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hey it's your boy Mike The Situation Santino welcome to statute of limitations it's the ultimate lineup
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it's Cooks this is not my fault that I stole this car it's conmen this is my
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chance I can be rich for life it's w to be kingpins we all made together $500,000 and queen pins it was basically
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a lounge of criminals these are stories of the nonviolent lucky punks and Robin hoods
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that Dodge the law I could have gone to prison not jail prison because here's
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the situation baby it's only a matter of time before the statute of limitations
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is up and technically you might walk away scotf free but don't take a from me
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guys I'm obviously no lawyer this is statute of limitations what's up I'm Mike The
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Situation stino and we have a situation welcome to a show where we find folks who Once Upon a Time committed a crime
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coming up on this episode a guy in Las Vegas who found a way to beat the house hey every time that never happens and a
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crazy man gets pulled over with enough weed stashed in his Dash to feed an army of Willie
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Nelson's now we go to Vegas where a cleancut kid suddenly finds himself with
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an ace up his sleeve or so he thought here's what happened when he decided to
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cheat the odds and the law meet Shan my name is sea and over 10 years ago I cheated a Vegas casino out of some
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money the statue of limitations is up and now I'm ready to tell my story I live in Las Vegas and what people don't
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know is that the people that live there don't actually gamble that much growing
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up um I've always been kind of a square my family was in the hospitality business and I was more into the
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technical uh things like engineering and that's what I was interested in I wasn't
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a fun guy at the party and I never really broke any laws my buddy Bill he got me um a gag gift and what he had
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done is he he found out weighted uh roulette ball in a pawn shop and he thought it might be funny due to the
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fact that I don't gamble you know my engineering side started kind of thinking about with the weights and how
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it could be controlled when I started studying up on it a bit um doing some reading I thought maybe that might be
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something it would be cool and maybe I can use it I decided to go into a casino and
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kind of look around and see how things work um I started going in there not really betting much but mostly watching
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and seeing you know how how the dealer interacts how things kind of work and trying to figure out you know the best
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approach it's not something that I normally would do it became intriguing to me and I I I thought that it might be
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interesting to try to pull this thing off I understood that you know if I'm going to try to do this it's not going
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to be in a in a casino that has a lot of security but maybe one that's maybe off
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the strip I started casing it out more and more reading more and more because I got to figure out how I'm going to be
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able to uh switch a ball potentially I thought to myself the best way I would be able to switch the ball if the dealer
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was distracted so I went and I got Bill he's a little crazier I had to do a little bit of convincing I mean it is
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kind of you know cheating it's it's it's it's stealing money from a casino I kind
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of told him what I've been doing you know he decided okay let's try it out so he comes in and we start looking
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at casinos more and more the plan was is he was going to be this Rowdy Gambler placing these wild bets on the other
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side of the table and you know just try to make as much commotion as he possibly
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can and at which point you know I would just go in there and change change it out we started doing that we started
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going to tables uh we're spending some hours there placing little bets dealer
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was never really distracted as much as we needed him to be or we'd have some
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other Gambler come up and he would come behind me or a waitress would come by and ask us for a if we needed a drink
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either way there was just never the opportunity to be able to do the switch and you know I was really scared to
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begin with it's like it was very nerve-wracking I didn't want to get caught again I'm a very straight guy we
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kept doing this for a while you know over the next few weeks and and Bill he you know he started getting pretty
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frustrated with it I mean we were there just losing money essentially and there came to a point where he just you know
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he's got up you know he walked he got up he's like I got to I'm done with this
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this is just it's not going to happen and we're just risking too much you know
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I I don't want get caught with it this and that so he leaves and I said you know what I'll stay at
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the table and I'll just uh I just gamble a little more I don't know just see if
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maybe someone else comes up and maybe they'll distract them and I I don't know
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um and I was sitting at the table on one of the spins the ball flew off the table it hit the ground and I thought to
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myself wow this is this is my opportunity so I mean I've been there I've seen the
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way the process works and all that I knew that I I was prepared so I literally just went to the
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replaced it with my ball that was it I was scared to death about it um and they start spinning the ball and they're
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using my ball now which is I mean it's a win I mean I'm super shocked I'm excited
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scared a lot of things all at once right uh so they start spinning the ball and from you know the way that I had
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calculated that I'm going to be able to better my odds was based on this weighted ball so what happens is
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wherever the dealer starts at when they spin that ball on the number that they spin that ball it's going to go around
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four times and I know based on my calculations and the weight of the ball that it's going to land within let's say
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four or five Ines of a number group so all I need to do is see where he starts it right and then I know where to
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calculate these four or five numbers and then while it's spinning is when I place
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bet so I tried that a couple times and it just it was working it wasn't perfect
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because there's a four or five in I mean that's what three or four numbers so I was winning and winning and
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winning and I went and found bill and I told him I go look I was able to switch it he didn't he didn't really even ask
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any questions like he was like how did you do it it's like don't worry about it
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let's get back to the table we get back to the table we start placing bets he
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knows the deal of you know the 4in 5 in space that it needs to fall in and he knew the numbers that he needs to start
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betting on and we start just placing placing chips chips Stacks just keep getting higher and higher there was just
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a lot going on and a lot of winning obviously we're getting a lot of uh attention from others in the casino
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pipes start looking around so they came in and decided to pull pull the dealer you know this whole thing you know
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switch out the dealer maybe it's a luck thing uh they switch them out bring another person in a young lady and in
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she starts doing it and we're winning more and more and more we got up about about $6,000 total and this is a
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small small Casino so these are huge numbers there was a point that they actually had to switch out the chips
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they ran out of chips they had to bring more uh you know there's people around
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us they're placing bets over the top of ours I mean it was just it was it was
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chaos and you know these sacks are just getting bigger and they're getting bigger and we're getting fired up and
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the more you the more you win the more you want and like everyone's around me
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and everyone's cheering like it just fires you up you know and we're we're
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thinking to ourselves I mean how much how far can we take this how far can we take this you know because I'm thinking
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I'm loving this winning feeling because I'm not just I generally don't win I
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don't gamble the pressure grew because of all this money or all these chips that I
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have in front of me and at that point it started kind of hitting me where I'm
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like wow there's a lot going on now and I am breaking the law next thing you know I get a tap on
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the shoulder I heard like this low voice say Excuse me sir and I'm thinking what's
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going on you know there's all these people around I I don't know who it might be right so I turn around it's a
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Pit Boss this is it right now I'm on the radar I'm busted I'm caught it's
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over what are the odds if sea Gets Busted probably very high guys The House Always
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Wins if this is going to get me in jail guess what the Situation's going to do out of here the Streets is
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Watching we're back with more statute of limitations our boy sha is playing with
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house money and an illegal ball at a Vegas roulette wheel he's been winning chips and over fist that is until the
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Pit Boss starts getting super suspicious then you guessed it things get dicey just
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watch so I turn around it's a Pit Boss and he's like hey can I help you out and can I get you something you want
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to take a break I'm thinking oh sh clearly I was a VIP but for all the wrong reasons the guy is just trying to
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ask me to step away from the table so he could ask me more questions I'm thinking so with that um I said no thank
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you I said I'm fine for now I'm just going to play a couple more hands and I
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think I'll be leaving uh he accepted it um maybe I don't know uh he did walk
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away though I was able to do a couple more bets which I did um I did on purpose do a couple losing bets just so
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my winning streak would kind of uh subside because it's been going for so long and and I'm clearly on the radar so
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um play placed a couple more bets lost and decided this time to walk to the the cashier I leave the table first I'm not
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going to leave with Bill we're not full speed together that walk was so long you
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know I take these chips and I'm I'm just walking to the the cashier and I'm
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thinking to myself at any moment like I'm going to get a tap on the shoulder
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like Hey sir can you stop for a minute uh that's just going through my head it
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was a long long walk I get there I'm still thinking there's you know we're at
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the Cashers and people are looking at me and I feel like they're looking at me
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you know there's a lot of pressure I got a lot of money and again I'm breaking
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the law so um I was able to get my chips uh cashed and I was able to just walk out and get to the car but when I got to
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the car it felt great you know closed it up sat there thinking holy smokes what I
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what have I just done I got away with this this is craziness you know and now I'm thinking to myself I left bill in
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there you know and Bill he's a little crazier than I am so I'm thinking you
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know I don't want him to make too big of a scene I don't want him to make a
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mistake cuz essentially if he gets caught then eventually you know it might lead back to me um plus he's my friend I
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still want to get him in trouble you know I sat there and I probably waited there for I don't know maybe another 40
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minutes or so uh and I was getting nervous at that point and I'm thinking you know what he was caught uh and I'm
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thinking maybe I should leave maybe I shouldn't stay I didn't know what to do
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at that point you know and then next thing I know there's a there's a knock
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on the window and I'm thinking this is it and it was Bill um he did place a couple more large bets he did push the
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envelope a little more I think he told me he made like a $1,000 bet made a ton of money on one and then he realized
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that it was time to go so you know he took his money and he excited to cash out luckily so Bill gets
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in the car um and I'm thinking we got to get out of here so we start driving away
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I remembered I had the roulette ball in my pocket and I said you know what just this I rolled down the window and I just
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chucked it I just wanted no more part of it um I'm sure everyone there scratching
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their heads of how we did it but we did it and it got done um and you know that that was pretty much the end end of the
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story it's not something that I would do again but when it was happening it was
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awesome obviously Shawn hasn't seen casino because he would know not to cheat the house but he waited out the
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statute of limitations Shawn may have that little white ball but he also has big brass ones for cheating the house
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now it's time for a pretty heavy story from a guy in a ton of trouble well maybe not a ton more like 20 lbs because
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that's how much weed he has stashed in his Dash driving through Arizona plus he
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also had a gun that's enough to earn him anywhere from 10 years to life in prison
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let's me Joseph what's up man my name is Joe I committed a crime in Arizona but I
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beat the statue of limitations and now I can tell you the story so I'm start off from the top me
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and my boys we used to run weed from California Arizona we run about 10 20 lbs every other week we make about uh 10
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racks 10 grand running jugs is simple you just got to have a good car you got to have a stash spot you got to look
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good and that's it this time it didn't work out as it's planned all right so
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I'm doing my mental checklist I'm running this batch we got to get the vehicle ready we got to get the weed
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ready and we ain't taking no bull we're taking fire we're taking that c cush we
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got to pack it tight so we're pin it in you got to surround wrap this like 10
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times surround wrap it surround wrap it tight you got to lay on it you got to put your shoulder on it you got to get
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small bricks it's real cushiony but you got to get it real small and then when
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you get it real small you can you can fit about 10 across the dashboard 20 lb but I got to lay air freshener all
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across the top and all across the bottom and then you throw a little bit of chili
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powder on the floors and stuff so when the dogs come to smell they sniff the chili powder and they they go
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crazy so boom we locked everything in tight got the stash spot make sure it works but the stash spot they only open
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up if you turn the ignition and pick the roll down button and then boom the dashbo pops out license plates are good
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tags are good we're ready to roll there's a strap in the back seat but I
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got to tell it was perfect I'm taking off I'm getting close to the destination spot
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and um I get lit up the car pulls me over I a I ain't sweating it dude the car's legit I'm Legit Spike hair green
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eyes white boy they ain't telling me so boom he ped me over and I'm like
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What's Up officer is there a problem say yeah there's a problem you need to get
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out the car sir boom he pulls me out the car and I'm tripping dude I got a gun in
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the car I got weed I got about 10 20 lbs in the dashboard I don't know what's
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going to [ __ ] happen and he pulls all this my pockets he throws me in the back of the vehicle I
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already know when he put you in the car and he pull everything out of your pockets there's something going on he's
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like yeah uh just's a warrant for your arrest I arrest for who I for Mario Mario Gonzalez I was like do I look like
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Mario Gonzalez to you and he's like no sir but the car is under Mario Gonzalez I said well I'm not
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Mario it's my friend named Mario and I'm just using his car can just tell like
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you know I could tell you could smell something but I don't know if he smells
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it or not sudden he calls her backup and then all of a sudden I see another officer roll up
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he looks at me then he looks at the car and they go in they start searching out of it I already know it's bad they're
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looking for Mario I'm not Mario there's a gun in the car there's a bunch of weed
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in the car dude I'm in the back seat I don't know what's going on it's getting
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weird cops are showing up should I should I take a run for it should I should I just go the car's not in my
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name how about I just hit the cop door and just take a run for it could I beat them like I know they're not going to
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find the weed cuz I got it in a stash spot there's there's a button under the
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steering wheel it's it's super clean they a find that but the gun was under
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the seat in the middle so I see them and they're searching the vehicle oh my gosh
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literally the gun was right here in the middle and I got a cop and their knees were right here and they're like looking
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through the back behind like the seats and all they had to do is move their knee over about a half a foot while
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they're tearing through them trying to throw them off I'm like don't forget the
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Gul compartment don't forget the Gul compartment I'm like oh the key for the
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glove compartment is on the keys so I'm like trying to throw them off get them
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away from the gun cuz their knees getting close like this is over with I'm going to
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going to jail they're going to find the gun they're going to find the weed and
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they keep searching they're searching all of a sudden I see him pull out a bag
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and it says gun bag they found the gun it's over with going up State M own Joseph is definitely in the
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hot seat but when the heat is on he keeps his cool and that's what you're
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supposed to do we will see how Joseph gets out of this situation next welcome back to satet of
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limitations our boy Joseph is all gas and no breaks he's in the back of a cop
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car right now praying the cops don't find the 20 lb of Wheat and the gun he has stashed if they do he could be
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looking at a lifetime in present oo hey this is going to be good but the gun was
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under his seat in the middle so I see them and they're searching the vehicle
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I'm like a literally the gun was right here in the middle and I got a cop and
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their knees were right here and they're like looking through the back behind
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like the seats and all they had to do is move their knee over about a half a foot
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while they're tearing through I'm trying to throw them off I'm like don't forget
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the glove compartment don't forget the glove compartment I'm like all the key
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for the glove compartment on the keys so I'm like trying to throw them off get
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them away from the gun cuz their knees getting close like oh this is it's over
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with I'm going to going to jail they're going to find the gun they're going to
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find the weed and they keep searching they're searching all of a sudden I see
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them pull out a bag and it says gun bag they found the gun it's over with going
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Upstate and I see him he took the gun bag and he P the property that he took out of my pockets inside the gun bag I
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was like was it a gun he just didn't have no other bags and he used the gun bag to F my property in they come back
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in the vehicle they're like U the car ain't your name so we're going to
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impound it but you're going to have to go down to the station you got to pay a
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fee uh you just got to go get your car out of the impal and you're free to go
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I'm sitting there I'm like I know they're going to hit the car again with
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the dogs and super search it and start RI seats up tearing apart the tow truck driver comes I see him pting the car up
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you know he got to give me the eye and I know when he piss the car up cuz he's
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booving over the doors they put on a flat B he's pulling it and I see him looking up the side he sees that button
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and he kind of looked at me and then he look back and I'm like is he going to
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say something to the police like he was going to tell or keep the weed for himself the fool was Tatty he had tats
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on his neck I can tell he's with the business so I was like ah so boom he took the car didn't say nothing when we
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go back to the station some them that they're stressed out then I'm do push-ups I'm drinking water I'm like
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it's over with you know you know should I call my mom what should I do you know
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who should I call I don't know what's going to happen and the next thing you
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know after an hour later I've been stressing I'm like go trying to get a
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phone call they come out they say you're free to go you just got to go get your
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car at the tow yard and that's it so boom I go to the tow yard I get over there I get my keys boom soon as I check
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the spot weed's G I make the call to Mario I'm like bro I got hit your car had a warrant on it
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for my arrest what do you want me to do dude they took the weed I still got my gun what you want me to do oh you owe me
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10 grand you owe me 10 grand I was like I don't I'm got 10 grand what do you
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want me to do with the 10 grand I'm on my way back I don't know what's going to
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happen I still got my gun so whatever Rec say something might happen not in his Direction so boom we're going I pull
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over I'm like dude I got anything to drink this is this is this day is been crazy so boom I go to the bar have a
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drink dude I'm missing a bunch of cash I still got the gun I got the car coach truck driver gots all the weed
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the hell am going to do and then guess what happens I look over and who's playing pool the tow truck
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driver all I got to say is when had a crazy life was running weed back and forth from California Arizona I don't
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recommend it to no one and um you know I changed my life and uh you're probably
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going to hear more stories from him you got to love the statue of limitations God Bless
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America wait did the toe guy get smoked I have more questions than I have answers right now and I'm sure you do
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too wow that's what's up I guess he could have spent a lifetime Behind Bars
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instead said he pulled off the hell Mary inside the bar I got a feeling this isn't the last we've heard from Joseph
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and if you thought that was intense check out more stories of cheats Crooks cons and some everyday folks that got
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away I'm Mike situation Santino see you next time on statute of limitations this program is for
00:21:24
entertainment purposes only and it is not legal advice the statute of limitations are complicated and depend
00:21:31
on many factors if you need advice you should seek legal counsel from a competent attorney in your
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[Music] jurisdiction yeah [Music] yeah [Music] yeah