Original subtitles

I was just having the time of my life.

Everybody wanted a piece of Jimmy Lauer.

The more you experience it, the more you want it.

I can help you out with your needs, man.

That was the moment everything started going wrong.

I said, oh my God, I am screwed.

I just heard the camera.

You know what was coming after that? We are going to need you to come with us.

Just so you know.

Bang, bang, bang.

Bienvenido a tu jungla.

I felt like I was literally in hell.

My name is Jamie Vargas, but my stage name is recognized as Jimmy Bowers.

Ever since I was a kid, Music was my life.

My dream came true in 2002.

The first song I recorded was Todas Tus Cosas.

I'm doing my video, just singing, my guitar.

I saw myself winning Grammys.

Jimmy Bauer was ready to be a star.

Probably a month or two months after, I flew to the Dominican Republic.

My video was being shown like all over TV.

My music was being blown everywhere.

When I arrived, there were already media people outside just ready to get a

glimpse of me.

Jimmy Power, Jimmy Power, Jimmy, welcome, welcome, welcome.

I just had this as a dream.

It took me off guard because I wasn't expecting it like that so fast.

The first two months, everybody was going crazy.

That's when I started doing live concerts and my first tour.

Being in front of an audience is like the greatest feeling ever.

It's kind of like a drug.

The more you experience it, the more you want it.

I remember the time that the bus was just shaking like one side to side

people were just going like this to it. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang,

bang.

Because it was hot. I was always like a towel and wiping myself.

And I took the towel and I opened the window and I threw it out. Oh my God,

almost ripped that towel in pieces.

All the girls, they were fighting for it.

Everybody wanted a piece of Jimmy Lauer.

I was just having the time of my life.

What's that?

Put it on speaker so mom can hear.

Jimmy!

I grew up in Lower East Side Manhattan.

It was a very rough neighborhood.

There was a lot of drug dealers.

But me picking up the music at such an early age saved me from all that.

My mom, she raised my sister and I by herself.

I always said that if I ever made it and...

And I have money and everything that I will make sure that she lives a better

life.

And after that first hit, it's all about

keeping that momentum.

We took the next single, which is Te Recuerdo.

Fantastico! You understood that the next...

Three or four months, it was going to be the track that was going to be

promoted.

But then, things started going a little sideways.

The manager wasn't working in the Dominican Republic.

We was doing the video.

The video was never completed.

And I was questioning, like, wait a minute, what's going on here?

I'm like, that's it. It's over.

I just couldn't believe it.

I was in the peak of my career and these people destroyed it.

I needed to get out of my contract.

Vamos.

At that point, I decided to go back to New York, and I was just desperate to

back on my feet again.

So I got to contact a promoter. Her name is Carmen. Hey, Jimmy.

Sorry I'm late.

It's okay.

She knows a lot of DJs. Basically, I wanted her to take my song and put it to

work. radio stations, whatever she could put it at.

They didn't do anything with it.

I need someone to promote it.

It was all about throwing the dice.

Okay.

I'll see what they can do.

While I was waiting on things to go on, I had to pick up a job because

my financial situation was dreadful.

I was like, I'm back where I started.

I couldn't live with that.

I was once Jimmy Bauer, the popular bachata artist

who everybody was crazy about.

Now, I was a nobody.

That was my life for months.

That's when I really started getting depressed.

When I was going through all that, I got the call from Carmen.

Demi, it's Carmen.

Hey, what's up?

Mexico? Yeah.

Well, you know how huge is Mexico?

And if I get my foot in Mexico, that's it.

So, now you got to go out and take it to the next level.

We had planned out a trip to go to the TV shows and, you know, basically

actually show your face.

You need at least $10 ,000, okay?

Okay.

That was going to be my big break.

But whatever money I had, it was not going to be enough.

I was going off my mind. I said, oh my God, how am I going to do this?

I guess I wanted to distract myself

and I went to like a barbecue day with some old friends from the

neighborhood.

Everybody asked me about what's going on with the music. So I was expressing to

them the news about Mexico and I really have the money for this.

Until I sort this management thing out, I can't do a thing.

No one will touch me.

Lo necesitas.

Lo is the 10 G's.

And that's just to keep me in the game.

10 G's.

¿Alguien quiere cerveza?

This guy was there. His name is Dave. He approached me.

Hey, can I talk to you about something?

I went to the side and privately to talk to him.

You know, I mean, I know that when I was getting in high school, he was

basically a drug dealer.

But I didn't know that he was still on it.

I can help you out with your needs, man, if you hear me out.

Okay. It had to do with transporting the package.

Pack. So I immediately knew what he was talking about.

And his proposal was to traffic drugs.

From Dominican Republic to New York City.

That was a turning point right there.

That was the beginning of...

Of my tragedy.

The downfall, big time, of Jimmy Bauer.

Are you nuts?

Why would I traffic drugs?

Besides, what would happen if I got caught?

No way.

You're a famous star.

I got mad.

There was no way I could have considered that. No, man.

Thank you?

No.

So we just left it at that.

My surrounding had to do always with music. There was no drugs or anybody who

takes drugs.

Anything like that, no.

After that, I wanted to resolve this situation with my own management.

So I called my lawyer at the Dominican Republic.

Hey.

Once I got the apple, it was love.

It was love right away for me.

Thank you.

You're still loved here in this country, Jimmy.

Sure.

I knew what David meant when he said, hey, you are a famous artist and you

have any trouble being detained or questioned or anything.

But I already knew that.

It was just that I was not going to play along with it.

I met with the management.

I was hoping that...

They will let me off the contract without having judges involved.

If you're not going to do nothing for me now, release me.

Sure, Jimmy, but you got to give me back my investment. What's that?

That's four million pesos.

Cuatro millones de pesos.

There is no reasoning with these people.

Jimmy, this round is over.

Come on, Jimmy.

That's when I was really stuck.

What am I going to do now?

I went to my bank account and I saw that I had $13.

I felt like I didn't want to live anymore.

I never thought about what that Dave offered me.

It never went to my head until he called.

Hey, Jimmy.

Dave?

How did it go with the management?

Not how I wanted.

I was thinking to myself, if it's money that you need, hey, this could help you

out.

You have it at 24 hours, Max.

As soon as you get back.

I said, damn, if I just had this money, I still had a chance to make something

happen.

Promoting my music all the way to the top.

Without the money, I would have lost that opportunity.

It was hard to say yes.

Okay, fine.

I'll do it.

Okay. Let me call my people and we'll take it from there.

I never thought that it was going to be played out the way it did.

The next day, I was nervous.

I was like thinking, oh my God, this actually is going to go through.

Oh, so I gotta put it in my bag or what?

You swallow it.

Wait, what?

You're gonna swallow it. I said, what?

He said, yeah.

Wait, I said, oh my God.

I broke you one so you can practice.

Practice. Try and swallow it. It looked like a firecracker and then they wrap it

around with condoms.

I couldn't swallow it.

I couldn't swallow it. It didn't go. It just stuck there.

So he had to take it back and reduce the

size.

After he left, when I couldn't do it, I felt kind of relieved that it didn't

happen.

It's like it gave me a little chance to meditate a little bit.

I was like, have I gone so low that I had to do this?

But I said, man, if I turn around, I said, I'm going to go back over there to

New York with 13 bucks on my hands.

I had to go through with it.

I said, let me just get through this and never look back.

After reducing the size of it, he came back.

How many are in there?

A hundred or so.

I was like, wow, a hundred?

Don't you think that's too much?

I took the first one.

I put it on my tongue and deep enough.

And I just took the water and it went very

slow, but it went down.

I did another one. I did another one. I did another one.

Every time I was putting on my tongue, I felt the latex of the condom.

But I said, I just need to succeed. This is not a career choice.

This is about my music.

It took me from 1 o 'clock in the afternoon all the way to 2 .30 in the

I finished my last capsule.

13 hours.

I never counted it myself, but it took me that long.

I wasn't going back as a pop star. I was going back as a smuggler.

My flight was around 10, so I had to be there by 7 in the morning.

I was feeling terrible.

I remember, like, I wanted to throw up.

That was the moment that everything started going wrong.

That was just like, what the heck is wrong with me?

My intention was, check it, go to that gate, and boom, that's it.

I couldn't really walk straight.

What I was trying my best was to let them know that

everything was okay.

I was trying to fill

out my document.

For the immigration department.

I was seeing things blurry.

It caught the attention of the airline agent who was there.

Jimmy, are you okay?

Yeah. Yeah.

Because there is something wrong with you. They're not going to let you on the

plane.

I'm fine.

I just ate something bad last night.

But the feeling inside was getting worse and worse and worse.

And that's when the personnel came with the wheelchair.

I was like, Jimmy, you've got to put the thing out. You've got to get control.

Once arriving to the checkpoint, I got up from the wheelchair to take off

everything.

I was trying the hardest to maintain control.

I took my stuff, everything fine.

Jimmy, are you okay? And I remember answering, yeah, I'm okay. I just

slept well. I just haven't slept well. I had a bad night.

Jimmy, we are going to need you to come with us.

Yeah, okay.

I knew that in that point, it was not looking good.

And then as soon as I saw that x -ray machine, I said, oh,

my God, I am screwed.

Stand up, Jimmy.

Yeah, I knew at that point that that's it.

That was the end of the road for me.

Next thing, I felt something going through my throat.

And from there on, out again.

When I opened my eyes, immediately I said, oh, my God.

I just was so confused. I didn't know what happened to me. But I knew that I

detained.

The surgeon came in.

He says, you see these hands right here?

This hand just took all the stuff in you.

I don't know how you're still alive.

Jimmy, two of those capsules broke inside you.

If you would have not been stopped, you would have died in that plane.

I just turned my head on the side, like looking to the wall, and I said, why you

guys didn't let me die?

Right there.

That's when it sunk in.

To me.

Yeah.

Yep.

Can I see?

He said, no, don't see it. And I reach up. I pulled it.

It was really blew my mind off.

was the colostomy I had on my right side of my stomach.

And the piece of the colon just sticking out.

And I just freaked out that that really got to me.

But the real agony came in after.

Because I knew what was coming after that.

I think that I was kind of sleeping, I guess.

And next thing I know, my mom grabbed my hand.

And she was crying.

That was so hard for me to watch.

That was hard to watch, man.

I was

so ashamed.

After a few days...

You had to go to the court.

The press was there.

As soon as I opened those doors, everything was going crazy outside.

Everybody was clack, clack, clack, clack. I just heard the camera clack,

clack, clack, clack.

How are you feeling, Jimmy? How are you feeling?

You know, I didn't have no answer. I didn't want to talk to anybody.

I mean, come on.

That's when the process started.

They wanted to send me to La Victoria, which is the worst prison in Dominican

Republic.

He said, oh, my God, they can't really think about sending me over there, like,

in this condition.

I'm just there falling apart.

I took my fifth, and I

went, bang, to the table.

And I got up, and I went like this.

I showed him.

Are you really going to do that to me?

Send me to die over there.

Because being inside of a prison is going to be the end of me.

They ended up sending me to Najayo prison.

I looked at him and I said, do I have to do that too?

Can I be at least a little short?

He said, you're in prison, man.

I was not going to get any kind of privilege just because I was famous.

I was going to be treated like everybody else.

I saw my hair fall, little by little.

And I was just looking at it like, damn.

Wow.

This is just a start.

Right there in that moment, I destroyed Jimmy Bauer.

I was not him anymore.

I was just regular Jamie Vargas.

And I was really, really scared.

It was like, oh my God, I'm actually in prison right now.

Immediately the smell, oh gosh, the smell.

It smells like a hen house.

I felt like I was literally in hell.

All around, all kinds of criminals.

Shouting my name. You messed up, Jimmy, you messed up. Oh, look where you're at

now, bro.

What a bust now.

A bed?

They were sleeping on the hallway.

I was like, oh.

And I asked him if there's any area where I could be safe.

He said, yes, but it's going to cost you money.

I needed to get the money no matter how was I going to get it.

That first night, it's the worst night of my life.

I couldn't go to the bathroom.

I couldn't sleep.

I was suffocating, for God's sake. I was gasping for air.

I was in a survival mode.

Mom, it was in the country at the time.

Necesito dinero.

$3 ,000.

Jimmy. She tells me, listen.

A couple of days later, I was just going nuts.

I was sticky. I was smelly.

Oh, Lord.

Just remembering.

Jimmy Bauer.

That's what somebody called my name. Jimmy Bauer.

I didn't know what the heck was going on.

He said that there was a space in the conjugal.

My family

saved me.

Without them, I would have died, okay?

When I arrived, There was somebody at the door. He was an inmate. He was a big

fellow, too.

So he had to go through him first.

Nobody could go in there unless they get access to him.

You see what I'm saying?

And when I walked in, it was just totally different.

Everybody's just on their seats, all bright and nice.

Everybody playing dominoes and cards.

I said, this is the place.

I'll be okay here.

I just had

two cellmates.

I remember one.

The other one was a crazy maniac.

Always smoking weed in there.

So, obviously, I...

I thought, I got to, you know, stay out of trouble.

I just got to ride it out as much as I can safely.

But it didn't happen that way.

We knew that something was going on because when they lock us down, it's

something serious is going on.

He said there was a riot going on.

We were seeing the commotion. We were seeing guards just running up, running

here and there, and a lot of noise.

Just so you know.

Bang, bang, bang.

And when everybody saw the body being

taken down, that's when everybody went nuts in there.

I realized even though I was in the safe zone, any little thing could spark you

getting harmed in there.

I just wanted to do my time, get the heck out.

Up to that point, I thought I was not going to be sentenced harshly.

I really believed that. I thought I was going to get probably two years tops and

get out.

In a year and a half.

But the sentence was six years.

I

didn't want to deal

with nothing. I didn't want to be part of anything.

Music was not in my life anymore.

Jimmy Bowery was long gone, man.

It was just all over for me at that point.

Not only my career, I thought it was going to be over, my life.

By the time I was in prison, already completed two years.

One day, an incident happened that changed everything.

One, this young girl, probably 15 years old maybe, she was holding a card.

Jimmy.

Me.

Hola. Jimmy, Baba, we love you. We support you.

Para mi?

But when she saw me...

She just started crying.

Gracias. Te quiero, Jimmy.

Gracias, Jimmy.

Gracias.

I saw the love.

I felt the love there.

That's when I decided to love again the music and to enter it in my life

again because I knew at that point that I was ready.

For it.

Every year there was talent shows going on between prisons.

Everybody gathered in one specific prison.

In the previous years, I always said, no, I wasn't ready for that. But I

to this time.

TV cameras were there.

Also, there was a couple of judges, very important musical artists from

Dominican Republic.

It was like the first time somebody from the industry was going to see me. This

is going to jail.

I haven't performed for three years since 2010.

I just didn't want to mess up.

That time came for them to introduce me as a... Next runner -up.

You all owe him.

He was a big star, this and that, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

When I was handed the mic, I felt like I was going to be singing for the first

time in my life.

Again, I was very nervous.

I just came out so strong.

Right there, I just forgot that I was

in prison.

I forgot about everything.

And I started singing.

It felt so good.

I said, no, I can never leave this.

I just could not let it go.

Even if I have to sing in a bar, it was the

best time of my life right there.

Basically, the talent show changed me 180 degrees.

I started to enjoy life again.

The days was going faster without me even noticing it.

That day that I was getting ready to get out, the press was there.

I immediately went down on my knees.

I looked up as to thank you, God.

When I saw my mom, I gave her the biggest hug ever.

I told her, your son is back.

I thanked her for being strong for me, and I never gave up.

It was time to be Jimmy Bauer again and be the entertainer that everybody knew.

I'm actually going out on tour again.

It's going to be my comeback.

I was given a second chance.

There's no stopping me now.