WEBVTT - Philip the Tub: John Spano, Jr. 0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:03.400 Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:09.319 Zarin Elizabeth, How are you heart? I'm so good. I'm 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:11.880 just I'm really fantastic today is it's a good day. 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:14.920 I've been enjoying it. Havn't done a damn thing. I 0:00:14.960 --> 0:00:17.119 love that, which is really enjoyable at the end of 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:20.079 the year kind of thing. Yeah, So what about you? 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:21.599 You have a good day to day? You feel good? 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:25.960 I'm good, good, solid, excellent, solid as a little mac. Yeah, 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:26.360 I'm good. 0:00:26.800 --> 0:00:29.560 Do you know what's ridiculous I do to do? 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:30.040 Tell? 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:33.840 Oh, well, you're not gonna like this, but I love 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:38.200 it so rude dude. Gaz Jackson sent this in, Okay, 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:41.080 and I love this because it's an oddity of math, which, 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:43.080 as you know, I'm not good at yet I still love. 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:43.839 So. 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:47.400 The idea is it's called Capri Car's number A CAPRICRS 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:51.479 Capri cars numbers, K A p R E k A 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:53.960 R CAPRICRS Capri Car's number. 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:54.240 Okay. 0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:58.360 So the number is six, one, seven, four, six and 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:03.520 seventy four. Okay, magic number, Elizabeth. Sure, Here's how it works. Elizabeth. 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:06.880 Choose a four digit number, any four digit number, but 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:09.400 it can be any four digits as long as one 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:12.039 digit is different than the others. So it can't be 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:12.679 like one one. 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:15.960 One oh, oh, okay, one zero eight. 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:20.040 Two one zero eight two. Okay. Now with one zero 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:22.280 eight two. The next thing you do is you take 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:25.880 the number and you select it, and we arrange it 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:28.679 so that now it descends from the largest digit to 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:31.480 the smallest digit. All right, So this case, it would 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:37.160 be eight to zero one one zero. Wait what did 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:39.199 I say? Oh, you're right. See, let me take that together, 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:41.760 eight two one zero. 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:42.520 There you go. 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:44.280 So, Micha, I've been trying to do too many things 0:01:44.280 --> 0:01:45.560 over here. I'm going to keep the track of the 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:48.600 number you gave me, and then you arrange it so 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:51.640 that it also ascends from the smallest digit to the 0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:57.160 largest digit zero one two eight zero one two eight exactly. 0:01:57.760 --> 0:02:00.840 And then that's you know, the essentially the verse. In 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:02.800 this case, it would only be a three digit number 0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:06.680 because the zero gets knocked off and then you subtract them, 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:09.639 all right, you get a new number, and that new 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:12.160 number becomes the number you use. So this is in 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:13.760 this case eight zero eight two. 0:02:14.080 --> 0:02:14.360 Okay. 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:16.760 You follow that same process, So in this case it 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:23.520 would be eight eight two zero sure, minus zero, two 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:27.720 eight eight, okay, okay, And then you get to a 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:30.160 number that this case would be eight five three two. 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:32.520 Wish you would have given me an easier number to 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:35.360 do this with me? Whatever. Never, So then this one's 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:37.680 already arranged highest to lowest. So we just now have 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:42.520 to subtract two, three, five eight, and eventually you get. 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:44.760 To six one, seven four. 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:47.400 It only took us three numbers and we got right there. 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:48.960 That's Capricar's number. 0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:51.680 What witchcraft is that? 0:02:51.680 --> 0:02:53.800 That's cool. And there's another one that's a three digit number, 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:55.880 but I'm not going to overload you with Like, here's 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:59.880 another one that's capri cars number. You see, you selected X, 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:02.079 we arrange it as Y and Z. You subtract Z 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:03.760 from Y, and we get a four digit number. And 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:05.440 you keep doing this and it usually only takes a 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:07.760 couple of steps before you get to six one, seven four, 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:09.680 And every single one of these numbers, no matter what 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:10.560 you do, we'll do this. 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:11.079 Wow. 0:03:11.440 --> 0:03:14.639 Isn't that math fun? Kind of ridiculous, super ridiculous. That's 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:16.320 awesome atle like magical. 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:19.240 I know, I do. I like the little witchcraft magic. Elizabeth, 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:21.320 Do you want to know what else is ridiculous. 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:24.160 As long as didn't have meat drawing out a calculator. 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:25.720 Crossing Mario Lemieux. 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:50.360 Oh oh oh, this is ridiculous crime A podcast about 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:53.640 absurd and outrageous capers, heists and cons. 0:03:54.000 --> 0:03:56.720 It's always ninety nine percent murder free and one hundred 0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:58.120 percent ridiculous. 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:01.560 You damn right, you and Mario Lemieux. 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:04.920 All of us. I need to preface everything I tell 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:08.440 you today with this. Yeah, I know pretty much nothing 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:09.240 about hockey. 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:10.520 That's not true. 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:14.320 Well, I know it's played on ice, and everyone wears skates, yes, 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:16.479 and they use a stick to hit a puck. 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:17.200 Yes. 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:19.880 And they fight a lot, yes, which means that many 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:21.280 of them are missing teeth. 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:26.240 They're also mostly Canadian, Eastern European, Nordic and Russia. 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:29.040 Well, I know that Wayne Gretzky is like their Michael Jordan. 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:30.200 Yes. Also good. 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:33.440 It's big in the Northern States and New England because 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:34.280 it's cold there. 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:37.480 Yeah, if you have actually ice occur, actually occurring ice. 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:39.919 And I know that our better half, our neighbors to 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:42.280 the north, the Canadians, they dominate the sport. 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:43.919 Sure, let's go with that. 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:46.360 Let's say it key for Sutherland loves. 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:48.000 It oh yes, you know my thing. 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:51.680 Yeah, fill up the tub, fill up the tubub. So 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:54.960 does Mike Myers and Canada's current Prime Minister, the Right 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:56.120 Honorable Mark Carney. 0:04:56.360 --> 0:05:00.600 Oh right, dude, elbows up or something. Yeah. Yeah, if 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:02.880 you find that ad with Keifer Sutherland from like I 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:06.120 don't know two thousand and two where he's like talking 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:08.800 I only know because of football. But anyway, I was 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:11.480 like when Fox was had hockey, he did this thing 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:13.359 where he was like letting people know that they have hockey. 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:15.480 He was like on A twenty four at the time. Yeah, 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:17.560 so he was like, oh, they're they're all excited. And 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:19.560 he goes in there and he's like that he's doing 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:21.800 this like I don't know poem about hockey, and then 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:24.200 he ends with fill up the tub. And not like 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:27.159 the name fill up the tub. It's more like, you know, 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:29.960 pour water in and fill up the tub. But the 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:31.839 way he said it, it sounds like fill up the 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:32.680 tubill up the tub. 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:34.359 It's like an also ran. 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:37.120 Children's exactly, Tomas the tank Engine. 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:39.880 Fill up the Tub twenty four that era of Keifer. 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:42.440 My brother's band had a song on twenty four and 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:43.760 it was just his guitar solo. 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:45.680 Oh dope, pretty amazing, good job. 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:49.279 Try back to hockey. Yeah, fill up the tub, Fill 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:52.240 up the tub, Fill up the tub. It's like a 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:59.359 bad mobster name. Fill up the tub, GONGOZI. They have 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:01.640 cooled giant jerseys. 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:03.680 Yeah, hockey. I used to sleep in one I was 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:03.960 a kid. 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:04.440 Oh did you? 0:06:04.600 --> 0:06:06.880 That was like first my first sleeping shirt with hockey 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:07.320 the back. 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:11.360 What team was it? 0:06:11.480 --> 0:06:14.200 Okay, before the Calgary Flames were the Calgary Flames. So 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:17.400 they were the Atlanta Flames, and I had an old 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:20.080 Atlanta Flames jersey because you know, they burned down Atlanta 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:23.280 and I love God bless anything about burning down Atlanta. 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:25.080 So I was like, sureman, do it again. 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:30.040 Emilio Estevez, he was in that movie The Mighty Ducks, 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:32.600 about a kid's team, and I think they went on 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:34.599 to make a new professional team by that name. 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:36.719 Movie is so good they made a professional team to 0:06:36.760 --> 0:06:37.120 match it. 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:38.360 I may yeah, I don't know if I had the 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:38.960 order of things. 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:42.680 Now, that's true that the Mighty Duck Anaheim Ducks are 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:44.120 named after the Mighty Ducks. 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:47.800 Okay, So I like how Emilio got hockey and his 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:51.520 brother Charlie Sheen got baseball and one of the best 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:55.080 baseball movies ever made, Major League totally, that's a good movie. 0:06:55.120 --> 0:06:57.800 You know. He did steroids for that movie so that 0:06:57.880 --> 0:06:59.560 he could pitch faster, and of course he would do 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:03.000 whatever and he gets multiple weeks. But he was like 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:06.520 really good. He was throwing five, which back then at 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:08.600 the time was like a really good, like you know. 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:12.840 You know what up your butt, Joe Booz. So that's 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:14.000 what I know about hockey. 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:14.480 Right. 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:17.640 Aside from that, I got nothing. But you know what 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:22.720 I do know crime and scamming. I've become kind of 0:07:22.720 --> 0:07:25.920 an expert. I have for you today a tail that 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:28.560 involves both hockey and scamming. 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:30.920 Mario Lemux, get the heck out. 0:07:31.720 --> 0:07:36.360 There are very few good owners of professional sports teams. 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:37.160 This is true. 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:41.120 It's like such a flex to own a professional sports 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:44.960 team football, baseball, you know, basketball or the Big Dogs, right, 0:07:45.360 --> 0:07:46.600 and then we've got hockey and. 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:51.200 Soccer soccer football. Do you know I am. 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:53.320 Part owner of two professional sports teams? 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:55.640 Really, Elizabeth, what are they? 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:59.280 The Oakland Roots soccer team and Oakland Ballers baseball team. 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:02.480 Look at you, it isn't you also a part owner 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:02.920 of the. 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:06.400 So both of them offer fans opportunities to invest in 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:09.240 the team and become part owners. So for the ballers, 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:11.520 I'm right there with Billy Joe from Green Day and 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:12.400 Too Short. 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:15.040 Oh Sam. Yeah, and also Marshaan. 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:17.480 Right well know what the roots. Some of the other 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:21.000 owners are Marshawn Lynch and again Billy Joe. He's all 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:21.360 over this. 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:22.560 He seems like it. 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:25.920 You can buy in for like one hundred bucks, don't 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:26.480 take much. 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:29.960 Don't lowball it. So maybe wranchise. 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:32.000 So maybe not all team owners are bad. 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:34.040 Yeah, because you are one, I am Bill. 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:38.480 But for big time stuff like the New England Patriots 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:42.320 or whatever town they are in the A's, the owners 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:43.000 are no good. 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:46.240 Yes, yes, are there good billionaires. 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:49.240 You don't become a billionaire without stepping on the backs 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:52.160 of others. You pretty much have to be a billionaire 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:55.719 to own a major sports team or go. It all 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:57.199 makes sense. 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:00.360 There's three billionaires that are tough for me to say 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:03.960 that here bad Okay you ready? Yeah, Beyonce just became one, 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:08.240 Rihanna became one a while ago. She co did mostly 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:11.200 on top of the fenty makeer sure. And then Mackenzie 0:09:11.200 --> 0:09:13.080 Scott trying to give away her money as fast as 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:13.240 he can. 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:15.520 Oh yeah, no, she's a good billion so she's trying 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:16.640 to not be a billionaire. 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:18.400 And I have a hard time saying they're bad. But 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:20.760 I agree with you, and I'm still down to I'm 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:22.680 on the team of bad billionaires. 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:25.200 And no war, but class wars eron. Yeah. Anyway, So 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:28.840 all that said, let me tell you about John Spano Junior. 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:31.959 Oh, okay, I already don't like him. He was born 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:34.559 in nineteen he's not a billionaire. Oh I don't. I 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:37.280 don't like him like they'll look. 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:39.679 So he was born in nineteen sixty four in New 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:42.200 York City, New York. I never that is, I know 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:45.720 I've been there. So maybe ten years later or so. 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:49.280 His family relocated from New York City, New York to 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:53.360 a rural community about forty miles outside of Cleveland, Ohio. 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:55.600 It's a big change, it is. 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:58.360 He was a quote decent student in high school. He 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:01.440 played sports, but he like was on any varsity teams. 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:05.840 Just an average kid from an average family. He went 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:08.679 to an average Catholic school, Saint John's High School. 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:10.360 It's like a John Cougar Mellencamp song. 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:12.720 Oh I had sucking on a chili dog you better 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:15.640 believe it, but he would later tell people. So he 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:17.440 went to Saint John's High School, but he was like, 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:20.480 I went to high school at Saint John's Academy, which 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:24.360 was like a super prestigious prep school. Yeah, so he 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:27.360 was like, Saint John's close enough, whatever, they won't realize it. 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:30.280 So eighty six, nineteen eighty six, he gets a degree 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:36.120 in finance from Duquane University and that's a private college. 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:37.640 In Pittsburgh and spelled du Kesney. 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:39.800 Yeah, it totally is spelled dodu Kesney. And you know 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:42.800 who is a superstar, and looked up how to pronounce it. 0:10:42.880 --> 0:10:44.600 This gal right here appointing at me. 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:46.800 Yeah, I only know it from a there's a street 0:10:46.840 --> 0:10:49.440 in LA called the Spell that way. And I made 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:51.360 the mistake of saying it Dukesney was t un to 0:10:51.400 --> 0:10:54.400 somebody who was so snide. I hit myself so I 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:55.079 wouldn't hit that. 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:57.600 I felt like this was a trap in the forest 0:10:57.640 --> 0:10:59.880 when I saw it, and I was like, that looks 0:10:59.880 --> 0:11:02.040 like du Kesney, and I promise it is not. 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:03.800 Yeah, and I'm going to say it. 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:06.000 I'm going to say it, and then we're going to 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:08.920 get so inundated with messages, and it's going to make 0:11:09.040 --> 0:11:11.600 some people so irate that they're like burst a vein. 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:11.960 In their head. 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:17.840 So it's like, let's do our due diligence ducane. So uh, 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:21.680 while he's there, he budied up with future NHL Hall 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:23.600 of Famer Mario Lemieux. 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:24.440 Oh for real. 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:28.320 Yeah, Mario was a rising star with the Pittsburgh Penguins. 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:30.160 Yes, he was supposed to be one of the greatest ever. 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:33.360 Yeah, and Spano just like latched onto him. He later 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:35.880 would refer to Lemieux as one of his best friends. 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:39.439 Lemieux didn't take it that far. He said that Spano 0:11:39.600 --> 0:11:41.080 was just like a golfing partner. 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:41.840 I know that guy. 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:46.760 He got partners owned. So Spano, he gets out of college, 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:49.199 gets himself a job. Take a guess at what he. 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:53.520 Did, the equivalent of ball boys, so like puck boy. 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:54.280 Oh close. 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.360 He was a sales associate with an auto leasing company. 0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:00.079 Oh wow, Yeah, so he did that for like so 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:01.079 he was a car salesman. 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:02.520 No way you could have figured that out. He did 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:04.160 it for about a year and then he got a 0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:07.920 gig at a company called Recipa Finance. He was a 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:12.760 credit manager in their Dallas Texas office. Yeah, and that's 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:17.640 where he met his future wife, Shelby Hanson. So Recita financed, 0:12:17.640 --> 0:12:20.920 they arranged car loans for people with bad credit, and 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:23.920 they had offices in forty four states. But they closed 0:12:24.000 --> 0:12:26.040 up shop in nineteen eighty nine. 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:27.200 For exploitative practices. 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:30.200 Yes, and so his job is gone. He moved to 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:34.199 New York City, the Hot Potato, and it was there 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:39.600 he started a business called Bison Group. Oh no, Yeah, 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:43.200 and for whatever reason, he specialized in leasing heavy equipment 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:47.480 to other businesses. Okay, I do wonder what got him 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:47.880 into that. 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:48.960 Bison. 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:53.000 They'd buy big items like industrial vehicles, aircraft, and then 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:55.040 lease that stuff to other companies. 0:12:55.080 --> 0:12:57.440 Do you think that they were leasing them or buying them. 0:12:57.480 --> 0:12:59.880 They think they leased the vehicle and then leased the vehicle. 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:01.680 I think that's what was happening. 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:03.440 Seems like a middleman very much. 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:07.600 So so Shelby. She's still in Dallas, and so they're 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:10.520 long distance for a couple of years, and then Spano 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:12.880 he leaves New York and moves to Dallas to be 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:16.080 with her. Two years after that, nineteen ninety four, they 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:18.120 got married. Congratulations, you guys. 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:19.760 So three years after point break came out. 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:22.880 Yes, that was how they celebrated. Yeah, it's been three years, honey. 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:24.560 You know that movie came out in nineteen ninety one, 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:25.280 It really did. 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:30.440 It did. So Spano still had Bison Group. He ran 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.040 it from Dallas and he used it to network with 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:36.400 like movers and shakers in Dallas. For him, that meant 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:40.000 rich local businessmen and like a bunch of former athletes 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:41.079 looking for investments. 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:42.320 Okay, I get the idea. 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:45.120 Yeah, So Bison was still registered in New York, so 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:49.640 he added Bison Leasing Incorporated as a limited partnership in Texas. 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:52.760 And then he figured, you know what, John, why stop there? 0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:57.520 So he set up Bison BLG. And I think it's 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:01.559 Bison Leasing Group, but yeah, he incorporated that in Delaware. 0:14:02.120 --> 0:14:07.520 Then Bison Automotive Leasing Acceptance, and Bison. 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:10.959 Food Services Companies. Yeah, Bison Food. 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:14.960 Services leased cappuccino makers, hot dog machines, and other restaurant 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:19.320 equipment to convenience stores. Those are the like necessary businesses 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:20.000 we don't think of. 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:24.000 I guess are they necessary? 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:29.560 By late nineteen ninety four, he had negotiated this partnership 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:35.000 with Lenco Holdings Limited. Lenco was a publicly traded South 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:43.720 African company that specialized in manufacturing aluminum cookware and cutlery. Okay, yeah, Lenco, 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:47.720 they wanted to expand into the US market. Naturally, an 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:52.320 executive there named Gerald Groot. Groot did a bunch of 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:54.560 market research to figure out, like how do we gain 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:55.600 traction in the US. 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:57.120 Sure, And it was in that. 0:14:57.000 --> 0:15:00.640 Research that he stumbled onto John Spano and his empire 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:05.360 and connections. And so Spano he's like stoked that Groot 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:06.080 has reached out. 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:08.240 Oh, feign this is his chance. 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:12.520 Yeah, because Lenko is huge, ripe with lucrative contracts. 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:15.760 So Lenko they don't know any better, which is the best. 0:15:15.520 --> 0:15:21.680 Part, exactly exactly Lenko Holdings, they opened negotiations. Spano told 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:24.040 them that he was worth somewhere in the neighborhood of 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:27.800 like one hundred and fifty millions, and it would it 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:30.400 should come as no shock that that was not true. No, 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:34.040 his net worth was like maybe somewhere between three to 0:15:34.120 --> 0:15:38.040 five million, probably far less because the five million was 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:41.480 like estimated later on when he was in full swing, 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:45.240 like a couple of years down the road assets right, 0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:47.200 and it's not and so he it's not just him 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:50.560 and this company. Shelby's in on the company too. So 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:53.440 she she went with her husband to South Africa to 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:57.080 meet with Lenko officials and like cut deals. And then 0:15:57.200 --> 0:15:58.960 she was the one who was like reaching out to 0:15:59.040 --> 0:16:02.600 high end retailer on behalf of Lenco to get them 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:04.720 into stores places like Nordstrom. 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:07.720 You know what they say, behind every successful grifter, you 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:08.680 can find their. 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:13.240 White drifter exactly. So she's she's calling up Nordstrom's right 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:16.840 department store. And they used to be more posh than 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:17.600 they are today. 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:19.880 Yeah, am I wrong? No, No, not at all. That 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:21.920 was totally the deal on the West. 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:24.320 I think more of the department stores just in general 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:25.520 used to be more posh. 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:28.440 Yeah, they can till the private equity got involved. They 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:31.960 actually had good product, mind, they had had buyers, they 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:34.480 had people were going out checking the fashion world and 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:36.280 coming back with good stuff. They had specialties. 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:40.280 Yeah, they don't do that anymore. So anyway, Lenko, that 0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:44.320 deal opened doors. And so remember how Spano loved hockey 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:45.040 in this youth. 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:47.920 Sure, yeah, Mario Lemo. 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:51.360 Right, he still loved hockey, of course, and he wanted 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:54.200 in on the action, just not on the ice. In 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:55.400 nineteen ninety five. 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:56.160 What's the other act? 0:16:56.400 --> 0:16:59.200 He and a group of investors made a bid to 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:03.280 buy fifty percent of NHL's Dallas Stars team. 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:04.600 Okay, yeah, Minnesota. 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:07.120 So he's like, I can't get on the ice. It's 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:08.919 just not in the cards for me. But you know what, 0:17:09.000 --> 0:17:13.120 I can own the ice. Let's do it. He wants 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:15.920 to fill. My name is Philip the Tub, and I'm 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:20.119 here to own the ice. Nineteen sixty seven, there was 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:24.320 an NHL expansion, and so the league created the Minnesota 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:28.639 north Stars, and then in seventy eight they absorbed the 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:32.399 Cleveland Barons and then both teams they're like struggling, so 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:35.960 they consolidate, you know, keep them alive. Ninety three, the 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:38.120 team moves to Dallas. Dallas Stars are born. 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:40.240 Yes, because I used to love the Minnesota north Stars. 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:42.639 Oh really I did, and then they became Dallas. I 0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:43.359 was like, forget that. 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:44.480 Yeah, bye bye. 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:45.840 I was never here. 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:48.800 The move wasn't a smooth one. Yeah, And so the team, 0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:51.760 they were coming off a Stanley Cup win. The owner, 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:52.960 Norman Green, was like. 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:54.880 A sleazy fellow, completely. 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:58.280 Known for inappropriate behavior with female staffers. Of course, apparently 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:01.320 he would shake women to make sure they were wearing bras. 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:03.600 Oh dear god, so horriful. 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:07.520 His wife was appalled. Yeah, I'm with her, and somehow 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:11.040 blamed Minnesota, the state, and she told him if if 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:14.600 you don't move the team, I'm leaving you. Yeah, this 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:17.200 Minnesota is making you shake, ladies. 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:19.720 This Minnesota nice I've heard about? Is that? What this is? 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:21.320 So so Green? 0:18:21.440 --> 0:18:24.760 He's like a developer, a telecom executive. His ventures weren't 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:26.919 doing so well, so he had to free up some cash, 0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:29.600 so he put up a fifty percent stake in the team. 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:32.560 You know, up on the market entered John Spano. He 0:18:32.600 --> 0:18:35.280 and his group of investors. They expressed their interest and 0:18:35.440 --> 0:18:40.399 entered into negotiations. The thing is Spano didn't have the cash, 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:43.920 so he stalled and he made like these outrageous demands 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:46.679 of Green. He hired a law firm to run like 0:18:46.760 --> 0:18:49.800 background research on the team. I guess he wanted like 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:52.920 an objective look at the finances. So the law firm, 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:55.040 you know, like, they get the report done, they're ready 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:57.280 to settle up for their works. Spano's like, I'm not 0:18:57.320 --> 0:18:59.919 paying you the law firm. He said their work was 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:02.520 quote shoddy and that they were trying to fleece him 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:06.280 with ridiculous charges. It's a classic business con man move, 0:19:06.920 --> 0:19:09.760 like you engage smaller businesses for services and then you 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:12.840 don't pay, and then the con man bullies the businesses, 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:16.080 makes up all sorts of excuses, and it's cheaper for 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:18.159 the business to walk away and not get paid than 0:19:18.200 --> 0:19:20.560 to try and sue and get the money. We see 0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:23.520 that a lot, like sometimes in casino construction. 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:24.520 I've heard about that. 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:28.080 Yes, so the top brass at the Stars they saw 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:33.600 warning signs with Spano, but they ignored them. Like, for instance, 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:35.960 he invited them to a cocktail party at his house, 0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:39.399 and he like, all these investors in sports grates are 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:41.919 going to be there. It's a schmooz fest. He'd been 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:44.719 bragging about how he paid two and a half million 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:48.320 dollars for this palatial home. So the Stars guys get there. 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:51.640 The place is huge, but it's also empty, like there's 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:55.040 hardly any furniture, no decorations. So here's a guy who's 0:19:55.040 --> 0:19:59.360 worth one hundred million dollars and he was, as Jim 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:03.920 Lights and Stars president said quote, rattling around some empty mansion. 0:20:04.640 --> 0:20:08.440 So it shouldn't be surprising his bid for the Stars 0:20:08.440 --> 0:20:12.600 fell apart. He stalled too much. Green sold the steak 0:20:12.800 --> 0:20:16.200 in the team to Tom Hicks, an actual billionaire smart 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:18.480 and the Stars purchase was just the beginning for Hicks. 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:21.000 He went on to buy the whole Texas Rangers franchise. 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:24.639 Then he and a buddy bought Liverpool FC. Oh wow, 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:27.680 Like this guy's an actual big dog, not someone trying 0:20:27.680 --> 0:20:30.760 to get like South African pots and pans into Nordstrom 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:35.000 while sleeping on a recliner. Right, so let's take a break. 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:37.920 I want to hear some ads. Ads we had nothing 0:20:37.960 --> 0:20:41.119 to do with selecting. And you may hear about a 0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:44.000 product or service that you think you'll like. And maybe 0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:46.320 some of the ads just don't float your boat, but 0:20:46.680 --> 0:20:49.600 they keep us in everyone's ears. It's important to remember 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:50.600 free back in a. 0:20:50.560 --> 0:21:14.840 Flash Zarin, Oh hey, wake up, dream to take a 0:21:14.840 --> 0:21:21.160 good John Spano junior businessman, hockey fan right now. 0:21:21.520 --> 0:21:25.119 The known extent of his grift is misrepresenting his worth 0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:28.800 to a South African cookwear company and trying to buy 0:21:28.800 --> 0:21:31.000 a hockey team without having the money to do so. 0:21:31.680 --> 0:21:35.560 Stall tactics. It didn't pan out frohim, you know, buying 0:21:35.600 --> 0:21:37.520 a hockey team, but he was undeterred. 0:21:37.800 --> 0:21:39.359 Now him in. 0:21:39.359 --> 0:21:43.000 Early nineteen ninety six, he made another attempt to get 0:21:43.040 --> 0:21:44.080 himself a hockey team. 0:21:44.600 --> 0:21:44.959 Wow. 0:21:45.040 --> 0:21:49.760 Yeah, he now had his sights set on NHL's Florida 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:54.040 Panthers ranchise. Yeah, he's all puffed up and like ready 0:21:54.080 --> 0:21:56.679 to put in a bid and likely we'll try to 0:21:56.720 --> 0:21:59.560 stall things while he worked on like smoking mirrors to 0:21:59.560 --> 0:22:00.399 get some money. 0:22:00.400 --> 0:22:02.040 Where do you think he can get this money from 0:22:02.200 --> 0:22:04.120 a credit line another South Africa? 0:22:04.520 --> 0:22:07.000 It's like shuffling credit lines, I think. But so then 0:22:07.040 --> 0:22:08.920 the owner decided he didn't want to sell the team 0:22:08.960 --> 0:22:12.200 after all. So some good did come out of that 0:22:12.280 --> 0:22:15.080 though for Spano, because he didn't have a chance to 0:22:15.160 --> 0:22:18.280 like embarrass himself like he did with the Dallas Stars. 0:22:18.680 --> 0:22:21.800 People started looking at him as a legit possible team owner. 0:22:22.000 --> 0:22:24.600 Oh god, and he seemed to be like the real 0:22:24.640 --> 0:22:27.080 deal and with someone who didn't have a team simply 0:22:27.080 --> 0:22:31.320 because the whims of the Florida Panthers owner. So this 0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:35.720 was cemented when the then commissioner of NHL, Gary Bettman, 0:22:35.920 --> 0:22:39.399 described Spano as quote the type of guy we want 0:22:39.440 --> 0:22:40.080 as an owner. 0:22:40.920 --> 0:22:44.040 Sarah, you don't deserve the job. You have that kind 0:22:44.080 --> 0:22:45.080 of discretion. 0:22:45.080 --> 0:22:46.760 And this is coming from on high. 0:22:46.880 --> 0:22:47.680 Yeah, exactly. 0:22:47.840 --> 0:22:50.720 All the money. Folks are on alert that like Spano's 0:22:50.720 --> 0:22:51.080 a goer. 0:22:51.560 --> 0:22:53.639 It was it soun. 0:22:53.720 --> 0:22:59.000 He decides to buy his time. He decides to bide 0:22:59.040 --> 0:23:01.919 his time, so because you know, in the meantime he 0:23:01.960 --> 0:23:05.560 has scamming to do's Eric, there's Lenco and the nord 0:23:05.560 --> 0:23:06.200 Strums deals. 0:23:06.240 --> 0:23:08.119 Scams aren't going to scam themselves, Elizabeth. 0:23:08.520 --> 0:23:12.040 He needs cash to bolster his dreams of NHL team 0:23:12.119 --> 0:23:15.240 ownership and then just cash for like day to day, 0:23:15.440 --> 0:23:18.680 so he gets crafty. In October of nineteen ninety six, 0:23:18.760 --> 0:23:23.200 he submitted some purchase orders on behalf of Nordstrom two 0:23:23.440 --> 0:23:27.760 million dollars worth of pots and pans stat. 0:23:27.600 --> 0:23:28.960 On behalf of nord st Yeah. 0:23:29.040 --> 0:23:32.399 He's like, hey, Nordstrum's here, and I love how I 0:23:32.440 --> 0:23:35.840 make it possessive all the time, Nordstrums, but it's just strum. 0:23:35.960 --> 0:23:37.280 Yeah it doesn't sound right. 0:23:37.160 --> 0:23:40.240 No, it doesn't just like J C. Penny j C. Pennies. 0:23:40.359 --> 0:23:42.920 Yeah, some things need to be pluralized. Yeah, and Black 0:23:42.960 --> 0:23:44.159 America agrees with me on that. 0:23:44.359 --> 0:23:47.439 Yeah, and I agree with you. So anyway, he's like, 0:23:47.520 --> 0:23:50.680 nord Strum's here, Yeah, two million in pots and pans. 0:23:50.840 --> 0:23:53.360 I love them, I need them. So Lenko, they get 0:23:53.359 --> 0:23:55.119 the order and they're like, all right, get to work. 0:23:55.400 --> 0:23:58.119 They ship the goods off, they wait for payment. Here's 0:23:58.119 --> 0:24:02.160 the thing though, at this Pointstrom didn't sell pots and pans, 0:24:03.359 --> 0:24:06.000 and so like Shelby had been working on that, right 0:24:06.040 --> 0:24:10.000 missus nobody no, but like she hadn't made headway. And 0:24:10.040 --> 0:24:13.320 that order the product code on it was for Ladies coats. 0:24:14.000 --> 0:24:17.880 So now Spano's sitting on two mill worth of pots. 0:24:17.520 --> 0:24:19.479 And pans that he also can't pay for. 0:24:19.800 --> 0:24:23.040 Right, so his idea was to borrow against these for 0:24:23.119 --> 0:24:24.080 a million dollars. 0:24:24.560 --> 0:24:24.919 Huh. 0:24:24.920 --> 0:24:27.359 So he approaches Co America Bank. 0:24:27.520 --> 0:24:29.879 Can they agree? America Bank say yes. 0:24:29.920 --> 0:24:31.960 They're like, oh, you got two million dollars of pots 0:24:31.960 --> 0:24:34.360 and pans up in there, y'all? All right, I'll put 0:24:34.400 --> 0:24:35.080 a million on it. 0:24:35.160 --> 0:24:36.399 I will never understand finance. 0:24:36.560 --> 0:24:40.840 No, Nordstrom, Lenko, they have no idea any of this 0:24:40.920 --> 0:24:44.240 is going down. So now back to hockey. He made 0:24:44.320 --> 0:24:47.640 his third bid for team ownership at this point October 0:24:47.680 --> 0:24:50.840 of nineteen ninety six. He worked his magic and actually 0:24:51.000 --> 0:24:54.360 entered into an agreement to buy the New York Islanders 0:24:54.640 --> 0:24:57.560 Oh Wow, and their cable rights from then owner John 0:24:57.640 --> 0:25:00.560 Pickett for about one hundred and sixty five million dollars. 0:25:00.720 --> 0:25:03.960 This is like the lesser New York franchise in hockey. 0:25:04.040 --> 0:25:05.680 This would be like buying the Jets in football. 0:25:05.800 --> 0:25:09.280 Yes, sure, if you say something put in I'm guessing 0:25:09.480 --> 0:25:12.280 I don't know. So how how did he manage that? 0:25:12.359 --> 0:25:12.479 How? 0:25:12.560 --> 0:25:13.119 Elizabeth? 0:25:13.280 --> 0:25:15.680 He did he make a trade for the pots and pans? 0:25:15.960 --> 0:25:18.679 Oh? Maybe like stone soup, he just keeps trading up. 0:25:18.800 --> 0:25:23.240 No, Zaron, don't, don't be foolish. He convinced Fleet Bank 0:25:23.960 --> 0:25:26.639 to okay an eighty million dollar loud. 0:25:26.400 --> 0:25:29.439 Okay, so like the Philadelphia Base Bank to be like hey, well, 0:25:29.440 --> 0:25:30.320 because this is what he did. 0:25:30.440 --> 0:25:33.040 First, he told the bank that he had a net 0:25:33.080 --> 0:25:37.000 worth of about two hundred and thirty million dollars. And 0:25:37.040 --> 0:25:39.080 I don't understand when they do this, when the bank 0:25:39.119 --> 0:25:42.000 isn't like, well then you use that money? Yeah anyway? 0:25:42.200 --> 0:25:45.600 Or like what's that name again? Let me check? Don't 0:25:45.600 --> 0:25:48.520 they have like the equivalent of Lexus nexus but for banking. 0:25:48.760 --> 0:25:51.760 So then he busted out the oldest con artist line 0:25:51.760 --> 0:25:55.320 in the book. He told the bank that a relative 0:25:55.400 --> 0:25:58.280 of his had established a one hundred and seven million 0:25:58.320 --> 0:26:01.680 dollar trust on his behalf and he'd have access to it. 0:26:01.640 --> 0:26:04.480 Soon, really soon on my birthday. 0:26:05.400 --> 0:26:09.000 People always full for that one. That's crazy. So the 0:26:09.080 --> 0:26:12.919 official closing on the deal was coming up quick. April seventh, 0:26:13.040 --> 0:26:15.240 nineteen ninety seven. That was supposed to be the big day. 0:26:15.680 --> 0:26:17.600 That's when he's going to hand over a check for 0:26:18.000 --> 0:26:20.520 one hundred and sixty eight million dollars to John. 0:26:20.320 --> 0:26:23.120 Pickett, like one of those really big comically oversized chess. 0:26:23.240 --> 0:26:26.320 Yes, yes, well actually he's supposed to have. I guess 0:26:26.320 --> 0:26:29.919 he's putting like a down payment, sure, an overly you know, 0:26:30.240 --> 0:26:35.960 a comically oversized down payment, sixteen million. So April seventh comes, 0:26:36.000 --> 0:26:39.400 there's no check, Like, hey, Spano, what gives? He had 0:26:39.440 --> 0:26:41.639 all manner of excuses. So at first he's like, well, 0:26:41.640 --> 0:26:43.639 actually there was a fire at the office that was 0:26:43.680 --> 0:26:46.760 supposed to send out the funds, and there's actually no 0:26:46.880 --> 0:26:49.639 okay because like the money is coming from London and 0:26:49.720 --> 0:26:52.160 there was like an IRA bomb threat that shut down 0:26:52.160 --> 0:26:55.320 the London Underground and closed the office that was supposed 0:26:55.359 --> 0:26:55.920 to send the money. 0:26:55.960 --> 0:26:58.480 Courier got trapped and then now their printers out sh 0:26:58.680 --> 0:26:59.440 you blame. 0:26:59.200 --> 0:27:02.200 The IRA, right, So this is this is a year 0:27:02.280 --> 0:27:04.840 before the Good Friday agreement, So that kind of you know, 0:27:04.920 --> 0:27:09.000 excuses still makes sense. I guess okay, So now send 0:27:09.000 --> 0:27:11.639 the check. He's like, well, there's a problem. See it 0:27:11.720 --> 0:27:14.040 seems that there was a decimal point error and the 0:27:14.080 --> 0:27:17.520 payment was processed is five thousand dollars instead of five million. 0:27:17.960 --> 0:27:19.000 That's a big DECIMALO. 0:27:19.560 --> 0:27:21.600 He's like, okay, I got a check and then oh 0:27:21.800 --> 0:27:25.000 it bounced. Okay, that's so weird. How about if I 0:27:25.040 --> 0:27:28.040 get you a transfer of seventeen million dollars with that work. 0:27:28.040 --> 0:27:29.000 They're like, yeah, that's great. 0:27:29.040 --> 0:27:30.160 Yeh, wire transfers are great. 0:27:30.240 --> 0:27:32.000 You're like, hold on the transfer. What do you mean 0:27:32.080 --> 0:27:35.560 the transfer was only for seventeen hundred Oh those decimal points. 0:27:36.160 --> 0:27:40.280 He's constantly doing the damn decimal points thing. It's becoming 0:27:40.320 --> 0:27:42.800 a circus. And the same could be said about the 0:27:42.880 --> 0:27:45.920 Lenco deal. So March of ninety seven, in the middle 0:27:45.960 --> 0:27:49.120 of the Islanders negotiations and a month before payments due, 0:27:49.480 --> 0:27:52.080 the Lenco folks are like, we'd like a word, please, Yes, 0:27:52.440 --> 0:27:55.439 what's up with the north Stroms order? Why haven't they 0:27:55.480 --> 0:27:58.520 paid up? And so Spano he's like, all right, calm down, 0:27:58.920 --> 0:28:00.920 there's nothing to be word worried about. In fact, I 0:28:00.920 --> 0:28:02.920 can get the money wired to you in an hour. 0:28:03.840 --> 0:28:05.639 They just out of I don't know if you have 0:28:05.680 --> 0:28:07.919 a little bit of anxiety. I don't have anxiety, but 0:28:08.080 --> 0:28:12.080 like I can't deal with this level of lying nor so, 0:28:12.240 --> 0:28:14.680 like I don't know how somebody gets up every day 0:28:14.720 --> 0:28:16.679 and just things. I'll just keep lying these people. I mean, 0:28:16.680 --> 0:28:20.600 it's like to me, it's like juggling chainsaws. I'm like, 0:28:20.640 --> 0:28:21.520 why would you do that? 0:28:21.920 --> 0:28:24.320 You say these things and knowing it's totally fault. Well, 0:28:24.359 --> 0:28:26.280 he says, I can get you the money in an hour, 0:28:26.359 --> 0:28:27.560 it can be to you in an hour. 0:28:27.720 --> 0:28:28.680 I've known guys like that. 0:28:28.840 --> 0:28:33.120 Never obviously the money doesn't materialize, there's no wire. How 0:28:33.119 --> 0:28:35.280 can you do that? And then what's going to happen 0:28:35.320 --> 0:28:35.800 in an hour? 0:28:35.840 --> 0:28:37.600 And they away seem to think it's going to work out, 0:28:37.680 --> 0:28:39.960 and it's going to work out. I mean, yeah, some 0:28:40.000 --> 0:28:42.760 people don't argue, but I mean, like they just they 0:28:42.840 --> 0:28:44.720 just lie in the dumbest. 0:28:44.240 --> 0:28:48.000 Ways, unbelievable and the decimal point thing, Oh, that's a 0:28:48.040 --> 0:28:51.680 mix up. So the money did eventually show up for Lenko, though. 0:28:52.080 --> 0:28:54.400 On April eighteenth, they got a check for just over 0:28:54.520 --> 0:28:57.640 one point six y three million, Okay, and it was 0:28:57.720 --> 0:29:01.080 written out of Bison Leasing's Komor Emerica Bank account. 0:29:01.200 --> 0:29:01.760 Okay. 0:29:01.960 --> 0:29:03.680 Did I say the money showed up? 0:29:03.840 --> 0:29:04.080 No? 0:29:04.160 --> 0:29:07.680 No, I said the check I got that one bounced 0:29:07.720 --> 0:29:08.760 ten days later. 0:29:08.720 --> 0:29:09.960 Like like a super Bowl. Yes. 0:29:10.720 --> 0:29:14.120 So Lenco's frustrated, right, and they're like, okay, you know what, 0:29:14.560 --> 0:29:17.080 will take a payment plan with you? 0:29:17.360 --> 0:29:19.880 Yeah, and he's like, sure, of course I could do that. 0:29:20.480 --> 0:29:23.760 He couldn't do that. June of ninety seven, his installment 0:29:23.880 --> 0:29:26.800 check bounced. He'sus writing rubber checks everywhere. 0:29:27.000 --> 0:29:29.440 In early July, news Day. 0:29:29.360 --> 0:29:32.520 Gets wind of this whole thing. Oh yeah, the magazine 0:29:32.680 --> 0:29:35.880 got all these anonymous tips from Islanders executives. 0:29:35.920 --> 0:29:37.240 I was just about to say, this is like a 0:29:37.360 --> 0:29:40.600 whistleblower New York outlet to get this story. Oh yeah. 0:29:40.800 --> 0:29:43.320 So they had like they figured out this new owner, 0:29:43.360 --> 0:29:46.640 he's worth way less than he says he is. Reporters 0:29:46.680 --> 0:29:50.320 pounce on it. On July ninth, they published an expos 0:29:50.560 --> 0:29:53.840 about Spano. Yeah, they pointed out that he was like 0:29:53.960 --> 0:29:57.240 completely lied about his net worth hundreds of millions, like 0:29:57.360 --> 0:30:02.160 try five million. Was Bise Group a massive organization like 0:30:02.200 --> 0:30:03.600 he pretended it was? 0:30:03.720 --> 0:30:03.800 No? 0:30:04.240 --> 0:30:07.280 Twenty two employees companies worth three million. 0:30:07.560 --> 0:30:09.640 They operate out of a po box. Yeah. 0:30:09.680 --> 0:30:13.280 Basically, the magazine reported that Spano lied on his resume. 0:30:13.400 --> 0:30:15.680 They busted him on that whole high school. 0:30:15.640 --> 0:30:17.600 The Saint John's thing. I knew they get. 0:30:17.480 --> 0:30:19.320 On that, and the inheritance. 0:30:19.560 --> 0:30:24.480 New York people love busting you about. Yes, yes, more 0:30:24.520 --> 0:30:25.240 than in the West. 0:30:25.280 --> 0:30:30.240 No, yeah, totally totally no inheritance they find, you know not. 0:30:31.680 --> 0:30:34.880 Of course, so the Islanders deal is now like being 0:30:34.960 --> 0:30:38.360 blown apart. There are threats of lawsuits for breach of 0:30:38.440 --> 0:30:40.880 contracts swirling around Lenco's. 0:30:40.400 --> 0:30:45.240 Like, excuse me over here. Yeah, they filed a. 0:30:45.240 --> 0:30:48.800 Lawsuit over the nord Strom Pots and pans deal, and 0:30:48.800 --> 0:30:53.560 then another Dallas company, Richmond Capital Partners, they filed a 0:30:53.600 --> 0:30:57.560 civil lawsuit in Dallas against him. They too, were all 0:30:57.600 --> 0:31:02.080 about breach of contract, fraud, negligent missrepresentation. They said that 0:31:02.120 --> 0:31:04.640 Spano came to them in March of nineteen ninety seven 0:31:05.440 --> 0:31:09.440 wanting a short term loan for a million dollars and 0:31:09.480 --> 0:31:13.520 they gave it to him. Quote based upon representations of 0:31:13.560 --> 0:31:16.640 Spano regarding his strong financial condition is. 0:31:16.600 --> 0:31:18.880 That like bank talk, frilet, we liked the cut of 0:31:18.880 --> 0:31:19.320 his jewel. 0:31:19.680 --> 0:31:22.400 Basically, he swore to them that he could put up 0:31:22.440 --> 0:31:26.400 a two million dollar certificate of deposit issued by Comerica 0:31:26.440 --> 0:31:30.560 Bank as collateral. So he's just shuffling everything around. On 0:31:30.680 --> 0:31:34.200 July eleventh, he was forced to surrender control of the 0:31:34.280 --> 0:31:37.000 team after failing to uphold his end of the deal. 0:31:37.240 --> 0:31:39.080 He just came along too early for Crypto. 0:31:39.240 --> 0:31:42.640 He really did it, oh buddy, Yeah, And the thing 0:31:42.760 --> 0:31:45.520 is he was actually running the team for a couple months, 0:31:46.040 --> 0:31:49.360 like he owned it for a couple months. So he 0:31:50.240 --> 0:31:54.080 in return for surrendering the team, pickt the owner who 0:31:54.120 --> 0:31:56.680 sold it, was like, I won't sue you for breach 0:31:56.720 --> 0:32:00.560 of contract. So during the three plus months that he 0:32:00.600 --> 0:32:03.480 was in control of the team, he collected one hundred 0:32:03.480 --> 0:32:07.719 and twenty thousand dollars in management fees three months and 0:32:07.840 --> 0:32:10.560 spent two hundred and twenty thousand dollars of the team's 0:32:10.600 --> 0:32:11.960 operating budget. 0:32:11.720 --> 0:32:14.840 On what do we have? Just like I've always wanted 0:32:15.320 --> 0:32:16.920 a wall to wall flooring. 0:32:17.040 --> 0:32:20.800 On July seventeenth, federal authorities they charged him with bank 0:32:20.920 --> 0:32:21.680 and wirefraud. 0:32:21.800 --> 0:32:24.640 Maybe he was decorating as a empty mansion. Oh, I 0:32:24.640 --> 0:32:28.280 think he's just using their money to buy art. Shag Rug. 0:32:28.520 --> 0:32:32.640 He goes to brunners. So he the Feds are like, look, 0:32:32.720 --> 0:32:36.280 you forged bank letters, you lied about your holdings, your 0:32:36.320 --> 0:32:39.120 net worth, and your network, and then you just like 0:32:39.200 --> 0:32:42.600 straight up cheated everybody you came into contact with pretty much. 0:32:42.760 --> 0:32:45.240 July twenty first, the FEDS show up at his house 0:32:45.280 --> 0:32:49.120 with an arrest warrant. Jokes on them. Spano had run 0:32:49.160 --> 0:32:51.160 off to the Cayman Islands. 0:32:51.200 --> 0:32:53.480 No extradition. Well he wasn't there long. 0:32:53.560 --> 0:32:56.720 Like cooler heads prevailed and he surrendered and then he 0:32:56.760 --> 0:32:59.560 got arraigned on July twenty third. His bail was set 0:32:59.560 --> 0:33:01.800 at three month million dollars and they had this requirement 0:33:01.800 --> 0:33:04.320 of like, if you want to make bailis half cash. 0:33:04.720 --> 0:33:07.000 So in order to make that, he put up the 0:33:07.040 --> 0:33:09.560 equity he had in his house, plus his mom's house 0:33:09.680 --> 0:33:10.760 and his sister's house. 0:33:11.320 --> 0:33:12.160 They still trust. 0:33:12.280 --> 0:33:15.600 He still trusted him. So all of the investors and 0:33:15.680 --> 0:33:19.080 the business tycoons that he's running around with, they were 0:33:19.080 --> 0:33:23.680 trying to like put space between them Spano, but it 0:33:23.720 --> 0:33:25.960 would come out in court like how deep of a 0:33:26.000 --> 0:33:31.240 network he developed in like this fraud, you know, fantasy 0:33:31.280 --> 0:33:34.880 of his and how many people he owed money he 0:33:35.160 --> 0:33:40.400 betrayed investment bankers, other business owners, and even Mario Lemieux. 0:33:40.640 --> 0:33:45.760 He's like a reverse Midas touch. Yeah, I'll turn everything 0:33:45.800 --> 0:33:50.800 to Pewter. So how is he Mario Mario Lemieux. 0:33:51.360 --> 0:33:53.840 He took his money. He did so under the guise 0:33:53.920 --> 0:33:56.200 of it being for other businesses. He's like, you know, 0:33:56.240 --> 0:33:59.040 I've got all. I've got pots, I've got pants, i 0:33:59.080 --> 0:34:05.160 have cappuccino. Makers used the money to buy the Islanders 0:34:05.240 --> 0:34:11.440 a rival team. What that's dirty. That's dirty. So he 0:34:12.120 --> 0:34:13.320 falsified documents. 0:34:13.320 --> 0:34:15.000 I don't know if i'd call them a rival team, 0:34:15.040 --> 0:34:18.239 but it wasn't his team. Yeah, it's not the Penguin. Yeah, 0:34:18.440 --> 0:34:19.480 he was on the Pittsburgh Penguin. 0:34:20.280 --> 0:34:24.800 He falsified financial documents, he forged signatures, he faked letters, 0:34:25.239 --> 0:34:30.040 and he even had like he had this whole universe 0:34:30.200 --> 0:34:34.239 of false identities and shell companies. And he worked really 0:34:34.239 --> 0:34:37.239 hard to create this facade and it only lasted him 0:34:37.239 --> 0:34:38.520 a couple months of glory. 0:34:38.719 --> 0:34:40.520 Oh my god, that's what I got, I guess as 0:34:40.560 --> 0:34:40.960 an owner. 0:34:41.200 --> 0:34:44.840 So he pleaded guilty to the charges in late nineteen 0:34:44.920 --> 0:34:48.879 ninety seven and was still out on bail at that point. 0:34:48.920 --> 0:34:49.600 Two years later. 0:34:49.719 --> 0:34:53.040 Shelby files for divorce. They sold the Dallas house. He 0:34:53.080 --> 0:34:55.439 moves into a luxury condo in Philadelphia. 0:34:55.760 --> 0:34:58.799 Shelby had to have known, Oh, she had to there's 0:34:58.840 --> 0:35:00.000 no innocence here. Yeah. 0:35:00.040 --> 0:35:03.000 If she's talking to Nordstrom and they're like, we don't 0:35:03.040 --> 0:35:05.200 sell pots and pans, and then like go ahead and 0:35:05.239 --> 0:35:05.920 put the order in it. 0:35:06.000 --> 0:35:06.760 Yeahs. 0:35:09.080 --> 0:35:12.040 So he's in this luxury condo in Philly. Of course 0:35:12.040 --> 0:35:15.959 he has no legitimate income. So he gets evicted because 0:35:16.000 --> 0:35:18.040 it turns out you can't pay rent with a bad 0:35:18.080 --> 0:35:22.279 credit card, bounced check, or failed wire transfers. All true 0:35:22.400 --> 0:35:25.520 landlords don't like that. So the US attorney found out 0:35:25.520 --> 0:35:28.440 about the eviction and then put in a petition to 0:35:28.440 --> 0:35:32.080 have his bail revoked due to quote, continued criminal conduct, 0:35:32.840 --> 0:35:36.399 and he summed up the filing with quote Unfortunately, he 0:35:36.480 --> 0:35:37.719 could not stop. 0:35:37.480 --> 0:35:41.880 Lying at statement irony. 0:35:42.200 --> 0:35:45.719 So in January two thousand, Spano was sentenced to just 0:35:45.920 --> 0:35:48.799 under six years in prison. He was also ordered to 0:35:48.840 --> 0:35:52.160 pay almost twelve million dollars in restitution to all these 0:35:52.239 --> 0:35:55.160 various banks and team owners and all the other people 0:35:55.160 --> 0:35:58.080 who got caught up in the schemes. Let's take a break. 0:35:58.440 --> 0:36:01.440 This feels like the end, but it most certainly is not. 0:36:01.800 --> 0:36:25.280 Oh Saren Elizabeth. 0:36:25.480 --> 0:36:30.520 Yes, John Spano, so, John Spano. Yeah, he's sentenced to 0:36:31.040 --> 0:36:34.200 six years in prison in January of the year two thousand, 0:36:36.880 --> 0:36:40.600 how was it? He got about a little early in 0:36:40.719 --> 0:36:43.759 June of two thousand and four, and he moved back 0:36:43.800 --> 0:36:47.360 to northeastern Ohio and he was supposed to be on 0:36:47.480 --> 0:36:50.800 five years of supervised release, live it on the street 0:36:50.880 --> 0:36:54.360 and narrow. But he just couldn't hold it. Couldn't hold it. 0:36:54.600 --> 0:36:57.720 At least he didn't like waste his sister and mother's house. 0:36:57.760 --> 0:36:58.960 I was really worried. 0:36:59.320 --> 0:37:01.799 Yeah, I know, he didn't come, but he did. He 0:37:01.880 --> 0:37:05.000 They revoked bail. Yeah, so, but I don't know if 0:37:05.040 --> 0:37:07.760 they got that back. Who knows. February of two thousand 0:37:07.800 --> 0:37:11.279 and five, he got busted for what now. The US 0:37:11.440 --> 0:37:14.480 Postal Service came after him, which is that's bad business, 0:37:14.480 --> 0:37:15.600 that's feral charges. 0:37:15.800 --> 0:37:18.320 Also they make the charge count crazy. 0:37:18.440 --> 0:37:21.280 Oh yeah, So he got accused of failing to complete 0:37:21.360 --> 0:37:26.000 lease deals and using bad checks for purchases involving clients 0:37:26.000 --> 0:37:31.560 in Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi, and Wisconsin, across mail fraud across 0:37:31.560 --> 0:37:34.720 state lines. Seems he bounced a check for one hundred 0:37:34.719 --> 0:37:37.240 and seventeen thousand dollars to buy some equipment. 0:37:37.480 --> 0:37:40.239 You ever written a check for that much all the time? 0:37:40.920 --> 0:37:42.799 And they're just and I just shred them. 0:37:42.880 --> 0:37:45.600 I wouldn't think someone would take a check from Absolutely, 0:37:46.000 --> 0:37:47.799 we're going to keep putting numbers on here? 0:37:48.200 --> 0:37:53.080 Are you kidding me? He leased the equipment out, Okay, 0:37:53.080 --> 0:37:55.200 so he bounces a check for the equipment. Then he 0:37:55.360 --> 0:37:56.920 least said equipment out. 0:37:57.200 --> 0:38:00.200 So he's back to his original scam of inking. 0:38:00.200 --> 0:38:04.600 Thousands in rental agreements. So to make this whole deal 0:38:04.680 --> 0:38:08.680 and the vibe seem believable, he rented jets and told 0:38:08.719 --> 0:38:10.640 both sides that he owned them, Like, hey, what a 0:38:10.680 --> 0:38:13.160 broke guy owned jets? I don't think so like that. 0:38:13.400 --> 0:38:17.319 This is some things, so what do you know? He 0:38:17.400 --> 0:38:20.760 was convicted sentenced to fifty one months in federal prison 0:38:20.840 --> 0:38:24.319 in January two thousand and six. Six months later they 0:38:24.480 --> 0:38:28.520 tack on another six months for violating the conditions of 0:38:28.560 --> 0:38:32.160 his release in the Islanders case over the fraud conviction 0:38:32.200 --> 0:38:35.600 of Cleveland. Okay, so back in the clink you go, Spano, 0:38:35.960 --> 0:38:38.719 But he wasn't in there forever. He was released, and 0:38:38.760 --> 0:38:42.000 in twenty eleven he got hired as a driver for 0:38:42.040 --> 0:38:47.840 a company called Image First Healthcare Laundry Specialists. Wow, yeah, 0:38:47.880 --> 0:38:49.840 he's a con man, saren No. 0:38:50.120 --> 0:38:51.600 He knows image. 0:38:51.600 --> 0:38:54.440 He knows how to wow people. So it's not shocking 0:38:54.480 --> 0:38:57.680 that he impressed the owners and was quickly promoted to 0:38:57.760 --> 0:39:00.440 a sales position. It's not just a driver now he's 0:39:00.440 --> 0:39:04.160 a salesman. It's like giving an arsonist a cute book 0:39:04.160 --> 0:39:07.960 of matches for their birthday. So like one season sales. 0:39:08.000 --> 0:39:11.239 He started creating false invoices for services that were never 0:39:11.400 --> 0:39:15.360 ordered or delivered, just like with nord Strums, just like Nordies. 0:39:15.960 --> 0:39:19.760 But there were other things brewing. One of those was Twitter. 0:39:21.040 --> 0:39:21.920 Oh yeah. 0:39:21.960 --> 0:39:26.600 In twenty twelve he joined Twitter, and hockey fans, especially 0:39:26.719 --> 0:39:32.080 chaotic ones, loved it. They were so excited. One Islanders 0:39:32.120 --> 0:39:35.880 fan in particular, Eric Kipperwasser, he was stoked to be 0:39:35.920 --> 0:39:38.640 able to reach out to the businessman turned felon. 0:39:38.840 --> 0:39:40.279 Oh they love specifically him. 0:39:40.440 --> 0:39:44.280 He was talking to the people are like John Spanno's 0:39:44.320 --> 0:39:46.680 on Twitter. Oh hell yeah yeah, and so like this guy. 0:39:46.800 --> 0:39:48.879 Like briefly he spent three months as. 0:39:48.920 --> 0:39:51.719 Own a team owner, a flagrant. 0:39:51.400 --> 0:39:54.040 Let's do it so as a goof this Eric. He 0:39:54.200 --> 0:39:58.360 invited Spano to the twenty twelve, twenty thirteen season opener 0:39:59.080 --> 0:40:01.560 for the Islanders, and it was like a shortened season 0:40:01.640 --> 0:40:06.440 thanks to the NHL lockout labor dispute, and Spano he 0:40:06.440 --> 0:40:09.759 gets this DM or whatever, and he's like nervous about it, 0:40:09.800 --> 0:40:11.239 but he accepted the invitation. 0:40:11.800 --> 0:40:17.040 Of course, it's act Haron, close you out. Oh yeah, I. 0:40:16.960 --> 0:40:25.280 Want you to picture it. It's January nineteenth, twenty thirteen. 0:40:25.840 --> 0:40:29.560 You are a die hard New York Islanders fan. You 0:40:29.600 --> 0:40:33.359 hold season tickets. You love this team. The season has 0:40:33.400 --> 0:40:35.920 been on hold due to the lockout, but that has 0:40:36.040 --> 0:40:39.359 finally been resolved, and here you are at opening night. 0:40:39.800 --> 0:40:43.200 The air is electric. People file in to take their 0:40:43.239 --> 0:40:45.399 seats to watch the home team take on the New 0:40:45.480 --> 0:40:49.600 Jersey Devils. This is your happy place. You're home away 0:40:49.600 --> 0:40:55.680 from home, the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. 0:40:56.360 --> 0:40:58.920 You're walking through the parking lot on your way inside 0:40:59.080 --> 0:41:01.080 when you see the guy who have the set of 0:41:01.120 --> 0:41:02.160 seats next to yours. 0:41:02.640 --> 0:41:03.640 They're partying it. 0:41:03.640 --> 0:41:06.680 Up with a pretty big group, larger than usual. People 0:41:06.760 --> 0:41:09.560 walk up, stop and shake this one guy's hand. Chat 0:41:09.640 --> 0:41:12.200 for a bit and then head into the arena. As 0:41:12.239 --> 0:41:14.560 you approach, you look at the man in the Islander's 0:41:14.560 --> 0:41:18.760 sweatshirt and ball cap. He looks familiar. You greet the guys, 0:41:18.800 --> 0:41:22.239 your section mates, and nod at the new guy. Eric, 0:41:22.440 --> 0:41:24.880 the guy whose seat is always next to years, introduces you. 0:41:25.440 --> 0:41:26.600 This is John Spano. 0:41:27.400 --> 0:41:28.240 No way. 0:41:28.400 --> 0:41:32.120 You think, what is this guy doing here? You shake 0:41:32.160 --> 0:41:34.759 his hand. Not wanting to be rude, you try and 0:41:34.760 --> 0:41:38.200 think of something to say. You fired Milbury as the 0:41:38.239 --> 0:41:41.360 head coach and put in Bowness. You tell him. He nods, 0:41:41.680 --> 0:41:46.120 excellent move. Everyone laughs. A guy walks by, sees Spano 0:41:46.200 --> 0:41:46.960 and calls out. 0:41:46.840 --> 0:41:48.719 What are you doing here? You bum? 0:41:49.320 --> 0:41:52.279 Spano lowers his head. You feel kind of bad for him, 0:41:52.320 --> 0:41:54.560 but at the same time the guy is a total crook. 0:41:55.320 --> 0:41:57.400 Eric announces that you should all head inside, and you 0:41:57.440 --> 0:42:00.920 walk together to your seats. Through years of ticket holding 0:42:00.960 --> 0:42:04.840 and increased spending, you now have great seats. In fact, 0:42:05.160 --> 0:42:08.000 you are directly across from the owner's box and you 0:42:08.040 --> 0:42:11.000 can look right in at the folks in there tonight. 0:42:11.040 --> 0:42:14.479 It's packed with the owners and executives and swells, looks 0:42:14.520 --> 0:42:17.479 like a great party and sitting a couple seats down 0:42:17.480 --> 0:42:21.160 from you is John Spano, and he can look right 0:42:21.280 --> 0:42:25.319 into the owner's box. You realize this and grow uncomfortable. 0:42:25.560 --> 0:42:28.560 You look over at Spano and he's anything but there. 0:42:28.560 --> 0:42:31.000 He is, sipping a beer and soaking it all in. 0:42:31.680 --> 0:42:34.480 He'd made a laughing stock of your team, and now 0:42:34.520 --> 0:42:37.880 he's acting like it never happened. The first whistle sounds 0:42:37.920 --> 0:42:41.200 and the ref drops the puck. Everyone cheers. You look 0:42:41.200 --> 0:42:44.480 over at Spano. He grins and leans back in his chair. 0:42:45.080 --> 0:42:46.719 The guy in the parking lot was right. 0:42:47.080 --> 0:42:49.080 He is a bum. 0:42:49.760 --> 0:42:53.520 So well, Spano's enjoying a night out thanks to his 0:42:53.600 --> 0:42:58.160 new Twitter buddies. His criminal life went on so from 0:42:58.280 --> 0:43:01.160 June of twenty eleven to No Member of twenty twelve, 0:43:01.600 --> 0:43:04.920 he stole almost one hundred and fifty thousand dollars from 0:43:05.040 --> 0:43:07.680 Image First, the place that gave the sales gig. 0:43:07.880 --> 0:43:10.759 I like that. You can name almost any criminal who 0:43:10.760 --> 0:43:13.040 goes into like a convenience store and they will get 0:43:13.040 --> 0:43:17.319 a way more severe penalty. Criminal penalty for stealing like 0:43:17.640 --> 0:43:20.480 I don't know, eight dollars worth of merchandise, and this 0:43:20.520 --> 0:43:24.280 guy is writing bad check after bad checks, literally stealing 0:43:24.400 --> 0:43:28.480 hundreds of thousand dollars everyone's like that span out, I know. 0:43:28.920 --> 0:43:30.839 So it was like not just image first. They had 0:43:30.880 --> 0:43:34.520 a sister company, London Cleaners, was stealing from them too. 0:43:35.080 --> 0:43:37.200 His attorney was like, you know, my client is not 0:43:37.320 --> 0:43:39.480 the one to blame. He was just a minor part 0:43:39.520 --> 0:43:41.880 in this. Was to blame the owners of the businesses. 0:43:41.960 --> 0:43:44.520 They're the actual criminal masterminds here. 0:43:44.760 --> 0:43:46.080 Society is to blame. 0:43:45.880 --> 0:43:49.520 Right as not a successful defense. So August of twenty fourteen, 0:43:49.560 --> 0:43:52.439 he gets indicted by a grand jury in Ohio on 0:43:52.440 --> 0:43:55.120 one count of theft and forty four counts of forgery. 0:43:55.360 --> 0:43:55.640 Jeez. 0:43:56.160 --> 0:43:59.359 So he pleaded guilty to sixteen counts of forgery, got 0:43:59.360 --> 0:44:03.200 sentenced to ten years in federal prison. Hikes, So that's 0:44:03.200 --> 0:44:04.319 you know, he got it. 0:44:04.400 --> 0:44:06.920 He got his count up enough to actually get some time. 0:44:06.920 --> 0:44:10.040 And he had to repay seventy five thousand dollars to 0:44:10.080 --> 0:44:13.799 the company in restitution. He did his time at the 0:44:13.840 --> 0:44:18.720 Grafton Correctional Facility just outside of Cleveland, Ohio. Got released 0:44:18.719 --> 0:44:21.919 in November of twenty twenty four recent huh, and there's 0:44:21.960 --> 0:44:24.480 no word on whether he's gone back to grifting again. 0:44:24.560 --> 0:44:27.879 If so, he's like in the process of it. There's 0:44:27.920 --> 0:44:31.720 an ESPN thirty for thirty documentary about him called Big Shot, 0:44:32.440 --> 0:44:35.440 and in it, he says that the process of getting 0:44:35.520 --> 0:44:38.680 the eighty million dollar loan to buy the Islanders was 0:44:38.800 --> 0:44:41.000 easier than it was for him to get his first 0:44:41.080 --> 0:44:42.800 car loan of twelve thousand dollars. 0:44:43.160 --> 0:44:47.120 That's the thing that I kind of pointed this out earlier, 0:44:47.280 --> 0:44:51.120 is that we don't look at on paper crime nearly 0:44:51.200 --> 0:44:53.040 the same. And so eventually get up to a place 0:44:53.040 --> 0:44:55.680 where people will just believe you, and you got Deutsche 0:44:55.800 --> 0:44:57.879 Bank to give you like one hundred million dollars because 0:44:57.880 --> 0:44:59.680 they're like, oh, then they don't want to admit that 0:44:59.719 --> 0:45:02.640 they do. Then they'll bury it for two years totally 0:45:02.680 --> 0:45:04.800 and buy you time to go find some other sucker, 0:45:04.840 --> 0:45:06.680 and then be like, give him a little bit more money. 0:45:06.719 --> 0:45:08.879 They're like, we'll take ten million dollars just to keep 0:45:08.920 --> 0:45:09.440 this going. 0:45:10.840 --> 0:45:12.560 And the thing is, like he said he was a 0:45:12.560 --> 0:45:15.400 little embarrassed by his bad behavior a little and that 0:45:15.520 --> 0:45:17.719 he wasn't the only one who was punished like his 0:45:17.760 --> 0:45:20.239 family and his friends they went through it too, you know, 0:45:20.320 --> 0:45:21.120 by association. 0:45:21.440 --> 0:45:23.440 Did he recognize it when he says they were punished, 0:45:23.440 --> 0:45:25.279 they were punished by him, But here's the thing. 0:45:25.360 --> 0:45:27.160 At the same time, he was like, I would do 0:45:27.200 --> 0:45:28.000 it all over again. 0:45:28.520 --> 0:45:30.759 I would punish everyone I know all over again. And 0:45:30.800 --> 0:45:33.759 they were like, what for three months ownership of the Islanders? 0:45:33.840 --> 0:45:36.160 He said it was quote a fulfillment of a dream, 0:45:36.320 --> 0:45:37.920 even if it was for a short time. 0:45:39.760 --> 0:45:39.960 Yeah. 0:45:40.560 --> 0:45:43.879 Yeah, So I'm so offended, Like just that. 0:45:43.880 --> 0:45:48.040 Guy Milbury that he fired. Yeah. They asked him like 0:45:48.160 --> 0:45:50.520 in an interview, it's like a decade after this all 0:45:50.520 --> 0:45:53.160 goes down, Yeah, Like what do you think? And he 0:45:53.239 --> 0:45:55.839 referred to him as an that remains full of. 0:45:59.000 --> 0:46:01.400 Like Milbury. Yeah. 0:46:01.440 --> 0:46:05.160 When interviewed regarding one of the scandals, former executive Jim 0:46:05.280 --> 0:46:10.560 Lights remember him, he said, like, why the grift worked? 0:46:11.040 --> 0:46:12.400 Yeah? Why? Quote? 0:46:12.920 --> 0:46:16.080 You know, with John, you got none of that funny 0:46:16.120 --> 0:46:18.840 feeling you would expect to get about a guy trying 0:46:18.880 --> 0:46:21.520 to scam you. You always get a picture of these 0:46:21.560 --> 0:46:25.520 guys driving around in big limos with busty girlfriends on 0:46:25.560 --> 0:46:28.640 their arms. He wasn't like that at all. John and 0:46:28.680 --> 0:46:32.760 his wife were very simple people, very Middle America. We're 0:46:32.920 --> 0:46:35.760 very forgiving people, sometimes too forgiving. 0:46:36.440 --> 0:46:38.399 See, this is the other part that I didn't want 0:46:38.440 --> 0:46:40.479 to like bring all the way home as my point, 0:46:40.520 --> 0:46:43.839 which is because it feels like I'm blaming somebody for this, 0:46:44.000 --> 0:46:47.120 but these people are natural born suckers. If you think 0:46:47.160 --> 0:46:49.680 that the devil's gonna show up with a pitchfork, you know, 0:46:49.880 --> 0:46:53.040 it's like he wasn't in a limo with bucks and blondes. 0:46:53.960 --> 0:46:58.240 Bodacious point of a con artist is that they show 0:46:58.320 --> 0:47:00.000 up and they make you feel confident. 0:47:00.440 --> 0:47:03.399 Yeah, oh my goodness, there it is, is Aaron, what's 0:47:03.400 --> 0:47:05.360 your ridiculous take away this whole thing? 0:47:06.880 --> 0:47:10.720 Something like talk about fill up the tob with just crap. 0:47:11.880 --> 0:47:15.080 I'm with the dude Milbury dude, like he nailed it. 0:47:15.280 --> 0:47:22.280 This guy isn't fully Yeah he heard ridiculous takeaway. 0:47:22.400 --> 0:47:25.080 I'm just always done, like you're saying the lying. 0:47:25.239 --> 0:47:25.760 I couldn't. 0:47:25.840 --> 0:47:29.799 I couldn't get five minutes into this without melting down. Yeah, 0:47:30.320 --> 0:47:32.799 and like, but to maintain this, and then especially when 0:47:32.800 --> 0:47:35.120 you're put on the spot where they're like, okay, where's 0:47:35.160 --> 0:47:38.240 the payment, and then to come up with excuse after excuse. 0:47:38.200 --> 0:47:40.040 And then and everyone's just buying it. 0:47:40.040 --> 0:47:43.400 They're like, Okay, no, right now, you gotta pay me. Okay, fine, 0:47:43.480 --> 0:47:46.359 now now you have it. Just doesn't enough. 0:47:46.400 --> 0:47:48.359 They're not buying it, and they're just mad and you're 0:47:48.400 --> 0:47:49.200 still lying to. 0:47:49.160 --> 0:47:51.520 You're still lying, and then you're like hold on, and 0:47:51.520 --> 0:47:53.440 then you go over to the next guy like, hey, listen, 0:47:53.480 --> 0:47:56.120 can I get a loan on because I have this amount. 0:47:56.239 --> 0:47:57.160 The whole thing's nuts. 0:47:57.200 --> 0:48:00.359 Have you seen my rented jet? Because you know guy 0:48:00.400 --> 0:48:02.080 would have that and not be rich. 0:48:03.400 --> 0:48:06.080 Oh you know what, it's time for talkback. 0:48:10.520 --> 0:48:13.200 Oh my god, did he do super? 0:48:15.320 --> 0:48:15.759 I went you. 0:48:20.400 --> 0:48:24.239 Ridiculous crime fam. Hello, this is Catherine from Albuquerque with 0:48:24.280 --> 0:48:25.040 an update for you. 0:48:25.400 --> 0:48:25.600 One. 0:48:25.760 --> 0:48:27.799 My husband who broke his back can now walk on 0:48:27.840 --> 0:48:29.960 assistant and is healing very well. And we're all very 0:48:29.960 --> 0:48:32.440 excited for him because he's healing much quicker than we 0:48:32.480 --> 0:48:36.120 all expected. So that is super exciting. To he copy 0:48:36.520 --> 0:48:40.360 a shirt from your merch store on your award winning website, 0:48:40.400 --> 0:48:43.879 which I just love, and so that's amazing. I hope 0:48:43.880 --> 0:48:45.520 you all had a merry Christmas. 0:48:46.160 --> 0:48:49.520 Oh my god, Yes, I am so excited because back 0:48:49.560 --> 0:48:50.560 injuries are new joke. 0:48:50.640 --> 0:48:53.759 Oh yeah, congrats to your That is really cool. We 0:48:54.200 --> 0:48:55.640 were pulling for his recovery. 0:48:55.760 --> 0:48:57.920 I love it, hear it, and I love how sweet 0:48:57.960 --> 0:48:59.320 for him to get you the best. 0:48:59.080 --> 0:49:02.000 Merchant good partner. I love it and I used to 0:49:02.000 --> 0:49:05.280 work construction, so trust me, I know about healing, especially 0:49:05.280 --> 0:49:07.880 from back injuries and things like that. Yeah, please tell 0:49:07.880 --> 0:49:09.360 them extra congrats for me on that. 0:49:09.520 --> 0:49:11.920 Oh yeah yeah, what a wonderful way to wrap up 0:49:11.960 --> 0:49:14.160 the year. We need good good end of the year. 0:49:14.239 --> 0:49:15.960 Yeah, we need some good energy and that made me 0:49:16.000 --> 0:49:19.800 give me a big smile you too. No more Winter 0:49:19.840 --> 0:49:26.040 of Dark, Elizabeth, No, No, that's it for today. 0:49:26.120 --> 0:49:28.760 You can find us online at ridiculous Crime dot com. 0:49:28.800 --> 0:49:30.000 There's also merch on there. 0:49:30.800 --> 0:49:34.239 We're at Ridiculous Crime on Blue Sky on Instagram. We're 0:49:34.280 --> 0:49:38.319 on YouTube at Ridiculous Crime Pod. Email Ridiculous Crime at 0:49:38.400 --> 0:49:41.600 gmail dot com, Leave it, talk back on the iHeart app. 0:49:41.760 --> 0:49:51.080 Share your excellent news like that reach out. Ridiculous Crime 0:49:51.160 --> 0:49:54.080 is hosted by Elizabeth Dutton and Zaren Burnette, produced and 0:49:54.200 --> 0:49:57.400 edited by owner of the Rhode Island Rabbit Holes, Dave Cousten, 0:49:57.800 --> 0:50:02.080 starring Annale Rucker as Judah. Research is by Nordstrom Housewares 0:50:02.120 --> 0:50:06.239 buyer Marissa Brown and Islanders whistleblower Jabbari Davis. The theme 0:50:06.320 --> 0:50:09.600 song is by Goaltender. In a season long Slump, Thomas 0:50:09.640 --> 0:50:13.920 Lee and rookie left wing phenom Travis Dutton. Post wardrobe 0:50:13.960 --> 0:50:16.800 is provided by Botany five hundred. Guest hair and makeup 0:50:16.840 --> 0:50:21.200 by Sparkleshot and mister Andre. Executive producers are La King's 0:50:21.320 --> 0:50:26.080 Jersey Taylor, Ben Bolan and Mighty Ducks Stunt Double, Noel Brown. 0:50:30.840 --> 0:50:37.399 We Dickus Crime Say It One More Times. 0:50:36.239 --> 0:50:40.520 Crime Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeartRadio. Four more 0:50:40.560 --> 0:50:44.160 podcasts to my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 0:50:44.239 --> 0:50:46.120 or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.