Sharp, a former Las Vegas pimp turned popular podcaster, sits down with Johnny Mitchell to reveal the harsh realities of pimping and the lessons he's learned from his time in the game. From growing up in poverty to navigating the complexities of street life, Sharp shares the untold truths of pimping, its misconceptions, and how he transitioned into…

In this episode we dive deep into the extraordinary life story of Ian Heinisch, a professional UFC middleweight fighter and crypto investor with a past that sounds like a Hollywood movie. Before becoming a top-ranked fighter, Ian was involved in international drug trafficking and spent years on the run, crossing paths with dangerous criminals acros…

George Christie, a long-time member and former chapter president of the Hells Angels in Ventura, California, discusses his experiences with the club, including surviving rival clubs, internal beef, and numerous federal indictments. George debates whether the Hells Angels are a criminal organization or just a motorcycle club with some problematic me…

Chris Arevalos came home to Southern Indiana after his service in the military feeling directionless. He quickly fell into the vicious cycle of opioid addiction that plagued his hometown. Now in the dark world of drugs, he began a life criminal activity and before long was sentenced to federal prison time. Chris was sent to Big Sandy, one of the mo…

Sammy "The Bull" Gravano is one of the most famous and notorious mafia figures in history. He was John Gotti's right hand man. He helped Gotti become the boss of the Gambino Crime Family and did PLENTY to get his hands dirty. When him and John were arrested by the FBI, Sammy made the decision to cooperate and help put the Teflon Don in prison for g…

Andrew Bustamante is a well known retired CIA spy. He gives us insight on how the CIA operates from an insiders perspective. He breaks down how intelligence is collected both inside and outside the boundaries of international law. Andy and Johnny have some heated debates over the concept of "The Deep State", international tensions, and the ethics o…

Dr. Hal Bradley is a pastor in the Pacific Northwest. But before he joined the ministry and became a counselor he was a lieutenant in the Sinaloa Cartel during the 70s and 80s. Fresh out of the marines, he reconnected with friends he made on a trip to Mexico when he was a teenager, only to find out they were now part of a major crime syndicate. He …

Despite growing up in a strict military home in Houston, Texas, Rex Holloway became a troublemaker at a young age. Falling into the wrong crowd, he quickly found himself in the world of drugs, burglary and armed robbery. This lifestyle caught up with him when he was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Once inside, he continued a path of d…

This is the story of the Saltwater Cowboys; a group of backwoods hippies that became the largest pot smugglers in American History and changed the course of trafficking in not only South Florida, but the entire United States. The surviving members tell us how the operation began and the massive federal takedown that landed them in prison, plus the …

Jay Dobyns was an ATF agent looking for undercover work. When he was told he was being sent in to infiltrate the notorious Hell's Angels gang he apprehensive to say the least. The gang was known for drug smuggling and being extremely violent. He reluctantly took the assignment and quickly ingratiated himself with one of the biggest motorcycle gangs…

David Packouz's life started as a fairly normal one. When he was 23 he began working with his childhood friend Efraim in his new arms business. They began securing government contracts to supply arms to the US military during the second Gulf War. To increase their revenue and contracts they began sourcing ammunitions from China via Albania which wa…

Cavario Hodges was raised in Harlem, New York. His entire family was involved in the illegal drug business in NYC for generations. He grew up around notorious figures like Nicky Barnes and Frank Lucas. Naturally, being surrounded by such activity led him down a similar path. He eventually starting running his own dope operation in Baltimore. His ac…

Tony Hernandez grew up surrounded by the Mafia in Queens, New York. In fact, his uncle was one of the leaders of the French Connection. As a kid, Tony would hang out in the bars and social clubs that his uncle ran for the other wise guys. But for some reason, Tony went the other way. He became a New York City cop, where he worked for ten years down…

Mikki Mase quickly made a name for himself on the Las Vegas scene by being one of the youngest and most successful high rollers in the city. He's been featured in the World Series of Poker and made MILLIONS at the tables. He got so successful that he eventually became banned throughout all of Vegas. Today he's exposing the cheating tactics that not…

Joseph Barone Jr was raised with mob ties; his father was a hitman for the Genovese crime family. So it wasn't long before Joe started running with the same type of people. He got close with the Bonanno Family and started working for them. One day he was pinched by the Feds and when they revealed the truth about his father's death he agreed to flip…

Martin Mejias, known on the streets of New York City as Chango, grew up in Harlem after his family immigrated from Puerto Rico. At a young age he was quickly exposed to the illegal drug game in his neighborhood and before long became a part of it. It wasn't long before he was full-on selling and manufacturing crack cocaine and swiftly became a youn…

Investigative journalist, Chris Todd, discusses his research and findings about the infamous OJ Simpson murder case that led to him writing a book about it. He dives into the evidence he found, including a confession, of a second killer, OJ's ties with the mafia and a ring of crime involving drug trafficking that all lead back to the murder itself.…

Ali Siddiq is a famous standup comedian that headlines and sells out comedy clubs and theaters around the world. But his path to success in comedy is not a common one. He grew up in Houston's Third Ward surrounded by drug use and crime. At a young age he began selling drugs and quickly built an illegal empire, reaching kingpin status. He was busted…

Chris George ran one of the most successful and notorious "pill mill" pharmacies in Florida at the height of the oxycontin opioid epidemic in the late 2000s. He began his criminal career as a teenager buying a selling illegal steroids and eventually ran it through a business front with his brother. In his late 20s he entered the burgeoning pain man…

Chris Curtis grew up in Orange County, California in area rife with addiction and crime. As a child he was not protected from this reality and in fact was encouraged to be a part of it. Struggling with addiction and turning to a life of crime, Chris ended up getting sentenced to life in prison as a result of California's Three Strikes law. There he…

Barry Minkow is one of the most infamous financial scam artists in American History. By the age of 21 he was running a ponzi scheme worth a billion dollars. He made history by being the youngest person to take a company public with his carpet cleaning business. But what people didn't know was that Barry was using money from the mafia to help fund t…

Oscar Castro grew up in New Jersey to a loving family. When he dropped out of high school he immediately got a job and met someone that talked him into being a drug mule for a Colombian organization. As law enforcement began cracking down in Colombia the operations moved to Ecuador. One on pickup Oscar was arrested in Ecuador by Interpol and the DE…

Dominick Cicale grew up in the Bronx burrow of New York City. Surrounded by criminal activity he quickly started associating with mafia and eventually became a "Made Man" with the Bonanno Crime Family. Before long he was made a captain and had over 20 soldiers working for him. He was involved in racketeering, illegal gambling, and even murder. Afte…

Garet McLendon shares his story of going from addiction and prison gangs to sobriety and recovery. Step into Summer fun activities with Vessi. Visit vessi.com/connect for an automatic 15% off your first purchase at checkout! Garet grew up in Palmdale CA. At a young age he was exposed to the drugs that were rampant in his community. He quickly found…

Myron Gaines is the well known and very controversial host of the Fresh And Fit Podcast. What a lot of people don’t know is before he became a famous podcaster and fitness coach, he was a special agent with Homeland Security. After attending Northwestern University, Myron started working with HSI in Loredo, Texas. He was involved with Mexican Carte…

Steve James learned the power of money at a young age. In rural Georgia during the 1950s he discovered the basics of business by watching his grandfather hustle ranchers for cattle. He took these lessons and applied them to crime. By the age of 13 he was smuggling in pot from Panama and became the main distributer in his town. He continued scaling …

Matthew Cox shares the details that led to him becoming one of the most wanted men in America by the FBI and the Secret Service. He started as an honest insurance salesman and quickly found himself committing fraud as a mortgage lender. It wasn't long before he found himself creating and stealing identities, forging real estate documents, opening c…

Understanding multi-layered news like government corruption is easier with Ground News. Go to https://ground.news/theconnect to get 30% off their unlimited access Vantage plan. Jeff Turner is a brilliantly talented designer and printer. Little did he know that those skills would help feed a drug addiction by printing some of the most realistic coun…

Matty Boy hails from California’s Bay Area. As a young kid he was exposed to the criminal life by his parents who were both affiliated with the Hell’s Angels and CA prison gangs. It wasn’t long before he joined the life and started selling huge amounts of meth. In this time he started a street gang called FAIM- Family Affiliated Irish Mafia. This p…

Criminal Defense Lawyer, Nicholas Rosenberg, has defended some of the most dangerous people in the criminal world of Los Angeles. He walks us through the unconventional road he took to criminal law. He goes into detail about how the criminal justice system works, the corruption, and the tips he has for anyone that gets caught up in the law. Plus a …

JD Delay spent much of his life in and out of prison. So much so, that he eventually found himself as the shot caller for the Irish Pride prison gang in Oregon’s maximum security prison. He explains how he climbed the ranks, the politics on the inside, the horrors he witnessed and the ones he partook in. He also describes the moment he chose to tur…

Use CONNECT to get 55% off your first month at Scentbird https://sbird.co/3S97oZX This month I received... Sugar Leather by Une Nuit Nomade https://sbird.co/47N4JLh French Defense by Mind Games https://sbird.co/3SsriAC Cross River Gorilla by Sanctuary https://sbird.co/3u6mIyA Vidal Guzman was a troublemaker as a young kid in Harlem. His knack for s…

Gene Borrello was part of the last generation of NYC’s wild wise guys. He joined the Bonnano Crime Family at a young age and quickly got close with the family’s boss. His reputation of violence and brutality made him a name that everyone in the city feared. After being indicted on RICO charges he eventually flipped on his former crime associates an…

Ray Trapani is one of the minds behind Centra Tech; a cryptocurrency company that defrauded HALF A BILLION DOLLARS from investors. He and two friends created the business selling the idea of a new tech that didn't actually exist yet. His story has trauma, wild parties, addiction, an imaginary CEO, faked deaths, Floyd Mayweather and so much more! Go…

Anthony Ruggiano was quite literally BORN into the mafia. His father was Fat Andy Runggiano, one of the most notorious capos for the Gambino Crime Family. It didn’t take long for Anthony to follow his father’s footsteps and start earning for the mob. He came up with John Gotti and the two became close friends and associates. Living a life of extort…

Freeway Ricky Ross has one of the most infamous drug dealer stories in the world. He is undoubtedly a part of American history and by far one of the most requested guests on The Connect. Rick joins the show to discuss his time as one of the lynchpins of the crack epidemic in the 1980s, his regrets and lessons learned, finding out he was a pawn in a…

Tegan Broadwater joins the show to explain exactly how he, a touring musician, became a cop in Fort Worth, Texas and ended up going undercover and infiltrating one of the most notorious Crip gang sets in all of Texas. He gives details of how he climbed the ranks, was almost found several times, had close encounters with death, and eventually took t…

Rich Laferrere was a simple dispatcher and driver for a transportation company in a small Connecticut town. Before too long he found himself putting those skills to use smuggling pot all across the eastern seaboard. This new found business eventually scaled to the point of having connects across the country and eventually landing him in the spot as…

This week we bring you a completely exclusive interview with a migrant smuggler who has asked to remain anonymous. He spoke with us at the El Paso/Juarez border. He goes into detail about how he got involved in helping migrants cross the border, the organizations and cartels that run the operation, how and why migrants are coming over, as well as i…

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Mikki Mase went from being homeless and addicted to drugs to a sober life running several small businesses. Within a couple years he found himself making big money at the tables in Vegas and quickly became one of the cities’ most notorious high rollers. He joins the show to discuss how he discovered the casino industry cheats its customers, how he …

Ed Calderon grew up in Tijuana, Mexico. At a young age he was a rebel committing petty crimes until one day he found himself as part of an elite squad of Mexican law enforcement, tasked with taking down the cartel. He came on the show to talk about being front line in one of the most notorious cartel wars in Mexican history, the current and future …

Germano Tomassetti was living in a homeless shelter in Winnipeg, Canada as a young adult when he befriended a high ranking member of the Canadian mob. He soon found himself collecting debts, blackmailing wealthy business owners, and running scams all around the globe. He was making millions of dollars until one day it all came crashing down. He's h…

Journalist, Luis Chaparro, sat down at the U.S.-Mexico border in Juarez to discuss the current immigration crisis. He explains how Ciudad Juarez has become the number one crossing point for migrants getting into the United States, how criminal organizations AND government officials have profited, and toll it's taken on the citizens on both sides. G…

Gary Heyward started as a normal jail guard fresh out of the marines. But after financial struggles and exposure to corruption from other corrections officers he soon began running a smuggling ring bringing in tobacco, drugs, and women to the inmates. This behavior eventually landed him in the role of inmate, completely changing his life. Go Suppor…

Ian Bick, a kid from a gated community in Connecticut, started throwing parties for other kids his age. He quickly found a calling in promoting and by his late teens he was booking concerts for some of the biggest artists at the time. His investors were promised big returns on their money as his business was booming. Little did they know, not only …

Charlie Webster, renowned journalist and host of the successful Surviving El Chapo series, joins the show to discuss the Flores Twins. She spent years interviewing them and getting deep insight to the two brothers that became some of the largest kingpins in the world and then making the shocking decision to work with American feds to take down one …

Larry Rolla started out as a young kid in Queens surrounded by the tough life of 1950s NYC youth gangs and wise guys. He went from stickups to finding a passion and calling in horse training and racing. After a corrupt racetrack owner sent him into the grips of poverty his legitimate, reformed life quickly turned into fixing races for the mob and a…

Crip Mac is a member of the dangerous 55th Street Crips in Los Angeles. He has spent his life in and out of county jail and state prisons. Mac joins the show to describe how life works in the Crips organization, on the deadly streets of South Central, and the violent rules of gangs in prison. Check Out Crip Mac! IG: https://www.instagram.com/55thst…

Mike Dowd, a former NYPD officer, explains how shortly after becoming a cop in Brooklyn’s 75th Precinct, he started taking dirty money and eventually became a drug dealer himself. He was taken down in one of the most notorious federal cases against police corruption in American history and served time in federal prison. Mike tells us his entire sto…