YouSaid · the spoken record

Brett Johnson

lines on the record: 306
first: 2022-03-27
most recent: 2022-03-27
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“If you don't tell me, you see those guys over there, if you start to associate with them or they start to talk to you and then they find out you're in here on something, they're going to kill you”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's how I didn't get my ass beaten. And my other job, I had two jobs with them. The other job, you get to the point, it's weird, man. You get to the point. People walking off the bus. You know immediately two groups of people. You know who the bank robbers are immediately, just by them walking off the bus, they're like, that motherfucker's a bank robber. And you know who the pedophiles are immediately. So my job as the white guy was to approach the white pedophiles and have a conversation. And the conversation was basically, hey, Don't know what you're in here for. Don't care what you're in here for. But if you got some sort of fucked up charge, You need to tell me If you tell me everything is going to be all right.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The magazine turned over the page. I was like, Right there is what you're looking for. He was like, Man, I already knew. I was like, do we have a problem? And he looks at me and he's like, is anyone on the compound you told on? I was like, no. He's like, until someone gets here, you snitched on. He's like, but I need you to do something for me. All right, so in federal prison, you got to have a job. Everybody works. Doesn't matter what you do, but you got to work. I got a job in education teaching a lit class Every Wednesday, 6 8 30 p.m. lit and had every area on the compound signs up for the lit class, had a couple guards every now and then popped in. And did we teach lit? No. We taught fraud every Wednesday.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I'm like, no, not going to do that. So I'm like, completely safe. He was like, look, he's like, if anybody says anything to you, immediately come to us because they'll fucking kill you. So they do a locker search, try to confiscate the magazines. They can't. The next day I walk into the unit. There's Nick Sandifer laying on his bunk. Magazine wide open reading it. I'm like, oh shit. Walked up to him. I was like, hey, Nick, what are you doing? He's like, oh, doing some reading. I was like, anything interesting? He's like, it's getting there. Was like, let me save you the trouble.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Which is right up there with the pedophiles So we go to dinner after that at dinner. You can hear it. You can hear the chat. We got to snitch it. I think it's that guy. Warden next day shuts down the entire compound, calls me into his office, they got a security there, got the counselors there and everything else. Warden looks at me and he's like, did you give an interview to Wired Magazine? I'm like, yeah. He's like, do you not know they will kill you in here? I was like, He was like, Do you feel safe? Well, I know if you tell me you don't feel safe, they transport you. Transport you means another eight months in solitary confinement. You start to see shit in solitary after a while.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“All the store, you would think, you would think it saved me. So I'm reading the article, really happy about it. So what happens is four o'clock is mail call, four o'clock's a stand-up count nationwide after four o'clock is your mail call, they hand out all the mail for the day. So the mail comes, I get the magazine. I'm reading through it. I'm like, well, shit, I'm good to go. Then it says Brett Johnson, Secret Service Informant in the article.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Way it actually works in prison, they won't attack you. Until they know. So they have to see paperwork, which now in federal prison you don't get transported with paperwork because of that. So they have to see paperwork or a guard will tell them what you're in there for Gars will tell who the pedophiles are. So none of the guards told them that was anything. So, for the first month they think I am, but they're not doing anything because they don't know for sure. At the end of the first month, I'd been talking to Kevin Poulson over at Wired Magazine about Max Butler. He does an article about that, shows up in Wired Magazine. So at the end of the first month, Wired Magazine hits a compound, front cover,”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Prison And what you see, and that's one of the things you find out the guys that are going in there for child porn, they will tell them it's credit card theft. So, yeah.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's it They circle around. They're like, What did you say you were in here for? I'm sitting there trying to explain it to them. They're like, you know, you tell a good story, you still said this. Now,”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I go through processing and I'm walking up to the unit, and I met at the door by a guy named Nick Sandifer. He's a treasurer of the Aryan Brotherhood. And first question out of his mouth is, any more white guys come in? And should I know? I was like, I don't know four or five? Next question is, what are you in here for? My answer was because I'm like, I ain't got no worries. My answer was computer crime smiled at him. And it turns out wrong thing to say because computer crime is not credit card theft or hacking or any bullshit like that. Computer crime in prison is child pornography. So tell him that he looks at me like I'm a piece of shit, goes and gets his buddies, they circle around. What are you in here for?”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Prairie dogs and tarantul What it is, it got no kidding, it gets so hot that warnings come on the radio telling you not to drive on certain streets because they're melted. That's big spring. So, if you've seen the movie from Dusk till dawn, the opening scene is in Big Spring, Texas. Yeah, very hot. And that's where I find out what a real prison is. And it's not ran by guards. Prisons are ran by inmates, and that's a fact. So you're met at the door by whatever race you are is what happens. So Big Spring is a converted Air Force compound. It's a disciplinary prison, so you get the bad guys that are in there. So I get...”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“See anything. You get in solitary. All right. And it takes about a week. The first week is the roughest. You're bouncing off the walls that first week because you can't sleep, can't do anything else. Then you start to adapt to it after a while. When that book does arrive, you're happy as hell to have it. I'm well versed. King James Bible, so you're happy to have it. Then finally, you get other books that come in from that point. Spent eight months at that. They send me out to a real prison, Big Spring, Texas, West Texas, where”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Going through every single bit of that. And so you're supposed to get out an hour a day. Law says you're supposed to get out an hour a day. That's the law. That's not the way things actually happen. What actually happens is you're lucky to get out an hour a week. You take a shower twice a week, and that's it. You get a phone call once a month.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The interesting thing with that. And it's the best lie I ever told. Honestly, the best lie I ever told. I spent eight months in solitary confinement. And that's an experience You ain't got no books for the first month or so. Yeah. And then...”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, your honor. And he's like, so here's what I'm going to do. He said, I'm going to give you. 18 months on the escape. I was like, okay, he said, I'm also going to give you, and I was 15 months on the escape. He said, I'm going to give you 15 months on the escape. He said, and I'm also going to order the drug program for you. I was like, yes, Your Honor. So the drug program gives you a year off, and it gives you six months and halfway house. So by escaping, I got out of prison. Months earlier, then what I should have gotten out of.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Prosecutor stands up. He's like, Your Honor, we would like it if you would consider that when Mr. Johnson was arrested, he had a laptop, he had all this information with him, looks like he was engaged in identity theft yet again. Judge looks at the prosecutor, says no, says hey, if you were going to charge him with it, you should have charged him with it. I'm only considering the escape. Then he looks at me. He's like, Mr. Johnson. He said, it looks like by you keeping your mouth shut right now, you're really saving yourself a pretty serious charge. And my response was, yes, your honor. And he was like, then he opens up the pre-sentence report and he's fingering through and he's like, it also looks like before you got involved with all these drugs, you were a pretty good citizen. I was like,”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“U.S. Marshals are outstanding. Everything they do. So they arrest me. I go to a, I'm initially held at a county jail in Moorhead, Kentucky, and that was one hell of an experience there. But then I'm transferred after sentencing on that. So sentencing, here's the weird thing. So I spent like, I think two or three months at the county jail in Moorhead, Kentucky gets sentenced. At my sentencing. Happens so quickly after the initial sentencing that they use the exact same pre-sentence report, the report that's got all that drug shit in there. My sent Prosecutor's there, secret services there, judge me and my attorney.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Scaped, U.S. Marshals, they're canvassing a three-state area. They find me, I think, 250 miles away. It's like Lexington, Kentucky. They find me in Lexington because I had to use my real driver's license. I had a laptop. I had prepaid debit cards. And I had stolen identity information. The way it got me was I had dyed my hair this flaming red. You know, I had this deep tan. I didn't look anything like myself. I was at a hotel, had the curtains open, saw the sky. I was on a laptop, saw this guy walk by. He walks by the window, and he stops. And then he backs up. He looks inside. He knocks on the window. I look up at him. He's like, you. I was like, mean? He's like, you. Then he pulls out this badge and he points at. He's like, and then he points at the door now. So I was like, oh, okay. I open up the door. He's like. US Marshals Service”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, work my ass off. Within six weeks, I take off. And I lasted, I think, two, three weeks, something like that. U.S. Marshals, I made it 100%.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And what I did is I manipulated the man into helping me escape. So I agreed to teach him how to do tax fraud. And in return, he had the only money he had to his name. He had four thousand dollars cash. So I manipulated him and he given me that, and to drop him me off a change of clothes, a cell phone and a driver's license. The only driver's license he had was my driver's license, Brett Johnson. So I was at the camp for, I don't know, six, eight weeks. And the hardest worker that landscaping had ever seen. At one point the cops got me on a mountainside with a broom. Sweeping off the mountain. I'm like, yeah, we'll do that, absolutely.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I'm like, so what I used to say, and again, it's this thing of, you know, really coming to terms with things. What I used to say was, is I thought my dad was back in my life and he was just trying to use me. All right. The truth of the matter was, is that my dad hadn't really seen me. Except in that frame of crime, you know, being that criminal with my mom, everything else. I really think that's how the man was trying to communicate with me.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And stands up in front of the judge, and he's like, Your Honor, I want to make sure Brett gets a good start. He can live with me when he gets out, everything else. Looking back, the man meant that. And I just thought it was bullshit at the time. So he starts to visit me in prison. I mean, yeah, in prison, he starts to visit. And about the third visit in, he looks at me. He's like, I've been reading about you online. I was like, yeah, he's like, yeah. He's like, that's a lot of money you made. And I was like, yeah. He's like, You think you can teach somebody how to do that?”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Two days later, I walk into the landscaping office and the cop. This is this genius of some of these people and institutions, the cop behind his desk, the entire wall is a blown up photo of the compound and the outline area. So I can literally sit there and plot where I'm going. My dad I hadn't spoken to that man in years. And he shows up at my sentence.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I get sent to because you can get a camp recommended. I have friends, family members look for camps that don't have a fence around them. And we settle on Ashland, Kentucky. Six weeks later, I'm at Ashley, Kentucky and pull up there, fourteen foot fence, razor wire on top. And I'm like I don't climb fences I go in first question I ask is are there any jobs outside of the fence? And he was like guard's like, well, you can work in the national forest. And I'm like, no, I'll die out there. He was like, well, you could do landscaping. I'm like, I can run a weed eater.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So I looked at my lawyer and I was like, can you get the drug program for me? He's like, I don't know how I'll ask. So he stands up Your honor, reorder the drug program for Mr. Johnson. The judge says no, but I'll recommend he gets evaluated. So the Secret Service had told her, hey, he's full of shit. She's like, no, but I'll recommend it gets evaluated. I looked at my lawyer and I was like, What does that mean? He was like, You're probably not going to get it. And I was like, how soon can you get me to the camp? And he was like, well, if you don't appeal, I can get you there pretty quick. My exact words were, fuck the appeal. Get me to the camp. I'll take it from there. He looks at me like I'm the biggest idiot in the world”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“My pre sentence report, so all federal inmates, probation office and prosecutor, they do this detailed background check to basically tell the judge how much time to give you. All right, so that drug bit with that interview makes it into the PSR. So day of interview, I mean, day of sentencing. I had pled guilty, day of sentencing The prosecutor, he stands up, and this dude is screaming at this point. And he's like, Mr. Johnson's manipulated the Secret Service. He's manipulated the prosecutor. Then he points at the judge. And he's manipulating you today, Your Honor. We insist on the upper limits of the guidelines. Well, I've been telling everybody in the jail that if they give me any more than 60 months, I am not staying. We're like, okay, sure. So the judge looks at me and she's like, I agree. I'm like, she says, 75 months.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I had hired Strom Thurman's son as an attorney. They make me drop him because I paid for him with illegal funds. So they give me a public defender. He gets a psychological evaluation ordered for me. So, psychologist comes in County Jail four hour interview about halfway through. He looks at me and he's like, use any type of drugs? And I was like, yeah. He's like, what do you use? Cocaine. Smoker snort. Snort? How much? An eight ball day. That's a lot. Yeah. Do you have any trouble out of that? Yeah, I can't get an erection. And he looks at me. And I'm looking at him like, because I had gotten that shit from Boogie Knights. Finally, I'm like, is that right? He was like, it could happen. I was like, okay. That makes it into”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“On purpose, on purpose, wears you down mentally and physically, and everything I get to Columbia, South Carolina. Now, while I was at Orange County, what happens is this inmate, because we were in federal holding, this inmate he looks at me, his name was Yeti, and he's like, hey, man, you know the only time you get off in federal prison is the drug program. I was like, well, man, I don't use drugs. And he's like, you can find a drug problem, catch you? And I was like, I can find a drug problem. So what happens is every county jaw I stop at on the way to Columbia, I tell them I'm alcoholic and cocaine. So by the time I get to Columbia, South Carolina, they've got this paper trail of Mr. Johnson requesting help for drugs.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Like, have you got anything in here? And I was like, Yeah, there were 120,000 dollars in the bedroom. And he was like, seriously. I was like, yeah, that and an AK-47. His face goes white. And he's like, you've got a rifle? And I was like, no, I'm kidding with you. Like, he was like, okay, so they throw me in jail in Orange County, and they give me diesel therapy. And diesel therapy is... It took like two weeks to transport me from Orange County, Orlando to Columbia, South Carolina. And what happens is, as you stop at every county jail you possibly can, go through the processing which is about six hours. Once you get to your bunk, hey, time to transport you.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And proceeded to go to Disney World every day. And that lasted about six weeks. They used a trigger fish is what they use. Nowadays it's called a stingray. To find me. So one day I was, it was like 10.30 in the morning on Saturday, September 16th was the day, two thousand six. Yeah, 2006, September 16th. I was used to the builders coming around knocking, making sure everything was all right. So I was asleep. Heard this knock at the door and get up, look through the keyhole. Nobody's there. And you know the people, nobody's there. I was like, huh, open the door, step out into the hallway, walking down the hall as Bobby Kirby, another South Carolina guy, and Orlando Orange County cop. And they turn around. They're like, hey, Brett. I'm like, hey, Bobby, how are you? And it's like, we're good. How are you? And I'm like, I'm fine. Would you like to come in? And he was like, let's put.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Literally, literally said that out loud Loaded up the Jeep, drove from Las Vegas to Orlando, Florida, and got the two annual passes one to Disney World, the other one to Universal Studios, paid for a timeshare. They were building these new timeshares right off Universal Drive, building these brand new timeshares, paid for a timeshare nine months cash. Like, we take cash. Yeah, we take cash. There's $12,900. Then it wasn't furnished, so I went down to a furniture store, bought $30,000 in furniture. They had seized a DVD collection of mine worth $30,000, bought that back.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“They're like, oh, yeah, we're going to get this son of a bitch. So I sit there looking at it, and I was like, set it out loud. I was like, well, Mr. Johnson, you've made the United States' most wanted list. What do you do now? And I was like, I'm going to Disney World.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That was it. That was it. So I was on the run for four months, stole $600,000. I was in Las Vegas, Nevada. One day I had stolen the night before I'd stolen $160K out of ATMs. In the next morning, I woke up, signed on to Cartersmarket.com, which was ran by Max Butler, the Ice Man. And there's my name, U.S. Most Wanted On It. And that gets your attention. It was my real name with U.S. Most Wanted beside it. Nobody knew my real name in that environment at all. But then they did. And it was talking about me being part of the Secret Service, Operation Anglerfish, everything else. So of course, they're all like...”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, I called this stripper girl up. I'd given her like 60K, some bullshit like that. And I told her, I was like, Kim, I need some money. And she was like, what? I was like, look, I said, give me $1,000. I'll give you back $3,000 in two weeks. She was like, okay. So I met her in Augusta, Georgia and got the thousand from her and started driving west on I-20. No idea where to go to, anything else. Got to Dallas. There was a prepaid debit card supplier in Dallas, went in, walked in the office, convinced the guy, social engineering, convinced the guy to give me sixty prepaid debit cards without a driver's license, without payment anything else he did. And that started the run. I ended up stealing from that. I stole like 160K profit. Use that to buy a Jeep Cherokee. And the idea was to steal enough money to bug out to Florianopolis, Brazil, and set up shop.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Rules they revoke the bond improperly Reinstates the bond. Nobody calls the secret service to tell him I walk out. I walk out. I was dating the stripper, and I told my mom, I was like, well, if they're going to fuck me, they're going to have to find me.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, Jim Ramicon pulls me out. He's the second in charge of South Carolina. He's got the Miranda waiver in front of him, right? And he looks at me. He's like, I'm playing hardass. Bobby's over here looking distraught and, you know, like a hurt dog. And Jim's like, here's the way this is going to work. He said, you're going to tell me everything you've done the past six years, or I'm going to make it my mission in life to fuck over you. And your family And he said, not just this case. Once you get out of prison, I'll hound you the rest of your life. Then he slides the Miranda waiver over and he's like, now you want to talk? And I looked at him and I was like, nope. It was like. Gets up, gets all red in the face, storms out. On the way out, he's like, fuck you very much. So I go back to the cell. A week later, I was only under us.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, yeah, what got me so damn bad is. I told him, I was like, man, I'm trying to be a better guy. And he's like, Brett, you always were a good guy. You just didn't know it.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Three days later, Secret Service shows back up and pulled me out of a cell. It's Jim Ramicone and Bobby Kirby. And they were, I mean, honestly, they were good men. And they gave me chances upon chances to do the right thing. And I was not ready to do that. And Jim Ramacone and Bobby's in there. And Bobby, I mean, Bobby was a friend. I mean, he truly was. Later on, a couple years ago, I had a chance to, uh, Years ago, I had a chance to uh. Have lunch with Matt. Told him I was sorry for everything I did to him because I got him and him in another agent fired and uh. Him, I was sorry for what happened He told me that he's like, We were your friends, man. We were truly your friends. They were good”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, you can try to pass the polygraph. I'm like, okay, so I looked at him. I was like, let's take the polygraph. They asked three questions. The questions were, have you talked to anybody? Have you been on computer outside of the offices? Have you talked to the press, which I was interviewing with a New York Times writer the entire time? And then have you contacted or warned anybody about investigations? And I failed polygraphed completely. So they revoked the bond. Me back down to Charleston County, throw me in a jail.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“My answer was I ain't taking a polygraph. So they're like, well, we'll throw you back in jail if you don't. And I was like, call my lawyer. Lawyer gets me on the phone. He's like, you don't have to take the polygraph. I was like, well, good. I'm not going to. He's like, but they will throw you back in jail. I was like, don't want to do that. He's like, Have you done anything? And I was like, yeah. And he's like,”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Operation Rolling Stone was the name of the operation. Nine people were supposed to be arrested that night. So Secret Service goes and arrests this guy. They search his apartment and don't find anything. The apartment manager comes out and explains to him how Sean has done all kinds of work to the apartment as a matter of fact he brought in thirty thousand dollars worth of Italian tile to put in the apartment that he's renting. And by the way, last night he had a UHA out here and took out a whole shitload of stuff. Secret Service comes back in. They look at men, they're like, We need you to take polygraphs.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I go missing, right? I go missing for three months. I told him if I ever went missing not to contact me. And so I go missing. Then I show back up online. First day, he contacts. So he becomes a target. And they identify him pretty quickly at that point. He's set to be arrested sometime in March of That's when he said to be arrested.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Want to make sure that I'm sorry I'm behind on the rent for this apartment number. Oh no, debt rent's paid up three months Like, okay, hang up, call Elizabeth back. I was like, You're behind on the rent. And she was like, yeah. And I was like, funny. They just said you're up on it three months. And she gets quiet. And she's like, well, you lied to me too. And I was like, Right. I did. I did that. I was like, but look, I can't do it anymore. And that's the last time I spoke to her right there. What happens is Was breaking law from inside the offices. I had a buddy that his name was Sean Mims out of Los Angeles. I had taught him how to do tax return fraud.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I'm giving her $1,000 like every two weeks or some shit like that Gets to the point because I'm doing this tax fraud from inside the offices while the debit card companies are pinging the cards. They start to realize that, hey, some sum of a bitch is stealing money using our debit cards. So they start to shut down the cards before I can pull cash out. So I start not to have the money to send to her. And I'm like, So she calls and she's like, Look, I have to have money. And I was like, well, look, I'm doing what I can. You promised money. And I was like, look, if you knew what I was doing to get this money, you wouldn't be asking that. And she was like, I need money. My rent's behind a month right now. And I'm like, your rent's behind? She's like, yeah. I was like, okay, so I'll pick up the phone, call the rental office. And I was like,”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Whatever you want. We were renting an apartment. I was like, whatever you want in here, take it. And I said, not only that, but I'll make sure you got money. For several months, so you're all right. And I was like, just leave me TV and leave me some plates and stuff. So I go to work that day at the Secret Service, come back that night, and she's taking everything and left the picture of herself in the bedroom on the floor. I'm like, okay, I guess I deserve that.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Oh man, yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's falling apart. She had wants to start going to strip clubs I'm like, fuck it, why not? We'll So we start going to strip clubs, and she's, you know, she'll come back and get wasted and we'll have sex, what have you, and one night. She looks at me and she was like Was like, I think it'd be funny if you got a blowjob from somebody else. And That got me. That got me. I was like. To me, that was the final straw right there. I was like, she doesn't care for me anymore or anything else like that. We've been going to strip clubs, so I started dating another stripper. She knew something was going on. And, uh... She looks at me one day and she's like, Why don't you just tell me that it's over? And I looked at her, I said, It's over. We're done. I was like, look, I said”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“She told me that. One instance she told me that if she didn't marry me, she'd never be married. Far as I know, she's never been married”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Got a woman there She had even said it. She was like, uh, She had told one of her friends we were out having dinner one night. This is before I got arrested. She told one of her friends that I was the only guy Ever ask her to stop using drugs?”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“They are extremely diligent. They pay attention to everything that's going on, ask questions, everything else. But the problem is that that shit gets boring real quick because I'm very fast online doing that. So they're like, what the hell is he doing? And it gets tiring looking at a guy just doing that shit. So after two weeks, they get lazy and bored and they start watching porn. Instead of watching me. At the same time, they've got a key logger, and they've got Spectra Pro in Camtasia, key loggers and taking snapshots of everything that I'm doing go every night, it goes on a DVD-ROM on a spindle. So I'm like, They're not going to go through that shit. So I'm like, fuck it. Start breaking law from inside Secret Service offices while they're in the room. Why not? Um, That continues for 10 months.”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Even before I start working with him, I'm breaking the law. And so they've got me in the office, the field office, and they got this big war room in there. I'm on a laptop outside line, laptops hooked up to a 50-inch plasma monitor on the wall. They've got a desktop sitting directly next to me, outside line, two secret service office officers in the room at all times with a South Carolina law enforcement officer My job is four to six hours a day surfing the whip, picking up targets, intel, teaching them how cybercrime operates, everything else like that. For the first two weeks”
2022-03-27 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #272 – Brett Johnson: US Most Wanted Cybercriminal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source