NARRATOR: First up, we head to Orlando, Florida.
The defendant is 39-year-old Jeremy Dewitte.
He's been charged with impersonating a police officer.
[police siren]
NARRATOR: Dewitte runs a company that
provides private security escorts
during funeral processions.
JEREMY DEWITTE: I'll get the light before the bridge.
You get the light after the bridge.
NARRATOR: It's a legitimate business that Dewitte
is authorized to operate.
JEREMY DEWITTE: Get to me. Get to me.
Get to me.
NARRATOR: What he's not authorized to do
is direct traffic.
JEREMY DEWITTE: Go past me.
Go past me.
Keep going.
Take this intersection and keep this [bleep] under control.
NARRATOR: Weave through traffic at illegal speeds.
JEREMY DEWITTE: It's still 110 down this [bleep] road.
NARRATOR: Or, most notably, pull over--
JEREMY DEWITTE: Hey.
Pull over.
NARRATOR: --and confront drivers while dressed
somewhat like a real officer.
JEREMY DEWITTE: What are you doing?
JEREMY DEWITTE: What the [bleep] does it look like I'm doing,
dumb [bleep]?
Get the [bleep] over before you find out.
,
I know what I'm allowed to do
and what I'm not allowed to do.
And what you need to do is figure
it the [bleep] before you start talking [bleep]..
NARRATOR: With such blatant behavior,
the local media gets wind of what Dewitte is up to.
Before long, he appears on the radar of the real police.
And in 2019, after police observed
him breaking traffic laws, he's arrested
while working a funeral.
NARRATOR: When officers question Dewitte
about the registration of his motorcycle, which comes
up as stolen, he becomes livid.
JEREMY DEWITTE: Sergeant.
My vehicle is not stolen, sergeant.
I can tell you right now, everything's being videotaped
on my body cam, sergeant.
POLICE: [inaudible]
JEREMY DEWITTE: I have the registration
for the vehicle, sergeant.
NARRATOR: Officers search Dewitte
and find an arsenal of police gear,
including handcuffs, mace, and a baton.
JEREMY DEWITTE: Because the Honda was stolen,
and we got the [inaudible] back from the Orange
County Sheriff's Office.
And then we registered it to that motorcycle.
NARRATOR: But as Dewitte loudly attempts
to explain the situation--
POLICE: Get in the car, please, sir.
NARRATOR: Officers have had enough.
POLICE: Can you just chill?
If it's-- If it's an issue, we'll figure it out.
But you screaming and yelling isn't going to change that.
Just sit tight.
JEREMY DEWITTE: OK.
NARRATOR: Dewitte's charged with impersonating an officer
and released on bond.
But while out on bond, police get a warrant for Dewitte's
own body camera and find a wealth
of incriminating footage, including more pullovers.
JEREMY DEWITTE: Get the [bleep] over.
NARRATOR: And additional confrontations with drivers
Dewitte considers interfering in his escorting
of funeral procession.
JEREMY DEWITTE: Hi.
How are you today? DRIVER: Good.
How are you?
JEREMY DEWITTE: You must have missed that it's 45
through there, and then you used the turning
lane to cut through traffic.
I understand you're in a nice car and everything,
but let's be a little more mature the way you drive.
Let's drive the right way, then.
DRIVER: Are you a cop?
JEREMY DEWITTE: Don't worry about what I
am, because I'm a state agent. DRIVER: Yeah, well, you're not.
JEREMY DEWITTE: So what you need to do
is make sure you're doing the right thing, [bleep] boy.
NARRATOR: The driver pulls away, but it doesn't take too
long for Dewitte to catch up.
DRIVER: [bleep] boy?
JEREMY DEWITTE: Yeah.
DRIVER: That's real nice. JEREMY DEWITTE: Yeah, I know.
DRIVER: Real professional.
JEREMY DEWITTE: The way you almost hit me, [bleep] boy,
is the way it's professional, bitch ass.
DRIVER: You're not a cop.
JEREMY DEWITTE: You want to fight?
DRIVER: You're violating the [bleep] rules, too.
JEREMY DEWITTE: How's that?
DRIVER: Don't even act like you're [bleep] stopping me.
JEREMY DEWITTE: I didn't pull you over.
Did I make a traffic [bleep] on you, [bleep] boy?
Come on.
Let's go, bitch.
NARRATOR: Dewitte's arrested again and brought
before the judge with two more charges
of impersonating an officer.
FEMALE JUDGE: You were arrested pursuant to a probable cause
warrant for falsely impersonating an officer.
NARRATOR: Once again, he's released on bond.
Thank you, Your Honor.
NARRATOR: Turns out, Dewitte has quite a history of playing cop.
He was convicted of the same charge back in 2001.
But Dewitte can't seem to stay out of trouble,
and after multiple arrests for impersonating an officer,
he's back in court again.
MALE JUDGE: Your name, sir?
I'm sorry.
Jeremy Charles Dewitte, Your Honor.
NARRATOR: This time, he's not here
for being a fake police officer but for failing
to register a vehicle as a very real sex offender.
In 2005, Dewitte was convicted of lewd or lascivious
battery involving a victim between 12 and 15 years old.
MALE JUDGE: Now, Mr. Dewitte, you're here today
because you were arrested on an arrest
warrant for a sex offender violation,
failing to register as required.
You're also out on bond on five charges of falsely
impersonating an officer.
PROSECUTOR: The state is requesting his bond
to be revoked on his prior cases,
given the new law violation, continued
pattern of criminal activity.
And he also poses a flight risk.
NARRATOR: The prosecution again asks that his bond be revoked.
But once again, Dewitte catches a break.
MALE JUDGE: No, I'm going to leave the bonds in place.
NARRATOR: As for his remaining impersonation
charges, until his trial begins, Dewitte remains free on bond.
Next, we head over to the Miami-Dade bond
court of Judge Mindy S. Glazer.
Today, Judge Glazer's presiding over a hearing
for 21-year-old Alon Glenn.
Sir, good morning.
Good morning, Your Honor.
It is-- it says for fraud, a charge of fraud.
NARRATOR: Glenn, who was in South Florida for a cruise,
was picked up on an arrest warrant
from his home state of Georgia.
He now faces extradition.
There's no way I can get a bond, ma'am?
Unless you-- the only thing you can do is have a lawyer
contact the judge in Georgia to see if there's a way
to schedule one.
It's a fraud charge.
OK, so-- and will I be able to do that?
You can call a lawyer.
Call whoever you want from the jail.
NARRATOR: Having passed on the information
Glenn needs to potentially get out on bond,
Judge Glazer notices an interesting detail
about his case.
He was picked up at the cruise.
What were you on, The Breeze?
Yes.
Yeah, me too.
Isn't that cool?
Was it a nice cruise?
Yes, ma'am.
I'm glad to be back to work.
I had to watch four kids and a husband.
You was on the cruise this weekend that just passed?
Yeah, yeah.
You didn't see me dancing?
I was the one dancing all the time.
You were dancing?
I was sitting upstairs in the shade.
It was a fun time, huh?
Yes, but this is crazy.
You weren't in that contest by the pool, now, were you?
No, I didn't see you.
Yeah.
I definitely was.
I'm sorry you have to go through this, sir.
NARRATOR: Judge Glazer seemingly appears
to side with his request for bond,
citing him as a non-flight risk.
I mean, if he wanted to flee, he could have fled
in, what was it, St. Martin?
St. Kitts? Puerto Rico?
Yeah, you feel me?
I don't want to run away.
But he came back.
NARRATOR: With their cruise ship flashback all but over,
he has two options.
You can waive extradition, agree
to be sent back to the state of Georgia within 15 days.
If they don't come pick you up you'll be released.
You can also contest that extradition
and fight going back.
But if you contest the extradition,
you can be held in our jails for up to 90 days.
So you're gonna waive?
If I don't waive, I have to wait for the 15 days?
No, you have to wait 90 days.
Oh, yeah.
Then I'm waiving.
I'm waiving.
Where do I waive at?
NARRATOR: Glenn waives extradition and is later
picked up by authorities and extradited back to Georgia
to face his fraud charge.
Next, we go to a pretrial hearing in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Jeremy Schuh, age 39, is charged with first-degree home
invasion, car theft, identity theft, and possession
of a controlled substance.
The defendant arrives in a wheelchair
after suffering a number of strokes over the years.
That's Schuh's attorney, Walter White.
Any other motions or preliminary matters?
I would just restate my previous request
that I be allowed to withdraw from the case.
NARRATOR: Schuh's attorney just asked
to be removed from the case.
Mr. Schuh and I have basically no communication.
He prepares his own motions.
He has asked me to file them.
Sometimes I have.
Sometimes I have not.
He's had a series of strokes, and he--
he's in a wheelchair.
NARRATOR: Even though Schuh's in a wheelchair,
not even his own attorney is sure about the severity
of his condition.
I don't know what his physical health is,
but I know that he's maybe not as strong as he used to be.
And so I would just ask Your Honor
to consider allowing me to withdraw
so that he can get an attorney that he can work with.
I previously ruled on your motion to withdraw,
and nothing has changed in the interim.
So I'll stand by that ruling.
I'd like to represent myself then, Your Honor,
NARRATOR: That's right.
If Schuh can't have his way, then
he'll just represent himself.
Well, I would strongly urge you not to do that.
Mr. White's been a criminal defense attorney for as long
as I can remember.
That's your opinion.
I don't-- I don't buy your opinion.
That's fine.
You don't have to buy my opinion, but he is a lawyer
and you're not.
I'm a better lawyer than you.
That's your opinion, as well.
If you want to proceed and represent yourself,
we can do that.
Jury trial will be the 21st of January at 8:30.
I need time to go through pretrial motions.
January 21 at 8:30.
I haven't had no time to go through pretrial motions.
What the [bleep] you talking about, dude?
NARRATOR: Sensing the escalating tension,
two court officers step in behind Schuh in case things
get physical.
Well, the case has been pending for quite a while.
Mr. White has been representing you for quite a while, so--
Mr. White hasn't filed nothing.
He just asked to withdraw two different times.
You keep denying it.
Well, that's the way it is, sir.
So we'll see you on the 21st for jury trial.
[bleep] --talking about?
[bleep] [bleep] --you talking about?
NARRATOR: It looks like Schuh's a little stronger
than his attorney realized.
Watch again as Schuh easily steps out of the wheelchair
to flip the table.
[bleep] --talking about?
NARRATOR: The officers force Schuh back into the chair,
but he's not going quietly.
Get the feet up.
NARRATOR: Schuh ultimately kept White as his attorney,
and it's a good thing he did.
White worked a deal where Schuh pled no contest to most
of his charges and got a reduced sentence of 2
and 1/2 years in a county jail.
Next we're in Mount Clemens, Michigan, for a plea hearing.
39-year-old Denise Robertson has been charged with six felony
counts of uttering and publishing,
which means she manufactured and cashed fraudulent checks.
Robertson is a habitual offender with four
previous felonies on her record and faces a max
sentence of life in prison.
But today, she's taking a plea deal in exchange
for a lesser maximum sentence.
My client is asking for a referral for Drug Court.
NARRATOR: The County Drug Court is a prison
diversion program established to help nonviolent drug offenders.
Well, it seems as though her problem is
she needs to take and learn how to write
a check with a checking account that has her funds in it.
How does Drug Court interplay with all this?
NARRATOR: That's veteran Judge Mary Chrzanowski.
She's earned the nickname "Scary Mary" from defendants
due to her tough approach from the bench.
The drugs were the root of her problems, Your Honor.
Why do you want to go to Drug Court,
other than trying to stay away from going to prison?
Because when I don't do drugs, I live OK.
So why do you do drugs?
I don't know.
OK, and how long is this going on?
For the last five years.
So at any point in this five years, did you wake up
and say, hey, I got a problem and I
think I better do something.
Last year.
And I was walking down the street and I got hit by a car,
and put back on pain pills.
And here I am today.
Now all of a sudden, you're looking at going to prison
and you want to go to Drug Court.
Now, is this an excuse to stay out of prison?
No.
MARY CHRZANOWSKI: Well, somebody out there said yes.
Somebody out there knows you better than me,
because I've just met you.
Who's that?
Come on up here.
NARRATOR: Her brother comes forward from the gallery
to voice his own opinion.
MARY CHRZANOWSKI: What's going on?
I believe she needs to get the book thrown at her.
Somehow, she keeps escaping on this drug stuff all the time.
You know, the drugs are causing her to do this.
She had an opportunity.
She's given up four children.
She's ruined their lives, just because she
wants to be a scumbag and just have a free ride in life.
MARY CHRZANOWSKI: Wake up, woman.
They took away your kids.
When are you going to wake up?
Somebody else is raising your kids, because you're
doing nothing to help yourself.
That's where I've got a problem.
Because this Drug Court was put in place to help people
who want to help themselves.
So do you think this Drug Court program is going to help her,
or is it just--
She's been through so many drug programs, it's pathetic.
She's been in and out of rehab left and right,
and nothing ever helps.
NARRATOR: After a short deliberation,
Judge Chrzanowski makes her ruling.
MARY CHRZANOWSKI: I'm sorry.
I'm not going to refer her to the Drug Court,
not with the extensive record that she has.
And certainly now with eight convictions on her record.
NARRATOR: Denise Robertson was later
sentenced to a minimum of a year and 11 months
and a maximum of 14 years in prison
for the six felony charges.
Joining me now is Judge Mary Chrzanowski.
Thanks for joining us.
Appreciate it.
You were known as Scary Mary.
Did you want defendants to be scared of you?
It is what it is.
I am who I am.
It is a style that I created as a judge.
It was very effective.
When I run into people on the streets and they
say, hey, thanks.
You saved my life.
I needed to hear what you had to say.
You turned my life around.
What do you say to those who say that the tough love
part of this can be too much?
Being too tough?
I don't think anybody can ever be too tough.
I think a lot of people are hungry for someone
to finally look them in the face and say, hey, you know what?
You better get it together.
You're going to lose everything.
I think it's-- They never had it in their life.
Nobody ever told them that they need to clean up their act.
Now, all of a sudden, you're looking at going to prison
and you want to go to Drug Court.
Now we see that this defendant wanted to get into Drug Court.
Tell us about what the purpose of Drug Court is.
What it is, it's a specialized court where we
give defendants more attention.
So we are focusing on them.
We're getting them jobs.
We're helping them with their rehabilitation.
I need to decide, is this a candidate
for Drug Court who is going to be able to deal
with the rigors of Drug Court?
We're on you every single day.
We're testing you two, three times a week.
You know, are you working?
We're constantly on you.
Had you ever had a situation like this,
where a family member comes up and actually
asks for a stiffer sentence?
Oh, sure, Dan.
All the time, I would get that.
I mean, it was a common thing.
You're her brother.
What's going on?
I believe she needs to get the book thrown at her.
She has been going through this since she's been 20 years old,
and it's just--
this drug stuff is all just a big game.
I would have parents in the background
asking me, please, get them in.
Keep them in.
We are afraid to let them out in society, because they're going
to hurt someone, someone else.
That was a daily event for me.
Whether it be parents or siblings or significant others.
How significant was it in your decision
that she had already lost custody of her four kids?
It was very important to me, because it showed to me
that she was a very selfish individual who
cared more about her addiction than she
did about her children.
She didn't want us to help her be
a good mother, which is extremely selfish,
in my opinion.
And it had a very big impact on how she was sentenced.