All language subtitles for American Greed s10e03 A Mothers Costly Revenge.eng

In this episode of American Greed, safe
money specialist Paul Cruz promises big

returns while stealing his client's life
savings. He was arrogant, he was

greedy, he was evil. Money starts
flowing.

400 ,000 in, 400 ,000 out. And Cruz
lives large.

He was dating an exotic dancer and
actually was paying for breast

Out of these people's hard -earned
money.

His assistant says he makes an indecent
proposal to her teenage daughter.

I'll buy you a BMW if you would show me
your boobs.

And she's left with only one choice.

Taking his ass out. You want me to put
that more mildly?

I'd rather not.

And even from jail, Cruz proves he's no
average white -collar crook. I sometimes

like to call it.

my breaking bad case. It takes a really
big leap for most people to go from

financial crime to wanting to kill
people.

Hey, is there any problem with having
these people grieving?

A once successful financial pro named
Paul Cruz sits locked up here at the

County Correctional Facility outside
Jacksonville, Florida.

He's facing charges that with the help
of his brother John, he's taken the life

savings of former clients, friends, and
even family members.

Though Cruz has already signed a
confession, he's now decided he's not

down so easy.

He went from zero to 60.

And I think it showed his true colors.

He did not want to be held responsible
for what he had done.

For weeks, Cruz has been angrily
plotting revenge and meticulously

murder of the woman who turned him in.

Today, he's eager to hear the news that
will mean his freedom.

What's happening, man? Tell me the good
news.

Well, you sure you want to stop them,
right?

Yep.

All right. Here's the news. Sit down.

Yeah, I am.

All right.

Lisa's in the trunk of my car right now
as I'm driving down the interstate,

okay? Okay.

What do you think of that, buddy?

I think that's awesome.

Paul Cruz has come a long way from his
youth.

He's the son of a traveling pastor who
built churches by hand.

To Cruz and his seven brothers and
sisters, luxury was a stranger, hunger a

constant companion.

Always we were cramped into one - and
two -bedroom houses.

At Christmastime, there was no money for
gifts.

There seemed to be a virtue with my
father and mother of being

poor. Dave Cruz says that his younger
brother Paul doesn't buy into the virtue

of being poor.

I think he was obsessed with fine
things, even from the very beginning.

After studying theology in college, Paul
works as a youth minister for a short

stretch. But the paper he likes isn't
inscribed with the good word.

It's the kind you fold up and put in
your wallet.

Eventually, Paul leaves the church. Dave
says that he then works for the time as

a developer in Nebraska.

He uses his silver tongue to bring in
investors.

He was very convincing and could lure
anybody in.

Dave says his brother's construction
deal goes bust, leaving investors

angry and ripped off.

The investors put contracts out on his
life.

This one guy was so angry that he wanted
to kill him.

Cruz heads west, and in the early 1980s,
he joins his older brother John at a

company selling mutual funds and
insurance to military families.

There, both brothers build trusting
relationships with numerous clients.

Court filings and co -workers reveal
that Paul is successful.

And his brother Dave says that he gets
used to living the good life.

He was going to expensive ski resorts
and drove the latest model Mercedes.

Usually it was over $100 ,000 cars that
he was driving.

But this first taste of real wealth
won't last forever.

In 2001, after 20 years at the firm,
Cruz is fired, cutting him off from the

luxuries he's grown to enjoy.

He was really lost then and was selling
shoes for a while, just enough money to

exist.

Cruz makes his way to Jacksonville,
Florida, where he scrapes by for the

few years working as a financial
advisor.

Among the clients he brings in is
Darlene Mae Jones, a Cruz family friend.

She and her then -husband first go to
Paul for investment help in 2003.

When we first invested, we had, I think,
about $28 ,000.

And within two years, we had about $46
,000.

At that point in time, we really felt
like Paul had done what we wanted him to

do. And he was just there for us.

Then, in 2010, Cruz sets up Yorkshire
Financial Services, a company that will

his ticket back to the good life.

Calling himself a safe money specialist,
Cruz goes looking for clients.

When Jones retires from her job as a
general manager at Pizza Hut, she saved

more than $100 ,000.

Once again, Cruz says he can help.

He convinces her to invest her money in
the stock market through his new

company.

I had utmost confidence that it was
going to be okay.

I felt like, since I'd worked with Paul
before, that he was honest with me.

and that he was going to do what was
best for me and that my money would grow

and I would be well set for my future.

When Joan signs up, Cruz tells her that
she's made the right decision by

investing with the company he just
started.

Dear Darlene, it is with great pleasure
that I welcome you to the family of

Yorkshire Financial Services Group, LLC.

Yorkshire Financial Services has over 30
years of continuous operation, making

us one of the oldest financial services
in the United States.

Additionally, we have investors from all
over the globe. Thank you for giving us

your confidence. With warmest regards,
Paul S. Cruz, President.

Jones isn't the only one to hear Cruz's
pitch about Yorkshire Financial.

He tells others that the company
consists of a team of sophisticated

with the skills to beat the market. They
thought the money would be traded in

stocks, bonds, and securities that would
be relatively safe and appropriate for

a retirement investment.

Cruz guarantees that investors'
principle will remain safe and that

range between a robust 10 and 15
percent.

It's a comforting pitch tailored toward
people who don't have extra money to

throw around.

People that worked hard their whole
lives. Good people, good, honest

individuals.

Just trying to make it.

And he just stole from them.

Next on American Greed, Paul Cruz learns
the hard way. Never cross an assistant

who has the power to ruin you.

He was going down one way or the other.
If it wasn't going to be on finding out

how he's spending this money, it was
going to go a whole different route.

Paul Cruz runs Yorkshire Financial
Services from his home office in a quiet

suburban neighborhood in Jacksonville,
Florida.

Eventually, he invites a mother of six
named Amy Weatherford to live with him

here. Cruz knows her sister, and when he
learns Weatherford has fallen on hard

times, he makes her a deal.

Paul was lonely, and he said, you know
what, why don't you just move in my

house? Rent free, buy some groceries,
clean up, do a couple of personal

for me. I really thought I was with a
good Christian man as a friend, just

helping me out, and I'm helping him out
at the same time.

Eventually, Weatherford and two of her
children move in.

She says that at first, she knows little
about Cruz's business, beyond the fact

that he's very disorganized.

But it's not hard to notice that he's
burning through cash.

It's like he would have money, big
money, and then he'd be broke at the end

the month and, of course, borrow money
off of me.

That's not the only strange thing she
sees at Cruz's home.

I went into his bedroom because he had
papers all over everything, and he was

signing their names.

I said, what are you doing? And he goes,
I'm signing the client's names. I said,

you got a power of attorney for that?

And he goes, of course I do.

Weatherford keeps her mouth shut.

For now.

A few months after he begins bringing in
investors, Paul's brother John joins

him at Yorkshire.

A seasoned broker in the small town of
Oak Harbor, Washington, John has long

-standing relationships with many
clients.

Some of these people come from the
nearby naval base, and he set up their

retirement accounts.

Now he has a new place where they should
put their money.

Yorkshire Financial.

Most of the investors were brought in by
Jonathan, and Jonathan going back and

recontacting his clients and telling
them that his brother Paul had something

new that was better with higher returns.

It was guaranteed.

You won't lose your money. And just
really selling it as something that was

and high return.

In an email exchange, one investor
pushes John, asking if this is truly a

place to invest his life savings.

Jonathan responds very quickly with,
this is 100 % safe. You know, this is

something I would put my own money in. I
would never take your money and risk it

in that way because I know this is your
retirement money.

Paul Cruz does make two initial
investments, but returns are nowhere

% to 15 % he's promised.

After this, he makes no further efforts
to invest his clients' savings.

Yorkshire Financial is an illusion.

There were no traders. There was no
staff.

It wasn't trading in stocks or bonds. It
was all lie.

So where is investors' money going?

Prosecutors say that for his recruiting
efforts, John receives $100 ,000.

The rest of the money remains with Paul.

Months after moving in with Cruz, Amy
Weatherford notices he's kicked his

spending into overdrive.

He bought a Jaguar. He bought a
Mercedes.

He had his whole 1994 BMW revamped into
gator colors, so it looked like a gator

BMW.

That was pretty cool, though.

Nearly $300 ,000 comes out of Cruz's
bank accounts as cash withdrawals.

He starts dating a stripper.

showering her with jewelry, clothes,
trips, and a certain medical

He bought her a boob job for five grand.

We got a $5 ,000 bill that he paid out
of these people's hard -earned money.

I mean, I think that's pretty
despicable.

Cruz also spends hundreds of thousands
of dollars to buy part of a stone

in Jacksonville.

And he spends more than $100 ,000
turning this somewhat average home in a

-class neighborhood into a middle -aged
bachelor pad.

The centerpiece is the yard, which he
tricks out with a $7 ,500 grill and a

large fountain that Weatherford calls
the ugliest thing I ever saw in my life.

Though they don't know it, Cruz's hard
-working investors are footing the bill.

I mean, this was their nest egg to
supplement their life.

So he's actually looking people straight
in the eyes and saying, I'm going to

take care of your future. And he knows
at the same time, in his heart of

that he's stealing their future.

Oddly, it's not Cruz's wild spending
that will be his undoing.

A few months after meeting him,
Weatherford confronts Cruz.

She says she's caught him sending
inappropriate text messages to her 17

-old daughter.

I'll buy you a BMW if you would show me
your boobs.

You don't have to tell your mother.

Stuff like that.

I mean, lewd and lascivious in this
county.

I just, I was so mad at him, okay?
Because this was my kid and we were

to be friends. How dare you, right? I
told him.

They won't find your body parts if you
ever make a pass at my kid again. How

dare you? That's about the bottom line.

When asked about this by American Greed,
Cruz did not deny the story.

After Weatherford first discovers the
texts, she decides she wants revenge.

She has an inkling that something is
fishy at Yorkshire and feels there's

one option.

Taking his ass out.

You want me to put that more mildly?

I'd rather not. He was going down one
way or the other. If it wasn't going to

on the paperwork and finding out how
he's spending this money, it was going

go a whole different route.

It didn't matter, you know, but this guy
was gone.

To take him down, she needs more
information.

She knows Cruz needs help getting
organized and goes to him with a

I said, look, Paul, if you need to get
these promissory notes out or whatever

you need to get done, let me do it for
you as a part -time job and we'll be

to go.

He was all for it. It was like he
trusted me completely.

What a fool.

What a fool.

Coming up on American Greed, Paul Cruz's
plans turn deadly.

I sometimes like to call it my breaking
bad faith.

It takes a really big leap to go from
financial crime to wanting to kill

After allegedly trying to seduce her
teenage daughter, Paul Cruz agreed to

Amy Weatherford help him with his
fraudulent company's books.

He thinks she's there to help, but she's
not.

Looking at Cruz's bank records for a
single month, what she sees is shocking.

$400 ,000 in, $400 ,000 out.

How do you spend that in a month?

I don't know.

I don't know what he was spending it on.
All I saw was cars, jewelry, trips.

But she's doing more than just sneaking
a glance.

I copied everything because I knew
something was wrong.

How can he do this and I'm not seeing
investment?

There is nothing in any of the files for
stocks, bonds, anything.

So I emailed the FBI.

And I swear to God, the very next day I
got a call from Byron Thompson.

At the end of March 2011, Paul Cruz
takes a trip to China, and Weatherford

brings agent Byron Thompson this huge
box of papers from Yorkshire Financial.

It's not long before he realizes that
Cruz's operation is a scam.

What's not so clear to him is how and
why Cruz turned bad.

He's a confusing individual.

I looked a lot at his background, and I
learned about two different people.

The early Paul Cruz was a licensed
securities broker who legitimately

people's money.

And then at some point, not knowing how
it happened, he came up with this scheme

that to me was just so callous and
brazen because he knew these people

well. And he knew the money that he was
taking from them was all they had and in

some instances all they were ever going
to have.

In July, Agent Thompson heads from
Florida to Washington State, where John

has recruited the bulk of the scam's
victims.

When I went out to greet some of these
people for the first time who were their

long -term friends, associates, and knew
them well, some of them it was pretty

difficult to convince that there was a
scam at all.

They thought their money was still safe,
and they hadn't experienced a problem

out of it.

Thompson says that for some, the
conversations are difficult.

Some people, you know, the light comes
on and they realize, oh my goodness, you

know, this person I've trusted for all
these years that knew, you know, I'm not

a wealthy person, this is my life
savings, they've stolen our money.

That fall, hoping they can stop the
bleeding, the feds begin seizing Cruz's

assets.

Agent Thompson meets with Paul Cruz, but
he says he won't talk.

By the end of 2011, investor Darlene
Jones has begun to notice that her safe

investment might not be so safe.

She's having trouble getting money from
Cruz.

Paul kept telling me, he said, you don't
understand what's going on.

That's all he would tell me.

He said, there's some things going on
and you don't understand.

And I said, no, Paul, I don't. I don't
know what's going on. I said, am I going

to get a check? He said, I'm not sure.

We'll have to see what happens.

What happens is that one month later,
FBI agent Thompson's phone rings.

It's Paul Cruz.

He called me and said that he was tired
of fighting the case, that I knew he was

guilty and he knew he was guilty, and he
wanted to come in and just face what he

had done.

Two days later, Cruz comes to the
federal building in Jacksonville where

signs a written confession.

A portion of that statement read,
investors were not told the truth about

investments. Sometimes I solicited
investors, and sometimes they were

by my brother, Jonathan Cruz.

I am remorseful for what I've done. I've
hurt a lot of people by stealing their

retirement savings.

It is my desire today to take full
responsibility for what I've done. It

like a Ponzi scheme, and I'm admitting
I'm guilty because I am guilty.

And it was signed, Paul S. Cruz.

For Thompson, it feels like it's time to
close the book on Cruz.

I thought that was the end of the case.

It just seemed like all of the fight had
gone out of him.

He wanted to admit what he had done
wrong, and he told his attorney, in

your advice, this is what I want to do.
I want this case over with. I want to

plead guilty because I am guilty.

But the odyssey of Paul Cruz is far from
over.

Shortly after Cruz confesses to FBI
agents in Florida, his brother John is

behind bars in Washington State.

But his situation has nothing to do with
preying on financial victims.

He's been arrested at this gas station
picnic table trying to meet a girl who

thinks is just 13 years old.

Jonathan Cruz had been arrested in
connection with a catch -a -predator

investigation by the local authorities
there in Washington State.

He had gone to have sex with a minor
child.

In fact, his criminal history had shown
that that wasn't the first time.

Court records say that John Cruz has an
extensive history of sexual deviance

dating back years, and the judge
sentences him to serve at least four

ten months in state prison.

Then in March 2012, a grand jury in
Florida looking at the Yorkshire case

indicts both Cruz brothers on one charge
of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

A few months later, John is brought to
the East Coast and locked up in the same

facility as Paul.

Apparently, this, coupled with his sex
crime arrest, is too much for John to

handle. He ended up hanging himself.

He didn't leave a note. He left no
reason why.

But I think we can just put things
together. He was 65.

He had had a troubled past with
children.

And then he's looking at probably
somewhere around close to 10 years on a

federal charge.

And he just apparently could not live
with himself and took his own life.

Paul Cruz has already confessed to
running the Yorkshire investment scheme

got his brother in trouble with the
feds. But after John's suicide, he's

blaming himself.

He didn't take any responsibility
whatsoever for getting his brother

in his plan to defraud his friends and
family.

He put it on somebody else.

Next on American Greed, Paul Cruz
devises a murderous plan to get out of

and get revenge.

Hey, is there any problem with having
these people cremated?

It's just days after his brother's
suicide.

And on July 31, 2012, authorities move
Paul Cruz to the Baker County Detention

Center. Inside, he shares a cell with a
man named Dre, who was locked up facing

federal drug charges.

Dre seems like a guy who knows how to
make bad things happen.

And Cruz asks him for the name of
someone who can do a couple of jobs.

Paul Cruz.

trusted his cellmate.

It may be because he thought that the
cellmate had what we call street cred

that he believed that he, the cellmate,
could help him out and get him somebody

that was an enforcer.

Dre is more than happy to help Cruz find
an enforcer. And on September 4th, he

places a call to a man on the outside
named John O 'Leary.

Hello? Hello, this is a free call
from... Dre.

An inmate at... Baker County Detention
Center.

Once he's got John on the line, Dre
hands the phone to Cruz, who isn't

get right down to business.

Hey, John.

Hey, what's up, man?

Uh, hey, I'm, um, a friend of Dre's, and
I asked him to,

you know, give me a couple enforcers and
do a couple jobs.

Okay. And so he gave me you.

Okay. And so I'm going to court
tomorrow.

And Amy Weatherford is the star witness
to the case.

And if there's no Amy Weatherford,
there's no case.

I understand.

It's hard not to understand the meaning
of this call.

Cruz thinks that making Amy Weatherford
disappear will make the case against Tim

disappear as well.

It turns out Cruz is hardly stopping
here.

He went from zero to 60, and I think it
showed his true colors. He did not

want to be held responsible for what he
had done.

Cruz takes meticulous notes on how he
wants his murderous plans carried out.

And when he talked to John a week later,
His list of people to kill has grown.

Still in?

Yeah. I've got three jobs that's worth a
hundred grand to you, man.

I'm on, man. This is game on, buddy.

Okay. I mean, it's on like Donkey Kong,
so.

All right.

Cruz wants John to kill Weatherford and
two former business associates.

He claims they stole money from him. Now
Cruz says he wants his money back and

his associates dead.

Now, let me ask you this. You want it
all freaked out with the same light?

Yep. Okay.

You sure now?

Yep. I'm positive.

Once we get the green light, it's on.

Yep. Okay.

What's the time frame you're looking at?

As soon as we can move on it.

John and Paul decide to talk in code,
calling each murder digging a hole.

But Cruz makes one thing clear.

It's all about Amy Weatherford.

Hole number one.

The thing that I've got to express,
we've got to concentrate 110 % on

the first hole.

Yeah, okay, that's no problem.

If I can't get my ass out of jail, you
know, I can't accomplish anything.

Days later, John sends this man, his co
-worker, a tough guy named Richie, to

actually meet with Cruz.

When they talk on the jail's video phone
system, Cruz details what he wants done

with Amy Weatherford in order to
guarantee his release.

To Mark Devereaux, an assistant U .S.
attorney working the case, Cruz's

intentions are clear.

He wanted to have her murdered,
tortured, leave a note with her, a

note making her sign a document saying
that she's the one that came up with the

plan, that she's the one that stole the
money, putting all the blame on her.

Before his visitor leaves, Cruz says
that if this plan doesn't work, he's got

backup that's sure to win him his
freedom.

It sounds like it will.

Since his brother's death, Cruz has
morphed from a white -collar schemer to

man who wants to kill a key witness, two
business associates, and the prosecutor

in his case. But there's a problem with
Cruz's plan.

Hitmen cost money, and he has none.

Well, what does a schemester do?

He uses another scam.

At the very time he's trying to get the
hitman to get out of some lies because

he had stolen money from his friends and
family and clients, he ends up lying to

the hitman.

In this document, Cruz writes down the
big dollar figures that each of his

victims can pony up.

Before digging each hole, he wants John
to take them to their banks and have

them withdraw this money.

As payment, John is to keep a portion
and pass the rest on to Cruz.

Of course, hitmen don't work on
consignment.

They want a down payment.

So Cruz calls his brother Dave to tell
him about his plans and make a request.

He was under the illusion that I owed
him $10 ,000.

And I was supposed to come down there
and make contact with the killers.

and pay him. But Dave doesn't have $10
,000 just sitting around.

And even if he did, he wouldn't use it
to help his brother with his get -out

-jail scheme.

I told him, I said, this is insane for
you to think that you're going to get by

with any of this.

Paul does not take his brother's denial
well.

As I recall, he just hung up.

And I never heard from him again.

Cruz desperately needs Dave's money to
get his operation going.

And when he talks to hitman John, he has
an idea of how to get it. I know he's

got the money.

Okay. And the only way that I think that
you're going to be able to get the

money... is if you have to kill them.

Really? You may have to get to that
point.

Okay. And you're good with that?

I'm good with that.

It's not up to me.

No, I understand.

Here's the thing.

After we hung up, we called you right
back.

Okay.

And you brought us, look, I don't have
10 ,000. If you guys want to come up and

beat me and kill me, you can... I guess
we'll find

out, huh?

Next on American Greed, prosecutors find
something belonging to Cruz that's

unlike anything they've ever seen
before.

Not in a trial. I don't even think in a
horror movie. This just shows a window

into his mind and what he was thinking
about.

He was going to stop at nothing to try
to get away with this crime.

Listen to more of Paul Cruz's
conversations with hitman John at

.CNBCPrime .com.

Feeling greedy?

Want more than your share of behind -the
-scenes dirt?

Follow us at AmericanGreedTV on Twitter.

We'll be right back.

For weeks, confessed con artist Paul
Cruz has been talking to a hitman. He

to take out Amy Weatherford, the
whistleblower who brought down his scam.

On September 27, 2012, Cruz gets the
call he's been waiting for.

John.

What's up, man?

What's happening, man? Tell me the good
news.

Well, you sure you want us to stop them,
right?

Yep.

All right. Here's the news. You sitting
down?

Yeah, I am.

All right.

Lisa's in the trunk of my car right now
as I'm driving down the interstate,

okay? Okay.

What do you think of that, buddy?

I think that's awesome.

In the excitement of the moment, John O
'Leary misspeaks, calling Amy

Weatherford Lisa.

But the message is clear.

Cruz thinks Weatherford is about to die,
and now he wants the confession that

will set him free.

Sit tight. Richie's right now. We'll get
the information.

Okay.

All right. So we'll have it.

So we'll finish your off.

You want to make it look like a suicide,
you said, right?

Yep. Right. And then we'll whack her and
cremate her. You want her cremated,

right? Yep. I want her cremated, yeah.

No problem, man. It's done.

Well, hopefully, Dan, we'll get all this
money. Hopefully you'll be out soon,

brother. It'll be party time.

Yeah. I'm ready for it.

Where do you want to go for our first
meal?

Down to probably the Capitol Grill.

Cruz has big plans.

But before he's eating a steak at a
fancy restaurant, he has one more thing

his hitmen to tell Weatherford.

Let her know that she's dying because
I'm avenging my brother's suicide.

Okay. I understand.

I'll stick the muzzle in her throat and
I'll tell her that, okay? All right.

Let's see, buddy. Peace.

Yep.

Cruz believes his freedom is within
sight.

In the hours after the call, he sits
down and pens a letter to his brother

In it, he writes that Amy Weatherford
has confessed to stealing his investors'

money. She's admitted that she was the
one who put the scam together.

And that she couldn't handle all the
lies anymore and decided to kill

Paul is clearly giddy about the fact
that he now thinks that Amy

dead. Paul's going to get away with
murder of her. He's also going to get

with the entire Ponzi scheme.

And he's going to get away with it in
front of the eyes of his family, too,

because Amy Weatherford, in Paul's mind,
caused the death of his brother.

In Cruz's cold -blooded mind, it all
seems to make sense.

But there are a few hitches in this
plan.

Amy Weatherford isn't really dead.

His cellmate, Gray, isn't really his
friend.

And John O 'Leary isn't really a hitman.

Mr. Cruz thought my name was John O
'Leary, but in fact my name is John

special agent with the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and

At this point, the only hitman Cruz has
actually seen is Richie, a .k .a.

ATF agent Rick Samples.

And the day after the last phone call,
ATF agent John Leahy comes to the jail

introduce himself and let Cruz in on the
secret.

Leahy says he senses no remorse from the
man whose voice he now knows all too

well. I mean, I never saw him face to
face to the day in the cell, but...

Just the way he laughed.

He gives that laugh. It's like, man,
it's like the devil laughing.

After he's caught, guards move Cruz to
solitary confinement.

When they do, they search his belongings
and find a document he's written, a

sick recipe for how to get Weatherford
to confess.

Mr. Cruz wanted Amy Weatherford tortured
and then killed. And he actually wrote

out a list.

of step -by -step how the hitman should
do it.

The first step is knock on the door.

When she opens it, hit her.

Knock her unconscious.

Step three, strip her.

Step four, sit her up in a chair with
arms.

Step five, duct tape her legs and arms
to the chair and put tape over her

Step six, put a hood over her head.

Step seven, shove a curling iron

Up inside her.

Former Justice Department attorney Ryan
Rolfson says that in all his years as a

federal prosecutor, he's never seen
something like this before.

Not in a trial. I don't even think in a
horror movie.

This just shows a window into his mind
and what he was thinking about. And

really, he was going to stop at nothing
to try to get away with this crime.

And even after learning the truth about
hitman John.

Cruz isn't about to stop scheming.

Authorities have not yet told him that
his cellmate, Dre, was the one who set

him up. And Cruz attempts to slip him
notes, warning him that now they are

in grave danger.

Let me put this straight.

John O 'Leary is an ATF agent.

He duped you and me.

He needs to go before he can testify
against us, or we will be in prison for

rest of our lives.

You need to get his ass.

Period. End of story.

These notes are intercepted. So he was
actually willing to kill Amy

two business associates, a federal
prosecutor, his own brother, and then

he learned that Special Agent Leahy
wasn't the hitman, he wanted to have

Agent Leahy murdered.

So now it's thick.

And that's the mentality.

Every time he gets caught, every time he
gets caught with committing another

crime, instead of taking responsibility
for it or saying, okay, you win, he

keeps trying to cover it up. He keeps
trying to commit more crimes. It just

further down into that hole of greed and
crime that he just doesn't seem to be

able to come out of.

Next on American Greed, it's the hour of
reckoning.

And Paul Cruz is still looking for a way
out. He thought of himself as an

amazing salesman, so he kept trying to
sell and sell and sell.

One month after his murder -for -hire
plot falls apart, Paul Cruz is indicted

new charges related to these failed
efforts.

He goes on trial in February 2013.

Darlene Jones is one of the many victims
present to testify against a once

-trusted financial advisor and friend.

In the courtroom, Paul could not even
look at me.

He held his head down the whole time I
was there.

and would not even look up at all.

Also there to testify are three people
Cruz wanted dead, ATF agent John Leahy,

Amy Weatherford, and his own brother
Dave.

I didn't feel angry, but I was willing
to cooperate fully because I

thought he was truly a danger to
society.

If he could kill a brother for nothing.

I think that he deserves to be where he
is.

There to present the case are
prosecutors Ryan Rolfson and one more of

intended victims, Mark Devereaux.

A jury takes less than two hours to find
Cruz guilty on multiple charges of mail

-and -wire fraud, conspiracy, and
attempting to kill a witness.

But even after the verdict is read, He's
still looking for a way out.

When he returns to court for sentencing
months later, he presents the judge with

an audacious plan.

He asked the judge to release him from
custody so that he could start working

again and trying to pay back some of the
money he had taken from the victims. Of

course, the judge did not go for that.

Instead, he sentences Paul Cruz to 30
years in prison.

It seems all his murderous plotting has
backfired.

Had he been convicted at trial of only
the financial fraud scheme, you know,

jail sentence would have likely been a
minimum security assignment for a few

years. He then just went for broke and
tried to get away with all of it.

In the scam he ran, Paul Cruz was no
Bernie Madoff. He didn't steal billions.

But to victims like Darlene Jones, the
money he stole was all the money they

had. I've already lost my home.

I had to file bankruptcy, and I'm not
going to be able to enjoy the things

I thought I was going to be able to
enjoy.

At this point, there's not that much
money.

To those who stopped Cruz's scheme,
there is a small upside in knowing that

prevented him from ensnaring even more
victims.

Cruz's downfall is due in no small part
to one woman, his former assistant, Amy

Weatherford. She seems glad to have
helped out.

That man got exactly what he deserved.

And I've never had the chance to send
him a card in prison to say, Ha ha, I

you I'd get your ass.

Gotcha.

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