All language subtitles for McMillion$.S01E03.WEB-DL.XviD.B4ND1T69

We didn't know how the McDonald's
Monopoly game was fixed.

So inside the wire room, people sitting
there getting ready to listen, and

nothing happened.

The FBI started coming up with, how do
we get past winners to recount how they

allegedly won these pieces?

Locking them into a story on camera
takes a B -minus case and makes it a A

case.

For a while, the question was, who is
Uncle Jerry?

We were looking into Jerry Jacobson. We
thought this may be the main guy.

But there was always this inference that
Uncle Jerry somehow connected to

organized crime. We found out that there
was another Jerry involved named Jerry

Colombo. My husband, he was part of the
Colombo crime family. My Jerry and Jerry

Jacobson became partners on the mineral
plating.

My husband picked the winners.

Can you spell that?

Jerry, Jerry.

Uncle Jerry is Jerome Jacobson, my
husband. He got a lot of my family

involved. And that isn't all. That was
just a little piece of the pie.

Cookie, where's Oliver?

Oliver,

come on.

I helped pick the winners.

I gave them tickets to some friends of
mine and family members who needed it.

I wanted them happy, so...

I gave him things.

I was going to get the million dollars,
but I gave it to my father.

And maybe if certain things never
happened,

this would not play a thing. But it
would still be going on today.

It's true.

With Shamrock Productions and the quote
-unquote reunion of winners, I think

some of them are pretty legendary in
terms of what was captured on film.

Like Buddy Fisher and Mr. Hoover.

Gloria Brown was an instant million
dollar winner.

She had won in South Carolina.

Gloria had said her address was in the
Hilton Head area of South Carolina, but

she was from Jacksonville, Florida.

There was always something that I was
trying to drive out. I was trying to

expand the BS that they were trying to
put out there. Because I know...

AUSA Devereaux needs a ground ball.

Boy needs something easy.

I'm kidding. He's good at his job.

So when you were in South Carolina, what
kind of work did you do there?

Well, I was unemployed at that time. But
I am a social worker. I just was taking

a break from stress.

I'm not doing it anymore, thank God.

So you were a social worker here.

Now, did you have family up in South
Carolina or something? Why did you move

there? Most of my family is here. I had
a friend, personal friend, and another

friend, a couple of friends there that
basically what I was doing was a lot of

visiting, job searching at that time,
so, you know, trying to relocate. One

thing that struck me was that Ms. Brown
wasn't as open and friendly as Mr.

Hoover was.

She seemed to be on guard, whether or
not she suspected something was

awry or not. She just wasn't as
forthcoming.

What I'd like you to do, Gloria, is take
us through what a normal day was for

you in Hillhead.

And we want to basically tell them that
she's a regular.

Yeah, yeah.

It's a family play. Yeah, yeah.

Well, in Hilton Head, you know, during
that time I was, you know, living with a

friend, of course, and trying to job
hunt. And right now I have my own

agenda. You know, I have my patients to
care for.

I'm busy. Like today I'm taking a trip,
you know.

And day to day I work seven days a week,
basically. You know, I'm on call all

the time.

So compared to back then.

And to now, I would say that McDonald's
has made it so that I can

just fly without any stress, you know.

So how long did you live up there for?

A little over a year, back and forth.

Many of the winners were saying they
lived in one area, but then had a post

office box where they would have their
winnings sent to. So they would set up

fake addresses.

And so a lot of the evidence that I was
gathering was around where they lived,

exactly what store they won the
McDonald's Monopoly piece at.

Doug, anything else we need to get about
South Carolina for the story?

So I said, Gloria, do you remember the
McDonald's where you went to claim the

prize? Absolutely.

This is a picture. We took a picture of
it and put it on this board. And she

said, oh, my God, that's exactly the
one.

And I said, you know what? Can you
autograph that for us? If you could just

write, thanks, McDonald's. Thanks a
million. Oh, that's good. Thanks a

That's good. And then sign it. That
would be great.

That picture that she signed, it was not
in Hilton Head.

South Carolina was Jacksonville,
Florida.

Lori, do you recall the person that you
spoke to at the counter when you were

using it?

No, I sure don't.

The fake address was a part of the
scheme. And so Rick had this

photo of a McDonald's right there in
Jacksonville. And I go, oh, my God,

perfect. So I take it with me. What are
you going to do with that? I'm going to

use it.

Wait and see. I'm going to show you.

And as she's doing it, Amy, she's like,
oh, my God, that's just,

that's not it.

That's not it. And I'm looking over
here. It's starting to get louder.

And I'm like, I'm looking back and do
you want that here? I mean, they're

can hear that.

That's perfect. Thank you so much.

That's my love.

Every time I talked to them, they would
just lie, lie, lie.

And it was perfect for the FBI because
it was really building evidence and

helping them build their case. But we
also wanted to make sure that it seemed

like we were having fun because, once
again, that's how it would be at a real

shoot. Now, what I want you to do is
take us through, like, I got my million

dollars, and I took it to this
McDonald's in Hilton Head, South

And it made me, and I want you to stand
up real slowly, and I want you to point

to your star.

Okay.

Doug brought a lot of that energy.

Now that sounds cheesy, but it looks
good when you put it together. Here you

are. We love doing goofy stuff. We can't
help ourselves.

That's typical Matthews. That's what he
would do.

Thanks a million, McDonald's.

Look right in the camera and say that.

Thanks a million, McDonald's.

And it was hard sometimes to keep a
straight face, to be honest with you.

It was very hard at times because the
things we were doing with the light

or the camera and fitting them and
fixing them up, we had no idea.

I got my McDonald's Million at Hilton
Head in South Carolina, and it made me

a millionaire.

Now, pretty close. Pretty close, okay.

What I figured out at an early age in
the Bureau is you push it, and then you

think it, you keep pushing. You never
know when you're going to hit a wall.

of course, I never found the bottom. The
bottom of the tea glass, right, is

perfect for me.

Just keep going.

And, of course, she did.

Ronald and I will see you

in Vegas.

Thank you, McDonald's.

We knew it was such good evidence,
having Gloria sitting here just making

story up and doing it with this
sincerity, this fake sincerity.

As a criminal investigator, it was an
awesome thing to behold.

There were so many different layers of
the conspiracy that we were

investigating.

And the more sophisticated a scheme, the
more difficult it is to prosecute the

case. Now you have actual video
production that you can show a jury.

That's very powerful.

By this time, literally almost the whole
office now, or a big majority of them,

have been diverted to work on what we
call Operation Final Answer.

We worked seven days a week on a regular
basis.

But at times it did not feel like work.
We had great camaraderie between all of

the agents that we're working at, and we
knew the mission is what we were trying

to accomplish was a noble one and a good
one.

So nobody ever complained about it.

Things were moving fast, and naturally
we always want to.

move at our pace. We want to control the
timing of things. And we did not have

that luxury. The game was running. There
was a clock running on how long we

could keep it a secret.

Throughout this, we were really, really
racking up incredible evidence,

discovering new people, proving all
different elements of what was going on.

we kind of knew the process of how these
were placed. But the one thing that was

still out there was, how is Jerry
Jacobson doing this?

That was kind of this nagging, you know,
this nagging question mark.

What we had to vet out is who was
helping Jerry.

Hilda Bennett was the CPA that would
travel with Mr.

Jacobson to these various manufacturing
plants, and we didn't know, are they in

cahoots?

On an investigation, you just don't cut
somebody out.

And so we had to surveil Miss Bennett as
well.

You want your ears?

Yep. I need to get a large coffee with
ten

cream and five sugar.

Anything else? Yep, another large coffee
with ten cream and five equal.

Okay. That is equal? Yep. Awesome. Thank
you.

Have a great day.

Oh, that's perfect.

One time I seen Uncle Jerry was up in
Georgia.

My brother went to go visit.

I stayed in the car. I didn't get out of
the car because he didn't directly

involve me because he was always trying
to protect me.

But giving you a little taste at the
same time.

I guess so. Yeah. Yeah.

Uncle Jerry was a middle -aged guy, just
normal average height, normal average

build, but size doesn't matter.

Like my dad always used to say, and
still does say, as long as this works,

that's all I need, one finger.

And it's the truth. And the family
that's backing you. Yeah, and the family

that's backing us. That's a big thing.

Jerome was getting the ticket, but when
it came to person to ticket,

I don't think he had the resources to do
the big $1 million hits everywhere, so

I think that's where my brother took the
reins of everything.

So Uncle Jerry was getting the tickets
and selling them to my brother, and then

my brother would sell them to other
people, and it was just a, literally, it

a monopoly of scams.

Every ticket was a little different.

The agreement with Uncle Jerry was,
depending on the value of the ticket,

million -dollar tickets were going for
50 grand. Uncle Jerry would get the 50,

and then my brother would get half of
whoever won. So if they got the payments

for 20 years or so forth, he'd get half,
and then the winner would get half. So

it was a better deal for my brother long
-term than it was for Uncle Jerry.

I really didn't think much of it because
someone had to win.

So in my brother's eyes, it was like,
okay, well, instead of Joe Schmo

I'm going to make, you know, John Schmo
win.

The money's still going to go somewhere.

They were just redirecting it.

The $1 million ticket was supposed to be
our wedding gift. We were married

November 24, 1997.

1996.

1996.

Let's start that over again.

Okay.

But that was going to be our gift, our
wedding gift. Free of charge.

We didn't have to buy it.

The McDonald's piece was in one of the
little, I guess you'd call them eggs,

like you kids get toys in it, the
gumball machines.

It was in there, in the back of the
freezer, underneath two ice cube trays.

I remember exactly how it sat.

It was just chilling.

It was just chilling.

I always looked up to my brother. He was
my protector, pretty much.

He would always come to visit me and
throw me a couple thousand dollars like

was me giving away a couple of dollars
to the kids.

This is our son Frankie. He dropped
about $150 ,000, and we just decided to

a picture. We thought it was kind of
funny.

I was so upset over that picture because
it was such dirty money around such a

clean, perfect baby.

It was pretty crazy, but with that comes
a price.

Put it this way, Uncle Jerry called my
home at least three times a week to tell

Jerry what he had to do next.

He and I would talk, you know, sometimes
30 minutes, sometimes 45 minutes.

And my husband would meet him in
Atlanta.

I don't know how many people he hooked
up.

It was way more than I thought it was.

My brother had a lot of connections all
over the place because he had nightclubs

and certain things that he was doing
that I can't really mention because I'm

sure the FBI is going to watch this tape
someday.

But there was a lot of things that he
was into.

So my brother started, you know,
expanding to in -laws and brother -in

friends and friends of friends. And
that's how he took this little small

operation and made it huge.

I was working at the airlines in
Jacksonville here, and a passenger came

named Colombo.

Right off the bat, he was very
personable and a gentleman.

My last name was Italian, so he seemed
to take a liking to me.

First thing he said to me was like, hey,
here's somebody, go eat, go eat. And I

just thought that was so funny because
that's how Italians are.

And it just made me feel at ease with
him that this is a good person.

I never knew he was married. I didn't
really care because I didn't really have

any relationship on that level, you
know, in my mind anyways.

One day we were just driving around and
he says, hey, I want to show you

something. So we pulled over.

And he reaches around the back seat and
he pulls out the winning pieces. It was

like the whole thing. It's $100 ,000.

And I was like, wow, so many people are
trying to win this thing, and you're

sitting here with all four pieces.

You know what I mean?

If you're interested, he says, just walk
in McDonald's, and this is what you've

got to do, and this is how it rolls.

He goes, I'll give you $20 ,000 now, and
then I'll give you another $10 ,000

later.

And I thought, wow, that's a lot of
money.

You know what I mean? I could go buy me
a car.

You know, I could go do some stuff, you
know. Because by saying, you know, I'm

working at the airlines, what am I
making?

You know, $10 an hour?

I was game for something exhilarating.

So he had me fly to Philly.

Being that I'm with the airlines, I can
do that.

He picked me up at the airport.

We drove right to McDonald's.

And I didn't even have to think for
myself.

You know what I mean? Just follow the
script.

And that's exactly what I did.

And I was just like, um, I'm the winner.

And he's like, oh, so you're the winner.

It was just too easy.

But I didn't know the aftermath that was
to follow.

I mean, because there were things that
nobody knew.

And I just kept it all to myself.

My husband, he picked the winners, but
he kept picking Italians on the East

Coast.

They were kind of being stupid about it.

Somebody was bound to get suspicious.

So I told my husband, I've got a friend
in Jacksonville.

Bring some women into it and women of
color.

My name is Gloria Brown Byard, and I
live in Jacksonville. I've been here all

life.

I didn't want to be interviewed anymore.
I didn't want to talk to anybody else

about the McDonald's thing.

Because it was all a lie.

I was a McDonald's million -dollar
winner.

This is the first time that I really
just had the opportunity to just really

just say, okay, I'm going to lay all my
cards on the table and tell everything.

I mean, even though my sister was there,
she don't know all the details.

I mean, she'll be hearing this for the
first time herself, some of this stuff.

I have a son, and I raised him as a
single parent.

He, as a child, was very understanding.
We had a relationship where if money was

not available, I discussed it with him,
and we worked it out together.

I always had to work, and I always
managed to keep a job, but it was always

struggle.

Years passed by, and I didn't see Robin
for some years. And when she called me,

she told me she had got married.

and thinking maybe now she has somebody
that can look out for her. And she was

very happy being with Jerry.

I think it was in 97, Robin had called
me and said she had something she wanted

to discuss with me, but we couldn't talk
about it over the phone.

So Jerry asked me to come and visit. It
was at their home in South Carolina.

My first impression of Jerry Colombo was
that he was a real -life comedian type

guy, you know, and he treated me just
like I had been around the whole time.

But the thing that bothered me is that
there was never any time that she and I

could be alone.

Even when we went shopping, he went
shopping with us.

One night I had just said, can you just
leave us alone for a few minutes?

Darn, Jerry.

And then he left us alone just for a few
minutes and he came back. We were not

allowed to really discuss anything.

Finally, he talked to me about a
proposition.

And it was a proposition that would help
me.

He asked me, was I familiar with the
McDonald's game piece?

I said, yes.

So he said,

People are picked to be winners.

This is how it's always been done.

And then he told me that he would let me
know what the next step was.

When I first got the offer, I thought to
myself that there

was a blessing that came knocking at my
door.

You know, I was going to church, and I
was trying to do the right thing.

And my son was young, and I was making

probably about $24 ,000 a year.

By the time taxes and stuff come out,
it's really nothing.

And I just wanted a better life, and I
just felt like this was my opportunity.

And I said, well.

This couldn't come to me if it wasn't
meant for me.

My brother was always joking around,
always making people laugh, always

good time, very lighthearted.

But if you pissed him off, then he can
have a temper as well.

But he never was the type of person who
would grab you or, you know, threaten

you or rough you up.

You knew if he looked at you and he told
you exactly what he wanted you to do.

You knew you had to do it.

The whole relationship changed.

It got to the point that I didn't talk
to Robin anymore.

I only talked to Jerry Colombo.

And I finally got the information from
him that I was going to be a million

-dollar winner and that he needed me to
come up with some money.

And I'm asking him why. Then he said,
everybody that wins has to give some

upfront money.

I'm like, how much?

And he asked me, how much can I come up
with? I said, I really don't have any

money. So he said, can you get money off
your house?

Came back out now. He's told me too
much.

I mortgaged my home to get my upfront
money.

I put all the stuff I worked hard for on
the line because I believed that this

was mine.

I met him on the side of the road and
gave him my first portion of my money.

It felt like something had just been
ripped from me.

You know, to meet somebody on the side
of the road and give them cash money

much at one time, that's more than I
ever had in my hand at one time in my

and I just had to give it all away.

I just felt that I just had gave my life
away, and I'm giving it to somebody I

don't know much about.

Can I even trust this guy, you know?

Before my husband was working the
Monopoly fraud game, we had my son,

Gennaro Colombo.

I

was

at times really very happy.

Son, I had some money. I should have at
least been having a good time.

But I was never satisfied, ever.

I went from home to home thinking that
one was going to make it better. You

don't have friends. You can't bring
friends in that lifestyle.

Even though I adored my husband, I found
out I had a mistress on the side, which

I guess is a prerequisite.

Italian gangster to have a mistress.

I was walking down the hallway to check
on Frankie while he was sleeping, and I

heard my husband on the telephone saying
some

unsavory words to her.

And I barged in. I said, who the hell
are you talking to? And I took the phone

from him.

And I took it and I slammed it across
his face.

They did get in a lot of fights.

She would say a lot of mean, nasty
things to him. She was very abusive as

physical slapping and so forth and so
on.

Robin would just try swinging and
clawing at him. He would grab her hand

say, stop, stop, stop it.

Anytime I threatened to leave him, Uncle
Jerry would step in.

10, 15 grand, buy me a car, whatever to
appease me.

And so I wouldn't leave.

My brother was always making money, and
he was never home.

He always had an excuse to go somewhere,
to go on a business trip, to be

somewhere.

So I knew he wasn't happy.

During the Monopoly situation, my
brother wanted to open up a club in

County, South Carolina.

I believe he was trying to get away from
the life of crime and he was trying to

make a legitimate business.

So he opened up a place called the Fuzzy
Bunny. The Fuzzy Bunny opened its doors

just a half hour ago, opening the doors
to a steamy controversy.

Grinnell? Well, Debbie, we are here at
the Fuzzy Bunny, which is located on

Highway 78 in Royal, just down the road
from the fairgrounds in Lassen. And the

entertainment and the dancing have begun
here at the club.

He had some dancers. They were wearing
bikini tops and panties and shorts.

He was not full nudity. He wasn't full
nudity. He wanted to do classy places.

He had his morals.

Yeah, he had his morals.

I got girls in daisy dukes, tops.

I got volleyball courts being built
outside.

We have live concerts here on weekends.

And basically, that's about it, really.
He wanted to make, like, a gentleman's

club. And his goal was to open up four
or five of these all through Hilton Head

in North and South Carolina.

The county kept on fighting him and
fighting him and fighting him.

They kept on shutting him down for this
permit, that permit.

That's not going to stop you from...
That's not going to stop us. My attorney

told me, I mean, whatever we got to do,
we're going to do.

I mean, I'm out here trying to earn a
living for my family just like you are,

and that's it. I was proud of him for
actually doing something legal for once.

One time he tried to do something legit.

Right? Some people have already trickled
into the establishment here. Coming

soon.

Fuzzy bunnies. I hate it so much.

And I told my husband, I said, I know
you.

You couldn't just open a club.

You have to try them out.

And I told him to stop.

There is an existing court order where
the club cannot be opened.

Three months later, I thought he had
sold it or whatever, so no more Fuzzy

Bunny.

And then one night, my son and I went
out to dinner. He was like two, about

years old. We're driving down the road,
and I pass Fuzzy Bunny.

And I looked, and there's a bunch of
guys, and I'm like, damn, there's my

I got a little closer, and I said, and
there's my big fat husband. And I turned

around, and I jumped up on the curb, and
I went, oh!

And Jerry, he was sitting back, a big
fat cat on the phone.

And I just punched him right in the jaw.

I said, you are so divorced.

All the guys were just standing there
and just staring.

And I said, you're going down.

Oh, you mother.

Oscars are going down. Every single one
of you. I'm going to the FBI.

I said, I'm going to the Witness
Protection Program.

I said, so just watch out.

So I go to a pay phone. I call my
parents.

And I said, Mom, I need you to take two
names down.

She goes, what the hell have you done? I
said, well, I just threatened 30 goons

with the FBI.

So if you don't hear from me in a couple
days, you will have to contact them and

give them these names.

And Uncle Jerry was on that list.

They beat me home, my husband and two
big -ass goons.

And I said, this is what I want. I want
a moving truck here and a divorce.

He goes, Robin, you're never leaving me.

There is no divorce.

You're stuck with me.

So I called Uncle Jerry.

And he says, you married the wrong guy.

And he asked me to marry him.

Yeah. Hold on.

Really?

Yeah.

And I told him, no.

And I thought, you know, I'm never going
to get out of this.

So I stayed.

But I was a prisoner in my own home.

Derek Colombo told me that I had to have
a South Carolina address.

And he had a cousin.

that lived at this particular spot, and
this was going to be my address.

And at that point, I'm like, oh, gosh.

This isn't what I was expecting.

He coached me on some things that I
needed to say and work on and believe.

I had to leave my voice on the voicemail
as if it was my home.

He made me do it till I got it right.

He wanted the right tone, you know. It
had to be happy.

One of the things that constantly
crossed my mind is that my life was in

I had no other option but to take this
process through.

Robert knew all of my family and my son.

I just kind of felt like I was trapped.

It was no way out but to go through it.

When time to turn the game piece in, he
picked me up. Two men.

Didn't know either one of them.

I almost felt kidnapped in a sense. You
know what I'm saying? It's like, you're

here, and you're going to ride with us,
and you're going to do what we say.

And you're going to do it right.

All the way there, Jerry Colombo never
stopped talking.

They're telling me what to do and what
you're going to say. I mean, he was just

drilling me. How are you going to do it?

And they drove me to the McDonald's that
they had picked out that I was going to

go to.

They parked the car in the corner.

The ticket was in a little valve about
this tall with a cap on it.

There I was, walking down this block in
a place I had never been before.

I was like... Bank robbery or something,
you know, they're on the block down

there. They don't want to be seen.
They're down the street, the getaway

And I'm like, oh, Lord, this could go so
bad.

A lot of things are going through my
mind.

Am I going to lie enough to be
believable?

Am I going to mess up and then I'm in
trouble?

It's all kind of stuff that's going
around. Am I going to jail today behind

foolishness?

And at this point in time, I was kind of
panicked.

And I'm saying to myself, oh, Lord,
Jesus.

I wanted to cry before I got into the
place.

And I said, no, you can't go in there
upset.

I had not be Gloria at that time. I had
to become somebody else to make it

believable.

Here we go.

And I had to go in and stand to this
counter and tell them that it looked

I'd been a wimp.

The managers came out. They have a seat.

And I had to give them my information,
the fake telephone number, the fake

address.

and then they finally came out and
congratulated me.

The manager at the McDonald's, the
cashiers, everybody running around so

that they got the winner come to their
McDonald's.

And there I was. I couldn't even hardly
put a smile on my face.

By the time I got to the car, got back
to the car, Jerry Colombo was having a

fit because it took too long.

And there he was, as soon as I get in
the car, okay, well, what you get on?

And I had to explain to him, well, what
were you doing all that time?

I was sitting waiting, you know.

What did they tell you?

So they told me they'd be getting back
with me.

I hung around another day, and then I
came on my bike to Jacksonville and went

back to work.

Like nothing had happened, and I just
had to wait.

My brother would use loopholes after
loophole after loophole, and they

came up with one that was saying you
can't have female dancers within a

feet of a school or something of that
nature, what it was.

So... He turned the Fuzzy Bunny into the
Church of Fuzzy Bunny. The Church of

Fuzzy Bunnies. The Church of Fuzzy
Bunnies. The transformation of their

into a church. Dancing girls, alcoholic
drinks, and the Bible.

Low country preachers say the switch
from Fuzzy Bunny Club to Fuzzy Bunny

is nothing but blasphemy.

I really honestly didn't see the big
deal in it. I'll be honest with you,

I swear.

And I mean, I'm a woman, but I really
didn't see the huge deal. Those two

mix, as far as I'm concerned. Church and
strip joints just don't mix.

They can't fool people.

No good people is going to be going in
that place.

I don't see nothing. We're having a
place where you can come in, say a few

prayers, have a couple drinks, see some
women dancing.

He liked to be the center of attention.

And if you messed with him, he would
just play that game as long as it took.

Marianne, you're next on the line with
Jerry Colombo. Go ahead.

Go ahead, Marianne.

Yes, I think what you're doing is
abomination to God, and it's wrong

in the eyes of God, and really it's
wrong in morals, too.

All right. Thank you.

Well, I guess God hasn't talked to you
lately. He came to me in a dream a

weeks ago, and he told me what I'm doing
is fine.

You say that with somewhat of a smirk on
your face. I mean, you had to have. I

did have a dream one night.

That's why. Why, we all have dreams. I
don't know if it's divine or religion.

This one was divine.

We never went.

No. No. It sounded like a fun time,
though.

I mean, a little prayer, a little pasty.
Right?

Now, all the publicity that has come out
of the situation with Fuzzy Bunnies has

earned owner Jerry Colombo notice from
the National Enquirer, Comedy Central,

the cable channel, and this Friday, he
has a scheduled guest appearance for the

David Letterman Show.

Do you think that Jerome Jacobson was
angry at your Jerry for the attention

he was getting for it? Oh, yeah.

Yes.

Jerry Colombo won a Dodge Viper. Jerry
Colombo. Jerry Colombo. Jerry Colombo.

Jerry Colombo. Jerry Colombo.

This

is

my... First letter of congratulation.

They're congratulating me for being a
million -dollar winner and explaining to

me that I'll be getting $50 ,000 for the
next 20 years.

The check came in the mail, which that
went to my fake address, and Jerry

brought it to me. And I told him I
deposited the check, and then he said,

didn't get any cash off of it?

I'm like, no, they got to put a hold on
it. During that time, my bank account

was always low.

So I had to go back to the bank and
insist on getting something.

So I got $2 ,000, and I gave it to him.
When it did clear, he was

calling me to add to the $2 ,000 and
make it $25 ,000.

So I just took the money and gave it to
him.

Ask any questions.

He worked out a deal where what I had,
he took.

And for the first five years, I had to
give them, give

Jerry Colombo $25 ,000.

Nothing changed for me. I never acted
like I had money.

Because I was in a deeper hole than what
I was before I did it.

Took my mortgage up higher, of course.
And I went from paying $300 and

a month to $1 ,000.

So I was like, that's when I found out
about the taxes.

Jerry Colombo got $25 ,000 each time
before taxes.

I didn't go out and buy anything.

I couldn't buy anything.

I was so stressed.

Well, Jerry Colombo always had to
consult with the head man.

Let me call Uncle Jerry.

Uncle Jerry is being reported to about
everything.

During that time, I felt like Uncle
Jerry was the main mob man.

But then that first year, McDonald's
wanted me to do.

All this publicity, but I just couldn't
get into it.

Jerry Colombo's thing was, they want you
to advertise because you are the first

black.

And you're a female.

And you got a million dollars.

And I'm saying to myself, yeah, but I
don't want to keep talking to people and

telling people this story over and over
and over and over and over.

But... He said that we had to do this.

We stayed in the Four Seasons.

I think that was the first time I ever
had the opportunity to just order what I

want off the menu and not worry about a
tab.

And I came in here, and the girls took
so long to come out, I said, this must

real.

So, you know, it just all just began to
set in.

I just don't know how to describe it.
It's indescribable.

The best part about it, the whole thing,
is that I got a chance to meet Chairman

Hensley.

The marketing company, they had a big
celebration.

It was something like a promotion type
thing. And Jerry Colombo said, Uncle

Jerry's going to be in the audience.

And I'm like, oh my God.

So they had this big text for me to hold
and take a picture.

And then they say, speak.

I'm like, here I go.

More live.

I was kind of out of it. I could hear
the cameras going.

The whole time I'm thinking about this
mob man in the audience.

Never seen a picture of him.

Didn't know who I was looking for, but I
kept looking to see which one it could

be.

After that, I finally just told him, I
don't want to do anything else.

Don't put me out to do anything else.

Jerry Colombo said, Uncle Jerry was in
the crowd.

He said, you did great.

It's just little things like that that
made sure I guess I stayed on my toes

did what I needed to do and do it
proper.

So I was still under that web the whole
time.

I didn't know where to turn. I didn't
know what to do. There's just really no

way out of it.

And I said to myself, now what's next?

As soon as I got that check, things
changed.

I'm in his car, and we're going to this
bank.

Went in to get the check cash right
there.

And all the money went right to Jerry's
hand.

The teller said to me, he said, get that
money.

$50 ,000 taxes on that.

Make sure you get that.

But I didn't think anything of it.

It just kind of, you go numb. There's
just no thought.

And that's kind of how I felt, I think,
with that money, because it's not mine.

He said that he had to go to Uncle Jerry
first.

Give him his piece of pie, and then
everybody gets a piece of pie.

And it has to go, you know, in that
order before I can get my money.

So I kept calling him and calling him,
and he was like, call me back, say I'm

going to get the money for you. I got
the money on me.

It's going to be like another week or
whatever. He just kept putting me off.

I heard the difference in his voice.

Like, don't bug me. You're going to get
your money.

I believed that Gennaro owed Uncle Jerry
money.

I believed the money got too big to not
take a

bigger piece of that pie because the
spending habit became bigger and

And I'm thinking, okay, that's why I'm
not getting my money.

You know,

it's a small town.

It's a cute town.

I love it.

You could ask any number of people what
would drive you to do

what these people did.

And the first one I peeled off, I
believe, was Pennsylvania Avenue. And

second one I peeled off was a million
-dollar instant prize winner. And it was

like, wow, is this for real?

A lot of this is stealing money.

using a device to do it and tricking
somebody into it, and then two or more

that, that's a conspiracy. Debra was
going to be so happy I said that.

But more than that.

Breakfast sandwich.

Yeah, that's what it was, a breakfast
sandwich. A lot of them are good people.

They make bad decisions, whether it be
they have fallen into a financial

and they hear a nice way to get out of
it.

That's your motivation. Okay, I'm going
to do it because, you know, I need money

for my kids' health or school or I'm
going to retire.

Human nature makes us do different
things.

People want to justify what they did or
why they did it so they can really live

with themselves.

Everyone, everyone watching this show.

cannot stand in front of a mirror, look
at themselves in the eyes, and say

they've never done something that they
wish they could correct and take back.

A couple of years later, I had this
company that was calling me on a regular

basis trying to get me to come on this
trip.

I was very reluctant, but they kept
saying it was for all the winners.

They want to find out where we are now,
what we're doing, you know, just a

follow -up.

A lot of the stuff I just wanted to
block out and just forget it.

And we just kind of went in and laughed
and talked.

You know, it just tried to make me feel
comfortable, but I never felt

comfortable about this whole thing.

Somebody asked me a question from over
on this side.

Somebody asked me a question from over
on this side. That's when I knew that

something wasn't right.

I was about to get sick to the stomach
because I knew.

And I was trying to cut them short, and
they wouldn't stop asking me questions.

So did you, when did you decide to move
back to Jacksonville? I feel like an

interrogation went on because when I
came, when I was in there, I was like, I

could feel my adrenaline building a
little bit because I knew

that it was, that they wasn't asking me
questions.

The questions they was asking me was to
just get it on record how I spent the

money.

But I felt it.

That feeling is something else.

Okay, let's rehearse it. And just talk
to the camera. Okay, okay.

You can do it slow because this is like
a rehearsal. Go ahead.

Did you have fun with the other
corporations?

It might have been.

But you're about to deprive someone of
their freedom, you know, their future,

everything from family.

It's not meant to be that.

that kind of fun for us at all it's not
fun at all to deprive liberty to someone

we just walked out of there and i was
kind of numb walking out the door like

this is it something is going to happen
from this

It wasn't much longer after the fuzzy
bunny situation.

I got real depressed.

I didn't eat.

I was just so distraught. Then I got
mad.

I looked over at him, and I told him
about Uncle Jerry.

I said, you know, he asked me to marry
him. As soon as I said the word, I was

sorry.

Because I could tell it was a real
thing.

Because at first I thought, this could
be a setup.

You know, maybe they were trying to find
out my loyalty, and it wasn't a setup.

And so he went and cut Uncle Jerry out.

The next day, we're driving down the
road.

Jerry's in the passenger seat.

I'm driving.

Frankie's crying in the car seat.

It's bothering Jerry more than it is me.

And we got in an argument.

And so he says, Rob, I've got to put him
down,

lay him down.

It's enough.

And so he took him out of his car seat.

And I'm like, God, Jerry, come on.

And a little teardrop came down my face,
and I thought, you know, I'm never

going to get out of this.

He is not some sweet little old man.
He's a freaking gangster.

I was not sure if the accident was an
accident. It could have been a possible

hit. Things were getting really ugly.

Operation Final Answer was moving fast.

Everything was on the table.

So we thought, well, how much bigger can
this get? And it would get bigger. How

much further back could it go? And it
would go back further.

One of my biggest regrets has been
involving this McDonald's thing.

you can get away with something over and
over and over you only got to be caught

once