May 15, 2024 • 41 mins
In the season finale of Creating a Con, Ray’s epic story of lies, deception, and fraud comes to a head in the courtroom of The Southern District of New York. Looking at the possibility of serving over 150 years in prison, Ray is confronted by the most important day of his life - his sentencing hearing. But the day would come with a twist, one that Ray, his friends, and his family would never expect. One that would change their lives forever.
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To get an inside look into Ray Trapani, Centra Tech, and all the characters in the podcast, check out Bitconned, exclusively on Netflix… available to stream now.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
It was April fourth, twenty twenty two. I had to
go meet Ray at his place. Today was the most
important day of his life.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Big day.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Ray's gone to fucking court.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I'm about to pick him up right now.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
As I drove down the belt Parkway to Raise Duplex
in Atlantic Beach, I couldn't stop thinking about what our
lives would look like tomorrow. I had no idea if
he would be coming over the next day, or if
I would be seeing him through Plexiglass putting money in
his commissary fund. Until we're both old and gray.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
The destination is on your left.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Pulling up to Raise.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Now here we go. I decided to record everything that day.
As I pulled up, I saw him pacing outside, shirtless,
vaping while on the phone as he yelled some unexpected news.
See right, No, Ray just dropped a bomb. His wife's
water broke.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
That's fucking crazy.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
You gotta go to the hospital. This would only happen
to Ray on the day he would learn his fate.
His wife went into labor. Just like his sentence, Ray's
(01:32):
second child was being delivered.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Today.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
I'm Johnny be Good and this is creating a con
The story of Bitcom episode nine Pinnacle of Criminality. When
we started this podcast, Ray hadn't been sentenced for his
crimes at Center Tech yet. He was ready to tell
a story, but he had to be patient. Over three
(02:08):
years past since he had been arrested, and it had
been almost a year since his partner Sam Sharma was
put behind bars for his crimes at Center Tech. Ray
thought this chapter of his life would be closed by now,
whether he was in prison or free. Instead, he's been
waiting as the Southern District courts continuously delayed his sentencing.
(02:29):
There were plenty of reasons for the delay. First, Robert
Farcus and Sam Sharma pled out in twenty twenty. The
government wouldn't close Ray's case until the FEDS new his
two co founders were behind bars, And there was also
that whole global pandemic thing that pretty much put New
York on lockdown. This moment in Ray's life is around
(02:49):
the time we started recording this podcast. In fact, what
you're about to hear is day one of recording. Ray
and I were in the car while our producers tell us, I'll.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Drive through like the west end of Long Beach. Even
behind me, I forgot they're behind where.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
They're behind you.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
I thought they I'm frying.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Well, no, they stopped them on they go in front.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
As we took them through our hometown. Ray reminisced about
his life between his arrest and today. During those three years,
a lot happened to my best friend. It was in
July of twenty nineteen, two years after he joined Center Tech,
that Ray was living with his mom in Virginia.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
But he got super depressed.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I'm like, fucking, I'm gonna move back to New York
and live in my family because at least I know
people in New York that would come visit me. In Virginia,
I don't know anybody, just my mom lives there.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
I was trying to convince him to move back home
at this point. Others had a vested interest too.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
My case is in New York, so like the prosecutors
wanted me to move back here.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Anyways, the Feds wanted Ray close to their offices to
cooperate against his former partners. I was living in New
York at this point. Come back to New York. I
told him it'll be just like old times, but it was.
Ray was more restricted, was.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
On house rush, couldn't even leave the house. At all
worse fucking experience in my life.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Once he did that for a year, they loosened the
reins a bit.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
They're like, oh, well, you know, put you on curfew,
and curfew you're like allowed out from like seven in
the morning till eleven at night, which is pretty fair.
That's like when I was just starting to go out
and I was like, at least I'd be able to
get some pussy.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
It was nothing like his Knights in Miami. But Ray
started to get back out there.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Pretty soon after I was put on curfew.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
I met my wife, and the way they met, I
wouldn't call it your average love story. It's actually pretty crazy.
See when Ray met his wife to be Kim, they
were both waiting for their respective dates at a bar.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
We saw each other and we both told that people
who were needing to not come.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
That night in a bar called Bricks. Things progressed quickly.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
It was funny, like I seen her at first and
like I was just like, oh, she's hot. I knew
she was like fucking maga's eye contact, like opposite ends
of the bar. She was like biting her straw and shit,
and I was like dripping my pizza, like into my mouth,
so like we were like fucking with each other. And
then I went up to talk to her, and I
was just like telling her my whole story, because you know,
I just had a point where life. I was on
(05:18):
house arrest for so long that I hadn't talked to anybody,
so like I kind of just like vomiting everything I
had done in my.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Life, vomiting everything he's done in his life. That conversation
had to be electric. I could totally see Ray trying
to pick this girl up while coming clean about his
current situation. Yeah, I'm actually a homebody these days. You
caught me on my one night out. I'm usually in
bed by eleven due to my court ordered curfew. What
(05:45):
do I do for work? I started my own company.
We made millions, but I had to give it all
back for you know, a little bit of fraud and
misappropriating funds. What do I like to do for fun?
You ever sniffed his zan off a stripper's ass?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
I had an ankle brace it on, So like you
have to kind of tell someone your whole story simulated
you're gonna be naked, and like I kind of knew you.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Kind of get that vibe good thing for Ray. It
didn't scare, it came off and once he got that
little detail out of the way, the night progressed.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Went to the little Irish part like they're playing like
Sweet Caroline.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
It's like, well that wackman. She goes to jukeboxing, put
six nine up like screams, you know, just like fuck
and ruined.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
The whole vibe.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
And that was like when I was like, I love
this girl.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
That night in that little Irish bar in Long Beach,
with six ' nine blaring behind them, Ray and Kim
fell in love.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
I almost missed curfew the first night I met Kim.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
I got a handed to the guy. Even with his
court impose eleven PM curfew and a stylish ankle monitor,
he managed to land his future wife.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
People always sit to her how they would have ran
so far the other way if they would have saw.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
That Kime as a teacher, an educator and a thief
sounds like a real power couple to me. And wouldn't
you know it, they were spending every day together. I
knew she was the one for Ray when she looked
past the ten felonies, the ankle monitor and the lengthy
prison sentence hanging over him. Many would see Ray as
(07:20):
just another frog, but Kim found her prince charming.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
We just like fell in love quick and the rest
is kind of history in that regard.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
During the summer of twenty twenty, those crazy kids tied
the knot on a beach in Long Island, and in
that same week they'd celebrate another big moment in their.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Lives, John, my first son.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
That's right, four days after they exchanged vows, they welcomed
their first son, John into the world. I never thought
I'd see the day when Ray was a husband, much
less a dad, But here we are.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
It was just so beautiful, like such a cool thing.
Seemed like your life right, like you made that life.
It was all.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
But instead of planning there happily ever after, they were
stuck because Ray's sentencing had been postponed time and time again.
Neither of them would admit it, but I can't imagine
that planning a life together with Ray's looming trial was easy.
They found themselves in illegal purgatory.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
The first four times they got delayed was because the
prosecutors delayed it, and then the last two times were
because of the judge. So, like, what the fuck is
going on?
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Here.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
All of those delays were getting into Ray's head.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
He gets anxious, He gets depressed just not knowing what
his future is supposed to be or what.
Speaker 6 (08:40):
It will be.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
That's our childhood friend, Mara.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
It's not in his hands. So I think that's the
scary concept. He was like, I'm pretty sure that I'm
going to be going to jail. I hope there's no
jail time, but I feel like that's a tall ask.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
We'd all get our answers. On April fourth, twenty twenty two,
that's when Raised sentencing day finally arrived. Ray and Kim
had been waiting for months at this point. During that time,
they moved in together, were raising their son John, and
Kim was pregnant with their second child. They went to
bed that night anxious to learn what tomorrow would bring.
(09:22):
That morning started like any other. But if you haven't
learned by now, nothing in Raised life goes according to plan.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Kim, my wife, she was basically just like, I think
my water broke, Like I don't know, and it's like, yeah,
your water definitely broke.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Kim's due date for their second child wasn't for another
few weeks. Suddenly, Rai's sentencing day became a lot more complicated.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
That's what, like crazy circumstances, like a stress and whatnot,
like that shit will happen.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
We drove to the courthouse together that day. Here's audio
from that drive.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
I dropped my son to her sis there. Then I
dropped her at the hospital. Her whole family's like there
though that she's all good. What did your lawyer say?
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I'm not telling him because don't want him to try
to reschedule anything.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
That's all.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
When I see him, Ray and Kim did not want
to postpone that hearing come hell or his wife's broken water.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
I remember just putting on like Bob Marley in the car,
not don't worry, not don't worry. It was the sun
is shining, and I was like, the sun is shining
the outside. But like it was just my moodsetter for
that day, just to like remain calm.
Speaker 7 (10:40):
He was laboring under the very real chance of being
imprisoned that day.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
That's Rai's lawyer, Joe Bondi. Bondi is a decorated defense attorney.
He's represented the gam Be No crime family and more recently,
associates of Rudy Giuliani. He's also one of the nation's
leading weed lawyers. According to The High Times, Joseph A.
Bondi is one of the nation's pre eminent cannabis attorneys,
(11:06):
or so his website says. And now he was representing
Ray or Panny.
Speaker 7 (11:13):
We're all like blades of grass. You're all like a
plant that's gonna winer, and you're so fragile.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
And there you.
Speaker 7 (11:19):
Are in this really metaphorical judgment day, asking a person
with power represents our country to temper their sense of
justice with their sense of mercy.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
I see why stoners love him. And by the way, Joe,
it wasn't a metaphorical judgment day. It was Ray's actual
judgment day. If you mix together one part badass criminal
defense lawyer with one part poet, you'll get Joe Bondi.
And on that fateful day, Joe followed a raise lead.
Speaker 7 (11:54):
He had an enormous amount going on, but with all
of the weight of the world upon him, we decided
we would not try to adjourn the hearing.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
We would try to have our sentence.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
The same judge who sentenced to Robert Farkas and Sam
Sharma was presiding over raised sentencing. Judge Lorna Schofield. Just
like the last episode, we hired voice actors to read
for the judge and prosecutor.
Speaker 8 (12:20):
We're here today to impost sentence in the case of
the United States versus Raymond Trapani.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
You know, my brother showed up in his construction clothes.
My dad showed up in his construction My mom was there,
my grandma was there, my aunts were there, my friends
were there. I was like, all right, Like everybody that's
supposed to be here is here. Like I wanted as
many people as possible. If there's no one there, then
everybody gave up on your already. So having some people
in the gallery was definitely helpful.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
With Ray's mind split between his future and Kim being
in labor, I'm sure he wondered if he'd ever be
able to hold his new baby without shackles around his wrists.
Raised anxiety with sky high as legal proceedings inside the
courtroom got started.
Speaker 8 (13:02):
This is your fourth criminal conviction, with previous convictions for
disorderly conduct, creating a hazardous or physically offensive condition, as
well as perjury and other crimes. Everything I've said so
far does not paint a very good picture. Obviously, on
the other hand, I knew you had a very difficult upbringing.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Judge Schofield made a point to those in the courtroom
that growing up in ab wasn't easy for Rachel Panning.
Speaker 8 (13:31):
I understand you began smoking marijuana at age thirteen. You
were in a car accident when you were sixteen and
had to have multiple surgeries to your face. You were
prescribed oxy content for pain, which led to an addiction,
and ultimately you're dropping out of high school.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Yeah. I remember that accident. It wasn't pretty. The local
autobody shop kept the car out on the corner. It
was a miracle anyone survived. Direct and she's ripe. That
is how Ray got hooked on pills.
Speaker 8 (14:02):
During much of your twenties. I understand you were addicted
to opiates and xanax. He also had a gambling addiction,
and you attempted rehabilitation.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
I think we thoroughly covered this part of Ray's life,
but there was one piece of Ray's childhood the judge
didn't bring up. By this point, I thought I even
knew every little detail about Ray's life. Apparently I was wrong.
Here's the thing about Ray. He seems like an open book,
but he's not. There was a secret he'd been carrying
(14:32):
for years, and the reason he didn't tell anyone, ironically,
is because he thought everyone already knew.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
My sexual clock was always fucked up. Is a shit
that happened to me as a kid. If she hadn't
molested at like eight years old.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
And for legal reasons, we're not going to name the
person who molested Ray, but what this person did to
him began at the age of eight and continued for years.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
I always felt like I was living at the Truman Show.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
I was like, Oh, this fucked up shit's happened to me,
and like everybody was able to see what was going on,
but no one's even reacting on it. Even when I
told my family recently, I was like, I always thought
that you guys knew, and they're.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Like one gride one this. When that you know, it's like,
I guess maybe they didn't, you know. He was telling
me about everything, and I had no idea. He thought
we all knew, but we weren't saying anything as kids,
which is like, I had no fucking no idea, But
I guess it does make sense. He was like a
normal kid, and then one day he was not a
(15:32):
normal kid, and like, instead of being like, hey, something
happened to this kid, the teachers are like.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
This kid's he's all fucked up.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
He doesn't pay attention.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
Fuck them.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
I imagine these thoughts weighed heavily on Ray during his sentencing.
Would he have been in the courtroom standing in front
of Judge Schofield if his childhood was different? I can't
help but think what could have been if none of
this happened to him. Would Ray have graduated high school,
gone off to college with me? Would we be running
(16:01):
a business together. There are certain things in life you
just never know. It was April fourth, twenty twenty two
when I found myself standing behind my best friend, a
career colm artist, on the day of his judgment. It
(16:23):
was a long one, one Ray would never forget. After
leading the gallery through cliff notes of Ray's life, Judge
Scofield was ready to get to the heart of it
all raised crimes.
Speaker 8 (16:35):
Mister Japanni pleaded guilty to ten counts conspiracy to commit
securities fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
The first four counts Judge Scofield's read were charges stemming
from centritech. The final six those were new charges connected
to ilegal behavior Ray admitted to while cooperating with the FEDS.
Speaker 8 (17:01):
Obstruction of justice to counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud,
a substantive wire fraud count.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
You see, when Ray entered into a cooperation agreement with
the government, he had to come clean about everything, and
that was a huge gamble. By admitting to his lifetime
of criminal activity, Ray was facing charges for crimes that
prosecutors would have never known about.
Speaker 8 (17:24):
Fell on in possession of a firearm, and conspiracy to
distribute and possess with intent to distribute narcotics.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Not including his Center charges. Ray was being charged for
selling drugs in high school, distributing narcotics with his prescription
pad scheme, and ripping off Venmo to name a few,
not to mention the millions of dollars in restitution the
civil suit brought on by the SEC or the class
action suit brought by censer investors. But let's take it
(17:55):
one case at a time.
Speaker 8 (17:58):
The guidelines recommendation and and this case is one hundred
and twenty one to one hundred and fifty one months,
which is equal to a little over ten years to
over twelve years imprisonment.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
But she made it clear she was under no obligation
to stick to those guidelines.
Speaker 8 (18:16):
Under the statute, I can sentence mister Trapawni to a
far greater sentence. The maximum term of imprisonment on count
one is five years.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
He was trying to add up the fucking mounts and
it was just like out of this world.
Speaker 8 (18:32):
On counts two through eight, and ten is twenty years
per count.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
When she was reading it, you can just see in
her face and the way she was saying that she
had this inability to comprehend how it's that much time.
Speaker 8 (18:47):
You know.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
All I'm thinking is just like get to that end point.
Speaker 8 (18:50):
The maximum term of imprisonment is one hundred and seventy
five years.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
I can't imagine how Ray was feeling. He was betting
and his cooperation deal being his get out of jail
free card, but then he's hearing all these years of
prison time adding up. His mind must have been racing, like.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
I know I fucked up. I know I did something wrong.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Take whatever money it is. I just don't want to
go to jail.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I've done everything that would typically be asked of somebody
that gets in trouble and admitted my wrongdoing and trying
to move forward in my life.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Seated across from Ray and his lawyer was the same
person who prosecuted Sam Sharma and Robert Farcas Nagar Techie.
Speaker 9 (19:32):
Your Honor, there can be no question that mister Trapwi's
crimes were very serious. However, mister Trapani's cooperation has been
nothing short of extraordinary and frankly critical to the convictions
and sentencings of his co defendants in this case.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Even the judge seemed surprised by that one.
Speaker 8 (19:52):
I'm not sure I've ever heard the word extraordinary use
in connection with cooperation.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Then came the opportunity for rad I speak.
Speaker 8 (20:00):
Mister Trapani. You don't have to speak, but now is
the time if you would like to.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
I'm like anxious. This is the biggest moment of my life.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Your Honor.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Today is a very heavy day for me. I'm sorry
if I don't seem composed. I'm highly anxious. Before my arrest,
I was on the brink of death on drugs and
my own worst enemy. Since my arrest, in cooperation, I've
made great strives forward in life. I've become a husband,
(20:37):
a father, and a mentor in the addiction community. I've
also became someone my friends and family can depend on.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
I know Ray was nervous as shit when he spoke,
but to his credit, he kept things short and to
the point.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
I know the things that I've done are wrong, and
I understand they have affected many people's lives. I hope
my actions since my arrest will help make as many
people whole as possible. I cannot take back the things
that I've done. I know forever I have to live
with the guilt and remorse for my actions, but I
know that I can add something positive to this world.
(21:13):
With how far I've come, I know I will never
be in front of another judge again. Thank you.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
Ron.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Unlike Sam charm Is hearing, the government didn't present any
victims to speak in court, not one. I took that
as a good sign, but ultimately the judge had the
final say and she was ready to give her verdict.
Speaker 8 (21:34):
You pleaded guilty to ten counts, which is an enormous
amount of criminal activity, especially for one as young as
you are. I'm required to impose a sentence that reflects
the seriousness of the offense, promotes respect for the law,
provides just punishment for the offense and also that affords
adequate deterrence to criminal conduct. Mister Trapani, it is the
(21:59):
judgment of the court that you are sentenced to a
term of imprisonmentimm time served.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
We were all sitting behind Ray. Mara grabbed my arm,
her eyes wide. Neither of us could believe what we
just heard.
Speaker 8 (22:14):
And I will tell you your sentence would have been
very different if you had not cooperated.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
I always had this one hundred and seventy five years
over my head until I heard the words time.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Served, time served. In other words, Ray had done his time.
I know what you're asking yourself. What time the years
of house arrests, curfew and time between his arrest and
April of twenty eighteen to his sentencing in April of
twenty twenty two. That was his punishment. When it was
(22:45):
all said and done, Ray managed to only spend six
days in jail while he waited for his mom to
bail him out. Crazy.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
It all comes to an end there, and it's just
such like a good feeling. I just wanted to turn
around mrk and my friends and family like I won,
you know, just like typical asshole Ray move.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
There were a lot of hugs, high fives, and I
told you so. It was from Ray.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
It's so wild that they were able to go from
one hundred and seventy five years to time serve for
six days.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Ray's day in court was done, his criminal slate cleared.
With it all in the rear view mirror, Ray jumped
in the car with me and Mara. We left the
courthouse and hurried across the city to join his wife,
who was at the hospital. On the car ride there,
he got a FaceTime call from Kim and her doctor.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Oh, congratulations, I'll be there in like forty five minutes. Hey, babe,
how you doing. She's doing good.
Speaker 6 (23:58):
We'll see you soon.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
All right, thank you? What a day?
Speaker 4 (24:02):
Right?
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Well fucking Liam?
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Oh my god, that is so Yeah. Every year on
his son's birthday, Ray has something else to celebrate his freedom.
I'm really proud of him.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
I really am.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
I mean, I was fully prepared for them to give.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Me a Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Ray's mom, Kerrie was all smiles.
Speaker 9 (24:24):
When Sam got the eight years.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
I was scared.
Speaker 9 (24:27):
We were all afraid.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
The Japani family had a lot to celebrate that night,
but not everyone was popping champagne and lighting up cigars.
Speaker 10 (24:38):
I would rather put Raymond Trapani in jail for the
rest of his life just because he didn't learn anything.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Jacob Renzel was a Center Tech investor. He was also
the class representative of a pending class action lawsuit against
Center Tech.
Speaker 10 (24:54):
I knew that Ray was going to rat before any
of this happened. He just has that vibe that he's
for himself mentality.
Speaker 6 (25:03):
Somebody who's made it their practice to engage in crime
for their entire life, over and over and over, and
every time that you get caught, you get out of
it by turning on your friends. That's a different species altogether.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
That's Paul Petruzzi, Robert Farcas's attorney. Farcas was one of
Ray's partners at Center Tech.
Speaker 6 (25:28):
That's not a cooperator who should be rewarded with no
jail time or time served and raised. Just a fraudster
and a crook and always has been. There's no doubt
in my mind that he's going to get in trouble again,
just like there's no doubt in my mind that whoever
he gets in trouble with is going to get in
bigger trouble cause of him.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I wondered if the government could have convicted Sam without
Raised cooperation.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Sam, and no chance if we got to trial. There
was just too much factual evidence that I was able
to to confirm for them that it was a rap.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
And that's the rub, right. You have two con artists
responsible for the same crime. One does eight years in
prison while the other cooperates and walks free among the
rest of us. Paul Petruzzi doesn't see justice in that.
Speaker 6 (26:18):
There's no comparison. Sam's criminal history was like county court
level crap.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Do you wi?
Speaker 6 (26:24):
It was just nonsense. Raise was real felony shit. You know,
it's like real crime.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Paul knew Sam well. He helped prep Sam and Robert
for trial, even though one would never come. He knew
the ins and outs of Sam's criminal history, and looking back,
knew his clients didn't have much of a shot.
Speaker 6 (26:46):
Boy, They played ball real different in the Southern District.
In New York, it becomes in us versus them. They
prepped their witnesses for days.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
Paul doesn't think too fondly of his colleagues in New York.
Speaker 6 (27:00):
They got Trapani gloating and making the entire prosecution team
and the system look bad, embarrassingly bad. In my humble opinion.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
As of April twenty twenty four, Sam Charmer remains incarcerated
in a minimum security prison. His tentative release date is
in August of twenty twenty seven. We reached out to
Sam and his lawyer for this podcast. After a few
conversations with his attorney, they declined to participate. Robert Farkes
(27:31):
served four months of his year and a day sentence
before being released. He also declined to participate in this podcast.
His lawyer, Paul Petruzzi, was the only one to speak
with us.
Speaker 6 (27:43):
Free Sam. I don't think he deserves eight years for this.
Put Sharma on house arrest and make Trapani's probation the
rest of his life, because if he says he can
live the rest of his life as a law abiding citizen,
then should prove it.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
And that leads us to the final piece of the puzzle,
the money.
Speaker 6 (28:06):
I think what the government ought to do is pay
back everybody with the money that it.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Has back In twenty eighteen, the government sees what amount
it to thirty three point four million dollars from CenTra.
That money was put into a remission fund to reimburse investors,
but the amount seized wasn't everything Centritech had collected. There's
still ninety thousand ethereum that the authorities haven't located today.
(28:30):
That would be the equivalent to over three hundred and
fifty million dollars. We can only wonder where that hidden
fortune is buried and in who's wallet. From our research,
doesn't seem like anyone's in a hurry to find it.
As of February twenty twenty four, no one from the
class action lawsuit against center Tech had been paid.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
If this case was about protecting investors, how come none
of them have their money.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Back nine months? That was the shelf life for center Tech.
Who would think three guys without the right education, training,
or experience would be able to build a multi million
(29:19):
dollar tech company during the summer of twenty seventeen. Well nobody,
I guess, because they didn't really, since it was all
one big con. When you boil it down, Center Tech
followed Newton's Second Law to a t. What goes up
must come down, and boy did it come crashing down
(29:40):
much faster and more forceful than I expected. Sam Sharma
is still behind bars and will spend over ten times
as long in prison as he did pulling the strings
at Center Tech. Robert Farcus did his time and is
now back in Miami serving out his probation. And even
if we all agree that Ray got all easy, life
(30:01):
after sentencing isn't a walk in the park. As of
twenty twenty four, Ray is still on probation, plus he's
got nearly three million in fines to pay the government.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Financially, he left me in ruin as far as like
owing all this money, but I was able to become
like such a better person, get off drugs, tell my story,
and just like as far as just a human being,
I think I've just evolved so much. I was able
to self analyze and just see where my faults were.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
It's crazy to hear Ray credit a multi million dollar
fraud scheme for getting sober. But welcome to the life
and times of Rach Your panny.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Off of drugs, your brain can take bad thought and
break it down and stop it, but on drugs you can't.
Right Like, that's where like the chemical imbalance from drugs
just leads to bad shit. I have like no urge
to do harm in life, have just like a very
regular life these days. I have a house, a family,
(31:02):
you know, the good old American dream.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Two months after Ray's sentencing, he bought his house. Now,
I heard a lot of whispers from people who wondered
how he could afford it. Hell, I only know two
people in my age that own a house. One is
super successful and the other is Ray. With everything he's
done and now ows how the hell could he afford it.
(31:25):
I'll let Ray explain that one.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
I got the house from my grandfather passing away. I
got inheritance, and then on that inheritance, I paid restitution
on inheritance, and then my wife her father split the
down payment for the house and we bought the house.
There's nothing shady in the slightest bit about how the
fuck I got my house. It's literally the most basic
(31:47):
way to get a house.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
No, Ray isn't driving a mini van yet. But I'm
proud of him for finally becoming a decent human being.
But that doesn't absolve him of his past, at least
not in my book. With the prescription fraud in Miami exotics,
those things I could forgive, but Sandra was fucked up.
I still have issues with some of the things he did,
(32:11):
but at least I can genuinely say he's trying to change,
and I do think he's evolved and become a better person.
But there's one thing I never asked him, something I've
been thinking about since that car ride back from the
courthouse in April twenty twenty two. The question I was
shocked to Judge Schofield didn't ask him. Did Ray regret
any of this?
Speaker 2 (32:33):
No regrets, No, I did not. As fuck up, I'm
not good at these questions. It's not that I don't
feel bad. I'm obviously sorry that people lost money, But
as bad as it is, and as fucked up as
it was to other people, it got me to be
able to move forward in my life. It got me sober.
(32:54):
I would have never given up until I was dead,
until I was able to reach like the pinnacle of criminality.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
I wouldn't exactly call that taking accountability. I guess you
can say Ray still has some work to do on
learning how to say I'm sorry, but he certainly has
an interesting outlook about his life of counting people.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
CenTra saved my life, reaching that pinnacle of like what
I've always been searching for, driving the cards, all the
money in the world and just not feeling any fulfillment
at the end of the day, it just gave me
all the things that I had been searching for since
I was a little kid, and then seeing where my
life is today is all fucking kind of bizarre. That's
why I'm doing this right, and that's why people are
(33:33):
interested in this story, just because it's just a complete
madness story.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
You could say Ray beat the odds somehow, some way,
he managed to get through to the other side. Some
people call him a rat. He turned on his friends
and avoided jail. I look at it as cooperating was
just Ray's latest gamble. He was willing to risk it
all to avoid jail time. He'd admit to six other
(33:58):
felonies to clear the four center charges. Those years in prison,
they were no joke. If Ray fucked things up while
he was cooperating, he would never see the light of
day again. I believe that type of risk and pressure
it affected him and not the way risk affects you
and me. That risk, whether it be in the poker
(34:22):
room or at the cooperating table, was raised driving force.
Ray and I decided to go back to the beach
where our friendship was born. It was clear that Ray
still had more to share with me there we were
sitting on the shoreline looking out into the water.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
I never liked the water.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
I would did all that crazy shit, molested me, all
that favor shit. He used to try to drown me
back in the day, like you like bring me out
past the rocks and like push me under, push me under.
He was doing that probably to like make sure, like
hopefully I die, and then his story never gets out
of like what he did.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
So like I just I'm going in the water.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
All those years we grew up together on the beach,
and I never knew why Ray avoided the water. It
all makes sense now.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
I always talk about it and talk about like all
the fucked up shit, and that's like my therapy is
just telling the world, like what's going on in my
life and how fucked up it was, and this is
what made me and this is why I always think
this way. And that completely correlates to having fucked up
childhood trauma to how much risk I take. I don't
take any risk right now, and it feels very weird
for me. I just have like these snaps where like
(35:31):
I'm like gotta go fucking nuts and blow this up
so I can just like start fresh. And run away
type of thing.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Your whole weight of like risk reward and shit is
in my opinions, so fucked up, like out of whack.
You know, it's just because really I don't understand even
where you're coming.
Speaker 4 (35:48):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
The more I talk about this stuff, it makes it like.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
My ability to not blow shit up, not fuck up
my whole life. But it doesn't feel like my full self.
This life is like super uncomfortable for me. I don't
get like any sort of thrill. I like living on
the edge. That's like very comfortable for me.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
That kind of worries me, though, when you say shit
like I don't you don't feel like yourself? Are you
saying that like you don't feel like yourself because you're
not like taking these insane risks and weighing this shit out.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
Yeah, Like I'm not having like fun, you know.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
And I hear you say that you're missing this risk
and you want to just blow it all up and
start fresh. It worries me hearing shit like that. I
think I'll be fine, I hope. As I look out
onto the beach, I was flooded with childhood memories my
first kiss, my first job, tell my first Blum was
(36:44):
on this beach. I glanced back at the dunes where
Ray and I would play Manhunter's kids. They were smaller
than I remembered. I rode it away. Everything changes with time.
Ray had been through a lot, the abuse, the drug,
the ecstasy, and the crash. Was his moral compass warped
(37:04):
beyond repair? Is he absolved for what he did? Did
he learn a thing? Or is it my own bias
making excuses for Ray like I did when we were kids.
There are plenty of people that are skeptical about Rai's
motivations today. They believe that Ray will be back conning
and cheating people the moment he's off probation, And I
(37:25):
hate to say it, but that thought also lingers in
the back of my mind. But nothing Ray is doing
today validates those fears. He's been cleaned for nearly six
years now. He's actually a great father to his two boys,
and he started to put his energy towards something good.
When he's not with his family, he volunteers at a
(37:46):
substance abuse clinic, working as a counselor and telling a
story to anyone that will listen. As I watched Ray
take a hit of his vabe. I wondered what was
going through his mind?
Speaker 2 (37:57):
Was it nostalgic?
Speaker 1 (37:58):
Thoughts of collecting sang crabs by the water are darker
thoughts of getting drowned by the rocks past the brake line.
I considered asking him, but I wasn't sure who this
guy was sitting next to me. I'm still coming to
terms with the fact that Ray is a force of nature.
As much as you want to, he can't be tamed.
(38:19):
He's like the ocean. Growing up in Atlantic Beach, you
learn as a kid there's an important dichotomy when it
comes to the water. As calm and serene as it is,
it's equally as violent and destructive. You just have to
accept that risk because you never truly know what's lurking
(38:40):
under the surface.
Speaker 11 (38:43):
Tony, when you fall asleep, dream salty ol cute, away
from the here and now, five tail thing remands.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
Creating a Con is a production of Glass Podcasts, a
division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts.
If you would like to reach out to the Creating
a Con team, email us at Creating a Con at
gmail dot com. That's Creating a CEO n at Gmail
dot com. We appreciate your support. One way to support
(40:00):
our show is by subscribing to our podcast on Apple Podcasts,
and don't forget to rate and review Creating a con
Five star reviews go a long way. A big thank
you to those who are listening. Also be sure to
check us out and follow us on Instagram at Glass Podcasts.
The show is hosted and produced by me Johnny B. Good,
(40:21):
with executive producers Nancy Glass, Ben Fetterman, and Andrea Gunning.
Written and produced by Ben Fetterman and Todd Gans, additional
writing by Matt Delvecchio. Operations and production support by Kristin Melchiori.
Additional production support Trey Morgan. Our iHeart team is Ali
(40:41):
Perry and Jessica Crincheck. Sound editing and mixing by Matt Delvecchio,
Consulting producer Nathaniel Popper. Creating a CON's theme composed by
Oliver Bains. Music library provided by MiB Music, and a
special thanks to our voice actors Carrie Hart and Rocky Alts.
(41:02):
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(41:22):
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or wherever you get your podcasts.
It was April fourth, twenty twenty two. I had to
go meet Ray at his place. Today was the most
important day of his life.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Big day.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Ray's gone to fucking court.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I'm about to pick him up right now.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
As I drove down the belt Parkway to Raise Duplex
in Atlantic Beach, I couldn't stop thinking about what our
lives would look like tomorrow. I had no idea if
he would be coming over the next day, or if
I would be seeing him through Plexiglass putting money in
his commissary fund. Until we're both old and gray.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
The destination is on your left.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Pulling up to Raise.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Now here we go. I decided to record everything that day.
As I pulled up, I saw him pacing outside, shirtless,
vaping while on the phone as he yelled some unexpected news.
See right, No, Ray just dropped a bomb. His wife's
water broke.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
That's fucking crazy.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
You gotta go to the hospital. This would only happen
to Ray on the day he would learn his fate.
His wife went into labor. Just like his sentence, Ray's
(01:32):
second child was being delivered.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Today.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
I'm Johnny be Good and this is creating a con
The story of Bitcom episode nine Pinnacle of Criminality. When
we started this podcast, Ray hadn't been sentenced for his
crimes at Center Tech yet. He was ready to tell
a story, but he had to be patient. Over three
(02:08):
years past since he had been arrested, and it had
been almost a year since his partner Sam Sharma was
put behind bars for his crimes at Center Tech. Ray
thought this chapter of his life would be closed by now,
whether he was in prison or free. Instead, he's been
waiting as the Southern District courts continuously delayed his sentencing.
(02:29):
There were plenty of reasons for the delay. First, Robert
Farcus and Sam Sharma pled out in twenty twenty. The
government wouldn't close Ray's case until the FEDS new his
two co founders were behind bars, And there was also
that whole global pandemic thing that pretty much put New
York on lockdown. This moment in Ray's life is around
(02:49):
the time we started recording this podcast. In fact, what
you're about to hear is day one of recording. Ray
and I were in the car while our producers tell us, I'll.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Drive through like the west end of Long Beach. Even
behind me, I forgot they're behind where.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
They're behind you.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
I thought they I'm frying.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Well, no, they stopped them on they go in front.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
As we took them through our hometown. Ray reminisced about
his life between his arrest and today. During those three years,
a lot happened to my best friend. It was in
July of twenty nineteen, two years after he joined Center Tech,
that Ray was living with his mom in Virginia.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
But he got super depressed.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I'm like, fucking, I'm gonna move back to New York
and live in my family because at least I know
people in New York that would come visit me. In Virginia,
I don't know anybody, just my mom lives there.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
I was trying to convince him to move back home
at this point. Others had a vested interest too.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
My case is in New York, so like the prosecutors
wanted me to move back here.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Anyways, the Feds wanted Ray close to their offices to
cooperate against his former partners. I was living in New
York at this point. Come back to New York. I
told him it'll be just like old times, but it was.
Ray was more restricted, was.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
On house rush, couldn't even leave the house. At all
worse fucking experience in my life.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Once he did that for a year, they loosened the
reins a bit.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
They're like, oh, well, you know, put you on curfew,
and curfew you're like allowed out from like seven in
the morning till eleven at night, which is pretty fair.
That's like when I was just starting to go out
and I was like, at least I'd be able to
get some pussy.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
It was nothing like his Knights in Miami. But Ray
started to get back out there.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Pretty soon after I was put on curfew.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
I met my wife, and the way they met, I
wouldn't call it your average love story. It's actually pretty crazy.
See when Ray met his wife to be Kim, they
were both waiting for their respective dates at a bar.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
We saw each other and we both told that people
who were needing to not come.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
That night in a bar called Bricks. Things progressed quickly.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
It was funny, like I seen her at first and
like I was just like, oh, she's hot. I knew
she was like fucking maga's eye contact, like opposite ends
of the bar. She was like biting her straw and shit,
and I was like dripping my pizza, like into my mouth,
so like we were like fucking with each other. And
then I went up to talk to her, and I
was just like telling her my whole story, because you know,
I just had a point where life. I was on
(05:18):
house arrest for so long that I hadn't talked to anybody,
so like I kind of just like vomiting everything I
had done in my.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Life, vomiting everything he's done in his life. That conversation
had to be electric. I could totally see Ray trying
to pick this girl up while coming clean about his
current situation. Yeah, I'm actually a homebody these days. You
caught me on my one night out. I'm usually in
bed by eleven due to my court ordered curfew. What
(05:45):
do I do for work? I started my own company.
We made millions, but I had to give it all
back for you know, a little bit of fraud and
misappropriating funds. What do I like to do for fun?
You ever sniffed his zan off a stripper's ass?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
I had an ankle brace it on, So like you
have to kind of tell someone your whole story simulated
you're gonna be naked, and like I kind of knew you.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Kind of get that vibe good thing for Ray. It
didn't scare, it came off and once he got that
little detail out of the way, the night progressed.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Went to the little Irish part like they're playing like
Sweet Caroline.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
It's like, well that wackman. She goes to jukeboxing, put
six nine up like screams, you know, just like fuck
and ruined.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
The whole vibe.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
And that was like when I was like, I love
this girl.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
That night in that little Irish bar in Long Beach,
with six ' nine blaring behind them, Ray and Kim
fell in love.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
I almost missed curfew the first night I met Kim.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
I got a handed to the guy. Even with his
court impose eleven PM curfew and a stylish ankle monitor,
he managed to land his future wife.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
People always sit to her how they would have ran
so far the other way if they would have saw.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
That Kime as a teacher, an educator and a thief
sounds like a real power couple to me. And wouldn't
you know it, they were spending every day together. I
knew she was the one for Ray when she looked
past the ten felonies, the ankle monitor and the lengthy
prison sentence hanging over him. Many would see Ray as
(07:20):
just another frog, but Kim found her prince charming.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
We just like fell in love quick and the rest
is kind of history in that regard.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
During the summer of twenty twenty, those crazy kids tied
the knot on a beach in Long Island, and in
that same week they'd celebrate another big moment in their.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Lives, John, my first son.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
That's right, four days after they exchanged vows, they welcomed
their first son, John into the world. I never thought
I'd see the day when Ray was a husband, much
less a dad, But here we are.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
It was just so beautiful, like such a cool thing.
Seemed like your life right, like you made that life.
It was all.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
But instead of planning there happily ever after, they were
stuck because Ray's sentencing had been postponed time and time again.
Neither of them would admit it, but I can't imagine
that planning a life together with Ray's looming trial was easy.
They found themselves in illegal purgatory.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
The first four times they got delayed was because the
prosecutors delayed it, and then the last two times were
because of the judge. So, like, what the fuck is
going on?
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Here.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
All of those delays were getting into Ray's head.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
He gets anxious, He gets depressed just not knowing what
his future is supposed to be or what.
Speaker 6 (08:40):
It will be.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
That's our childhood friend, Mara.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
It's not in his hands. So I think that's the
scary concept. He was like, I'm pretty sure that I'm
going to be going to jail. I hope there's no
jail time, but I feel like that's a tall ask.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
We'd all get our answers. On April fourth, twenty twenty two,
that's when Raised sentencing day finally arrived. Ray and Kim
had been waiting for months at this point. During that time,
they moved in together, were raising their son John, and
Kim was pregnant with their second child. They went to
bed that night anxious to learn what tomorrow would bring.
(09:22):
That morning started like any other. But if you haven't
learned by now, nothing in Raised life goes according to plan.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Kim, my wife, she was basically just like, I think
my water broke, Like I don't know, and it's like, yeah,
your water definitely broke.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Kim's due date for their second child wasn't for another
few weeks. Suddenly, Rai's sentencing day became a lot more complicated.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
That's what, like crazy circumstances, like a stress and whatnot,
like that shit will happen.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
We drove to the courthouse together that day. Here's audio
from that drive.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
I dropped my son to her sis there. Then I
dropped her at the hospital. Her whole family's like there
though that she's all good. What did your lawyer say?
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I'm not telling him because don't want him to try
to reschedule anything.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
That's all.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
When I see him, Ray and Kim did not want
to postpone that hearing come hell or his wife's broken water.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
I remember just putting on like Bob Marley in the car,
not don't worry, not don't worry. It was the sun
is shining, and I was like, the sun is shining
the outside. But like it was just my moodsetter for
that day, just to like remain calm.
Speaker 7 (10:40):
He was laboring under the very real chance of being
imprisoned that day.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
That's Rai's lawyer, Joe Bondi. Bondi is a decorated defense attorney.
He's represented the gam Be No crime family and more recently,
associates of Rudy Giuliani. He's also one of the nation's
leading weed lawyers. According to The High Times, Joseph A.
Bondi is one of the nation's pre eminent cannabis attorneys,
(11:06):
or so his website says. And now he was representing
Ray or Panny.
Speaker 7 (11:13):
We're all like blades of grass. You're all like a
plant that's gonna winer, and you're so fragile.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
And there you.
Speaker 7 (11:19):
Are in this really metaphorical judgment day, asking a person
with power represents our country to temper their sense of
justice with their sense of mercy.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
I see why stoners love him. And by the way, Joe,
it wasn't a metaphorical judgment day. It was Ray's actual
judgment day. If you mix together one part badass criminal
defense lawyer with one part poet, you'll get Joe Bondi.
And on that fateful day, Joe followed a raise lead.
Speaker 7 (11:54):
He had an enormous amount going on, but with all
of the weight of the world upon him, we decided
we would not try to adjourn the hearing.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
We would try to have our sentence.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
The same judge who sentenced to Robert Farkas and Sam
Sharma was presiding over raised sentencing. Judge Lorna Schofield. Just
like the last episode, we hired voice actors to read
for the judge and prosecutor.
Speaker 8 (12:20):
We're here today to impost sentence in the case of
the United States versus Raymond Trapani.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
You know, my brother showed up in his construction clothes.
My dad showed up in his construction My mom was there,
my grandma was there, my aunts were there, my friends
were there. I was like, all right, Like everybody that's
supposed to be here is here. Like I wanted as
many people as possible. If there's no one there, then
everybody gave up on your already. So having some people
in the gallery was definitely helpful.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
With Ray's mind split between his future and Kim being
in labor, I'm sure he wondered if he'd ever be
able to hold his new baby without shackles around his wrists.
Raised anxiety with sky high as legal proceedings inside the
courtroom got started.
Speaker 8 (13:02):
This is your fourth criminal conviction, with previous convictions for
disorderly conduct, creating a hazardous or physically offensive condition, as
well as perjury and other crimes. Everything I've said so
far does not paint a very good picture. Obviously, on
the other hand, I knew you had a very difficult upbringing.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Judge Schofield made a point to those in the courtroom
that growing up in ab wasn't easy for Rachel Panning.
Speaker 8 (13:31):
I understand you began smoking marijuana at age thirteen. You
were in a car accident when you were sixteen and
had to have multiple surgeries to your face. You were
prescribed oxy content for pain, which led to an addiction,
and ultimately you're dropping out of high school.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Yeah. I remember that accident. It wasn't pretty. The local
autobody shop kept the car out on the corner. It
was a miracle anyone survived. Direct and she's ripe. That
is how Ray got hooked on pills.
Speaker 8 (14:02):
During much of your twenties. I understand you were addicted
to opiates and xanax. He also had a gambling addiction,
and you attempted rehabilitation.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
I think we thoroughly covered this part of Ray's life,
but there was one piece of Ray's childhood the judge
didn't bring up. By this point, I thought I even
knew every little detail about Ray's life. Apparently I was wrong.
Here's the thing about Ray. He seems like an open book,
but he's not. There was a secret he'd been carrying
(14:32):
for years, and the reason he didn't tell anyone, ironically,
is because he thought everyone already knew.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
My sexual clock was always fucked up. Is a shit
that happened to me as a kid. If she hadn't
molested at like eight years old.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
And for legal reasons, we're not going to name the
person who molested Ray, but what this person did to
him began at the age of eight and continued for years.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
I always felt like I was living at the Truman Show.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
I was like, Oh, this fucked up shit's happened to me,
and like everybody was able to see what was going on,
but no one's even reacting on it. Even when I
told my family recently, I was like, I always thought
that you guys knew, and they're.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Like one gride one this. When that you know, it's like,
I guess maybe they didn't, you know. He was telling
me about everything, and I had no idea. He thought
we all knew, but we weren't saying anything as kids,
which is like, I had no fucking no idea, But
I guess it does make sense. He was like a
normal kid, and then one day he was not a
(15:32):
normal kid, and like, instead of being like, hey, something
happened to this kid, the teachers are like.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
This kid's he's all fucked up.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
He doesn't pay attention.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
Fuck them.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
I imagine these thoughts weighed heavily on Ray during his sentencing.
Would he have been in the courtroom standing in front
of Judge Schofield if his childhood was different? I can't
help but think what could have been if none of
this happened to him. Would Ray have graduated high school,
gone off to college with me? Would we be running
(16:01):
a business together. There are certain things in life you
just never know. It was April fourth, twenty twenty two
when I found myself standing behind my best friend, a
career colm artist, on the day of his judgment. It
(16:23):
was a long one, one Ray would never forget. After
leading the gallery through cliff notes of Ray's life, Judge
Scofield was ready to get to the heart of it
all raised crimes.
Speaker 8 (16:35):
Mister Japanni pleaded guilty to ten counts conspiracy to commit
securities fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
The first four counts Judge Scofield's read were charges stemming
from centritech. The final six those were new charges connected
to ilegal behavior Ray admitted to while cooperating with the FEDS.
Speaker 8 (17:01):
Obstruction of justice to counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud,
a substantive wire fraud count.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
You see, when Ray entered into a cooperation agreement with
the government, he had to come clean about everything, and
that was a huge gamble. By admitting to his lifetime
of criminal activity, Ray was facing charges for crimes that
prosecutors would have never known about.
Speaker 8 (17:24):
Fell on in possession of a firearm, and conspiracy to
distribute and possess with intent to distribute narcotics.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Not including his Center charges. Ray was being charged for
selling drugs in high school, distributing narcotics with his prescription
pad scheme, and ripping off Venmo to name a few,
not to mention the millions of dollars in restitution the
civil suit brought on by the SEC or the class
action suit brought by censer investors. But let's take it
(17:55):
one case at a time.
Speaker 8 (17:58):
The guidelines recommendation and and this case is one hundred
and twenty one to one hundred and fifty one months,
which is equal to a little over ten years to
over twelve years imprisonment.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
But she made it clear she was under no obligation
to stick to those guidelines.
Speaker 8 (18:16):
Under the statute, I can sentence mister Trapawni to a
far greater sentence. The maximum term of imprisonment on count
one is five years.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
He was trying to add up the fucking mounts and
it was just like out of this world.
Speaker 8 (18:32):
On counts two through eight, and ten is twenty years
per count.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
When she was reading it, you can just see in
her face and the way she was saying that she
had this inability to comprehend how it's that much time.
Speaker 8 (18:47):
You know.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
All I'm thinking is just like get to that end point.
Speaker 8 (18:50):
The maximum term of imprisonment is one hundred and seventy
five years.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
I can't imagine how Ray was feeling. He was betting
and his cooperation deal being his get out of jail
free card, but then he's hearing all these years of
prison time adding up. His mind must have been racing, like.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
I know I fucked up. I know I did something wrong.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Take whatever money it is. I just don't want to
go to jail.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I've done everything that would typically be asked of somebody
that gets in trouble and admitted my wrongdoing and trying
to move forward in my life.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Seated across from Ray and his lawyer was the same
person who prosecuted Sam Sharma and Robert Farcas Nagar Techie.
Speaker 9 (19:32):
Your Honor, there can be no question that mister Trapwi's
crimes were very serious. However, mister Trapani's cooperation has been
nothing short of extraordinary and frankly critical to the convictions
and sentencings of his co defendants in this case.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Even the judge seemed surprised by that one.
Speaker 8 (19:52):
I'm not sure I've ever heard the word extraordinary use
in connection with cooperation.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Then came the opportunity for rad I speak.
Speaker 8 (20:00):
Mister Trapani. You don't have to speak, but now is
the time if you would like to.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
I'm like anxious. This is the biggest moment of my life.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Your Honor.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Today is a very heavy day for me. I'm sorry
if I don't seem composed. I'm highly anxious. Before my arrest,
I was on the brink of death on drugs and
my own worst enemy. Since my arrest, in cooperation, I've
made great strives forward in life. I've become a husband,
(20:37):
a father, and a mentor in the addiction community. I've
also became someone my friends and family can depend on.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
I know Ray was nervous as shit when he spoke,
but to his credit, he kept things short and to
the point.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
I know the things that I've done are wrong, and
I understand they have affected many people's lives. I hope
my actions since my arrest will help make as many
people whole as possible. I cannot take back the things
that I've done. I know forever I have to live
with the guilt and remorse for my actions, but I
know that I can add something positive to this world.
(21:13):
With how far I've come, I know I will never
be in front of another judge again. Thank you.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
Ron.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Unlike Sam charm Is hearing, the government didn't present any
victims to speak in court, not one. I took that
as a good sign, but ultimately the judge had the
final say and she was ready to give her verdict.
Speaker 8 (21:34):
You pleaded guilty to ten counts, which is an enormous
amount of criminal activity, especially for one as young as
you are. I'm required to impose a sentence that reflects
the seriousness of the offense, promotes respect for the law,
provides just punishment for the offense and also that affords
adequate deterrence to criminal conduct. Mister Trapani, it is the
(21:59):
judgment of the court that you are sentenced to a
term of imprisonmentimm time served.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
We were all sitting behind Ray. Mara grabbed my arm,
her eyes wide. Neither of us could believe what we
just heard.
Speaker 8 (22:14):
And I will tell you your sentence would have been
very different if you had not cooperated.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
I always had this one hundred and seventy five years
over my head until I heard the words time.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Served, time served. In other words, Ray had done his time.
I know what you're asking yourself. What time the years
of house arrests, curfew and time between his arrest and
April of twenty eighteen to his sentencing in April of
twenty twenty two. That was his punishment. When it was
(22:45):
all said and done, Ray managed to only spend six
days in jail while he waited for his mom to
bail him out. Crazy.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
It all comes to an end there, and it's just
such like a good feeling. I just wanted to turn
around mrk and my friends and family like I won,
you know, just like typical asshole Ray move.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
There were a lot of hugs, high fives, and I
told you so. It was from Ray.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
It's so wild that they were able to go from
one hundred and seventy five years to time serve for
six days.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Ray's day in court was done, his criminal slate cleared.
With it all in the rear view mirror, Ray jumped
in the car with me and Mara. We left the
courthouse and hurried across the city to join his wife,
who was at the hospital. On the car ride there,
he got a FaceTime call from Kim and her doctor.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Oh, congratulations, I'll be there in like forty five minutes. Hey, babe,
how you doing. She's doing good.
Speaker 6 (23:58):
We'll see you soon.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
All right, thank you? What a day?
Speaker 4 (24:02):
Right?
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Well fucking Liam?
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Oh my god, that is so Yeah. Every year on
his son's birthday, Ray has something else to celebrate his freedom.
I'm really proud of him.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
I really am.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
I mean, I was fully prepared for them to give.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Me a Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Ray's mom, Kerrie was all smiles.
Speaker 9 (24:24):
When Sam got the eight years.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
I was scared.
Speaker 9 (24:27):
We were all afraid.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
The Japani family had a lot to celebrate that night,
but not everyone was popping champagne and lighting up cigars.
Speaker 10 (24:38):
I would rather put Raymond Trapani in jail for the
rest of his life just because he didn't learn anything.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Jacob Renzel was a Center Tech investor. He was also
the class representative of a pending class action lawsuit against
Center Tech.
Speaker 10 (24:54):
I knew that Ray was going to rat before any
of this happened. He just has that vibe that he's
for himself mentality.
Speaker 6 (25:03):
Somebody who's made it their practice to engage in crime
for their entire life, over and over and over, and
every time that you get caught, you get out of
it by turning on your friends. That's a different species altogether.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
That's Paul Petruzzi, Robert Farcas's attorney. Farcas was one of
Ray's partners at Center Tech.
Speaker 6 (25:28):
That's not a cooperator who should be rewarded with no
jail time or time served and raised. Just a fraudster
and a crook and always has been. There's no doubt
in my mind that he's going to get in trouble again,
just like there's no doubt in my mind that whoever
he gets in trouble with is going to get in
bigger trouble cause of him.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I wondered if the government could have convicted Sam without
Raised cooperation.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Sam, and no chance if we got to trial. There
was just too much factual evidence that I was able
to to confirm for them that it was a rap.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
And that's the rub, right. You have two con artists
responsible for the same crime. One does eight years in
prison while the other cooperates and walks free among the
rest of us. Paul Petruzzi doesn't see justice in that.
Speaker 6 (26:18):
There's no comparison. Sam's criminal history was like county court
level crap.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Do you wi?
Speaker 6 (26:24):
It was just nonsense. Raise was real felony shit. You know,
it's like real crime.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Paul knew Sam well. He helped prep Sam and Robert
for trial, even though one would never come. He knew
the ins and outs of Sam's criminal history, and looking back,
knew his clients didn't have much of a shot.
Speaker 6 (26:46):
Boy, They played ball real different in the Southern District.
In New York, it becomes in us versus them. They
prepped their witnesses for days.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
Paul doesn't think too fondly of his colleagues in New York.
Speaker 6 (27:00):
They got Trapani gloating and making the entire prosecution team
and the system look bad, embarrassingly bad. In my humble opinion.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
As of April twenty twenty four, Sam Charmer remains incarcerated
in a minimum security prison. His tentative release date is
in August of twenty twenty seven. We reached out to
Sam and his lawyer for this podcast. After a few
conversations with his attorney, they declined to participate. Robert Farkes
(27:31):
served four months of his year and a day sentence
before being released. He also declined to participate in this podcast.
His lawyer, Paul Petruzzi, was the only one to speak
with us.
Speaker 6 (27:43):
Free Sam. I don't think he deserves eight years for this.
Put Sharma on house arrest and make Trapani's probation the
rest of his life, because if he says he can
live the rest of his life as a law abiding citizen,
then should prove it.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
And that leads us to the final piece of the puzzle,
the money.
Speaker 6 (28:06):
I think what the government ought to do is pay
back everybody with the money that it.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Has back In twenty eighteen, the government sees what amount
it to thirty three point four million dollars from CenTra.
That money was put into a remission fund to reimburse investors,
but the amount seized wasn't everything Centritech had collected. There's
still ninety thousand ethereum that the authorities haven't located today.
(28:30):
That would be the equivalent to over three hundred and
fifty million dollars. We can only wonder where that hidden
fortune is buried and in who's wallet. From our research,
doesn't seem like anyone's in a hurry to find it.
As of February twenty twenty four, no one from the
class action lawsuit against center Tech had been paid.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
If this case was about protecting investors, how come none
of them have their money.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Back nine months? That was the shelf life for center Tech.
Who would think three guys without the right education, training,
or experience would be able to build a multi million
(29:19):
dollar tech company during the summer of twenty seventeen. Well nobody,
I guess, because they didn't really, since it was all
one big con. When you boil it down, Center Tech
followed Newton's Second Law to a t. What goes up
must come down, and boy did it come crashing down
(29:40):
much faster and more forceful than I expected. Sam Sharma
is still behind bars and will spend over ten times
as long in prison as he did pulling the strings
at Center Tech. Robert Farcus did his time and is
now back in Miami serving out his probation. And even
if we all agree that Ray got all easy, life
(30:01):
after sentencing isn't a walk in the park. As of
twenty twenty four, Ray is still on probation, plus he's
got nearly three million in fines to pay the government.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Financially, he left me in ruin as far as like
owing all this money, but I was able to become
like such a better person, get off drugs, tell my story,
and just like as far as just a human being,
I think I've just evolved so much. I was able
to self analyze and just see where my faults were.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
It's crazy to hear Ray credit a multi million dollar
fraud scheme for getting sober. But welcome to the life
and times of Rach Your panny.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Off of drugs, your brain can take bad thought and
break it down and stop it, but on drugs you can't.
Right Like, that's where like the chemical imbalance from drugs
just leads to bad shit. I have like no urge
to do harm in life, have just like a very
regular life these days. I have a house, a family,
(31:02):
you know, the good old American dream.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Two months after Ray's sentencing, he bought his house. Now,
I heard a lot of whispers from people who wondered
how he could afford it. Hell, I only know two
people in my age that own a house. One is
super successful and the other is Ray. With everything he's
done and now ows how the hell could he afford it.
(31:25):
I'll let Ray explain that one.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
I got the house from my grandfather passing away. I
got inheritance, and then on that inheritance, I paid restitution
on inheritance, and then my wife her father split the
down payment for the house and we bought the house.
There's nothing shady in the slightest bit about how the
fuck I got my house. It's literally the most basic
(31:47):
way to get a house.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
No, Ray isn't driving a mini van yet. But I'm
proud of him for finally becoming a decent human being.
But that doesn't absolve him of his past, at least
not in my book. With the prescription fraud in Miami exotics,
those things I could forgive, but Sandra was fucked up.
I still have issues with some of the things he did,
(32:11):
but at least I can genuinely say he's trying to change,
and I do think he's evolved and become a better person.
But there's one thing I never asked him, something I've
been thinking about since that car ride back from the
courthouse in April twenty twenty two. The question I was
shocked to Judge Schofield didn't ask him. Did Ray regret
any of this?
Speaker 2 (32:33):
No regrets, No, I did not. As fuck up, I'm
not good at these questions. It's not that I don't
feel bad. I'm obviously sorry that people lost money, But
as bad as it is, and as fucked up as
it was to other people, it got me to be
able to move forward in my life. It got me sober.
(32:54):
I would have never given up until I was dead,
until I was able to reach like the pinnacle of criminality.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
I wouldn't exactly call that taking accountability. I guess you
can say Ray still has some work to do on
learning how to say I'm sorry, but he certainly has
an interesting outlook about his life of counting people.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
CenTra saved my life, reaching that pinnacle of like what
I've always been searching for, driving the cards, all the
money in the world and just not feeling any fulfillment
at the end of the day, it just gave me
all the things that I had been searching for since
I was a little kid, and then seeing where my
life is today is all fucking kind of bizarre. That's
why I'm doing this right, and that's why people are
(33:33):
interested in this story, just because it's just a complete
madness story.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
You could say Ray beat the odds somehow, some way,
he managed to get through to the other side. Some
people call him a rat. He turned on his friends
and avoided jail. I look at it as cooperating was
just Ray's latest gamble. He was willing to risk it
all to avoid jail time. He'd admit to six other
(33:58):
felonies to clear the four center charges. Those years in prison,
they were no joke. If Ray fucked things up while
he was cooperating, he would never see the light of
day again. I believe that type of risk and pressure
it affected him and not the way risk affects you
and me. That risk, whether it be in the poker
(34:22):
room or at the cooperating table, was raised driving force.
Ray and I decided to go back to the beach
where our friendship was born. It was clear that Ray
still had more to share with me there we were
sitting on the shoreline looking out into the water.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
I never liked the water.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
I would did all that crazy shit, molested me, all
that favor shit. He used to try to drown me
back in the day, like you like bring me out
past the rocks and like push me under, push me under.
He was doing that probably to like make sure, like
hopefully I die, and then his story never gets out
of like what he did.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
So like I just I'm going in the water.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
All those years we grew up together on the beach,
and I never knew why Ray avoided the water. It
all makes sense now.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
I always talk about it and talk about like all
the fucked up shit, and that's like my therapy is
just telling the world, like what's going on in my
life and how fucked up it was, and this is
what made me and this is why I always think
this way. And that completely correlates to having fucked up
childhood trauma to how much risk I take. I don't
take any risk right now, and it feels very weird
for me. I just have like these snaps where like
(35:31):
I'm like gotta go fucking nuts and blow this up
so I can just like start fresh. And run away
type of thing.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Your whole weight of like risk reward and shit is
in my opinions, so fucked up, like out of whack.
You know, it's just because really I don't understand even
where you're coming.
Speaker 4 (35:48):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
The more I talk about this stuff, it makes it like.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
My ability to not blow shit up, not fuck up
my whole life. But it doesn't feel like my full self.
This life is like super uncomfortable for me. I don't
get like any sort of thrill. I like living on
the edge. That's like very comfortable for me.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
That kind of worries me, though, when you say shit
like I don't you don't feel like yourself? Are you
saying that like you don't feel like yourself because you're
not like taking these insane risks and weighing this shit out.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
Yeah, Like I'm not having like fun, you know.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
And I hear you say that you're missing this risk
and you want to just blow it all up and
start fresh. It worries me hearing shit like that. I
think I'll be fine, I hope. As I look out
onto the beach, I was flooded with childhood memories my
first kiss, my first job, tell my first Blum was
(36:44):
on this beach. I glanced back at the dunes where
Ray and I would play Manhunter's kids. They were smaller
than I remembered. I rode it away. Everything changes with time.
Ray had been through a lot, the abuse, the drug,
the ecstasy, and the crash. Was his moral compass warped
(37:04):
beyond repair? Is he absolved for what he did? Did
he learn a thing? Or is it my own bias
making excuses for Ray like I did when we were kids.
There are plenty of people that are skeptical about Rai's
motivations today. They believe that Ray will be back conning
and cheating people the moment he's off probation, And I
(37:25):
hate to say it, but that thought also lingers in
the back of my mind. But nothing Ray is doing
today validates those fears. He's been cleaned for nearly six
years now. He's actually a great father to his two boys,
and he started to put his energy towards something good.
When he's not with his family, he volunteers at a
(37:46):
substance abuse clinic, working as a counselor and telling a
story to anyone that will listen. As I watched Ray
take a hit of his vabe. I wondered what was
going through his mind?
Speaker 2 (37:57):
Was it nostalgic?
Speaker 1 (37:58):
Thoughts of collecting sang crabs by the water are darker
thoughts of getting drowned by the rocks past the brake line.
I considered asking him, but I wasn't sure who this
guy was sitting next to me. I'm still coming to
terms with the fact that Ray is a force of nature.
As much as you want to, he can't be tamed.
(38:19):
He's like the ocean. Growing up in Atlantic Beach, you
learn as a kid there's an important dichotomy when it
comes to the water. As calm and serene as it is,
it's equally as violent and destructive. You just have to
accept that risk because you never truly know what's lurking
(38:40):
under the surface.
Speaker 11 (38:43):
Tony, when you fall asleep, dream salty ol cute, away
from the here and now, five tail thing remands.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
Creating a Con is a production of Glass Podcasts, a
division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts.
If you would like to reach out to the Creating
a Con team, email us at Creating a Con at
gmail dot com. That's Creating a CEO n at Gmail
dot com. We appreciate your support. One way to support
(40:00):
our show is by subscribing to our podcast on Apple Podcasts,
and don't forget to rate and review Creating a con
Five star reviews go a long way. A big thank
you to those who are listening. Also be sure to
check us out and follow us on Instagram at Glass Podcasts.
The show is hosted and produced by me Johnny B. Good,
(40:21):
with executive producers Nancy Glass, Ben Fetterman, and Andrea Gunning.
Written and produced by Ben Fetterman and Todd Gans, additional
writing by Matt Delvecchio. Operations and production support by Kristin Melchiori.
Additional production support Trey Morgan. Our iHeart team is Ali
(40:41):
Perry and Jessica Crincheck. Sound editing and mixing by Matt Delvecchio,
Consulting producer Nathaniel Popper. Creating a CON's theme composed by
Oliver Bains. Music library provided by MiB Music, and a
special thanks to our voice actors Carrie Hart and Rocky Alts.
(41:02):
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(41:22):
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Host
Jonny B. Good
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com