- You know the car they bring money?
- Mhm
- To the bank?
- Yes.
- What part did you rob?
The truck or the bank?
- I robbed the truck.
- How did you do that?
- How did you know all the difference
between all this stuff?
- I watch movies.
(man sighs)
- Hi what's your name?
- I'm Jessie.
- I'm Anthony.
- Nice to meet you.
- My name is Celine, nice to meet you.
- Wow! That's very professional.
- Thank you.
- I like that coat, you look very professional.
- Thank you.
- Okay, so what are we here to talk about?
- Uh, what do you think?
- Do you know why you're here?
- I do.
- Why are we here?
- Cause of something that you
did in 2008.
- Are you a bank robber?
- I was a bank robber.
- Yes!
- You're a bank robber?
- Basically a bank rob- well kind of a bank robber.
I was addicted to drugs,
and that's a whole different story.
So it made me really, really, think kinda stupid.
- Why did you say a bad word?
- What did I say?
- Stupid.
- I did?
Look, I wasn't very smart.
- During the robbery, were you on drugs?
- I was always on drugs.
- What part did you rob?
The truck or the bank?
- I robbed the truck.
- How did you do that?
- How did you know all the difference
between all the stuff?
- I watch movies
- Okay well yes, I robbed a Brinx armored car.
- Society, like, idealizes good heist movies
like Oceans Eleven, or Thomas Crown.
- Those are great movies.
- I was kind of like, too fascinated in your story.
- That's probably not a good thing.
- What is exactly your story?
- I placed an ad like I was an employer
for people to show up at the bank at the same time.
And when people responded saying yes, I'd like the job,
I wrote back and I said, okay show up at the bank at eleven
make sure to wear a blue shirt, a blue hat
and a safety vest.
The same outfit that I was wearing.
The day of the robbery, the armored car pulls in
the guy gets out, and he's just doing his thing
kinda walking by him, and then turns to him
pepper sprays him, takes the money and then takes off.
- How do you get away with the money?
- I had a landscaper or like a yard worker's outfit on
with a wig and I ripped all of this stuff off and
I threw it on the ground in a pile
and I had a totally different outfit on.
Okay?
So what are people gonna say?
"Who robbed the bank?"
Person wearing the orange did.
Duh da duh da duh.
- You, you, you
- That's right was I wearing orange anymore?
- [Both Children] No, you weren't.
- I was last seen running towards this highway
and on the other side there's this little
stream that no one really knows about
and - you know what an inner tube is?
- Yeah.
- I went down, threw the money into the inner tube,
got on my back and pulled myself upstream,
went up this little hill, got in the trunk of a car,
and my buddy drove off.
I went home to my wife and two year old,
and fifteen day old baby.
- Wow.
Why did you do it when you were in such
a good position?
- I was desperate.
And it was like we had this house,
on the outside you'd be like, wow, you know,
he's got everything, but I was losing everything.
- How much money did you steal?
- I stole four hundred thousand.
- I thought you stole 9 million.
- Are you not-
(Anthony laughs)
I don't know if he's supposed to be impressed.
He's not impressed!
- I'm not impressed.
(laughter in the background)
(Anthony laughs)
- You should work hard for your money,
like get a job, not like steal money.
(Anthony laughs)
- You're very right.
I shouldn't have stolen that money.
- Wait so you hide the secret?
- It was a secret, yes.
- Like Spiderman hide his suit?
- Except Spiderman was doing good things.
- Yeah.
- So obviously there was one flaw,
in your plan.
- Yeah.
A week and a half before the robbery happened,
I was doing a time run.
Time is very important,
you know why time is so important
- Yeah.
- When you are committing crimes?
Now I'm teaching you guys how to commit crimes.
Why do you think time is so important?
- Is it the math times?
- Oh I know, if you're like going to work
and you are still sleeping in bed,
the time just smacks you in the head like smack.
- I have no idea what you guys are talkin about.
So I did a time run to get from the bank
to the creek, to the creek to the car.
Now I don't think I'm doing- in my head-
I'm not doing anything wrong that day.
This homeless man is like,
"Hey, I know what that stuff is."
And I blew him off, okay?
What happened, is
this guy called in the police,
it was enough for them to basically
get survelliance and follow me around.
Meanwhile, the crime happens a week later
and I had gone to a gas station,
thrown away a bottle, okay?
They waited until I drove off,
retrieved the bottle.
Tested it for DNA.
Ding, ding, ding!
I was caught by a homeless guy.
- Did you think you would get caught?
- No.
Why would I do it if I did?
That's kinda how a criminal thinks.
(siren noise)
Right?
- Stupid?
- Ha! You said it.
That's right, yes!
- Have you seen Batman?
- I have.
- And you know the Joker wearing masks and stuff?
He was a bank robber too.
The bad guy landed
- Bad guy? Am I a bad guy?
- No you're not
- Yes!
(Anthony fake cries)
(Kids laugh)
- There, there.
- Did you went to jail for it?
- I went to jail.
- So how long have you been in jail?
- I was sentenced to six years in prison.
- Prison is just like absolutely wretched
place in the movies, like, you know,
what was it like in real life?
- Like, when you watch a TV show
there is somebody getting stabbed all the time
or whatever, no
like, that does happen but it's not
violent and crazy all the time.
It's just so depressing that you can almost feel it.
It's like in the air.
That's something they probably wouldn't show
in a movie.
- Yeah.
- I remember that I used to visit my dad in prison.
And then my dad came back from prison.
- And what was that day like?
- It was the happiest day of my life.
- I bet you it was the happiest day of your dads too.
- What would have happened if you hadn't got caught?
- I would have kept doing other stuff.
It would have gotten bigger and bigger and bigger.
- So are you glad you got caught?
- Yes. Absolutely.
- Would you do it again?
- No.
- You know why? The main reason why?
It's not so much prison
and that I got punished
and all the, you know, things that happen in prison.
It was that I was away from my kids.
I cared about them, right?
- Right.
- And so I started drawing them pictures,
and I would send them home
and I knew they were little
but they'd look at the picture probably for a second
and then they'd put it away,
but at least they would know that their daddy
drew that picture for 'em.
And I started making books for 'em.
Like, happy birthday book.
And then I would make stories,
I really got into drawing books.
Well, when I came home from prison,
I just made my own books.
At first, no one bought 'em.
But then, I had one book
that became a best-seller.
I got really, really lucky.
And I was able to again buy a house,
so my family could all live together again.
- Do you make a lot of money writing books?
- I am making more money writing books
than when I did when I was a criminal.
These are based after my daughters.
- What are their names?
- Isabella and Lila.
They're detectives in that.
And they've gotta find out who stole the cake.
- Isn't that ironic?
- It's very ironic.
- Do you think you're a good role model for kids?
- No, there's a lot to learn
from people who fail.
I'm a great example of what not to do.
- Yeah, I learned my lesson.
- You learned your lesson? From me?
- Yeah
- That's good, that means-
- Never rob a bank.
- You're really good at this.
- I am.
(laughter)