go excited. They've done it. They've rigged 0:31:49.520 --> 0:31:51.200 the state lottery. They're all about to be millions of 0:31:51.200 --> 0:31:54.800 dollars richer, and six million people watched them do it 0:31:54.840 --> 0:31:57.760 at home, and Hazels like, oh my god, I just 0:31:57.880 --> 0:32:01.200 unleashed the beast. I pulled six six six, like I's 0:32:01.240 --> 0:32:03.360 in there with like holy water. No one's going to 0:32:03.400 --> 0:32:06.000 talk to her after that. I can't. My church group 0:32:06.000 --> 0:32:09.080 will not. Something was going to happen to Hazel when 0:32:09.120 --> 0:32:12.080 you were doing your little story. I didn't mean to worry. 0:32:12.720 --> 0:32:15.400 Yeah it's okay, so Edd plebble. He goes and re 0:32:15.480 --> 0:32:17.800 secures the machines, they take the two keys, they lock 0:32:17.880 --> 0:32:21.080 it back up. Now, just before that, he had to 0:32:21.120 --> 0:32:23.560 have enough time for Joe Bach to slide in there, 0:32:23.600 --> 0:32:27.280 grab the Doctor Balls machines, switch back in the original balls, 0:32:27.400 --> 0:32:29.760 and then make his escape. Allows us to have a 0:32:29.800 --> 0:32:32.000 couple of moments for him to do that. Then they 0:32:32.040 --> 0:32:34.960 lock up the machines. So now Joe back, he takes 0:32:34.960 --> 0:32:37.600 the Doctor Balls home. He piles the balls into an 0:32:37.600 --> 0:32:41.000 empty paint can sets them all on fire, destroying any evidence. 0:32:41.440 --> 0:32:44.440 Smart dude, Right, yeah, that's good. We've gotten rid of 0:32:44.480 --> 0:32:47.240 at least one of the So now it's time to 0:32:47.240 --> 0:32:50.840 collect the winnings. The Marago's brothers re into the picture. 0:32:51.480 --> 0:32:53.720 They climb back in their land yard. The giant white 0:32:53.720 --> 0:32:56.400 caddy cruise on over to Philly looking to pick up 0:32:56.440 --> 0:32:59.240 their money, and the brothers they drive around collecting their 0:32:59.240 --> 0:33:02.360 cash pay days. And then they come back to Pittsburgh 0:33:02.360 --> 0:33:04.520 and they meet in the cemetery and they secretly meet 0:33:04.640 --> 0:33:06.440 Nick Perry and they give him the first part of 0:33:06.440 --> 0:33:08.360 his cut. Now, do you know where they were picking 0:33:08.440 --> 0:33:10.040 up the pay They didn't. They wouldn't. They have to 0:33:10.080 --> 0:33:13.040 go to the state capitol, to an office somewhere or 0:33:14.040 --> 0:33:15.760 local lottery tickets, so yeah, they could do. They go 0:33:15.800 --> 0:33:17.400 to the store where they bought it in the store 0:33:17.400 --> 0:33:19.000 has to pay it up. I don't know if the 0:33:19.000 --> 0:33:20.480 store had to pay it up. But they went around 0:33:20.480 --> 0:33:23.200 collecting and so in all the news stories seemed that 0:33:23.240 --> 0:33:26.240 they were getting from the stores, there's like local lottery offices. 0:33:26.360 --> 0:33:28.480 I think maybe maybe there were local lottery I did 0:33:28.480 --> 0:33:31.240 not look into who they are actually redeeming the tickets 0:33:31.240 --> 0:33:34.320 with a scale. Yeah, and I know you're into like 0:33:34.360 --> 0:33:36.080 the paperwork. I was just like to get the money, 0:33:36.120 --> 0:33:39.160 all right. So they bring him thirty five tho dollars 0:33:39.160 --> 0:33:40.680 in a brown paper bag and they handed to him 0:33:40.680 --> 0:33:42.920 in a cemetery, you know, like, here's your first cut. 0:33:42.960 --> 0:33:44.880 This will just be one of many envelopes to come. 0:33:45.040 --> 0:33:46.720 He's like, I got it. And they got a couple 0:33:46.720 --> 0:33:48.000 of days to collect their winnings. You don't have to 0:33:48.000 --> 0:33:50.360 get it all that the first day. So they're taking 0:33:50.400 --> 0:33:52.880 their time, right. No one was the wiser at first, 0:33:53.080 --> 0:33:57.480 but someone had noticed, and that someone was named Anthony Gross. 0:33:57.480 --> 0:34:00.680 So Gross. Now I want you to know about this man, 0:34:00.720 --> 0:34:03.360 Anthony Grosso. He knew something about rig games because he 0:34:03.360 --> 0:34:06.560 had served time in prison for racketeering. He later would 0:34:06.560 --> 0:34:09.480 serve time after these events for quote, tax evasion and 0:34:09.560 --> 0:34:12.319 violating federal gambling loss. He was what you would call 0:34:12.400 --> 0:34:15.840 a mobster, Big Anthony, Big Anthony, real live mobster, not 0:34:15.960 --> 0:34:18.160 part of like the Scarfolk family. But he had been 0:34:18.280 --> 0:34:21.720 legitimately running a numbers game for forty years, a local 0:34:21.920 --> 0:34:24.840 numbers game. And the interesting part is that the Moroco's 0:34:24.880 --> 0:34:26.879 brothers thought, you know what, we should rob him while 0:34:26.880 --> 0:34:30.360 we're doing this. Yeah, and you know how the brothers 0:34:32.040 --> 0:34:34.560 when Pennsylvania created the lottery, what they had done was 0:34:34.600 --> 0:34:37.399 to basically take over the numbers game from the mob. 0:34:37.560 --> 0:34:40.200 The mob was pretty much, you know, various mobs, but 0:34:40.239 --> 0:34:42.600 it was just say, for the sake of time, the mob. 0:34:43.160 --> 0:34:45.360 They took over all the bookmakers and numbers runners and 0:34:45.360 --> 0:34:46.799 they said, okay, hey, how about give us the money? 0:34:46.840 --> 0:34:48.800 Were the state and people were like okay, cool. The 0:34:48.920 --> 0:34:52.200 mobs like no, no, no, no. How much do they pay? 0:34:52.200 --> 0:34:54.320 And when you win? Is it one of those education 0:34:54.400 --> 0:34:59.040 lotteries where they go to senior citizens California's education the 0:34:59.360 --> 0:35:01.040 exactly because this part of the look see where the 0:35:01.040 --> 0:35:04.319 money is going? Keeping Violet lotry going. They called her 0:35:04.320 --> 0:35:07.920 Hazel it's violent. Violet. Yeah, sorry, sorry violent, she's not 0:35:08.040 --> 0:35:12.080 here to hear it. So Anthony grows our real live 0:35:12.160 --> 0:35:15.080 mobster and he uh and his ilk. They hear that 0:35:15.080 --> 0:35:17.280 the Pennsylvania State Lottery is trying to take over their 0:35:17.480 --> 0:35:21.960 millions of dollars industry. They're like, what are those mooks doing? Okay, 0:35:22.040 --> 0:35:24.600 how much did they pay out? When you win? People 0:35:24.600 --> 0:35:27.600 are like, oh, hey, Big Anthony, they pay five dollars 0:35:27.640 --> 0:35:29.520 to one. Okay, here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna 0:35:29.560 --> 0:35:33.520 pay six. So they run the exact same lottery off 0:35:33.520 --> 0:35:35.919 of the state's lottery numbers and they say, you pick 0:35:35.960 --> 0:35:37.640 the numbers and you buy the ticket from us, we'll 0:35:37.680 --> 0:35:41.400 pay six one. They turn the state lottery back in legitimate. 0:35:43.080 --> 0:35:46.080 So what this means is that the Moroco's brothers knew this. 0:35:46.160 --> 0:35:48.160 So they're like, hey, if we go take some of 0:35:48.200 --> 0:35:50.520 the mob tickets, we'll get paid six hundred to one 0:35:50.719 --> 0:35:53.160 instead of five to one. So they get greedy and 0:35:53.160 --> 0:35:55.120 they go and buy mob tickets and then they come 0:35:55.120 --> 0:35:56.600 back to them Bob and they're like, hey, pay up. 0:35:57.040 --> 0:36:02.080 Oh that is a recipe for disaster. So Big Anthony 0:36:02.200 --> 0:36:06.239 he's like, um, not too into this. He's like, how 0:36:06.640 --> 0:36:10.160 how dare these people rob me? Big? Anthony grows, So, 0:36:10.200 --> 0:36:12.160 I've been in the numbers games since they will knee 0:36:12.200 --> 0:36:16.000 hid to Grasshoper. So he then decides to do what 0:36:16.040 --> 0:36:17.800 all mops as you do in a pinch. He turns 0:36:17.840 --> 0:36:19.800 to the state and he said, hey, you should investigate 0:36:19.840 --> 0:36:23.600 these guys. He goes right to the state. They're totally 0:36:23.719 --> 0:36:27.279 using the infrastructure for their benefit, either to ride their 0:36:27.440 --> 0:36:31.320 lot of setup or to be their enforcers. That's that's wise, 0:36:31.600 --> 0:36:39.440 straight Pennsylvania. Those are guys ding ding Dan. So Anthony grows. 0:36:39.440 --> 0:36:42.200 So when that first move fails in the State's like, look, look, 0:36:42.520 --> 0:36:44.879 we don't want people to think that the state. You're 0:36:44.920 --> 0:36:46.680 saying it's rigged. We don't have proof of that. We 0:36:46.680 --> 0:36:48.839 can't have people believing it's rigged. This is a new thing. 0:36:49.360 --> 0:36:51.120 We think you're a mobster and you watch your game back, 0:36:51.200 --> 0:36:53.880 so why don't you blow anything? Gross was excuse me? 0:36:54.400 --> 0:36:56.480 He's like, Okay, it's no problem. I got other avenues. 0:36:56.520 --> 0:36:58.680 So he goes to the journalist. He's like, hey, journalists, 0:36:58.680 --> 0:37:01.080 I got a story for you. The state knows that 0:37:01.120 --> 0:37:03.480 the lottery has been rigged, and they don't want to investigate. 0:37:03.840 --> 0:37:06.319 So the journal starts writing about say it's like damn it. 0:37:06.400 --> 0:37:09.000 So then now like, okay, they announced a big investigation, right. 0:37:09.160 --> 0:37:11.840 The investigation is basically a show trial. It's not really 0:37:11.880 --> 0:37:15.640 intended to do anything. Anthony Grosso is really disappointed in 0:37:15.640 --> 0:37:18.160 this development. So Anthony gross So keeps the pressure on, 0:37:18.600 --> 0:37:22.320 so he starts a newspaper. So he just keeps basically 0:37:22.400 --> 0:37:25.080 funneling stuff because he not only he figures out who 0:37:25.120 --> 0:37:27.759 did it. He knows it was the Morogua's brothers. He 0:37:27.800 --> 0:37:29.799 knows who was involved and who took his money. So 0:37:29.840 --> 0:37:31.960 he's like, look it's this guy, it's that guy, Go 0:37:31.960 --> 0:37:37.840 go follow this paper trail. Finally, in September, newspaper story 0:37:37.840 --> 0:37:41.879 from the area reports quote. Allegations that the a drawing 0:37:41.920 --> 0:37:44.120 may have been tampered with first surfaced in early May, 0:37:44.160 --> 0:37:46.760 when Anthony Grosso, who has been called the numbers kingpin 0:37:46.840 --> 0:37:49.880 in Pittsburgh by the State Crime Commission, told reporters that 0:37:50.000 --> 0:37:53.440 the drawing had been fixed. Organized crime figures had noticed 0:37:53.440 --> 0:37:57.640 heavy betting on numbers using the four six combination. After 0:37:57.680 --> 0:37:59.719 the news stories broke and talk of the triple six 0:37:59.719 --> 0:38:03.480 fix spread all across Pennsylvania, all of them, Bob gets interested, 0:38:03.600 --> 0:38:05.839 and of course now the state can't ignore it, so 0:38:05.960 --> 0:38:08.879 they're like, damn it. So the investigators started actually doing 0:38:08.880 --> 0:38:12.120 an investigation. Now after doing the fake investigation back in May, 0:38:12.200 --> 0:38:14.120 now in September they do a real investigation. They go 0:38:14.200 --> 0:38:16.719 around and they go to a bar club called the 0:38:16.760 --> 0:38:19.319 Do drop in. Oh I like that, man, I knew 0:38:19.360 --> 0:38:21.640 you would. Now I have a really quick question. They 0:38:21.680 --> 0:38:24.279 only rigged at the one time, right, yes, ing at 0:38:24.280 --> 0:38:26.520 the one time to get the four million payday. And 0:38:26.560 --> 0:38:29.560 so even if you didn't buy the ticket from the Mob, 0:38:29.640 --> 0:38:31.839 if you took the ticket to the mob, they pay out. 0:38:32.040 --> 0:38:33.880 You got to buy a mob. You buy a Mob tickets. 0:38:33.880 --> 0:38:36.320 And did they buy Mob tickets the Mob tickets and 0:38:36.320 --> 0:38:38.200 took it? The Mob said pay us six to one. 0:38:38.880 --> 0:38:41.399 Basically because you rigged the lottery that you're now doing, 0:38:41.440 --> 0:38:44.719 you have essentially Roby got it. They're like, you're gonna 0:38:44.719 --> 0:38:46.520 bring us in on your fix. Yeah, and you're not 0:38:46.560 --> 0:38:49.440 going to bring us in on your fix, you dumb moose. 0:38:50.080 --> 0:38:53.080 So the owner of the Dude drop in. He when 0:38:53.120 --> 0:38:56.200 the investigate investigators are making news in the press, he 0:38:56.280 --> 0:38:58.759 calls the state and he goes, you know, what. There 0:38:58.760 --> 0:39:02.120 were these two suspitious man in a big white Cadillac 0:39:02.560 --> 0:39:05.160 who showed up at my place. They bought thousands of 0:39:05.200 --> 0:39:08.239 dollars of tickets, which they weren't supposed to do. The 0:39:08.280 --> 0:39:10.320 tickets all had the same combination. It is all for 0:39:10.480 --> 0:39:12.200 us and six is like they're saying in the news. 0:39:12.640 --> 0:39:14.719 And then they bought the tickets. But then it was 0:39:14.719 --> 0:39:18.239 the interesting thing was they called somebody and then they 0:39:18.239 --> 0:39:20.799 held the phone up to the machine so they could 0:39:20.840 --> 0:39:23.719 hear the tickets being printed. And then they spoken some 0:39:23.800 --> 0:39:26.200 foreign language over the phone with the person they were 0:39:26.200 --> 0:39:29.319 talking to, the foreign language being Greek. So wait, they 0:39:29.400 --> 0:39:32.560 used the phone at the Dude drop in. Can we 0:39:32.640 --> 0:39:35.680 call Nick Perry cell phone? So they say, hey, can 0:39:35.680 --> 0:39:37.520 we use your house phone? I gotta call my boss 0:39:38.000 --> 0:39:40.040 real quick. Also, by the way, you get a couple 0:39:40.040 --> 0:39:42.040 of thousand dollars of tickets because we're lazy, We're not 0:39:42.040 --> 0:39:44.440 going to go to a couple of hundreds were remember 0:39:44.520 --> 0:39:47.600 us in our big white caddy. Also, an employee of 0:39:47.680 --> 0:39:50.200 the Dude drop In recalled for the investigators, who then 0:39:50.239 --> 0:39:53.000 showed up to go what do you have for us? Oh? Yeah, man, 0:39:53.040 --> 0:39:55.440 there's these two guys in a big white Catillac. They 0:39:55.440 --> 0:39:57.839 had a very memorable platinum blond with them from what 0:39:57.880 --> 0:40:00.440 I recall. So they're doing everything you're not supposed to do, 0:40:01.200 --> 0:40:03.160 and the state investigators go, hey, do you guys have 0:40:03.200 --> 0:40:05.080 a phone records? They're like, oh, yeah, yeah. So they 0:40:05.120 --> 0:40:06.960 pulled up the phone records and the phone call from 0:40:06.960 --> 0:40:10.240 the dude drop in goes to Pittsburgh TV station wt 0:40:12.120 --> 0:40:14.719 So the investigators then go him out and immediately arrest 0:40:14.760 --> 0:40:18.480 the Moraguos brothers, who then immediately turned state's evidence and 0:40:18.640 --> 0:40:22.360 flip on their childhood friend Nick Perry. Charges against the 0:40:22.360 --> 0:40:26.440 Moraguos brothers are dropped, charges that are then filed against 0:40:26.480 --> 0:40:29.920 Joe Bach part director, Ed Plevel, the lottery state official, 0:40:30.000 --> 0:40:32.759 and Nick Perry. The news team at w t a 0:40:32.840 --> 0:40:35.600 E has to break the news while Perry is in 0:40:35.640 --> 0:40:39.720 the building, they go, they go with the breaking news. 0:40:39.719 --> 0:40:41.799 While he's there, he can look up and see the 0:40:41.880 --> 0:40:44.680 monitor like see himself, Like, well, that's not good, and 0:40:44.719 --> 0:40:47.799 then liked, did he get arrested at the station. Well, 0:40:47.840 --> 0:40:49.600 here's how it plays out. So w t a E 0:40:49.800 --> 0:40:52.239 news director Joe Raveto has to make the tough call. 0:40:52.320 --> 0:40:54.560 He's like, it's news. We gotta run it. It's even 0:40:54.560 --> 0:40:56.080 though he's in the in the building and this will 0:40:56.120 --> 0:40:58.279 be insensitive, we gotta run it. So they break the news. 0:40:58.360 --> 0:41:01.520 Nick Perry is there and he based really leaves and 0:41:00.840 --> 0:41:04.520 Sally Wiggins was the anchor at the time, and she's like, 0:41:05.120 --> 0:41:07.840 he's really nervous and did not want to do it. 0:41:07.920 --> 0:41:09.640 Joe Rivito was talking and he's like, look, you gotta 0:41:09.680 --> 0:41:12.400 do it. And I quote, here's how Joe Rivito remembered it. 0:41:12.920 --> 0:41:15.120 I knew he was sitting right upstairs, a guy I 0:41:15.200 --> 0:41:20.320 had known worked with. It was a very difficult period personally, professionally. 0:41:20.800 --> 0:41:22.799 It was a tough juggling act to do the right thing. 0:41:22.840 --> 0:41:25.240 Because of the fact we were the station that carried 0:41:25.280 --> 0:41:27.879 the lottery, because of the fact we knew Nick, we 0:41:27.960 --> 0:41:31.200 felt we had to pursue the story aggressively. It was 0:41:31.239 --> 0:41:34.160 a sad thing because here's a guy. You wipe that 0:41:34.239 --> 0:41:36.920 off the slate who was a really terrific guy. He 0:41:37.000 --> 0:41:39.439 was a terrific employee. But you can't wipe that off. 0:41:39.840 --> 0:41:42.200 This one thing has ruined this guy's life. It will 0:41:42.239 --> 0:41:44.680 smear this guy's life. He's done it and I knew 0:41:44.680 --> 0:41:46.880 it that day. So he's like I gotta do the 0:41:46.960 --> 0:41:50.760 right thing. They bust him out, so the Morago's brothers. Meanwhile, 0:41:50.840 --> 0:41:53.000 they end up skating on all the charges. Nick Perry 0:41:53.000 --> 0:41:56.080 gets arrested, Joe Bak gets arrested, and Level gets arrested. 0:41:56.440 --> 0:42:00.360 Nick Perry. He's tried, convicted, and sentenced to three to 0:42:00.480 --> 0:42:07.440 seven years in prison in camp Hill, Pennsylvania. Ed Plevill 0:42:07.480 --> 0:42:09.399 gets two to seven years for his part. Joe back 0:42:09.480 --> 0:42:12.359 pleads guilty as well. Now, Nick Perry, when he left 0:42:12.360 --> 0:42:14.440 the courthouse, it was hard for his fans to imagine 0:42:14.480 --> 0:42:17.799 at the host of bowling for dollars when rigged the 0:42:17.880 --> 0:42:22.120 state lottery, and he would do it in such beautiful fabrics. 0:42:22.160 --> 0:42:24.799 It was just an insult to the Pittsburgh populace. Now, 0:42:25.000 --> 0:42:28.320 one fan wrote to the local newspaper, and I quote, 0:42:28.880 --> 0:42:30.960 He's like Joan of Arc being burned at the steak. 0:42:31.400 --> 0:42:33.759 I can't see why sixty three year old man who 0:42:33.800 --> 0:42:36.480 has a good living and is established in the community 0:42:36.560 --> 0:42:39.719 would do something like this. It's like Joan of Arc. Yes, 0:42:39.760 --> 0:42:42.239 he broke their hearts, so he had visions God told 0:42:42.280 --> 0:42:44.719 him to rob the lottery. Good It's like I must 0:42:44.840 --> 0:42:48.600 do this for the sake of Pittsburgh. So of course 0:42:48.719 --> 0:42:53.040 there's a movie of this whole ordeal because it's cinematic. Now, 0:42:53.040 --> 0:42:55.600 the film is called Lucky Numbers. It's loosely based on 0:42:55.640 --> 0:42:58.360 the Nick Perry story. In this case, the guy is 0:42:58.400 --> 0:43:01.560 a Harrisburg TV weather man and he's not the Pittsburgh 0:43:01.560 --> 0:43:04.359 host of Bowling for dollars. And in the film he's 0:43:04.400 --> 0:43:06.719 also kind of he's desperate for a big score. Was 0:43:06.800 --> 0:43:09.120 Nick Perry just kind of comes upon the idea? And uh, 0:43:09.280 --> 0:43:11.800 now can you guess who played the Nick Perry figure 0:43:11.960 --> 0:43:15.640 in Lucky Numbers? When was the movie? When the movie 0:43:15.640 --> 0:43:19.480 come out? The movie came out a while back. Oh, 0:43:19.520 --> 0:43:21.719 well that that clears it up for me. That's not 0:43:21.800 --> 0:43:24.839 a big in in the theater. So like more than 0:43:25.200 --> 0:43:29.680 thirty years ago, give me a decade the nineties. Okay? 0:43:29.960 --> 0:43:32.200 Uh did it have? Did they film the movie before 0:43:32.280 --> 0:43:37.760 this happened? In? All right? So in the he could 0:43:37.840 --> 0:43:42.440 fly his own plane to the theater. Harrison Ford, no 0:43:42.640 --> 0:43:52.200 bigger plane. So Nick Perry gets played in real life 0:43:52.200 --> 0:43:54.520 by John Travolta in a movie nobody's ever heard of 0:43:55.719 --> 0:43:59.879 movie of his life therebgh. Now, Dick Perry eventually does 0:44:00.040 --> 0:44:03.239 return to where he'd first found fame and acclaim and 0:44:03.320 --> 0:44:07.440 fortune bowling Lanes. The old sponsor for Bowling for Dollars 0:44:07.440 --> 0:44:10.840 was a loyal and true friend was Whisman Bowling Supplies. 0:44:10.880 --> 0:44:13.319 Whisman Bowling Supplies did not give up on him. They 0:44:13.360 --> 0:44:16.239 decided to hire him as a salesman. So he got 0:44:16.239 --> 0:44:20.560 a job. And his buddy Robert Whisman, a true true friend, 0:44:21.120 --> 0:44:24.279 tick the once beloved it now disgrace Bowling for Dollars announcer. 0:44:24.480 --> 0:44:27.319 And he said, and I quote, I couldn't have had 0:44:27.360 --> 0:44:30.759 anyone better. He was an asset to the business. Good 0:44:30.760 --> 0:44:36.400 buddies like. Look, they locked up his records. And firstly, 0:44:36.440 --> 0:44:38.440 I would say, Nick Perry's about his Pittsburgh as the 0:44:38.440 --> 0:44:41.680 three River Stadium. That guy, I just love him. Fun fact, 0:44:41.800 --> 0:44:44.440 since that fateful day in ninety when Nick Perry and 0:44:44.480 --> 0:44:47.520 his crew rigged the Pennsylvania State lottery, those same winning 0:44:47.600 --> 0:44:50.200 numbers have come up. Six six six has come up 0:44:50.239 --> 0:44:53.880 a few times. It's actually come up twenty four different 0:44:53.880 --> 0:44:57.040 subsequent drawings, and every single time the people they call 0:44:57.080 --> 0:45:00.480 it a Nick Perry. In fact, anything six six in 0:45:00.880 --> 0:45:03.480 certain parts of Pittsburgh and other parts of Pennsylvania is known. 0:45:03.560 --> 0:45:06.440 It's still referred to as a Nick Perry. Everywhere else 0:45:06.480 --> 0:45:09.440 it's the number of the Beast, but in Pittsburgh it's Perry. 0:45:09.560 --> 0:45:13.560 He's a beast six six. So Elizabeth, what does our 0:45:13.640 --> 0:45:16.480 ridiculous takeaway here? You know? I think, well, it's it's 0:45:16.520 --> 0:45:18.400 kind of a funny thing. He did a lot of 0:45:18.440 --> 0:45:21.560 people dirty, right, so, like the station gave him this 0:45:21.640 --> 0:45:23.600 cool show and everyone loved it. By the way, the 0:45:23.640 --> 0:45:27.560 station lost the lottery to that. They said, you guys 0:45:27.640 --> 0:45:30.960 can't be trusted to show this anymore, so, you know, 0:45:31.040 --> 0:45:34.560 and then now I'm wondering about the bowling supply guy. 0:45:34.920 --> 0:45:37.239 What's he skimming off the top? I don't trust this man. 0:45:37.480 --> 0:45:40.120 I noticed this didn't what did the what did the 0:45:40.160 --> 0:45:43.160 news director say? He did it to himself, Like, yeah, 0:45:43.560 --> 0:45:47.120 it's one of those, like I would say, Shakespearean tragedies, 0:45:47.160 --> 0:45:49.680 but it's kind of well know, you know what it's 0:45:49.680 --> 0:45:51.879 like is it's like Joan of arc Yeah, that's really 0:45:51.880 --> 0:45:54.680 like that's the best analogy. When before you read me 0:45:54.719 --> 0:45:57.120 that quote, I was like, my it just feels like Jean, 0:45:58.640 --> 0:46:05.719 which who's the dauphin them on fire? My ridiculous takeaway 0:46:06.040 --> 0:46:10.280 would be never ever, And I mean never ever, ever, 0:46:10.440 --> 0:46:15.439 ever rob the mob. Oh yeah, that's all these dudes 0:46:15.480 --> 0:46:17.239 had to do. The Morocco's brothers. If they would have 0:46:17.280 --> 0:46:19.480 just said, hey, baby, you stay home, we're gonna get 0:46:19.480 --> 0:46:21.360 our rental card. We're gonna go and get some tickets. 0:46:21.360 --> 0:46:23.359 We'll be back at six o'clock. You know, everything will 0:46:23.400 --> 0:46:27.600 be cool, they're like, no, baby, getting the backut on 0:46:27.640 --> 0:46:33.040 your best for coke, because we're going to Philly to exactly. 0:46:33.320 --> 0:46:35.719 They got the caddie all shined up and they took 0:46:35.760 --> 0:46:38.120 that love boat for a cruise and they're like, nobody 0:46:38.160 --> 0:46:40.200 will remember this because we're gonna have this day. It's 0:46:40.280 --> 0:46:44.640 so memorable. You know. They decided to get rich on 0:46:44.719 --> 0:46:47.880 all this mob money and they blow it for everyone. 0:46:48.200 --> 0:46:50.760 But they didn't end up buying anything or do anything. 0:46:50.800 --> 0:46:52.839 They nobody got anything out of this. They get all 0:46:52.880 --> 0:46:55.800 greedy and then they don't do anything. The greed was 0:46:55.880 --> 0:46:58.000 just the feeling if I can't It's like it's that 0:46:58.080 --> 0:47:00.800 idea that your imagination will doom you, either with fear 0:47:00.920 --> 0:47:03.720 or with greed. On it's your imagination, Like, don't listen 0:47:03.960 --> 0:47:08.200 to that. Let the reality of the mob dictate your decisions. 0:47:08.680 --> 0:47:10.719 Should I rob the mob? I think I'd get away 0:47:10.719 --> 0:47:13.440 with it. Only the mob can have the mob's money. 0:47:14.040 --> 0:47:17.640 That's the rule of the mob. That's our money. Will 0:47:17.760 --> 0:47:20.840 kill you for that. So yeah, they're lucky they didn't 0:47:20.880 --> 0:47:23.920 get Oh no, yeah, they got very lucky. Anthony Grosser 0:47:23.960 --> 0:47:26.439 pretty much knew everybody would know with him. So he's like, look, 0:47:27.120 --> 0:47:30.200 they already got embarrassed, and the state's embarrassed. He's using 0:47:30.239 --> 0:47:34.520 the infrastructure for his benefit once again. Let them take 0:47:34.560 --> 0:47:37.720 care of this. You clean up this stuff, get some garbage, 0:47:37.760 --> 0:47:40.960 been on this. So the stupid criminals get caught, the 0:47:41.040 --> 0:47:43.600 unlucky ones get caught, and in this case, it was both. 0:47:44.719 --> 0:47:47.400 Oh and before we go, Elizabeth and I wanted to 0:47:47.440 --> 0:47:49.800 send out a special message to one of our listeners, 0:47:49.880 --> 0:47:53.239 Owen Colms. Your mom, Laura rode into the show and 0:47:53.239 --> 0:47:54.719 she told us you're having a rough go of it. 0:47:54.960 --> 0:47:57.279 We're sorry to hear that. On She also told us 0:47:57.280 --> 0:47:59.480 that you have a YouTube channel called the History Kid. 0:47:59.800 --> 0:48:02.200 We'd love to hear that. She says that you recreate 0:48:02.280 --> 0:48:05.000 historic battles. That sounds so cool. We're looking forward to 0:48:05.080 --> 0:48:07.680 checking out your channel. She also told us that July 0:48:08.560 --> 0:48:11.280 is your birthday. Well, we wanted to issue a very 0:48:11.320 --> 0:48:14.680 special Happy twelfth Birthday from your friends. A Ridiculous Crime. 0:48:16.560 --> 0:48:19.920 Thanks for joining us. I'm Elizabeth Dutton over there, this 0:48:19.920 --> 0:48:23.400 is Aaron Burnett. Hey, have it bad? It's me s Thennett. 0:48:24.560 --> 0:48:31.400 Let's give you a quote. You can find us online 0:48:31.400 --> 0:48:34.279 a Ridiculous Crime on both Twitter and Instagram. Gotta tip 0:48:34.320 --> 0:48:36.320 for us about a ridiculous crime you'd like to hear about. 0:48:36.440 --> 0:48:38.600 You want to confess to a ridiculous crime? You want 0:48:38.600 --> 0:48:42.560 to tell us about your family? Don't ridiculous crimes? Yeah, 0:48:42.719 --> 0:48:46.120 snitch on them. Email It's a ridiculous crime at gmail 0:48:46.280 --> 0:48:54.920 dot com. Ridiculous Crime is hosted by Elizabeth Dutton and 0:48:55.000 --> 0:48:57.600 Zaron Burnett, produced and edited by the head of the 0:48:57.680 --> 0:49:01.000 Rhode Island State Lottery, commissioned Dave Couston. Researches by this 0:49:01.040 --> 0:49:04.160 week's Super Mega Millions winner, Marisa Brown. The theme song 0:49:04.239 --> 0:49:07.520 is by Miraculous Brothers lookalikes Thomas Lee and Travis Dutton. 0:49:07.760 --> 0:49:11.480 Executive producers are Ben Can I get five on? Seven? Seven? Seven? Bold? 0:49:11.560 --> 0:49:13.839 And No? Did I just win? Oh? No, wait, that's 0:49:13.840 --> 0:49:23.040 a two Brown? Quiet say it one more time? We 0:49:23.239 --> 0:49:27.120 Dequeous Crew. Ridiculous Crime is a production of i heart 0:49:27.200 --> 0:49:29.840 Radio four more podcasts to my heart radio, visit the 0:49:29.840 --> 0:49:32.759 iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to 0:49:32.800 --> 0:49:33.680 your favorite shows.