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 ins...

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....

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 t...

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/lis...

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 sho...

The salad oil business is slippery stuff. Sometimes you have to grease some palms to get what you want. You have to be slick. And you have to trim the fat to keep your business profitable. Lubricating the cogs of international trade...okay, you get the picture. This guy dealt in oil and got himself into serious trouble. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

LSD didn't used to be a street drug, originally it was considered a wonder drug, part of the post-war belief in "better living through chemistry." That's when Hollywood mega-star Cary Grant was a big advocate for the potential of acid. But that all changed in the '60s. This week, we take a groovy psychedelic trip with Carrie Fisher, Marc Maron, and the Grateful Dead to find out how LSD became ille...

Theo and Karl Albrecht build a discount food empire. Aldi is known the world over for "the best quality at the lowest price." Bringing bargains to the people is lucrative business, and the Albrecht brothers built their fortunes to astonishing heights. But with great wealth comes great risk, even if you do your very best to stay under the radar.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...

A one-time revolutionary and member of the Black Panthers was the first person to successfully hijack a plane in Canada. That led to a 30-year life on the lam as an international fugitive from justice. And for reasons that only make sense to him, he decided to return to the U.S. and do so using his real name. He would've gotten away with it all if it weren't for that pesky new invention called the...

As Billie Jean King once said, "if you can see it, you can be it." Young Anna Sorokin took this to heart. She saw the fabulously wealthy and became one of them... sort of. She conned the social circles of NY’s super rich. She wined and dined with the best of them. But seeing isn't always being. Especially if your transformation involves audacious criminality. See omnystudio.com/listener for...

If a New York City hairdresser who looks a little like James Brown comes up to you and says he can make you a star, don't believe him. But Miss Mary Jane Jones had to learn that lesson the hard way –– by playing Florida nightclubs as she pretended to be the real Aretha Franklin. Naturally, that's no way to earn R.E.S.P.E.C.T. But it will certainly get you attention from the law. See om...

If you boast that you can make diamonds out of burnt sugar, you better be able to deliver. Especially if you're boasting to a diamond magnate whose industry you could destroy. Proving it may include showing your tush, but that's life in the diamond biz. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How does someone get a life sentence for stealing their own tools? Take one part probate, one part rebellion, multiple parts prison escapes, and one part Florida. What you get is the wild tale of Mark DeFriest, the Prison Houdini.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Looking for some engagement with some crime content from the world of social media influencers? Look no further, Rude Dudes! Become brand embassadors to ridiculousness with tales of sob stories, lies, and financial hijinks! #ad See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's Coach John Heisman, bacon grease, rivals Auburn vs. Georgia Tech and the train that nearly wrecked. There's LSU vs. Tulane and the hijacking of the mascot Mike the Tiger, a real live Bengal. There's also Harvard vs. Yale (vs. MIT) and the surprise exploding football field. And finally, the birth of the Legend of the Stanford Axe with its the horseback and wagon chase through San Francisco...

Today's automobiles are brimming with technology. Most of the time, that's pretty cool. But it stops being cool when sneaky hackers breach the systems and have a field day. Those are crimes…ridiculous crimes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Buddhist Monks are supposed to be exemplars of the faith. Yet these days there has been a recent slew of headlines wherein the monks and abbots of temples have been caught in sextortion scandals and have been main players for cartel drug smuggling. What's up with all the meth-addicted monks, vow-violating fathers of love children, and not to mention the widespread corruption and embezzlement? Thes...

In the early days of Hollywood, Jackie Coogan made a splash playing a lovable waif in Charlie Chaplin's silent film, The Kid. His groundbreaking performance made him a ton of money. Or rather, it should have, but his parents had other ideas. His life story is full of twists and turns right out of a classic movie, and his legal battle changed the face of Hollywood forever. See omnystudio.com/listen...

He was trained to be a fine art painter. Early on, he was considered “gifted.” But times change, tastes change, and the art world moves on...Han Van Meegeren wanted his revenge for being left behind. His plan: art forgery of the great masters of the past. But then came World War II, and a huge complication, one that meant he had to do crime to prove his innocence. See omnystudio.com/li...

We are stardust, we are golden. We are billion-year-old carbon. And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden. Unless, of course, you're there to scam or steal. In that case, stay out of the garden, bro. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.