February 21, 2025 • 46 mins
This week we sit down to discuss the story of Tara Lee who ran a private adoption agency. Tara always seemed to be able to match parents to children faster and cheaper than anywhere else, but as prospective parents soon found out, her methods for finding the mothers was seedy at best, and that's if they ever existed in the first place.
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(00:02):
Wall Street veteran Bernard Madoff has been arrested and
charged with running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.
Congress wants to know what caused the Enron meltdown, and
while the collective rage currently is focused on low
comp. Tyco CEO Dennis Koslowski was
convicted of looting hundreds. Of millions of dollars.
This is one of the biggest fraudcases ever.
(00:23):
Their president's a crook. Well, I'm not a crook.
Find out more on this week's episode of White Collars, Red
Hands. You meet someone, you have
chemistry, you go on a date, that date turns into more dates.
You fall in love, get married, decide to start a family.
However, due to circumstances beyond your control, you cannot
(00:46):
conceive. You decide to adopt.
A private adoption seems like seems to be a logical way to go
about this, even though it is more expensive.
But as time passes, something seems fishy about the setup.
You're not getting any response from the adoption agency.
What's going on? Today's story focuses on Tara
(01:09):
Lee, the woman behind the $2,000,000 adoption scam.
Find out what happened on this week's episode of White Collars,
Red Hands. Oh man, and her sister makes
such good muffins too. I know, Sarah.
Yeah, Sarah Lee. Yeah.
Weird. They weird.
They made him rhyme. But you know, one person, she
(01:30):
runs a bakery, the other person can't have kids.
So yeah, life giveth and life taketh away.
So. And we giveth to you.
Welcome back to another episode of White Collar's Red Hands.
I'm Kashawn and I'm Nina. And this week we're talking
about Tara Lee and her adoption scam.
This is actually pretty crazy. It's actually pretty
(01:52):
one-of-a-kind that we'll talk about in the episode.
Not very many adoption scams outthere.
Oh, really? Yeah, Oh man, I figured they'd
be rampant. I don't know.
You would think, but this is kind of like, you know, I'm
going to give it to Tara Lee. This is what pretty untapped
territory. OK.
So what you're saying is that ifthere's people out there in the
audience right now that are like, what's my niche?
Where do I fit in scamming people that there's a big open
(02:15):
market in the world? Of it open.
Scams. Yes.
Oh. OK, well take that one down,
folks. Yeah, write that down.
You know, adoption, we hear a lot about it in the United
States. We know that we have a foster
care issue. In the United States.
There are over 390,000 children who are in foster care. 113,000
(02:36):
of those children are eligible for adoption.
Children wait on average three years before being adopted.
How are you in foster care? Not eligible for adoption?
What? What does that mean?
So if you well actually here, let me let me tell you this next
part if you're listening outsideof the United States, the foster
(02:56):
care. Foster care is a system that is
put in place by the government. If a parent is deemed unfit to
care for their child. The child is taken away by the
state and placed into the care of someone who the state deems
to be safe. The goal of foster care is to
have a child cared for by a trusted adult while the parent
rehabilitates. In some cases unification is
(03:19):
possible and after some time thechild can go back to living with
their parents. This isn't always the case and
there are times where the parents rights are removed and
then the child is put up for adoption.
So that's why in a lot of in some cases the parent is
actively working to fix the situation so that they can be
(03:42):
unified with their child again. OK.
So the ones that aren't up for adoption, their mom just might
be like kicking a crack habit, Yes.
OK. Yeah, a lot of and with,
honestly, also with the drug epidemic in this country, a lot
more children are being placed into foster care.
And so when those parents hopefully kick their habit,
(04:04):
they're able to, you know, get their children back.
It's fair. If there's one thing I know
about fentanyl is that it does not make you a good dad.
Nope. Nope.
There are there cases where there's like, you know, you have
a situation where one parent is abusive and then the other
parent is not, but they just haven't the children have to be
removed from the home. And it's kind of like until that
(04:25):
one parent is able to leave the situation, then they can be
reunified with their children. There's a lot of, there's a lot
of different scenarios in which children can be reunified with
their parents. Sad it, it's super sad.
It's super sad. And sometimes, you know,
sometimes it's a good thing, butnot always.
Adoption is a great option for families who are unable to have
(04:47):
children and want to grow their home.
Or people who just don't want tohave kids, it's OK.
Like if you can have a kid and you don't want to have one,
adoption is always an alternative.
You mean like if you get pregnant and don't want to have
your kid? No, I just mean like if you have
the ability to get pregnant, youwant a child.
You don't have to birth your ownchild.
Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
(05:09):
yeah. You don't have to do that.
There is not a one-size-fits-allapproach to adoption.
There's actually several different avenues that you can
take if you want to welcome a child into your home.
Some of the most common types ofadoption are adopting a child
through the welfare system, which this one's pretty
self-explanatory. Most of the time when a child is
(05:31):
adopted through the welfare system, they end up being
adopted by the family who was fostering them.
It's also called like foster to adopt, which sounds like I'm
talking about a dog but I'm talking about kids, so.
You can try them out for a second.
You can give you can give them atrial run and be like, I don't
want this one. I'll I'll keep this one now.
(05:51):
I'm sure that's kind of what it.Sounds.
I mean, you could. Be like well this.
One not to be like yeah, not to be like super like harsh, but
yeah like basically it's. Like, oh, this one's not going
to be Michael Orr. We'll.
Yeah, the guy from the blind. Zone.
So you're just like. This one's not going to be
(06:11):
Leonardo DiCaprio. So who let me let me get a child
I can capitalize on, you know. Well, Leo, Leonardo DiCaprio was
adopted. Did not know that.
Yeah, OK. So that was a good, that was a
good investment on his parents part.
Damn. I.
You're not wrong. I mean, it's fucked up.
Another common way for children to be adopted is
internationally. In some cases, families will, in
(06:36):
some cases, families will decideto adopt A child outside of the
United States. This method of adoption is
usually really tricky, and it's for, first of all, extremely
expensive. And it is often hard to get
citizenship for your child afterthey are adopted.
This is yeah, it's tricky. This is known as the Brad and
(06:56):
Angelina method though, right? I think in certain circles.
Like what do you go ahead and explain that?
Yeah. They have a ton of kids from
different countries, yeah. Yeah, it's a joke.
It's a bit. Yeah, no, it is definitely the
Brad and Angela didn't. Get that right?
Is that so old that people don'tget?
I mean, they've been divorced now for for, I guess.
I don't know how. Long, like 10 years.
(07:18):
God damn. Times, but a long time.
The sands keep dripping from thehourglass.
Like scarily there was that liketime period where a lot of
people like it was like trendy to adopt A baby from China,
which well, they. Had that policy.
Well, yeah, up until recently, but yeah, relative or kinship
(07:40):
adoption is when a relative willadopt the child.
Adult adoption is actually a thing.
This is when a child is in this is this is what this usually
means when this happens is a child is in foster care and
living in with a family when they are 17.
And then during that time that they are living with the family,
they turn 18 and the family willthen decide to adopt them after
(08:02):
they turn 18 years old, thus resulting in an adult adoption.
I'm just wondering what legally happens if you adopt an adults?
Like what is the difference now?Can they?
Oh I guess they could be on yourinsurance until they're 25.
Yeah, 26, yeah. So that's something, huh?
OK, never mind. There there are.
(08:23):
There are reasons. There's reasons also like I
think with, I mean actually thiswouldn't, I don't think this
would apply 'cause I was gonna say for like college collegiate
purposes, but not necessarily. But another reason for like,
adoption would be like, you know, say that child's hurt or
in the hospital and then, you know, you don't have any sort of
(08:44):
guardianship over them. So you wouldn't have any like,
you know, you may not be able tovisit them or like help them
make calls in regards to their medical care.
Fair enough. Or still be their medical power
of attorney. But fair enough.
Yeah. Or you know, I mean, I've
thankfully never been in this situation, but I think it's also
like a you are part of our family and like this is our
(09:06):
public way of like demonstratingthat is by adopting you.
EW icky family. EW Family The final way that
people will adopt in the United States is a private adoption.
Private adoptions are usually done through an adoption agency.
The agency will have pregnant mothers contact them, letting
them know that they want to put their child up for adoption.
(09:28):
The agency will then show potential families to the mother
and the mother will decide who they want their child to be
adopted by. The issue with this type of
adoption is that it can also be very expensive.
Expensive, sometimes upwards or more than $20,000.
I will say though, if I personally decided to, you know,
(09:49):
I got pregnant and didn't abort it and wanted to put it up for
adoption, I probably would go this route because I would want
to choose where my child is going and who is going to be
raising my child. Yeah, this is always the one you
see in like Lifetime movies. Oh yeah.
When a teen is pregnant. This is like Juno, right?
Well, she didn't go through an adoption agency.
She found them in the newspaper.But.
(10:11):
Yeah, weird thing to post in thenewspaper, like any pregnant
teens in the area. Yeah, we'd love to take that
baby off your hands, you know? Well, there's like, there was
this thing going around on social media, like on Facebook
for a while that it would be like, like couples like posting
an ad looking for to adopt A baby.
(10:31):
It was super sketchy. You'd be like, hey, you don't
want your baby, We'll adopt it. I'm like, Oh no, this baby is
going to be trafficked. I don't.
Craigslist vibes, yeah. Yeah, it's creepy.
I just leave mine in the that that that box where you can
leave them for free at the at the fire department.
At the fire department. Yeah, just, you know.
(10:51):
Yeah. And then they and then did you
know that if you drop them off at the fire department, they get
raised by the firefighters? Oh, that's cool.
Like Dalmatians? That's cool.
Yeah, it's pretty cool. That's cool.
They get you can make like little baby firefighters.
Yeah, who wouldn't want to see ababy slide down one of those
poles? I mean, I think that's adorable.
Come on. I mean, come on.
A baby in a firefighter outfit. So cute.
So today we're going to be talking about Tara Lee.
Now, Tara Lee was the founder and proud owner of Always Hope
(11:15):
Pregnancy Center, which was in Detroit, MI, her, well actually
New Haven, MI which is near Detroit.
Her passion was to match babies who needed to be adopted with
people who could give the children a loving home.
Now, Lee wasn't what you'd normally picture as someone who
was in charge of an adoption agency.
(11:37):
Lee was described by many as quote, rough around the edges.
She was covered in tattoos and had a sailor's mouth.
Nothing. Wrong with that.
Her tougher than nails personality made it so that
people could trust her and they knew that she was a woman of her
word. She was very like down to earth,
no like no nonsense. She was someone that a lot of
people could relate to. I'll.
(11:58):
Make sure your kid gets to a good place to wait.
Literally Newport. Newport Lee was proud to tell
families that her adoptions never fail.
Many adoptions do fail because of various reasons, but she
ensured families that this wasn't the case with her agency.
(12:18):
Many families put their trust inLee, including the Metheny
family. Mike and Teresa Matheny were a
couple living in Atlanta, GA whodesperately wanted a child.
They've been trying for many years to conceive and even tried
to do in vitro fertilization in hopes of making their dreams of
be care becoming parents come true, right?
(12:38):
Flex, they got IVF. Money.
They got IVF money, baby. IVF became too taxing on Teresa,
understandably so, and the couple decided that it would be
best for them to shift their sights to adoption.
The Matheny's were working with one adoption agency, but after
18 months they had no prospects of adopting.
(13:01):
It is really hard for prospective parents to get
matched with children. It's said that there is about
1,000,000 couples that are looking to adopt in the United
States, but only 20,000 babies available through private
adoption, so it's really competitive.
I'm gonna try not to go on a rant.
Go ahead, go on it. Go on it.
(13:21):
But this is the same problem I have when people get animals.
I know it's different, but thereare so many animals that are
like adult animals that like need a home and they're like,
but I want the kitten though. And you're like, there are so
many children that are in reallypoor situations.
They're like 5:00 and you're like, no, I want AI want a
(13:42):
smaller 1 though. Like what are you doing?
All right, this is purely for you.
No, it and you know what, I do think that there's something to
be said for people adopting babies, you know, or children,
regardless of the age. But I think sometimes it boils
down to how much do you really want to be a parent?
Because when you, you, I know multiple people who are like, I
(14:06):
would adopt, but I don't want, Idon't want them to be over the
age of XYZ because they're goingto have too much baggage,
they're going to have too much trauma.
And it's like, whoa, I thought you like, you know, it's like, I
don't. Know it would help a stable
environment yeah which is you want a you want a child they
want parents but you're like EW ick you're six yeah you're gonna
(14:28):
be way too sad like that's that's gotten.
You're gonna have done. Yeah.
No, it is. It is.
But a lot of people you know and.
Yeah, you know, Yeah. Well, that's all I'm gonna say
on this subject. Yeah.
Discouraged and frustrated, the Matheny's reached out to Always
Hope Pregnancy Center, praying that this time they would be
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matched. After about two weeks with the
agency, Teresa got a call from that a woman named Stephanie
wanted them to adopt her little boy.
Stephanie was a woman in her 40swho lived in Michigan and after
a lifetime of struggles and disappointments, knew that she
could not raise another baby andwanted to give her child a
better shot at life. Yeah, I know 40s is a little
(15:13):
surprising. Oh, your chance of birth defects
are getting up. There.
Oh yeah, the Mathenes were over the moon.
They could not believe that after all this time they were
going to be parents. Tara Lee told them that they
needed to get on a three-way call with Stephanie so that they
could meet each other and come to an understanding of what was
going on medically with Stephanie and also the terms of
(15:35):
their adoption. Y'all are going to need to have
a three-way with me and Stephanie.
That's a three-way call. I busted your balls.
All right, Newport. The meeting went well, but the
Matheny's noticed that the conversation didn't really feel
organic. It almost felt like Stephanie
was being coached on what to stay.
(15:55):
Now typically in an adoption process, it is not abnormal for
the birth mother and the adoptive parents to be in
contact with one another. However, Tara Lee was monitoring
and controlling the communication between Stephanie
and the Matheny's. This is abnormal.
The adoption agency usually doesnot interfere or monitor with
communication between parents. After the meeting, Stephanie
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said that she wanted the Matheny's to take care of her
little boy that was going to be delivered on October 11th.
The Matheny's were absolutely ecstatic about the news and
their dreams of becoming parentswere about to come true.
Lee told the Matheny's that the adoption process was underway.
She told the Matheny's that theyneeded to pay $13,000 to get the
(16:39):
process started. As soon as she received the
money she would get an adoption contract to them shortly.
However, that contract never came.
And I will say that this is something I learned through
researching this episode is thatwith private adoptions, it you
do pay for the mother's like expenses during the time of her
(17:02):
pregnancy. And this includes like rent,
food, rent. Yeah.
Or, or at least in this case, itincluded rent, rent, food,
medical expenses. So, you know, them paying this
sum is not unheard of. And it and it in itself now
(17:23):
they're meaning no contract was definitely sketchy.
Yeah. You don't don't give anybody.
Money. Don't give anybody money without
a contract. But like, Oh my God, I'm asking
for $13,000. Sounds crazy, but actually it
really wasn't that crazy. Well you said it could be 20,000
plus so I'm sure that sounded reasonable to them.
Right, right. So so not getting the contract
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is kind of where things start totake a turn with the Mathenes.
Both Teresa and Mike were uneasywith the fact that they had not
received a contract for the adoption and started asking Lee
about it. Whenever the couple would
request updates on the contract,or they would, they would
request an update on the contract slash when would they
actually get the contract? Lee would kind of ghost.
(18:08):
If they contacted her about anything else though, she would
respond. One time Lee gave the excuse
that she wasn't going to be ableto get the contract with it to
them because she was leaving thecountry to go to Ghana with her
daughter to take school suppliesover to impoverished Ghanaian
children. Which, OK, crazy like so random.
(18:29):
When Lee got back from her trip,the Methenes put pressure on her
to receive the contract because their son was supposed to be
born within a week. Lee told them that they had
longer than a week that their son was supposed to be born at
the end of the month. This raised even more red flags
with the Mathenies because how could Lee mess up their son's
birthday? First it was October 11th, now
(18:49):
it's not going to be until the end of the month.
Lee claimed that she had gotten the birthday confused because
Stephanie had not received prenatal care for the first few
months of her pregnancy. As the day approached, the
Matheny's were a ball of nerves and excitement.
They had their nursery prepped and ready.
They couldn't wait for the change that was about to come
into their lives. They had packed up the car to
(19:10):
head to Michigan in the morning.This couple lived in Atlanta and
they were going to drive all theway to Michigan to adopt the
baby. Yeah, yeah.
Always hope Pregnancy center worked across, you know,
international. Yeah, no, whatever, throughout
the entire country. Man, there's nothing better that
I can imagine than like a 14 hour car trip with a newborn.
(19:32):
You know that sounds fun. That sounds like the first thing
I want to do with a child. Sounds horrible.
The couple went on a celebratorydinner with Mike's mother and
while on their way back they While on their way back from
dinner, their dreams were shattered into a million pieces.
Teresa received an e-mail from the adoption agency that they
(19:55):
had previously worked with. The e-mail was alarming.
They basically were like, is anyone in this agency also
working with Tara Lee? And it was clear that something
was wrong. She then called her adoption
attorney, Tanya Corrado, in Detroit.
(20:16):
Corrado informed Teresa that Tara Lee was under investigation
with the FBI. An adoption attorney?
Yes, those exist. Yes, actually they do.
Jeez. Teresa felt her world close in
on her, and she recalls that shelet out a blood curdling scream,
a scream unlike any sound she had ever made before.
Not only did they give Lee theirmoney, but they may no longer
(20:38):
have a baby. Corrado advised the couple to
come up to Detroit. It was on that trip that they
realized they never had any proof of Stephanie's baby even
existing. No pregnancy photos, no
ultrasounds, nothing. They had no idea what was
waiting for them when they got up to Michigan.
So yeah, scary stuff. I know it's the city of Detroit.
(21:03):
I know I wouldn't take a baby from Detroit.
Sorry we keep bashing on Detroiton this podcast.
Listen, you know what we really have?
We did. The Detroit Public Schools and
Kwame Kilpatrick. We said some stuff about Detroit
in both of those. I meant every single thing about
it. So unfortunately, the Mathenes
(21:26):
were not the only ones who were caught in Lee's web of lives.
She had duped plenty of other couples with her schemes.
Nick and Tammy Granith were a couple in Chicago who had been
hoping for a child for years. Much like the Matheny's.
They had not had luck with otheradoption agencies and stumbled
upon Always Hope. Just like the Matheny's, the
(21:46):
Granite's were matched with a baby very quickly.
Actually, they were matched withtwo babies, which was almost
unheard of. The babies were going to be born
within the same week. This was ideal for them because
they wanted to have two childrenand then they wouldn't have to
make the trip up to Michigan twice.
Oh, you know what, actually thatworks perfectly for us.
(22:07):
It'll save us time. If we can package this in like a
2 for one deal, you know, that'dbe great.
The bears, can we get a discount?
Can we look at 10 like like if we get to at the same time we
pay cash, can you take 15% off the top 'cause that would be
great? Oh my God.
I when I was listening to an interview with them and they
were saying this, I was like, OK, I know your heart is in the
(22:29):
right, is in the right place. But like, this is so funny that
like we don't have to take the trip twice.
Also Chicago to Detroit is like a four hour drive.
Not a far, it's really not. Really.
Not that far, no. The mothers of the babies were
Sarah and Sabrina. Now, Sarah was already a mother
who was ridden with poverty and knew that she couldn't
(22:50):
physically or financially handlehaving another child.
What? Do all these moms have S names?
It's like she's just. I don't know if she's just
making up their names but but ifshe is, that's just lazy.
So I'm not gonna lie. All right?
Spoiler alert. Samantha, Sabrina and Sarah.
Some of them are real. Oh, interesting.
(23:11):
Yes, OK. Crazy coincidence?
Yeah, it's a winky dink. I just, you know, girls with S
names, they just get pregnant all the time.
That is, that's what they say, that's.
What they say anyway. Sabrina was a young 19 year old
who was unfortunately the victimof assault and that's how she
(23:32):
got pregnant. Sabrina wanted to keep the
adoption closed. The Granites were not allowed to
know what she looked like and since it was a closed adoption,
they were not even allowed to get updates on the baby.
They didn't know that she had blonde hair and blue eyes, but
like that was the only thing they knew about Sabrina.
Oh my God, thank God she's Aryan.
(23:52):
Everything seemed to be going according to plan until Lee told
the Granis that Sabrina's behavior was becoming erratic.
She was taking drugs and even attempted suicide during her
pregnancy. It was made clear to the couple
that the baby would be born withdisabilities, although it was
kind of unsure of what kind. Because of the use of drugs and
the attempted suicide, the grandmas decided that they would
(24:15):
still care for the baby, even though they knew that the baby
would potentially have a lot of obstacles.
The agreement with Sabrina was extremely flat, fragile, and it
was unclear if they would even be in if they would even be able
to adopt her baby. Now this is also something that
I have heard in the past and wasconfirmed in this episode, that
(24:36):
a lot of times these types of adoptions do fall through for
one reason or another. Most of the time, though, the
mothers do decide that they wantto keep the baby.
And so, you know, up until it's literally up until that baby's
born, you think you're going to get a baby and then the mom will
change their mind. So do.
You get your money back for that's probably callous, but
(24:57):
like if you paid for all their medical bills and for their rent
and their food for like 9 monthsand then they were like, I kind
of want this. Yeah, I'm not.
I'd be like. I'm not sure how I'm.
Going to need that 15 grand backthough is the problem.
Yeah, I'm not 100% sure how thatworks to be honest with you.
All right. One day Lee called the Granis
(25:17):
and told them that she accidentally showed their
profile to another mother, Stephanie.
They were asked if she they werethey would be open to adopting
Stephanie's baby. The couple was hesitant.
They had already agreed to adopttwo baby girls, although there
was a chance that the adoption of Sabrina's would be a
(25:38):
Sabrina's baby would fall through.
If we take the third one, can weknock a solid 25% off the top
and then only make one trip? Is that is that cool?
Lee begged them to get on the call with Stephanie and the
couple agreed. During the phone call, Stephanie
begged and pleaded with a coupleto adopt her child.
They said that they would consider it if the baby was a
(26:01):
girl. Although this seems strange,
they were that they were insistent on the baby being a
girl. They had already prepped
nurseries and bought items for ababy girl.
In the end, Stephanie's baby wasa boy, but they agreed to adopt
him anyway. It's.
About to say be like oh all the stuff we got's the wrong color
just put the baby in a pink onesie man.
(26:23):
My my God, gender is fragile. I know the couple questioned Lee
on Sabrina's baby. They were like, you already have
a we're supposed to be adopting Sabrina's baby even though like,
you know, it's kind of turbulent, like the situation's
turbulent, but like, you know, Idon't think we can take on 1/3
baby. And Lee assured them not to
(26:44):
worry about it and that Stephanie baby would be a better
option for them. Although they had already paid
Lee thousand of dollars to coverSabrinas expenses and her
expenses were high because she was going to therapy daily now
the Granites made their way up to Michigan to meet the birth
mothers of their soon to be children.
Upon arriving they found that both mothers were living in
(27:06):
extreme poverty. Sarah's home had holes in the
floor and neither mother had adequate clothing during the
trips. The Grand has found out that
Stephanie baby was not due in September like they had
originally been told. She was going to be due at the
end of October, six weeks after Sarah Baby was going to be born.
So this was the couple that wanted the babies born at the
(27:28):
same time. Now we're going to have to make
2 trips. It was ruined everything.
Why did? Why couldn't you be less
pregnant, right? Now less pregnant, can we just
do AC section early? I mean like really?
That's why we have them. Anyway, let's get it out.
We already we're here, the car'shere.
We don't. Get both.
I got both seats in the car. Come on.
(27:50):
When questioning Lee about the incorrect due date of the baby,
Lee told them that Stephanie wasn't getting prenatal care and
she didn't know what she was talking about.
It was also noted that Lee wouldfind and prey on women that were
less fortunate and like she would go to methadone clinics,
things like that, and pass out her business cards so that she
could get these women's babies. Both couples noted that Lee
(28:14):
would speak poorly about the birth mothers, often saying
things like, you know how these women are.
It seemed as though she thought less of these women while also
saying that she wanted to help them.
She was talking out of both sides of her mouth and.
You know I only serve the best babies from the worst fucking
women. All right?
That's what you got here. It's how they have a
(28:36):
personality. How do you think I get babies
off at these prices? OK, I'm undercutting all the
competition. It's because all my mother's are
down at the methadone clinic, OK?
The time came for Sarah to have her baby girl.
The Granites made their way backup to Michigan, but chaos
started to ensue Upon arriving at the hospital.
(28:58):
Sarah didn't want to. She really didn't want to talk
to the Granites and she appearedto be angry.
Had nothing to do with a baby coming out of her Lee said that
she was having second thoughts about the grands adopting her
baby because she didn't want them taking care of two babies
at once. She was also worried that her
daughter She was worried that her daughter wasn't going to be
taken care of as well as she would if she was an only child.
(29:21):
She also said that like she was worried because Stephanie was
racist and so she was worried that like when Stephanie's baby
came out that it would be racistand her.
Daughter. And her daughter was going to be
mixed race. So she was like, I don't want
her brother to be racist againsther.
But then they were like, how do you do you even know Stephanie?
(29:43):
Like what? Sarah, have you been doing drugs
again? Well, when the truth came out,
Sarah was actually upset becauseher expenses were not being paid
for like she had been promised. Her rent, her food, medical
bills had not been paid even though she had been assured that
they would be. Now the grandest were confused.
(30:04):
They had paid Lee thousands of dollars to cover Sarah's
expenses. Where had all the money gone?
Lee assured the couple that Sarah was lying.
She had been paid and she probably used the money on
things that were unimportant, drugs.
Now the couple wasn't convinced.While in the hospital, the
couple was wondering if they would run into Sabrina because
(30:25):
she was supposed to be giving birth to her baby.
At the same time, the truth would come out that Sabrina
never existed. Lee made her up and made-up the
entire horrific story about her getting assaulted, her trying to
commit suicide, all of that was the fabrication.
Oh, I'm getting, I'm getting these women mixed up.
I'm sorry that I said that. The other one was doing drugs.
(30:48):
It was the fake one. It was a fake one to address.
Sabrina. Sabrina.
The teenage witch. Yes, now Sarah gave birth to a
baby girl and the Granas had their daughter.
While their daughter was in the NICU, it became clear that
Stephanie was telling the truth about her baby not being due
until late October with the weight of the world on their
(31:09):
because OK so here's the deal. They this baby was in the NICU
for like a really long time likealmost like 3 weeks.
And during that time like Stephanie is like not even close
to having this baby. Like it's just becoming more and
more apparent that like this woman is actually due at the end
of October. Like she was telling us and not
what Lee was telling us. So they had a decision to make,
(31:29):
and with the weight of the worldon their shoulders, the grandest
decided not to move forward withthe adoption of Stephanie's son.
They wrote her a letter explaining their situation, but
Stephanie never received it. Dear Stephanie, Here's the
thing, it's like 350 miles from Chicago to Detroit, and we're
already going to have to go back.
(31:50):
So, And I own a 1993 Dodge Caravan, which I get 15 miles
per gallon. Do you understand how expensive
that would be? So I'm sorry, Stephanie, you're
going to have to keep that kid. Well, when the grandness asked
for a refund of the expenses that they had paid for
(32:10):
Stephanie, that hadn't been usedand her baby had already.
So like they said, hey, we're not going to adopt this baby.
Almost immediately, they had another match.
But if you remember, the Mathenes were also matched with
Stephanie, so Stephanie already had another match.
So since they were like, hey, we're not going to adopt your
(32:30):
kid, she had already had anothermatch.
They were like, can we get the money back that she hasn't used?
OK, so they did ask for the, askfor the.
Refund OK? Lee told them that she could not
give them that money back because the new parents were
refusing to help pay for any expenses up until that point.
But that wasn't true. The Metheny's had paid $8000 to
cover Stephanie's expenses, and Stephanie had only received
(32:52):
about half of that money. The money was going straight
into Lee's pockets. Now, some of the families became
uneasy about what was happening,and they began to form a
Facebook group. So basically they were going on
like word was getting out and people were posting on Facebook
like, hey, this is my story. Other people were saying being
(33:14):
like, hey, I worked with Tara Lee 2.
A bunch of sketchy stuff happened with me as well, and
they ended up forming a Facebookgroup and then all like, talked
about how they knew Tara and like, all their experiences and
they were all finding that therewas a lot of similarities
between all of their stories, all of these families.
Now, although only 23 people were listed in the affidavit or
(33:37):
23 couples were listed in the affidavit, over 160 families
were involved with this scheme. Now the FBI was hot on Tara
Lee's tale and we already know that Tara Lee had been double
matching babies with families, but she was also continuously
lying about birth mothers and their babies.
There was one birth mother in particular that Lee would lie
(33:59):
about. Her name was Rashonda.
Now, Lee claimed that Rashonda wanted to put her son up for
adoption. She matched families with
Rashonda and informed the families of some devastating
news. Rashonda had been shot and
killed in her car and her baby died along with her.
In all actuality, Rashonda neverexisted.
(34:22):
There was no baby. No one had died.
She just pocketed every expense that these families had given
her in preparation for the new baby.
Not only would expectant mothersdie, but they would also
frequently change their minds, deciding to keep the babies
after the families had paid thousands of dollars to cover
their expenses, some paying upwards of $25,000.
(34:45):
Now the phone calls between the birth moms and the adoptive
parents that Lee would set up. Now, Lee would hire women to act
as birth mothers for the phone conversations.
These women were not putting their children up for adoption,
and from 2014 to 2018, hopeful adoptive parents paid Lee $2.1
(35:09):
million. Jesus.
Yeah, Lee took advantage of mothers who had no other
options. And for couples who are
desperate to start their families, she dashed their hopes
and dreams by taking their moneyand buying luxury clothing and
getting flashy manicures. That was like something that was
always noted about her was that like her manicures were always
(35:30):
like on point. Man, for how I've been
portraying her, you wouldn't assume her to have very nice
nails, but I guess here we are. Oh, it's probably those like
trashy long. Super.
Long, yeah. Nails with, like, jewels on
them. Yeah.
Mike Metheny would talk about how, like, they would be with
her. And she'd always be, like,
(35:50):
clacking on her computer, clacking on her phone.
And like, he, like, in those Facebook groups, like, people
were posting dates of, like, shestole this money from me on this
day. This happened this day.
And like, Mike was like, one of those days was the day that,
like, my son was being born. So like, we're all at the
hospital with this baby literally on the way.
And then she's in there clicketyclacking, like stealing more
(36:13):
people's money. Damn.
And then when like also when like the, the granite, when it
was like up in the air whether or not they were going to be
able to adopt Sarah's baby, whenshe was like, I don't know if
you, I want you adopting my baby.
They were sitting in the waitingroom and Tara Lee was like,
whoa, do you just want to adopt another one?
(36:35):
And they were like, what the fuck, dude?
Like this is like it. They said in that moment it
became very clear to them that this was only business for her.
Like oh Dang, actually another kid just opened up if you still.
If you want another one. Are you still looking?
And like, she stole all this money from them, got all these
(36:56):
families evolved. And Lee was not even licensed to
organize adoptions. She was claimed to be a social
worker who had her master's degree from Northwestern.
And we there was actually no proof if that was even true.
Oh damn, so. She is just little liar.
We're looking at Kashan's diploma, Northwestern.
(37:18):
'S master's degree from Northwestern.
Is that a fake? Is.
That a fake? Oh God, I wish it was.
It would have been a lot. Cheaper.
It would have been a lot cheaper.
This case was so original that the FBI had to come up with new
terms such as double match to describe what was going on.
They had really never seen anything like this before.
(37:39):
This was like a kind of like a brand new thing.
That's what that's what we were saying.
This is the open market. Open market, yeah.
There's demand guys. You're.
A criminal. I felt like there was no good
place to put this. But the Mathenes did end up
adopting Stephanie Son. They were able to adopt him, but
there was another family who is not just the Granites, but there
(38:03):
was another family as well who was matched with him.
So. That's the same the same kid at
least now to three different. Yeah, the same kid to three
different families and who knowshow many times that happened or
then yeah, the adoption like quote, UN quote fall through.
You just got to do that thing inthe Bible where you just split
the kid. Oh yeah, pull a pull a King
(38:24):
Solomon where he cuts the baby in half.
Yeah. Three ways you're like all of
you get one. One of each of many of you get a
portion of the baby. Like Thanksgiving dips on the
leg. Oh.
God, excuse me. So with the FBI investigating
her, Tara Lee was arrested and was sentenced to 10 years in
(38:45):
prison in 2020. During her trial, she begged and
pleaded with the judge for mercy, character witnesses
coming in and asking for leniency, and her sentencing
because she had children at home.
They begged for her family to bekept together even though Lee
had destroyed so many others. Lee is quoted saying.
(39:05):
I would swim any ocean. I would climb any mountain to
undo the hurt that I did. I pray every night for the
forgiveness of everyone in on that indictment and for everyone
not on that indictment. District Judge Bernard Friedman
had no mercy for Lee. He called her evil and said that
she deserved life in prison, Which I don't know if she
(39:28):
deserved life in prison but. I mean, she stole a lot of
money. She also did get some kids into,
I mean kids that obviously thesemothers were not in a position
to have children. So correct, it is probably good
that she did pair them. She did like and then I forgot
to mention she got caught. She got in trouble for 18 counts
of wire fraud. That was what they that is what
(39:51):
she ended up getting arrested with was wire fraud.
But I think like more so than the wire fraud, I think the
moral like what she did was so morally wrong.
Like you're not only you are playing with people's lives,
like you're playing with these babies, the babies that actually
were real. You're playing with their lives.
You're playing with these peoplewho are trying to be do good and
(40:14):
bring a child into a a more safe, stable environment into
your home. You know, you're playing with
these mothers who are impoverished, They need this,
money that, and you're not giving it to them.
You're playing with a lot of people's lives.
And the other thing that's a little bit scary about this was
the fact that she isn't licensedto.
(40:39):
Yeah, obviously that is a problem.
Well, like there was a lot of avenues that she probably wasn't
going through to like ensure, I don't know, I should have maybe
research. I should probably should have
looked that up, but I don't actually know what you have to
like show adoption agencies to prove that you're a fit like
that you're fit and able to takecare of children.
But like. I think it's purely financial,
(41:01):
honestly. Which is terrifying.
Certain amount of money per child and then they go like OK.
Yeah, which is terrifying. You'll be good.
You should have to show a lot more than that, but whatever,
you know? So who's to say that she even
took the proper channels to makesure that, like, these children
were being placed with someone safe.
She probably wasn't. So like, yes, $2.1 million is a
(41:24):
lot of money. It is not as much money as a lot
of other cases that we've covered.
However, morally, this is very bankrupt.
This is very gross, especially because she herself was a mother
and she just did not care for these women.
She did not care for these babies, and she presented
herself in such a way that was very misleading.
(41:46):
Although Lee got her ten years in prison, our story is
unfortunately not over. On January 30th, 2025, just a
few short weeks ago, it was reported that Lee would be moved
from the prison that she was at in Alabama to a halfway house in
Detroit. She remains in federal custody,
but will be allowed many more freedoms.
(42:07):
The families who are directly affected by Lee are outraged by
this. Lee has claimed, and Lee also
claimed like this whole entire time that she's had a bunch of
crazy health issues in order to get sympathy and empathy from
people. It was also like an excuse for
when she would ghost. She'd be like, oh, I've had the,
oh, I had this happen. Oh, I had that happen.
Like one time she told, I think she, I forget which couple it
(42:30):
was, but she told one of them that she had like gotten a
concussion. And it was like very, very clear
that she had not gotten a gottena concussion based on how she
was acting. But Lee claimed that she had
health issues and that was what led her to being transferred to
the halfway house. Teresa Metheny is saying that
this was ridiculous for her to be requesting services for her
(42:51):
health when she did not pay the mothers what they were owed for
their health expenses. Lee is expected to be in the
halfway house until 2026 until her release, which is 4 years
earlier than what she was originally sentenced.
That's normal. But that's very normal.
For nonviolent offenders, that is normal.
Yes, adoption is seen as a selfless act.
(43:14):
Opening up your home to a child in need and raising them as your
own is something that many people would never do.
Tara Lee used her position to prey on those who are desperate
mothers desperate to help their babies and and couples desperate
to start their families. In some cases, couples did get
matched with a baby and they were able to adopt, but dozens
(43:34):
more had poured their hard earned money straight into Lee's
pockets, leaving the mothers without care and the adoptive
parents with an empty crib. And that is our episode for
today. If you liked what you heard, if
you liked what you know, you liked what you listened to, let
us know. And you can also, if you want
(43:55):
more where that came from, you can follow us on socials.
We are on facebook.com/white Collars Red hands.
We're on Instagram at White Collars pod.
We are on X at White Collars, Red Hand, right just right
collars, white collars pod. There we go.
We're on TikTok at white collarsunder score red hands.
No, we're not on TikTok at whitecollars under score.
(44:17):
Oh damn it, we're just on TikTokat white collars, red hands, the
XI usually say Twitter and then I said X like I'm supposed to
and it just threw me off. Damn, are we at your old job
right now because you just butchered that?
OK, it's because we worked in a buncher shop.
Yeah, no one knows that about me.
And you've butchered that. You've said it multiple times on
the show. What is this the first time
they're listening? Well, true listeners will know
(44:39):
that nine of us a butcher once. I wasn't a butcher, I just
worked. Whatever, same thing.
Follow us on social media pleaseWe're also on YouTube and you
can watch us there. You can see my beautiful shining
face. It actually looks a little puffy
today, but that's besides what other ways that you can support
us is by buying some merch. You can go to our website,
(45:03):
whitecollarsredhands.com. You can click on that merch tab.
It'll take you on over to tea public and you can get a sweater
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things that you can buy over there.
Another way you can support us is by telling a friend.
Word of mouth is a great way to tell anybody about anything and
let them know that this podcast that you, you, you know, you
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(45:24):
We've been doing this for a longtime.
We've got a lot of episodes out there, so it'll take you a long
time to get through them all. 4 1/2 years. 4 1/2 years.
What else? God, I'm not doing well today.
Oh, if you here of a white collar Crime Story and you're
like, Oh my God, I would love itif Nina and Kashawn covered
(45:45):
that. Please send it our way.
You can do that either via socials or you can e-mail it to
us at white collars, redhands@gmail.com.
And I think that's it. You know what?
I think that's it too. Tonight, it's got to be all
right. Thank you so much for listening.
And we'll see you next time on another episode of White
Collars, Red Hands.
Wall Street veteran Bernard Madoff has been arrested and
charged with running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.
Congress wants to know what caused the Enron meltdown, and
while the collective rage currently is focused on low
comp. Tyco CEO Dennis Koslowski was
convicted of looting hundreds. Of millions of dollars.
This is one of the biggest fraudcases ever.
(00:23):
Their president's a crook. Well, I'm not a crook.
Find out more on this week's episode of White Collars, Red
Hands. You meet someone, you have
chemistry, you go on a date, that date turns into more dates.
You fall in love, get married, decide to start a family.
However, due to circumstances beyond your control, you cannot
(00:46):
conceive. You decide to adopt.
A private adoption seems like seems to be a logical way to go
about this, even though it is more expensive.
But as time passes, something seems fishy about the setup.
You're not getting any response from the adoption agency.
What's going on? Today's story focuses on Tara
(01:09):
Lee, the woman behind the $2,000,000 adoption scam.
Find out what happened on this week's episode of White Collars,
Red Hands. Oh man, and her sister makes
such good muffins too. I know, Sarah.
Yeah, Sarah Lee. Yeah.
Weird. They weird.
They made him rhyme. But you know, one person, she
(01:30):
runs a bakery, the other person can't have kids.
So yeah, life giveth and life taketh away.
So. And we giveth to you.
Welcome back to another episode of White Collar's Red Hands.
I'm Kashawn and I'm Nina. And this week we're talking
about Tara Lee and her adoption scam.
This is actually pretty crazy. It's actually pretty
(01:52):
one-of-a-kind that we'll talk about in the episode.
Not very many adoption scams outthere.
Oh, really? Yeah, Oh man, I figured they'd
be rampant. I don't know.
You would think, but this is kind of like, you know, I'm
going to give it to Tara Lee. This is what pretty untapped
territory. OK.
So what you're saying is that ifthere's people out there in the
audience right now that are like, what's my niche?
Where do I fit in scamming people that there's a big open
(02:15):
market in the world? Of it open.
Scams. Yes.
Oh. OK, well take that one down,
folks. Yeah, write that down.
You know, adoption, we hear a lot about it in the United
States. We know that we have a foster
care issue. In the United States.
There are over 390,000 children who are in foster care. 113,000
(02:36):
of those children are eligible for adoption.
Children wait on average three years before being adopted.
How are you in foster care? Not eligible for adoption?
What? What does that mean?
So if you well actually here, let me let me tell you this next
part if you're listening outsideof the United States, the foster
(02:56):
care. Foster care is a system that is
put in place by the government. If a parent is deemed unfit to
care for their child. The child is taken away by the
state and placed into the care of someone who the state deems
to be safe. The goal of foster care is to
have a child cared for by a trusted adult while the parent
rehabilitates. In some cases unification is
(03:19):
possible and after some time thechild can go back to living with
their parents. This isn't always the case and
there are times where the parents rights are removed and
then the child is put up for adoption.
So that's why in a lot of in some cases the parent is
actively working to fix the situation so that they can be
(03:42):
unified with their child again. OK.
So the ones that aren't up for adoption, their mom just might
be like kicking a crack habit, Yes.
OK. Yeah, a lot of and with,
honestly, also with the drug epidemic in this country, a lot
more children are being placed into foster care.
And so when those parents hopefully kick their habit,
(04:04):
they're able to, you know, get their children back.
It's fair. If there's one thing I know
about fentanyl is that it does not make you a good dad.
Nope. Nope.
There are there cases where there's like, you know, you have
a situation where one parent is abusive and then the other
parent is not, but they just haven't the children have to be
removed from the home. And it's kind of like until that
(04:25):
one parent is able to leave the situation, then they can be
reunified with their children. There's a lot of, there's a lot
of different scenarios in which children can be reunified with
their parents. Sad it, it's super sad.
It's super sad. And sometimes, you know,
sometimes it's a good thing, butnot always.
Adoption is a great option for families who are unable to have
(04:47):
children and want to grow their home.
Or people who just don't want tohave kids, it's OK.
Like if you can have a kid and you don't want to have one,
adoption is always an alternative.
You mean like if you get pregnant and don't want to have
your kid? No, I just mean like if you have
the ability to get pregnant, youwant a child.
You don't have to birth your ownchild.
Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
(05:09):
yeah. You don't have to do that.
There is not a one-size-fits-allapproach to adoption.
There's actually several different avenues that you can
take if you want to welcome a child into your home.
Some of the most common types ofadoption are adopting a child
through the welfare system, which this one's pretty
self-explanatory. Most of the time when a child is
(05:31):
adopted through the welfare system, they end up being
adopted by the family who was fostering them.
It's also called like foster to adopt, which sounds like I'm
talking about a dog but I'm talking about kids, so.
You can try them out for a second.
You can give you can give them atrial run and be like, I don't
want this one. I'll I'll keep this one now.
(05:51):
I'm sure that's kind of what it.Sounds.
I mean, you could. Be like well this.
One not to be like yeah, not to be like super like harsh, but
yeah like basically it's. Like, oh, this one's not going
to be Michael Orr. We'll.
Yeah, the guy from the blind. Zone.
So you're just like. This one's not going to be
(06:11):
Leonardo DiCaprio. So who let me let me get a child
I can capitalize on, you know. Well, Leo, Leonardo DiCaprio was
adopted. Did not know that.
Yeah, OK. So that was a good, that was a
good investment on his parents part.
Damn. I.
You're not wrong. I mean, it's fucked up.
Another common way for children to be adopted is
internationally. In some cases, families will, in
(06:36):
some cases, families will decideto adopt A child outside of the
United States. This method of adoption is
usually really tricky, and it's for, first of all, extremely
expensive. And it is often hard to get
citizenship for your child afterthey are adopted.
This is yeah, it's tricky. This is known as the Brad and
(06:56):
Angelina method though, right? I think in certain circles.
Like what do you go ahead and explain that?
Yeah. They have a ton of kids from
different countries, yeah. Yeah, it's a joke.
It's a bit. Yeah, no, it is definitely the
Brad and Angela didn't. Get that right?
Is that so old that people don'tget?
I mean, they've been divorced now for for, I guess.
I don't know how. Long, like 10 years.
(07:18):
God damn. Times, but a long time.
The sands keep dripping from thehourglass.
Like scarily there was that liketime period where a lot of
people like it was like trendy to adopt A baby from China,
which well, they. Had that policy.
Well, yeah, up until recently, but yeah, relative or kinship
(07:40):
adoption is when a relative willadopt the child.
Adult adoption is actually a thing.
This is when a child is in this is this is what this usually
means when this happens is a child is in foster care and
living in with a family when they are 17.
And then during that time that they are living with the family,
they turn 18 and the family willthen decide to adopt them after
(08:02):
they turn 18 years old, thus resulting in an adult adoption.
I'm just wondering what legally happens if you adopt an adults?
Like what is the difference now?Can they?
Oh I guess they could be on yourinsurance until they're 25.
Yeah, 26, yeah. So that's something, huh?
OK, never mind. There there are.
(08:23):
There are reasons. There's reasons also like I
think with, I mean actually thiswouldn't, I don't think this
would apply 'cause I was gonna say for like college collegiate
purposes, but not necessarily. But another reason for like,
adoption would be like, you know, say that child's hurt or
in the hospital and then, you know, you don't have any sort of
(08:44):
guardianship over them. So you wouldn't have any like,
you know, you may not be able tovisit them or like help them
make calls in regards to their medical care.
Fair enough. Or still be their medical power
of attorney. But fair enough.
Yeah. Or you know, I mean, I've
thankfully never been in this situation, but I think it's also
like a you are part of our family and like this is our
(09:06):
public way of like demonstratingthat is by adopting you.
EW icky family. EW Family The final way that
people will adopt in the United States is a private adoption.
Private adoptions are usually done through an adoption agency.
The agency will have pregnant mothers contact them, letting
them know that they want to put their child up for adoption.
(09:28):
The agency will then show potential families to the mother
and the mother will decide who they want their child to be
adopted by. The issue with this type of
adoption is that it can also be very expensive.
Expensive, sometimes upwards or more than $20,000.
I will say though, if I personally decided to, you know,
(09:49):
I got pregnant and didn't abort it and wanted to put it up for
adoption, I probably would go this route because I would want
to choose where my child is going and who is going to be
raising my child. Yeah, this is always the one you
see in like Lifetime movies. Oh yeah.
When a teen is pregnant. This is like Juno, right?
Well, she didn't go through an adoption agency.
She found them in the newspaper.But.
(10:11):
Yeah, weird thing to post in thenewspaper, like any pregnant
teens in the area. Yeah, we'd love to take that
baby off your hands, you know? Well, there's like, there was
this thing going around on social media, like on Facebook
for a while that it would be like, like couples like posting
an ad looking for to adopt A baby.
(10:31):
It was super sketchy. You'd be like, hey, you don't
want your baby, We'll adopt it. I'm like, Oh no, this baby is
going to be trafficked. I don't.
Craigslist vibes, yeah. Yeah, it's creepy.
I just leave mine in the that that that box where you can
leave them for free at the at the fire department.
At the fire department. Yeah, just, you know.
(10:51):
Yeah. And then they and then did you
know that if you drop them off at the fire department, they get
raised by the firefighters? Oh, that's cool.
Like Dalmatians? That's cool.
Yeah, it's pretty cool. That's cool.
They get you can make like little baby firefighters.
Yeah, who wouldn't want to see ababy slide down one of those
poles? I mean, I think that's adorable.
Come on. I mean, come on.
A baby in a firefighter outfit. So cute.
So today we're going to be talking about Tara Lee.
Now, Tara Lee was the founder and proud owner of Always Hope
(11:15):
Pregnancy Center, which was in Detroit, MI, her, well actually
New Haven, MI which is near Detroit.
Her passion was to match babies who needed to be adopted with
people who could give the children a loving home.
Now, Lee wasn't what you'd normally picture as someone who
was in charge of an adoption agency.
(11:37):
Lee was described by many as quote, rough around the edges.
She was covered in tattoos and had a sailor's mouth.
Nothing. Wrong with that.
Her tougher than nails personality made it so that
people could trust her and they knew that she was a woman of her
word. She was very like down to earth,
no like no nonsense. She was someone that a lot of
people could relate to. I'll.
(11:58):
Make sure your kid gets to a good place to wait.
Literally Newport. Newport Lee was proud to tell
families that her adoptions never fail.
Many adoptions do fail because of various reasons, but she
ensured families that this wasn't the case with her agency.
(12:18):
Many families put their trust inLee, including the Metheny
family. Mike and Teresa Matheny were a
couple living in Atlanta, GA whodesperately wanted a child.
They've been trying for many years to conceive and even tried
to do in vitro fertilization in hopes of making their dreams of
be care becoming parents come true, right?
(12:38):
Flex, they got IVF. Money.
They got IVF money, baby. IVF became too taxing on Teresa,
understandably so, and the couple decided that it would be
best for them to shift their sights to adoption.
The Matheny's were working with one adoption agency, but after
18 months they had no prospects of adopting.
(13:01):
It is really hard for prospective parents to get
matched with children. It's said that there is about
1,000,000 couples that are looking to adopt in the United
States, but only 20,000 babies available through private
adoption, so it's really competitive.
I'm gonna try not to go on a rant.
Go ahead, go on it. Go on it.
(13:21):
But this is the same problem I have when people get animals.
I know it's different, but thereare so many animals that are
like adult animals that like need a home and they're like,
but I want the kitten though. And you're like, there are so
many children that are in reallypoor situations.
They're like 5:00 and you're like, no, I want AI want a
(13:42):
smaller 1 though. Like what are you doing?
All right, this is purely for you.
No, it and you know what, I do think that there's something to
be said for people adopting babies, you know, or children,
regardless of the age. But I think sometimes it boils
down to how much do you really want to be a parent?
Because when you, you, I know multiple people who are like, I
(14:06):
would adopt, but I don't want, Idon't want them to be over the
age of XYZ because they're goingto have too much baggage,
they're going to have too much trauma.
And it's like, whoa, I thought you like, you know, it's like, I
don't. Know it would help a stable
environment yeah which is you want a you want a child they
want parents but you're like EW ick you're six yeah you're gonna
(14:28):
be way too sad like that's that's gotten.
You're gonna have done. Yeah.
No, it is. It is.
But a lot of people you know and.
Yeah, you know, Yeah. Well, that's all I'm gonna say
on this subject. Yeah.
Discouraged and frustrated, the Matheny's reached out to Always
Hope Pregnancy Center, praying that this time they would be
(14:49):
matched. After about two weeks with the
agency, Teresa got a call from that a woman named Stephanie
wanted them to adopt her little boy.
Stephanie was a woman in her 40swho lived in Michigan and after
a lifetime of struggles and disappointments, knew that she
could not raise another baby andwanted to give her child a
better shot at life. Yeah, I know 40s is a little
(15:13):
surprising. Oh, your chance of birth defects
are getting up. There.
Oh yeah, the Mathenes were over the moon.
They could not believe that after all this time they were
going to be parents. Tara Lee told them that they
needed to get on a three-way call with Stephanie so that they
could meet each other and come to an understanding of what was
going on medically with Stephanie and also the terms of
(15:35):
their adoption. Y'all are going to need to have
a three-way with me and Stephanie.
That's a three-way call. I busted your balls.
All right, Newport. The meeting went well, but the
Matheny's noticed that the conversation didn't really feel
organic. It almost felt like Stephanie
was being coached on what to stay.
(15:55):
Now typically in an adoption process, it is not abnormal for
the birth mother and the adoptive parents to be in
contact with one another. However, Tara Lee was monitoring
and controlling the communication between Stephanie
and the Matheny's. This is abnormal.
The adoption agency usually doesnot interfere or monitor with
communication between parents. After the meeting, Stephanie
(16:18):
said that she wanted the Matheny's to take care of her
little boy that was going to be delivered on October 11th.
The Matheny's were absolutely ecstatic about the news and
their dreams of becoming parentswere about to come true.
Lee told the Matheny's that the adoption process was underway.
She told the Matheny's that theyneeded to pay $13,000 to get the
(16:39):
process started. As soon as she received the
money she would get an adoption contract to them shortly.
However, that contract never came.
And I will say that this is something I learned through
researching this episode is thatwith private adoptions, it you
do pay for the mother's like expenses during the time of her
(17:02):
pregnancy. And this includes like rent,
food, rent. Yeah.
Or, or at least in this case, itincluded rent, rent, food,
medical expenses. So, you know, them paying this
sum is not unheard of. And it and it in itself now
(17:23):
they're meaning no contract was definitely sketchy.
Yeah. You don't don't give anybody.
Money. Don't give anybody money without
a contract. But like, Oh my God, I'm asking
for $13,000. Sounds crazy, but actually it
really wasn't that crazy. Well you said it could be 20,000
plus so I'm sure that sounded reasonable to them.
Right, right. So so not getting the contract
(17:46):
is kind of where things start totake a turn with the Mathenes.
Both Teresa and Mike were uneasywith the fact that they had not
received a contract for the adoption and started asking Lee
about it. Whenever the couple would
request updates on the contract,or they would, they would
request an update on the contract slash when would they
actually get the contract? Lee would kind of ghost.
(18:08):
If they contacted her about anything else though, she would
respond. One time Lee gave the excuse
that she wasn't going to be ableto get the contract with it to
them because she was leaving thecountry to go to Ghana with her
daughter to take school suppliesover to impoverished Ghanaian
children. Which, OK, crazy like so random.
(18:29):
When Lee got back from her trip,the Methenes put pressure on her
to receive the contract because their son was supposed to be
born within a week. Lee told them that they had
longer than a week that their son was supposed to be born at
the end of the month. This raised even more red flags
with the Mathenies because how could Lee mess up their son's
birthday? First it was October 11th, now
(18:49):
it's not going to be until the end of the month.
Lee claimed that she had gotten the birthday confused because
Stephanie had not received prenatal care for the first few
months of her pregnancy. As the day approached, the
Matheny's were a ball of nerves and excitement.
They had their nursery prepped and ready.
They couldn't wait for the change that was about to come
into their lives. They had packed up the car to
(19:10):
head to Michigan in the morning.This couple lived in Atlanta and
they were going to drive all theway to Michigan to adopt the
baby. Yeah, yeah.
Always hope Pregnancy center worked across, you know,
international. Yeah, no, whatever, throughout
the entire country. Man, there's nothing better that
I can imagine than like a 14 hour car trip with a newborn.
(19:32):
You know that sounds fun. That sounds like the first thing
I want to do with a child. Sounds horrible.
The couple went on a celebratorydinner with Mike's mother and
while on their way back they While on their way back from
dinner, their dreams were shattered into a million pieces.
Teresa received an e-mail from the adoption agency that they
(19:55):
had previously worked with. The e-mail was alarming.
They basically were like, is anyone in this agency also
working with Tara Lee? And it was clear that something
was wrong. She then called her adoption
attorney, Tanya Corrado, in Detroit.
(20:16):
Corrado informed Teresa that Tara Lee was under investigation
with the FBI. An adoption attorney?
Yes, those exist. Yes, actually they do.
Jeez. Teresa felt her world close in
on her, and she recalls that shelet out a blood curdling scream,
a scream unlike any sound she had ever made before.
Not only did they give Lee theirmoney, but they may no longer
(20:38):
have a baby. Corrado advised the couple to
come up to Detroit. It was on that trip that they
realized they never had any proof of Stephanie's baby even
existing. No pregnancy photos, no
ultrasounds, nothing. They had no idea what was
waiting for them when they got up to Michigan.
So yeah, scary stuff. I know it's the city of Detroit.
(21:03):
I know I wouldn't take a baby from Detroit.
Sorry we keep bashing on Detroiton this podcast.
Listen, you know what we really have?
We did. The Detroit Public Schools and
Kwame Kilpatrick. We said some stuff about Detroit
in both of those. I meant every single thing about
it. So unfortunately, the Mathenes
(21:26):
were not the only ones who were caught in Lee's web of lives.
She had duped plenty of other couples with her schemes.
Nick and Tammy Granith were a couple in Chicago who had been
hoping for a child for years. Much like the Matheny's.
They had not had luck with otheradoption agencies and stumbled
upon Always Hope. Just like the Matheny's, the
(21:46):
Granite's were matched with a baby very quickly.
Actually, they were matched withtwo babies, which was almost
unheard of. The babies were going to be born
within the same week. This was ideal for them because
they wanted to have two childrenand then they wouldn't have to
make the trip up to Michigan twice.
Oh, you know what, actually thatworks perfectly for us.
(22:07):
It'll save us time. If we can package this in like a
2 for one deal, you know, that'dbe great.
The bears, can we get a discount?
Can we look at 10 like like if we get to at the same time we
pay cash, can you take 15% off the top 'cause that would be
great? Oh my God.
I when I was listening to an interview with them and they
were saying this, I was like, OK, I know your heart is in the
(22:29):
right, is in the right place. But like, this is so funny that
like we don't have to take the trip twice.
Also Chicago to Detroit is like a four hour drive.
Not a far, it's really not. Really.
Not that far, no. The mothers of the babies were
Sarah and Sabrina. Now, Sarah was already a mother
who was ridden with poverty and knew that she couldn't
(22:50):
physically or financially handlehaving another child.
What? Do all these moms have S names?
It's like she's just. I don't know if she's just
making up their names but but ifshe is, that's just lazy.
So I'm not gonna lie. All right?
Spoiler alert. Samantha, Sabrina and Sarah.
Some of them are real. Oh, interesting.
(23:11):
Yes, OK. Crazy coincidence?
Yeah, it's a winky dink. I just, you know, girls with S
names, they just get pregnant all the time.
That is, that's what they say, that's.
What they say anyway. Sabrina was a young 19 year old
who was unfortunately the victimof assault and that's how she
(23:32):
got pregnant. Sabrina wanted to keep the
adoption closed. The Granites were not allowed to
know what she looked like and since it was a closed adoption,
they were not even allowed to get updates on the baby.
They didn't know that she had blonde hair and blue eyes, but
like that was the only thing they knew about Sabrina.
Oh my God, thank God she's Aryan.
(23:52):
Everything seemed to be going according to plan until Lee told
the Granis that Sabrina's behavior was becoming erratic.
She was taking drugs and even attempted suicide during her
pregnancy. It was made clear to the couple
that the baby would be born withdisabilities, although it was
kind of unsure of what kind. Because of the use of drugs and
the attempted suicide, the grandmas decided that they would
(24:15):
still care for the baby, even though they knew that the baby
would potentially have a lot of obstacles.
The agreement with Sabrina was extremely flat, fragile, and it
was unclear if they would even be in if they would even be able
to adopt her baby. Now this is also something that
I have heard in the past and wasconfirmed in this episode, that
(24:36):
a lot of times these types of adoptions do fall through for
one reason or another. Most of the time, though, the
mothers do decide that they wantto keep the baby.
And so, you know, up until it's literally up until that baby's
born, you think you're going to get a baby and then the mom will
change their mind. So do.
You get your money back for that's probably callous, but
(24:57):
like if you paid for all their medical bills and for their rent
and their food for like 9 monthsand then they were like, I kind
of want this. Yeah, I'm not.
I'd be like. I'm not sure how I'm.
Going to need that 15 grand backthough is the problem.
Yeah, I'm not 100% sure how thatworks to be honest with you.
All right. One day Lee called the Granis
(25:17):
and told them that she accidentally showed their
profile to another mother, Stephanie.
They were asked if she they werethey would be open to adopting
Stephanie's baby. The couple was hesitant.
They had already agreed to adopttwo baby girls, although there
was a chance that the adoption of Sabrina's would be a
(25:38):
Sabrina's baby would fall through.
If we take the third one, can weknock a solid 25% off the top
and then only make one trip? Is that is that cool?
Lee begged them to get on the call with Stephanie and the
couple agreed. During the phone call, Stephanie
begged and pleaded with a coupleto adopt her child.
They said that they would consider it if the baby was a
(26:01):
girl. Although this seems strange,
they were that they were insistent on the baby being a
girl. They had already prepped
nurseries and bought items for ababy girl.
In the end, Stephanie's baby wasa boy, but they agreed to adopt
him anyway. It's.
About to say be like oh all the stuff we got's the wrong color
just put the baby in a pink onesie man.
(26:23):
My my God, gender is fragile. I know the couple questioned Lee
on Sabrina's baby. They were like, you already have
a we're supposed to be adopting Sabrina's baby even though like,
you know, it's kind of turbulent, like the situation's
turbulent, but like, you know, Idon't think we can take on 1/3
baby. And Lee assured them not to
(26:44):
worry about it and that Stephanie baby would be a better
option for them. Although they had already paid
Lee thousand of dollars to coverSabrinas expenses and her
expenses were high because she was going to therapy daily now
the Granites made their way up to Michigan to meet the birth
mothers of their soon to be children.
Upon arriving they found that both mothers were living in
(27:06):
extreme poverty. Sarah's home had holes in the
floor and neither mother had adequate clothing during the
trips. The Grand has found out that
Stephanie baby was not due in September like they had
originally been told. She was going to be due at the
end of October, six weeks after Sarah Baby was going to be born.
So this was the couple that wanted the babies born at the
(27:28):
same time. Now we're going to have to make
2 trips. It was ruined everything.
Why did? Why couldn't you be less
pregnant, right? Now less pregnant, can we just
do AC section early? I mean like really?
That's why we have them. Anyway, let's get it out.
We already we're here, the car'shere.
We don't. Get both.
I got both seats in the car. Come on.
(27:50):
When questioning Lee about the incorrect due date of the baby,
Lee told them that Stephanie wasn't getting prenatal care and
she didn't know what she was talking about.
It was also noted that Lee wouldfind and prey on women that were
less fortunate and like she would go to methadone clinics,
things like that, and pass out her business cards so that she
could get these women's babies. Both couples noted that Lee
(28:14):
would speak poorly about the birth mothers, often saying
things like, you know how these women are.
It seemed as though she thought less of these women while also
saying that she wanted to help them.
She was talking out of both sides of her mouth and.
You know I only serve the best babies from the worst fucking
women. All right?
That's what you got here. It's how they have a
(28:36):
personality. How do you think I get babies
off at these prices? OK, I'm undercutting all the
competition. It's because all my mother's are
down at the methadone clinic, OK?
The time came for Sarah to have her baby girl.
The Granites made their way backup to Michigan, but chaos
started to ensue Upon arriving at the hospital.
(28:58):
Sarah didn't want to. She really didn't want to talk
to the Granites and she appearedto be angry.
Had nothing to do with a baby coming out of her Lee said that
she was having second thoughts about the grands adopting her
baby because she didn't want them taking care of two babies
at once. She was also worried that her
daughter She was worried that her daughter wasn't going to be
taken care of as well as she would if she was an only child.
(29:21):
She also said that like she was worried because Stephanie was
racist and so she was worried that like when Stephanie's baby
came out that it would be racistand her.
Daughter. And her daughter was going to be
mixed race. So she was like, I don't want
her brother to be racist againsther.
But then they were like, how do you do you even know Stephanie?
(29:43):
Like what? Sarah, have you been doing drugs
again? Well, when the truth came out,
Sarah was actually upset becauseher expenses were not being paid
for like she had been promised. Her rent, her food, medical
bills had not been paid even though she had been assured that
they would be. Now the grandest were confused.
(30:04):
They had paid Lee thousands of dollars to cover Sarah's
expenses. Where had all the money gone?
Lee assured the couple that Sarah was lying.
She had been paid and she probably used the money on
things that were unimportant, drugs.
Now the couple wasn't convinced.While in the hospital, the
couple was wondering if they would run into Sabrina because
(30:25):
she was supposed to be giving birth to her baby.
At the same time, the truth would come out that Sabrina
never existed. Lee made her up and made-up the
entire horrific story about her getting assaulted, her trying to
commit suicide, all of that was the fabrication.
Oh, I'm getting, I'm getting these women mixed up.
I'm sorry that I said that. The other one was doing drugs.
(30:48):
It was the fake one. It was a fake one to address.
Sabrina. Sabrina.
The teenage witch. Yes, now Sarah gave birth to a
baby girl and the Granas had their daughter.
While their daughter was in the NICU, it became clear that
Stephanie was telling the truth about her baby not being due
until late October with the weight of the world on their
(31:09):
because OK so here's the deal. They this baby was in the NICU
for like a really long time likealmost like 3 weeks.
And during that time like Stephanie is like not even close
to having this baby. Like it's just becoming more and
more apparent that like this woman is actually due at the end
of October. Like she was telling us and not
what Lee was telling us. So they had a decision to make,
(31:29):
and with the weight of the worldon their shoulders, the grandest
decided not to move forward withthe adoption of Stephanie's son.
They wrote her a letter explaining their situation, but
Stephanie never received it. Dear Stephanie, Here's the
thing, it's like 350 miles from Chicago to Detroit, and we're
already going to have to go back.
(31:50):
So, And I own a 1993 Dodge Caravan, which I get 15 miles
per gallon. Do you understand how expensive
that would be? So I'm sorry, Stephanie, you're
going to have to keep that kid. Well, when the grandness asked
for a refund of the expenses that they had paid for
(32:10):
Stephanie, that hadn't been usedand her baby had already.
So like they said, hey, we're not going to adopt this baby.
Almost immediately, they had another match.
But if you remember, the Mathenes were also matched with
Stephanie, so Stephanie already had another match.
So since they were like, hey, we're not going to adopt your
(32:30):
kid, she had already had anothermatch.
They were like, can we get the money back that she hasn't used?
OK, so they did ask for the, askfor the.
Refund OK? Lee told them that she could not
give them that money back because the new parents were
refusing to help pay for any expenses up until that point.
But that wasn't true. The Metheny's had paid $8000 to
cover Stephanie's expenses, and Stephanie had only received
(32:52):
about half of that money. The money was going straight
into Lee's pockets. Now, some of the families became
uneasy about what was happening,and they began to form a
Facebook group. So basically they were going on
like word was getting out and people were posting on Facebook
like, hey, this is my story. Other people were saying being
(33:14):
like, hey, I worked with Tara Lee 2.
A bunch of sketchy stuff happened with me as well, and
they ended up forming a Facebookgroup and then all like, talked
about how they knew Tara and like, all their experiences and
they were all finding that therewas a lot of similarities
between all of their stories, all of these families.
Now, although only 23 people were listed in the affidavit or
(33:37):
23 couples were listed in the affidavit, over 160 families
were involved with this scheme. Now the FBI was hot on Tara
Lee's tale and we already know that Tara Lee had been double
matching babies with families, but she was also continuously
lying about birth mothers and their babies.
There was one birth mother in particular that Lee would lie
(33:59):
about. Her name was Rashonda.
Now, Lee claimed that Rashonda wanted to put her son up for
adoption. She matched families with
Rashonda and informed the families of some devastating
news. Rashonda had been shot and
killed in her car and her baby died along with her.
In all actuality, Rashonda neverexisted.
(34:22):
There was no baby. No one had died.
She just pocketed every expense that these families had given
her in preparation for the new baby.
Not only would expectant mothersdie, but they would also
frequently change their minds, deciding to keep the babies
after the families had paid thousands of dollars to cover
their expenses, some paying upwards of $25,000.
(34:45):
Now the phone calls between the birth moms and the adoptive
parents that Lee would set up. Now, Lee would hire women to act
as birth mothers for the phone conversations.
These women were not putting their children up for adoption,
and from 2014 to 2018, hopeful adoptive parents paid Lee $2.1
(35:09):
million. Jesus.
Yeah, Lee took advantage of mothers who had no other
options. And for couples who are
desperate to start their families, she dashed their hopes
and dreams by taking their moneyand buying luxury clothing and
getting flashy manicures. That was like something that was
always noted about her was that like her manicures were always
(35:30):
like on point. Man, for how I've been
portraying her, you wouldn't assume her to have very nice
nails, but I guess here we are. Oh, it's probably those like
trashy long. Super.
Long, yeah. Nails with, like, jewels on
them. Yeah.
Mike Metheny would talk about how, like, they would be with
her. And she'd always be, like,
(35:50):
clacking on her computer, clacking on her phone.
And like, he, like, in those Facebook groups, like, people
were posting dates of, like, shestole this money from me on this
day. This happened this day.
And like, Mike was like, one of those days was the day that,
like, my son was being born. So like, we're all at the
hospital with this baby literally on the way.
And then she's in there clicketyclacking, like stealing more
(36:13):
people's money. Damn.
And then when like also when like the, the granite, when it
was like up in the air whether or not they were going to be
able to adopt Sarah's baby, whenshe was like, I don't know if
you, I want you adopting my baby.
They were sitting in the waitingroom and Tara Lee was like,
whoa, do you just want to adopt another one?
(36:35):
And they were like, what the fuck, dude?
Like this is like it. They said in that moment it
became very clear to them that this was only business for her.
Like oh Dang, actually another kid just opened up if you still.
If you want another one. Are you still looking?
And like, she stole all this money from them, got all these
(36:56):
families evolved. And Lee was not even licensed to
organize adoptions. She was claimed to be a social
worker who had her master's degree from Northwestern.
And we there was actually no proof if that was even true.
Oh damn, so. She is just little liar.
We're looking at Kashan's diploma, Northwestern.
(37:18):
'S master's degree from Northwestern.
Is that a fake? Is.
That a fake? Oh God, I wish it was.
It would have been a lot. Cheaper.
It would have been a lot cheaper.
This case was so original that the FBI had to come up with new
terms such as double match to describe what was going on.
They had really never seen anything like this before.
(37:39):
This was like a kind of like a brand new thing.
That's what that's what we were saying.
This is the open market. Open market, yeah.
There's demand guys. You're.
A criminal. I felt like there was no good
place to put this. But the Mathenes did end up
adopting Stephanie Son. They were able to adopt him, but
there was another family who is not just the Granites, but there
(38:03):
was another family as well who was matched with him.
So. That's the same the same kid at
least now to three different. Yeah, the same kid to three
different families and who knowshow many times that happened or
then yeah, the adoption like quote, UN quote fall through.
You just got to do that thing inthe Bible where you just split
the kid. Oh yeah, pull a pull a King
(38:24):
Solomon where he cuts the baby in half.
Yeah. Three ways you're like all of
you get one. One of each of many of you get a
portion of the baby. Like Thanksgiving dips on the
leg. Oh.
God, excuse me. So with the FBI investigating
her, Tara Lee was arrested and was sentenced to 10 years in
(38:45):
prison in 2020. During her trial, she begged and
pleaded with the judge for mercy, character witnesses
coming in and asking for leniency, and her sentencing
because she had children at home.
They begged for her family to bekept together even though Lee
had destroyed so many others. Lee is quoted saying.
(39:05):
I would swim any ocean. I would climb any mountain to
undo the hurt that I did. I pray every night for the
forgiveness of everyone in on that indictment and for everyone
not on that indictment. District Judge Bernard Friedman
had no mercy for Lee. He called her evil and said that
she deserved life in prison, Which I don't know if she
(39:28):
deserved life in prison but. I mean, she stole a lot of
money. She also did get some kids into,
I mean kids that obviously thesemothers were not in a position
to have children. So correct, it is probably good
that she did pair them. She did like and then I forgot
to mention she got caught. She got in trouble for 18 counts
of wire fraud. That was what they that is what
(39:51):
she ended up getting arrested with was wire fraud.
But I think like more so than the wire fraud, I think the
moral like what she did was so morally wrong.
Like you're not only you are playing with people's lives,
like you're playing with these babies, the babies that actually
were real. You're playing with their lives.
You're playing with these peoplewho are trying to be do good and
(40:14):
bring a child into a a more safe, stable environment into
your home. You know, you're playing with
these mothers who are impoverished, They need this,
money that, and you're not giving it to them.
You're playing with a lot of people's lives.
And the other thing that's a little bit scary about this was
the fact that she isn't licensedto.
(40:39):
Yeah, obviously that is a problem.
Well, like there was a lot of avenues that she probably wasn't
going through to like ensure, I don't know, I should have maybe
research. I should probably should have
looked that up, but I don't actually know what you have to
like show adoption agencies to prove that you're a fit like
that you're fit and able to takecare of children.
But like. I think it's purely financial,
(41:01):
honestly. Which is terrifying.
Certain amount of money per child and then they go like OK.
Yeah, which is terrifying. You'll be good.
You should have to show a lot more than that, but whatever,
you know? So who's to say that she even
took the proper channels to makesure that, like, these children
were being placed with someone safe.
She probably wasn't. So like, yes, $2.1 million is a
(41:24):
lot of money. It is not as much money as a lot
of other cases that we've covered.
However, morally, this is very bankrupt.
This is very gross, especially because she herself was a mother
and she just did not care for these women.
She did not care for these babies, and she presented
herself in such a way that was very misleading.
(41:46):
Although Lee got her ten years in prison, our story is
unfortunately not over. On January 30th, 2025, just a
few short weeks ago, it was reported that Lee would be moved
from the prison that she was at in Alabama to a halfway house in
Detroit. She remains in federal custody,
but will be allowed many more freedoms.
(42:07):
The families who are directly affected by Lee are outraged by
this. Lee has claimed, and Lee also
claimed like this whole entire time that she's had a bunch of
crazy health issues in order to get sympathy and empathy from
people. It was also like an excuse for
when she would ghost. She'd be like, oh, I've had the,
oh, I had this happen. Oh, I had that happen.
Like one time she told, I think she, I forget which couple it
(42:30):
was, but she told one of them that she had like gotten a
concussion. And it was like very, very clear
that she had not gotten a gottena concussion based on how she
was acting. But Lee claimed that she had
health issues and that was what led her to being transferred to
the halfway house. Teresa Metheny is saying that
this was ridiculous for her to be requesting services for her
(42:51):
health when she did not pay the mothers what they were owed for
their health expenses. Lee is expected to be in the
halfway house until 2026 until her release, which is 4 years
earlier than what she was originally sentenced.
That's normal. But that's very normal.
For nonviolent offenders, that is normal.
Yes, adoption is seen as a selfless act.
(43:14):
Opening up your home to a child in need and raising them as your
own is something that many people would never do.
Tara Lee used her position to prey on those who are desperate
mothers desperate to help their babies and and couples desperate
to start their families. In some cases, couples did get
matched with a baby and they were able to adopt, but dozens
(43:34):
more had poured their hard earned money straight into Lee's
pockets, leaving the mothers without care and the adoptive
parents with an empty crib. And that is our episode for
today. If you liked what you heard, if
you liked what you know, you liked what you listened to, let
us know. And you can also, if you want
(43:55):
more where that came from, you can follow us on socials.
We are on facebook.com/white Collars Red hands.
We're on Instagram at White Collars pod.
We are on X at White Collars, Red Hand, right just right
collars, white collars pod. There we go.
We're on TikTok at white collarsunder score red hands.
No, we're not on TikTok at whitecollars under score.
(44:17):
Oh damn it, we're just on TikTokat white collars, red hands, the
XI usually say Twitter and then I said X like I'm supposed to
and it just threw me off. Damn, are we at your old job
right now because you just butchered that?
OK, it's because we worked in a buncher shop.
Yeah, no one knows that about me.
And you've butchered that. You've said it multiple times on
the show. What is this the first time
they're listening? Well, true listeners will know
(44:39):
that nine of us a butcher once. I wasn't a butcher, I just
worked. Whatever, same thing.
Follow us on social media pleaseWe're also on YouTube and you
can watch us there. You can see my beautiful shining
face. It actually looks a little puffy
today, but that's besides what other ways that you can support
us is by buying some merch. You can go to our website,
(45:03):
whitecollarsredhands.com. You can click on that merch tab.
It'll take you on over to tea public and you can get a sweater
like a Sean. There's also a bunch of other
things that you can buy over there.
Another way you can support us is by telling a friend.
Word of mouth is a great way to tell anybody about anything and
let them know that this podcast that you, you, you know, you
like it. It's a good time.
(45:24):
We've been doing this for a longtime.
We've got a lot of episodes out there, so it'll take you a long
time to get through them all. 4 1/2 years. 4 1/2 years.
What else? God, I'm not doing well today.
Oh, if you here of a white collar Crime Story and you're
like, Oh my God, I would love itif Nina and Kashawn covered
(45:45):
that. Please send it our way.
You can do that either via socials or you can e-mail it to
us at white collars, redhands@gmail.com.
And I think that's it. You know what?
I think that's it too. Tonight, it's got to be all
right. Thank you so much for listening.
And we'll see you next time on another episode of White
Collars, Red Hands.
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