Ridiculous Crime

Imagine you have the power to mint millionaires. But to do it you have to engage in crime. Specifically, you have to rig the McDonald's Monopoly game. Now, would you pick as your partners in this crime a made man from the Colombo Crime family and a former cocaine smuggler? If you said yes, you are Uncle Jerry, who did just that!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In honor of the new Paramount Pictures movie Roofman, we’re re-releasing this episode from May 2024. Paratrooper Jeff Manchester used his skills to burgle Corporate America as The Roofman. First, he'd focused on McDonalds and other fast food. Then, like a criminal butterfly, he morphed into a Toys 'R' Us Man who built a secret apartment in an open store –– it was the ultimate inside job.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Young George Weyerhaeuser was snatched off the street back when kidnapping the child of a wealthy family seemed to be all the rage. Neither horrific nor violent nor ending in tragedy, this kidnapping is an offbeat adventure with a heartwarming ending.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lots of idealistic young folks come to believe the world is a rigged game run by immoral fat cats. Many get motivated to change the state of things. Some even fantasize about robbing those same fat cats to get even. Stephen Jackley didn't just fantasize, he acted on it. He became a wannabe Robin Hood, a crimer who wanted to rob from the rich to give to the poor. But then life sorta got in the way.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elizabeth Taylor looooved diamonds. Some had storied histories going back to royal palaces and forgotten empires. Others came from exotic locales. And then there was the Krupp Diamond. Before Liz donned it on her finger, it belonged to the ex-wife of a Nazi. And that's not the craziest part of this story.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was just like Ocean's 11...except instead of a stylish crew of longtime pro criminals, it was a guy with a BB gun and another in a Ford Mustang. And instead of the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas, it was Riverside County, California. And instead of jetting off to Europe to hide, the criminals holed up in a Motel 6. So maybe it wasn't just like Oceans 11 when Rolando Ramos and Eric Aguilera went to work at a casino and robbed their employer. But they felt like it was. And that's ridiculous.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kevin Trudeau was a born salesman...and an excellent con man. He knew exactly how to rope people in with promises of wealth, health, and all around better lives. But as we all know, if something sounds too good to be true, it is. And it's probably a brainchild of ol' Kev.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sometimes you really just wanna get away –– this week's crimer, Eric Edson, takes that to outlandish and preposterous levels of commitment. Whether on two wheels or four, by land or by sea, either highspeed or slow-rolling, Edson flat out refuses to be caught. It takes a whole consortium of cops, a veritable multiplicty of law enforcement to bring him to justice.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Folks, we got us a card sharp. Canada Bill Jones was a three card monte guy, taking rubes for their cash on trains and riverboats across the heart of America. Oddly principled and unrepentant, ol' Bill is a con artist for the ages.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Once upon a time... a married man and father of three went online and there he met a mystery woman from Uzbekistan. The two began an internet friendship that blossomed into an online romance. Within months, he and she decided he should fake his death so he could leave his wife and kids behind in Wisconsin and run away to be with her. Obviously, that didn't go down as planned since he's on this show!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.