All language subtitles for American Greed s12e08 Dangerous Luxury

In this episode of American Greed, Ramil
Robinson's story sounds like a

Cinderella tale.

A child living on the streets is adopted
into a loving home.

You know, he was blessed. He was a
blessed athlete.

He had a blessed family.

And achieves the pinnacle of success in
college basketball, helping the

University of Michigan win its first
NCAA championship.

Went to the White House, got to the
cover of Sports Illustrated.

They were calling him Mr. Clutch.

When he turns pro, Robinson becomes a
living cliche.

Vermeule had a spending problem from day
one. He frequented strip clubs and

would spend unbelievable amounts of
money.

A young kid with a lot of money.

What are you going to do? You're going
to have a great time.

But this rags -to -riches -to -rags
story has a twist.

Robinson doesn't buy Mama a big house in
the suburbs.

Oh, no.

She took him in off the street, and he
ended up having her thrown back in the

street. And that's not cool.

Not cool at all.

And I couldn't believe that he did that.
You bite the hand that feeds you?

I gave you a chance in life, and you did
this to us?

Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Down a cobblestone lane, there's a wood
frame home that belongs to Helen Ford.

With her late husband, Lou, Helen raised
five children here.

But this widow's world is about to be
turned upside down.

And then all of a sudden, one night...

I opened the door, and here's the
constable saying, are you Helen Ford?

handed me this thing, and I opened it
up.

I almost fell to the floor.

An eviction notice?

What?

What's going on?

Helen wonders if it has something to do
with the loan she gave one of her sons,

the former NBA player Rumeel Robinson, a
loan backed up by the value of her

home.

So I immediately called him on the
phone.

Oh, no, Ma, I got it. I got it. I'll
take care of it. I'll take care of it.

I said, Ramil, what's going on?

Ramil Robinson's I got it is an outright
lie.

Before long, Helen is kicked to the
curb.

I felt I left my family down.

I didn't know where I was going to go,
what I was going to do.

Thirty years earlier, Helen and Lou Ford
are well -known in Cambridge.

He's a mail carrier.

She's a high school safety officer.

In addition to their own five children,
Helen and Lou take in dozens of foster

children over the years.

I've always had a motto that children
are not a deck of cards.

Why should they be shuffled around?

That's my motto.

Helen volunteers at the Cambridge
Community Center.

which runs after -school programs.

One day, a friend at the community
center tells her about a young boy there

doesn't talk much but seems troubled.

He says his name is Ramil.

And he said, my mother don't want me.

My mother don't want me.

My mother don't want me. He kept saying
it, and I said, wait, wait, wait, what

do you mean?

I don't live with my mom. My mama put me
out. She just don't want me. I said,

well, where do you sleep?

Ramil tells Helen he climbs through
windows to sleep inside buildings.

So I said, oh, how long have you been
doing that?

Oh, about three weeks. I said, oh,
that's not good. I said, well, when's

last time you ate?

He said, oh, about three weeks. And I
said, that's it. You're coming home with

me.

Well, he ate like there was no tomorrow.

And I said, wow, I guess you haven't
eaten in a while.

And I remember the meal distinctly. We
had pork chops, mashed potatoes, and

string beans.

And he just devoured it.

The Fords learned that 10 -year -old
Ramil Robinson was born in Jamaica and

raised there by his grandparents.

Ramil recently immigrated to
Massachusetts to be with his mother, who

has no use for him.

The Fords feed, shelter, and care for
Ramil for several months, and then a big

day. Helen has a custody hearing at the
courthouse.

She wisely leaves Ramil at school to
protect him from what surely would have

been a traumatic encounter with his
birth mother.

And she walked in, and she said to the
lady at the desk, where do I sign,

because I don't want them.

I looked. Oh, my goodness.

How do you do that?

I was devastated.

The juvenile officer turned to me and
said, well, you got a son.

It was that quick.

Eventually, the Fords officially adopt
Rameel Robinson.

His older brother, Donald Barrows, says
Rameel excels in every sport he tries.

But in basketball...

Ramil Robinson is something special.

This here is St. Mary's Park, where we
used to play our summer league

games and also just pick up games that
sometimes got a little heated.

A lot of good fun.

And that's where he would come and
showcase his skills, you know, all of

Ramil would come there and people would
ooh and ah, and everybody would go there

and actually watch the summer games and
watch and see what the talent is out

there doing.

And Rameel was one of the talents that
had a lot of people over in our.

Rameel goes to Cambridge Bridge and
Latin High School.

It's known for its storied basketball
program, which produced NBA star Patrick

Ewing.

Under head coach Mike Jarvis, Rameel
thrives.

Coach Jarvis tells American Greed.

that if he told his athletes to do 100
push -ups a day, Rameel would do many

more. I probably would just go and do
100 like Mike requested, and Rameel

just do it secretly. He'd probably do
300, 400, 500.

Rameel was just a workaholic. He was
about developing his game and doing what

had to do to get his game off the bar,
and he had that hunger for it.

The hard work pays off.

In 1986, Cambridge Ridge and Latin wins
the state championship.

And I said, so what do you think you're
going to do with yourself?

And he said, I want to go to the NBA.

I said, really? I said, well, if you
believe, you will achieve.

Robinson signs on at the University of
Michigan, ships off to Ann Arbor, and

quickly becomes a star player.

Michigan, at this point, has never won
the NCAA championship, a sore point for

Michigan superfans like Dottie Day.

We're good. We're always good. We just
need to get one little step better than

good. We need to get great.

In Rameel's junior year, the 1988 -89
season, fans like Day

dare to wonder, Could this be the year?

After going 24 -7 in the regular season,
Michigan tears through the early rounds

of the NCAA tournament and reaches the
Final Four.

Nobody gave them a chance.

Nobody thought that they would be here
and look at them now.

You know the thing that says to take the
village to raise a child? Well, I was

part of that little village that was.

helping Romeo succeed as well, you know.
And when he got to that level and we

got to see him do what he was doing, it
all made us all proud.

Helen and Lou Ford have limited means.

They decide that Helen will travel to
Seattle for the final four and Lou will

stay with the kids and work.

Some fans in Cambridge have another
idea.

What happened was they picked him up.

On his route, he called the post office,
picked him up on his route.

The guy came up to him and said, Lou,
you're getting on an airplane.

He said, to go where? What happened?

And he was just flabbergasted.

And the tears were coming down my face
like, oh, my God, did these things

happen, you know?

So I was excited.

Monday, April 3rd, 1989.

Before the championship game against
Seton Hall, Robinson feels like a kid at

Christmas.

You know, having that boyhood dream of
having your first bike.

But that dream may be in jeopardy. After
a back -and -forth game that ends in a

tie, the Wolverines trail 79 -78 in
overtime.

With just seconds left in the game,
Robinson gets his chance to leave his

on basketball history.

Five seconds.

Robinson goes in and fouled Paul with
three seconds.

And he caught that foul at the end and
got put on the free throw line. It was

like a nail biter, you know what I mean?

I mean, it seemed like forever.

I remember just watching him on the
line. He seemed very poised because I

worried if he was going to be nervous to
make the shots or not.

I told him, like, come on, please let
this pay off for you. Please let this

off for you.

And then he shot the first one, and then
that one went down, and I was like, all

right, now the game's tied.

Like, here you go, Rameel, this is it,
right? Here you go, one more shot.

Rameel got ice running through his
veins.

Calm, cool, and collected.

And then when that next one went
through, it was just like pandemonium.

It's time for Michigan to win a national
championship.

I don't know how to describe it other
than that's what you play for.

Who would believe it? You know, shocked
the world.

The champions go to the White House and
meet President Bush.

And now, Rumeel, I have a prop for you,
a basketball.

In Cambridge, the street where Helen and
Lou Ford raised their family is renamed

Rumeel Robinson Place.

Rumeel even makes the cover of Sports
Illustrated. I read this magazine all

time, and I always look at the cover.

And I'd say, oh, that's good, you know,
this one made it, that one made it, you

know. But to see your own kid, it's
like, wow, is this real?

In the NBA draft, Ramil Robinson is the
10th overall pick.

He goes to the Atlanta Hawks, and his
future looks secure.

It's a story with heroic overtones.

A kid born into poverty and obscurity.

and abandoned by his mother at a tender
age, has found a home in America and

made his audacious dream a reality.

Okay, you made it now. Here you go.

Let's show what you can do.

When American Greed returns, out of
bounds and out of control.

Rameel's problem was reckless spending,
and he fell in love with a stripper,

just like the song said.

That was his problem.

Selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the
first round of the NBA draft, Rameel

Robinson has realized his childhood
dream.

He moved to Atlanta, signed a contract
worth $4 .3 million over four years.

and finally gets his piece of the pie.

I got there, and he's staying in this
tri -level penthouse overlooking

Park. And I'm like, you know, I'm
thinking back now, I'm like, okay, you

the saying, well, moving on up. I'm
like, okay, wow, Rue, this is cool.

This is real cool.

The penthouse, though, is just a
temporary crash pad.

Within a year, Robinson decamps to a
leafy Atlanta suburb.

I was in a big, big house.

And I was in the state. It was a house.

There was a pool house. I could have
lived in the pool house.

That's how big it was.

I'm like, Rue, what are you going to do
with all this space, man? What do you

need all this space for?

R .D., you know, my boys, they all come
up and...

I'm like, well, how often is that?

You know, you don't need all this space
for that.

Well, the dogs... Rue,

what are you... These dogs don't need 11
ages.

All this land and... Oh, it was
gorgeous.

It was really... I'd never seen anything
like it.

Mm -hmm.

But his mom rarely visits.

And something happens to Ramil in
Atlanta, though neither she nor anyone

the family can explain it.

But somehow, the good son becomes the
prodigal son.

Robinson, they say, is a regular in
Atlanta's strip clubs, where he can blow

several thousand dollars in a single
night.

In fact, his brother says that sometimes
after a night at a strip club, Robinson

takes several dancers home.

The strippers must be surprised when he
shows them his room closet.

Have them, you know, throw on their
birthday suits and clean his house and

pay them all another thousand dollars
cash or whatever it was he was giving

them. He just recklessly spent their
money.

Years later, in an ESPN program,
Robinson looks back on those young and

days. We're coming out of college.

You know, we're going into the pros.

You're young kid with a lot of money.

What are you going to do? You're going
to have a great time.

On the court, Robinson struggles.

He's not the dominant player he was in
high school and college.

And his brother says he clashes with
coaches.

Remember, Mel didn't understand he was
very talented as a player, but when you

get to that level, you're not the only
one.

You're not the only one. You're one of
many, and you can be replaced just like

that, and that's exactly what they did.

Over seven seasons, Robinson pinballs
around the NBA.

Atlanta, New Jersey, Charlotte,
Portland, Los Angeles,

Phoenix.

By 2002, the journeyman is long gone
from the NBA and now plays for smaller

teams in Italy and Croatia.

It's a tough road for him as he confides
to friend Marshall Jones.

There was a time he called me and he was
like, yo, D, they already left me. I'm

like, what do you mean they left you? At
the hotel, man.

They just got on the bus and left.

So I said, why did they leave you?

He's like, man, I didn't want to get on
the bus because it takes too long.

I said, Ruse, what do you mean you don't
want to get on the bus, man?

That's how they travel over there, you
know?

He's like, yo, nah, man, you look over
these cliffs and this and that. I'm

Ruse, man, you have to do what the team
does.

You know, you can't just make up your
own, you know, your own rules.

It's obvious his heart isn't in it
anymore.

His career is done.

At that point in time, I think.

That's when he said, you know what, let
me close the book of trying to play

basketball and let me move on to some
other business ventures.

When American Greed Returns reveals plan
to give back.

And he said, when the project is
completed, he said, you're going to be a

woman.

His basketball dream over, Ramil
Robinson sells his Atlanta mansion and

in Miami.

Here, he hatches a new plan.

It harks back to his roots in Jamaica.

Robinson envisions building a world
-class mega resort on Jamaica's North

It is called Harmony Cove.

This was going to be a 2 ,000 -plus
acre.

oceanfront resort development in
Jamaica, unlike anything that the

It was to be the flagship resort there.

You're talking about building a billion
-dollar resort, golf courses, dredging a

harbor so that cruise ships can come in.

Robinson forms a company, Megalodon
Development.

But the development team he assembles
isn't exactly all -star talent.

All he'd ever done was be a basketball
player.

His partner, well, wants for a living.

There just wasn't anyone there that had
any kind of experience doing anything

close to this.

An experience be damned, Ramil Robinson
begins to energetically solicit

investors in Miami.

And he also taps his family network.

He asked me.

how much something about the equity in
my mom's house, how much equity is in

house. And I was like, how would I know?
I don't know that. You need to talk to

her about that.

And he said, Mom, I need your help. I
said, what's going on?

Robinson flies to Boston and unveils his
plans.

And he had all the plans and everything,
and he laid it all out on the table and

looking at this stuff and looking at all
these different aspects and, you know,

looked pretty good.

I said, well, I don't have any money.

And so he said, well, what about the
house? Can you put the house?

I can hear my late husband always said,
always help our children.

I could hear him saying, help our son.

So I said, yeah.

At the time, Helen's house is paid off.

She agrees to take out a mortgage for
$600 ,000.

and loan the proceeds to Ramil as seed
money for his development.

He promises to cover all the monthly
payments.

And he said, when the project is
completed, he said,

you're going to be a rich woman. He
says, I'm going to give you half a

dollars. You can do whatever you want
with it. Thanks, Mom, and whatever.

I said, oh, okay.

So I believed it.

I believed it.

When you first hear the story, it's so
improbable that you think that that's

just made up, that that's a con.

But as it turned out, it wasn't. There
was a real live project called Harmony

Cove and that the Jamaican government
really wanted to build this billion

-dollar resort and that somebody
actually had contacted him.

He was on the cover of Sports
Illustrated, had an NBA career, he had

And so apparently somebody thought it
was a good idea to involve him.

But it's not such a good idea.

And there are several important points
Ramil forgot to tell his mother,

according to FBI Special Agent Kevin
Kohler.

First of all, he has no money. He has no
income. He has no meaningful assets

that he can pledge as collateral.

He has a terrible credit history.

And without Helen knowing, Robinson
steals her house right out from under

What she doesn't realize is that he has
arranged to have the title of the

property transferred over to one of his
business associates.

The associate takes out a $500 ,000
mortgage on the property.

Nearly all of that money goes to Ramil.

A couple months later, the property is
refinanced for $625 ,000 and transferred

to another business partner.

The loan applications for these
transactions are replete with lies about

will live in the home and how much it's
worth.

He defrauded these banks. They loaned
money on a house that wasn't worth near

what the bank believed it was.

A few months later, the house is flipped
for a third time.

This time for $1 million.

So in a matter of about a year, this
house that has no debt on it and is

about $400 ,000 now has a million
dollars of debt.

And nearly all of that money had gone to
Rumil.

Very little was spent on Megalodon or to
further this Harmony Cove venture that

Megalodon was involved in, even though
that is what he had promised his mom.

What's more, the proceeds of Helen's
home aren't nearly enough to satisfy

Next on American Greed, see how Robinson
swings open the vault of a small bank

in the middle of Iowa.

And later, hear what little regard
Robinson has for his mother's home.

Listen, you don't live by a house a lot.
A house don't make a man or a woman.

Ramil Robinson is not the first former
NBA player to blow his money on

strippers, cigars, and fast cars.

But what sets him apart from some other
broke athletes is his willingness to

turn to crime to grab the almighty
dollar.

Through A Friend of a Friend, Robinson
meets a loan officer at a small bank in

suburb of Des Moines, Iowa.

This lone officer, who has agreed to
talk to American Greed anonymously, is a

former college basketball player.

And basketball talk is how the two men
hit it off when Robertson calls the lone

officer from Miami.

I think I was a lot starstruck at first.

When somebody has made it to the level
that he made it, and I had aspirations

get there myself at one point in time, I
gave it.

more credibility than I could have.

Robinson tells the loan officer he's on
the cusp of getting a big infusion of

development funds to build his green
mega resort in Jamaica.

Until that ship comes in, he just needs
a small bridge loan to produce

promotional materials and business
plans.

But to hear him talk, it was, you know,
the path had already been established

and the road was paved.

That was the first thing that I remember
really jumping out. It was like, wow,

this thing's, you know, it's ready to
go.

Robinson applies for a $377 ,000 loan.

But the FBI says Ramil grows frustrated
at how long the loan process is taking.

To speed things up, he proposes paying
$100 ,000 of the loan back to the

loan officer.

He knew the loan officer was strapped
himself for money. He was living beyond

his means.

He had a fair amount of consumer debt.

And so when Ramil proposed paying him a
portion of these loan proceeds, it

seemed attractive.

That's where the greed part, I guess,
comes in in the story.

Everybody has greed.

Robinson nets $277 ,000.

It should last a while, right?

Within two months, he's spent it all. He
makes a $25 ,000 payment on a condo for

himself and his girlfriend.

He spends $35 ,000 furnishing the condo
with high -end electronics, with

designer furniture.

He purchases a couple Mercedes -Benzes.

He spends large amounts of money at
cigar shops, designer clothing shops, at

strip clubs.

He spends all of that in about two
months.

Robinson never makes a single repayment
to the bank.

Yet he brazenly calls the officer again
and again asking for more.

But that initial kickback that's paid
opens up the vault to the bank.

And the bank continues to loan money
because of this loan officer who's taken

the kickback.

In short order, there's a loan for $80
,000, then $150 ,000.

111 ,000 and 495 ,000.

Special Agent Kohler says that a measly
5 % of the proceeds go where they're

supposed to, to business development for
Harmony Cove.

With the rest, Robinson puts on a clinic
of self -indulgence.

And as you scan through what he's
spending it on, here's just a single

$111 ,000.

in withdrawals and spending at
restaurants and jewelry stores and such.

heavy strip club traffic in this month.

Robinson is spending so much, he can't
possibly make good on his promise to his

mom.

Which brings us to that fateful day in
Cambridge.

I opened the door and here's the
constable saying, are you Helen Ford?

Ramil's mortgage on his mom's house is
months overdue.

And Helen is evicted from the home she
has lived in for more than 30 years.

Never thought anything like that was
ever going to happen.

Never.

And I couldn't believe that he did that.
The person, the hand, you bite the hand

that feeds you.

I gave you a chance in life, and you did
this to us?

Helen is distraught and crying when she
enters the office of Dennis Benson, a

lawyer who grew up in the neighborhood
and spent many hours of his boyhood at

her home.

And I said to her that I generally don't
take on those kinds of cases, but I

wanted to help her. And it was one of
those moments where a client, touches

at your core.

Dennis files suit against American Home
Mortgage, saying they were negligent in

not seeing the fraud.

Helen dispatches her son Donald to Miami
to find out what Ramil is doing and if

there's any way she can get her money
and her home back.

When American Greed returns.

It's a sad thing to me to go from being
one who's being looked up to to be the

one who's being looked for.

Want inside information from the show?

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page. We'll be right back.

Donald Barrows arrives in Miami looking
for answers.

and looking for his brother, Rameel
Robinson.

His first stop is Rameel's luxury condo
in a private gated community called

Williams Island.

Knocking on the door, there's no answer.

And there was a big space underneath the
door, so I got down on the ground and I

looked under there and I could tell that
the place was empty.

And I actually, like, yelled Rameel
under the door and you just hear the

just going throughout the whole place.

Where'd he go?

Donald plays gumshoe detective hitting
high -end bars and restaurants in South

Beach, where Rameel might hang out.

Eventually, Donald gets a cell phone
number and calls Rameel, who agrees to

him up.

So he comes and he picks me up in this
really nice car, like over $100 ,000

Mercedes -Benz.

And we're riding. We weren't even in the
car for 20 minutes. And he turns to me

and he's like, do you have $20 for gas?

The next night at dinner, it's the same
song and dance.

And then he turned and he looked at me
and he had the same look in his eye as

the night before when he asked me for
the $20 for gas.

And I knew it was going on right away.
And I was like, you know what, Ramil?

Yeah, unbelievable.

Come to find out, Ramil didn't have the
money to pay the restaurant bill.

Turns out Robinson has been evicted from
Williams Island.

And he's now living on this dingy block
of cheap hotels in North Miami Beach.

He rents a single room, sponging off his
girlfriend, who makes her money doing,

what else, dancing in strip clubs.

From Williams Island? Yeah, a big come
down.

A big come down. And if he's living like
this, then how's he going to be able to

do what he said he's going to do?

Donald pushes Ramil to scrape together
enough cash to pay creditors so their

can get her house back.

But there's no squeezing blood from this
turnip. By that time, Ramil was so poor

he couldn't even pay attention.

Back in Cambridge, Helen Ford, now
alone, has moved into a small apartment.

Her former home is vacant, except for
the occasional squatter.

One day, to publicize her plight, she
and her attorney, Dennis Benson, take an

ESPN reporter through the home.

When I walked up the driveway, I could
hear my husband's voice

telling me it would be okay.

He said, Helen?

You're a strong woman. Keep your head
up.

God's going to take care of you.

I said, thank you.

And then when I got to the stairs and I
opened the door and I looked in and I

said, wow, this was once mine, no longer
mine.

I remember walking into Romero's room
and seeing the memorabilia.

And the trophies and the dust.

I felt the pain that Helen felt and the
disappointment.

A terrible experience.

And I hope nobody else has to go through
that ever again.

Because when you give your all to
someone who you didn't even know, you

welcomed them into your bosom and your
family.

And I never mentioned him or introduced
him to people as my foster son. This

is my son.

And I think that's the part that hurts.

In Des Moines, Iowa, the loan officer is
freaking out.

Adam, I'm on him every day. You've got
to get these loans paid back.

Once a true believer in Harmony Cove,
the banker finally wakes from his pipe

dream. My mistake in this, my biggest
mistake in this whole thing, was at that

point in time, I had the opportunity to
switch on the light and tell everybody,

hey, there's probably something wrong
with this that, you know, I wasn't aware

of.

We need to, you know, really, really
hammer into this. Instead, I tried to

it.

Fix it by trying to hide the bad loans.

His sleight of hand fools no one.

And ultimately that's how it gets
discovered by the bank is one of the

officer's subordinates becomes concerned
as she sees this practice of him

rolling interest and penalties into the
principal and then rolling it into a new

loan.

She blows the whistle, and the officer
is fired.

But that's just the beginning.

The kickback is a federal crime.

In September 2009, both Ramil Robinson
and the loan officer are arrested for

conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank
bribery, among other charges.

When American Greed returns.

See how much Robinson really cares about
the neighborhood that saved him.

They got my name on it.

Whoopee.

That's how much I care about my name
being on a street.

In Des Moines, Iowa, Rameel Robinson
stands trial for bilking Community State

Bank out of $1 .2 million so he could
live life like the high flyer he once

Keith Rigg is Robinson's defense
attorney.

Basically, the defense had to be
convincing the jury there was a level of

incompetence there which took this out
of being criminal.

And into basically just being stupid.

But the feds say incompetence is no
excuse.

So Ramil was not prosecuted and
convicted because he was a bad

There are many bad businessmen who don't
violate the law. But what made this a

crime was he repeatedly made false
statements to the bank. And then above

beyond that was the very significant act
of.

bribing or paying a kickback to a loan
officer.

In an unusual twist, the defendant's own
mother testifies against him.

The sense of betrayal that Helen Ford
felt was profound because here was this

young man that she cared for, she loved,
she supported.

To find herself in a court of law
testifying against him was something

her apart.

That was, I think, when it all hit me.

How could he do this to me and my
family?

And so through sobs on the witness
stand, she explained her current

and circumstances.

And Ramil sat and watched all this. The
jurors were quite moved, it appeared, by

her testimony.

It takes the jury three hours to render
its verdict.

Guilty on all counts.

Pending his sentencing hearing, Robinson
is out on bond.

During that time, he speaks with the
ESPN program E60, and he napalms any

bridge he had with his family.

Listen, you don't live by a house a lot.
A house don't make a man or a woman.

But if that's the only thing you think
you have, maybe you should have went to

college and learned to study seven
subjects.

Or five subjects. You just took five
subjects and not just did one thing in

life.

What he didn't realize is at the age,
you know, of 50 years old, my mother did

go back to school and got a master's
degree in education.

You know, devastating to me to hear him
talk like that about her.

After all the sacrifices I know that she
made for him.

I don't care about anybody but himself.

Three months later, at his sentencing
hearing, the prosecution plays the

in open court.

Helen's always known that I never liked
that house anyways, Jeff.

Okay? They got my name on it.

Whoopee!

That's how much I care about my name
being on the street.

But it's hurtful to hear him say that he
didn't like that, I never liked that

house. Really?

Well, you never showed it. You never
showed it.

This changed.

I just, it's mind -boggling.

Before he sentences the defendant, the
judge gives Robinson a chance to address

the court.

My standard advice to people is, you are
going to say something. Once you get

much past, I'm really sorry.

Sometimes things can go a little
sideways.

In an emotional, incoherent rant.

Robinson says he was convicted because
his attorney is incompetent, and it

doesn't end there.

Robinson also accuses the judge, the
Honorable Ronald Longstaff, of being

corrupt. He made a bad situation much
worse.

When Robinson is finished, all eyes turn
to the judge to see his reaction.

And it was really interesting because he
kind of got a hint of a smile on his

face. It certainly clarified things for
him. And he didn't get angry at all.

Once he was done, said you'd made what
was a hard decision simple.

The judge says, by your statement today,
you demonstrate to me absolutely no

remorse.

Told him that money is like a drug to
you, Ramil. And just like that, Ramil

Robinson, the Caribbean cast -off who
realized his dream in the NBA,

is given the stiffest sentence
available, six and a half years in

You know, he was blessed.

You know, he was a blessed athlete.

He had a blessed family.

He had great friends.

It's never too late to really reflect
and to take responsibility and try to

rebuild your life.

And I think that's the part of his life
that probably has to wrestle a little

bit more with.

The lone officer pleads guilty and is
sentenced to two years in prison.

In 2013, Helen Ford gets her house back.

Dennis Benson negotiates a settlement
with American Home Mortgage, the company

that greenlit the fraud.

As long as she stays current, paying for
the home that was already paid off,

Helen can stay there for the rest of her
life.

But I made it.

I made it.

I made it, and God is good.

All the time.

Because I'm still alive.

And I'm back home.

I'm back home.

A sign on the street now reads, Helen
and Lewis Ford Square.