1 00:00:05,390 --> 00:00:11,230 In this episode of American Greed, Ramil Robinson's story sounds like a 2 00:00:11,230 --> 00:00:12,230 Cinderella tale. 3 00:00:13,090 --> 00:00:17,670 A child living on the streets is adopted into a loving home. 4 00:00:17,930 --> 00:00:19,990 You know, he was blessed. He was a blessed athlete. 5 00:00:20,450 --> 00:00:22,250 He had a blessed family. 6 00:00:22,550 --> 00:00:25,990 And achieves the pinnacle of success in college basketball. 7 00:00:26,650 --> 00:00:30,530 Helping the University of Michigan win its first NCAA championship. 8 00:00:31,150 --> 00:00:34,910 Went to the White House, got to the cover of Sports Illustrated. They were 9 00:00:34,910 --> 00:00:36,090 calling him Mr. Clutch. 10 00:00:36,730 --> 00:00:40,970 When he turns pro, Robinson becomes a living cliche. 11 00:00:41,570 --> 00:00:46,950 Vermeule had a spending problem from day one. He frequented strip clubs and 12 00:00:46,950 --> 00:00:49,410 would spend unbelievable amounts of money. 13 00:00:49,710 --> 00:00:53,470 A young kid with a lot of money. What are you going to do? You're going to 14 00:00:53,470 --> 00:00:54,470 a great time. 15 00:00:55,790 --> 00:00:59,690 But this rags to riches to rags story has a twist. 16 00:01:00,830 --> 00:01:04,349 Robinson doesn't buy Mama a big house in the suburbs. 17 00:01:04,910 --> 00:01:05,910 Oh, no. 18 00:01:06,410 --> 00:01:11,430 She took him in off the street, and he ended up having her thrown back in the 19 00:01:11,430 --> 00:01:13,090 street. And that's not cool. 20 00:01:13,390 --> 00:01:14,650 Not cool at all. 21 00:01:15,350 --> 00:01:19,790 And I couldn't believe that he did that. You bite the hand that feeds you? 22 00:01:20,290 --> 00:01:24,730 I gave you a chance in life, and you did this to us? 23 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:49,740 Cambridge, Massachusetts. 24 00:01:51,540 --> 00:01:56,900 Down a cobblestone lane, there's a wood frame home that belongs to Helen Ford. 25 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:03,680 With her late husband, Lou, Helen raised five children here. 26 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:09,900 But this widow's world is about to be turned upside down. 27 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:13,320 And then all of a sudden, one night... 28 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:21,280 I opened the door, and here's the constable saying, are you Helen Ford? 29 00:02:21,500 --> 00:02:23,720 He handed me this thing, and I opened it up. 30 00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:26,300 I almost fell to the floor. 31 00:02:26,740 --> 00:02:28,260 An eviction notice. 32 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:29,600 I said, what? 33 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:31,420 What's going on? 34 00:02:32,340 --> 00:02:36,740 Helen wonders if it has something to do with the loan she gave one of her sons, 35 00:02:37,100 --> 00:02:43,820 the former NBA player Rumiel Robinson, a loan backed up by the value of her 36 00:02:43,820 --> 00:02:44,820 home. 37 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:47,900 So I immediately called him on the phone. 38 00:02:48,940 --> 00:02:52,420 Oh, no, Ma, I got it. I got it. I'll take care of it. I'll take care of it. 39 00:02:52,740 --> 00:02:54,420 I said, Ramil, what's going on? 40 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,660 Ramil Robinson's I got it is an outright lie. 41 00:03:00,920 --> 00:03:03,920 Before long, Helen is kicked to the curb. 42 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:07,480 I felt I left my family down. 43 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:13,020 I didn't know where I was going to go, what I was going to do. 44 00:03:16,330 --> 00:03:20,490 Thirty years earlier, Helen and Lou Ford are well -known in Cambridge. 45 00:03:20,890 --> 00:03:22,130 He's a mail carrier. 46 00:03:22,390 --> 00:03:24,390 She's a high school safety officer. 47 00:03:25,150 --> 00:03:29,990 In addition to their own five children, Helen and Lou take in dozens of foster 48 00:03:29,990 --> 00:03:31,370 children over the years. 49 00:03:31,970 --> 00:03:37,030 I've always had a motto that children are not a deck of cards. 50 00:03:37,250 --> 00:03:39,270 Why should they be shuffled around? 51 00:03:39,970 --> 00:03:41,050 That's my motto. 52 00:03:42,030 --> 00:03:45,150 Helen volunteers at the Cambridge Community Center. 53 00:03:45,630 --> 00:03:47,490 which runs after -school programs. 54 00:03:49,050 --> 00:03:53,970 One day, a friend at the community center tells her about a young boy there 55 00:03:53,970 --> 00:03:56,710 doesn't talk much but seems troubled. 56 00:03:58,110 --> 00:04:00,970 He says his name is Ramil. 57 00:04:02,150 --> 00:04:04,350 And he said, my mother don't want me. 58 00:04:04,870 --> 00:04:06,430 My mother don't want me. 59 00:04:06,990 --> 00:04:10,710 My mother don't want me. He kept saying it, and I said, wait, wait, wait, what 60 00:04:10,710 --> 00:04:11,710 do you mean? 61 00:04:12,300 --> 00:04:16,600 I don't live with my mom. My mama put me out. She just don't want me. I said, 62 00:04:16,620 --> 00:04:17,700 well, where do you sleep? 63 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:23,160 Ramil tells Helen he climbs through windows to sleep inside buildings. 64 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:27,200 So I said, oh, how long have you been doing that? 65 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:32,560 Oh, about three weeks. I said, oh, that's not good. I said, well, when's 66 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:33,660 last time you ate? 67 00:04:33,940 --> 00:04:37,340 He said, oh, about three weeks ago. I said, that's it. You're coming home with 68 00:04:37,340 --> 00:04:38,340 me. 69 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:40,340 Well, he ate like there was no tomorrow. 70 00:04:41,660 --> 00:04:44,180 And I said, wow, I guess you haven't eaten in a while. 71 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:48,520 And I remember the meal distinctly. We had pork chops, mashed potatoes, and 72 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:49,520 string beans. 73 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:52,060 And he just devoured it. 74 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:58,900 The Fords learned that 10 -year -old Ramil Robinson was born in Jamaica and 75 00:04:58,900 --> 00:05:00,580 raised there by his grandparents. 76 00:05:02,260 --> 00:05:07,620 Ramil recently immigrated to Massachusetts to be with his mother, who 77 00:05:07,620 --> 00:05:09,340 has no use for him. 78 00:05:14,190 --> 00:05:20,950 The Fords feed, shelter, and care for Ramil for several months, and then a big 79 00:05:20,950 --> 00:05:24,190 day. Helen has a custody hearing at the courthouse. 80 00:05:25,130 --> 00:05:30,530 She wisely leaves Ramil at school to protect him from what surely would have 81 00:05:30,530 --> 00:05:33,590 been a traumatic encounter with his birth mother. 82 00:05:34,030 --> 00:05:40,830 And she walked in, and she said to the lady at the desk, where do I sign, 83 00:05:41,050 --> 00:05:42,050 because I don't want them. 84 00:05:44,270 --> 00:05:45,270 I looked. 85 00:05:45,370 --> 00:05:46,810 Oh, my goodness. 86 00:05:47,090 --> 00:05:48,470 How do you do that? 87 00:05:48,690 --> 00:05:50,270 I was devastated. 88 00:05:50,590 --> 00:05:53,310 The juvenile officer turned to me and said, well, you got a son. 89 00:05:53,630 --> 00:05:54,930 It was that quick. 90 00:05:56,730 --> 00:06:00,670 Eventually, the Fords officially adopt Rameel Robinson. 91 00:06:03,050 --> 00:06:09,850 His older brother, Donald Barrows, says Rameel excels in every sport he tries. 92 00:06:10,130 --> 00:06:11,850 But in basketball... 93 00:06:12,590 --> 00:06:15,050 Ramil Robinson is something special. 94 00:06:16,370 --> 00:06:21,650 This here is St. Mary's Park, where we used to play our summer league 95 00:06:21,650 --> 00:06:26,590 games and also just pick up games that sometimes got a little heated. 96 00:06:26,870 --> 00:06:27,950 A lot of good fun. 97 00:06:28,410 --> 00:06:31,030 And that's where he would come and showcase his skills. 98 00:06:31,290 --> 00:06:35,930 You know, all of us. And Ramil would come there and people would ooh and ah, 99 00:06:35,930 --> 00:06:39,790 everybody would go there and actually watch the summer games and watch and see 100 00:06:39,790 --> 00:06:41,090 what the talent is out there doing. 101 00:06:41,610 --> 00:06:46,170 And Rameel was one of the talents that had a lot of people over in our. 102 00:06:47,850 --> 00:06:51,390 Rameel goes to Cambridge Bridge and Latin High School. 103 00:06:51,910 --> 00:06:57,910 It's known for its storied basketball program, which produced NBA star Patrick 104 00:06:57,910 --> 00:06:58,910 Ewing. 105 00:06:59,950 --> 00:07:03,210 Under head coach Mike Jarvis, Rameel thrives. 106 00:07:06,450 --> 00:07:08,850 Coach Jarvis tells American Greed. 107 00:07:09,310 --> 00:07:14,650 that if he told his athletes to do 100 push -ups a day, Rameel would do many 108 00:07:14,650 --> 00:07:21,270 more. I probably would just go and do 100 like Mike requested, and Rameel 109 00:07:21,270 --> 00:07:24,090 just do it secretly. He'd probably do 300, 400, 500. 110 00:07:24,490 --> 00:07:28,570 Rameel was just a workaholic. He was about developing his game and doing what 111 00:07:28,570 --> 00:07:32,490 had to do to get his game off the par, and he had that hunger for it. 112 00:07:32,750 --> 00:07:34,530 The hard work pays off. 113 00:07:35,150 --> 00:07:39,630 In 1986, Cambridge Ridge and Latin wins the state championship. 114 00:07:40,590 --> 00:07:43,210 And I said, so what do you think you're going to do with yourself? 115 00:07:43,550 --> 00:07:46,390 And he said, I want to go to the NBA. 116 00:07:46,890 --> 00:07:50,430 I said, really? I said, well, if you believe, you will achieve. 117 00:07:52,750 --> 00:07:58,130 Robinson signs on at the University of Michigan, ships off to Ann Arbor, and 118 00:07:58,130 --> 00:08:00,070 quickly becomes a star player. 119 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:09,820 Michigan, at this point, has never won the NCAA championship, a sore point for 120 00:08:09,820 --> 00:08:12,480 Michigan super fans like Dottie Day. 121 00:08:12,980 --> 00:08:19,840 We're good. We're always good. We just need to get one little step better than 122 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,420 good. We need to get great. 123 00:08:24,140 --> 00:08:31,140 In Rameel's junior year, the 1988 -89 season, fans like Day dare 124 00:08:31,140 --> 00:08:33,770 to wonder, Could this be the year? 125 00:08:35,429 --> 00:08:41,150 After going 24 -7 in the regular season, Michigan tears through the early rounds 126 00:08:41,150 --> 00:08:44,890 of the NCAA tournament and reaches the Final Four. 127 00:08:45,210 --> 00:08:46,610 Nobody gave them a chance. 128 00:08:47,490 --> 00:08:53,210 Nobody thought that they would be here and look at them now. 129 00:08:53,610 --> 00:08:57,930 You know the saying, it says it takes a village to raise a child. Well, I was 130 00:08:57,930 --> 00:08:59,590 part of that little village that was. 131 00:08:59,910 --> 00:09:05,790 helping Ramil succeed as well, you know. And when he got to that level and we 132 00:09:05,790 --> 00:09:08,730 got to see him do what he was doing, it all made it for a crowd. 133 00:09:10,270 --> 00:09:13,130 Helen and Lou Ford have limited means. 134 00:09:14,190 --> 00:09:19,570 They decide that Helen will travel to Seattle for the final four and Lou will 135 00:09:19,570 --> 00:09:21,070 stay with the kids and work. 136 00:09:21,410 --> 00:09:24,870 Some fans in Cambridge have another idea. 137 00:09:25,370 --> 00:09:28,170 What happened was they picked him up. 138 00:09:28,540 --> 00:09:33,860 On his route, he called the post office, picked him up on his route. 139 00:09:34,180 --> 00:09:38,580 The guy came up to him and said, Lou, you're getting on an airplane. 140 00:09:38,820 --> 00:09:40,600 He said, to go where? What happened? 141 00:09:41,700 --> 00:09:44,240 And he was just flabbergasted. 142 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:48,580 And the tears are coming down my face like, oh, my God, did these things 143 00:09:48,580 --> 00:09:49,700 happen, you know? 144 00:09:49,980 --> 00:09:51,260 So I was excited. 145 00:09:52,980 --> 00:09:54,840 Monday, April 3rd, 1989. 146 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:03,140 Before the championship game against Seton Hall, Robinson feels like a kid at 147 00:10:03,140 --> 00:10:04,140 Christmas. 148 00:10:04,500 --> 00:10:08,500 You know, having that boyhood dream of having your first bike. 149 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:13,660 But that dream may be in jeopardy. After a back -and -forth game that ends in a 150 00:10:13,660 --> 00:10:18,180 tie, the Wolverines trail 79 -78 in overtime. 151 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:24,020 With just seconds left in the game, Robinson gets his chance to leave his 152 00:10:24,020 --> 00:10:25,480 on basketball history. 153 00:10:25,900 --> 00:10:26,900 Five seconds. 154 00:10:30,740 --> 00:10:34,840 And they called that foul at the end and got put on the free throw line. It was 155 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:37,420 like nail -biter, you know what I mean? 156 00:10:37,740 --> 00:10:39,440 I mean, it seemed like forever. 157 00:10:40,380 --> 00:10:43,820 I remember just watching him on the line. He seemed very poised because I 158 00:10:43,820 --> 00:10:46,900 worried if he was going to be nervous to make the shots or not. 159 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:50,740 I told him, like, come on, please let this pay off for you. Please let this 160 00:10:50,740 --> 00:10:51,740 off for you. 161 00:10:51,770 --> 00:10:55,110 And then he shot the first one, and that one went down, and I was like, all 162 00:10:55,110 --> 00:10:56,130 right, now the game's tied. 163 00:10:56,590 --> 00:10:59,650 Like, hey, go, Ramell, this is it, right? Hey, you got one more shot. 164 00:11:01,370 --> 00:11:03,590 Ramell's got ice running through his veins. 165 00:11:04,530 --> 00:11:05,830 Calm, cool, and collected. 166 00:11:06,350 --> 00:11:11,210 And then when that next one went through, it was just like pandemonium. 167 00:11:12,130 --> 00:11:14,750 The top of Michigan has won a national championship. 168 00:11:15,210 --> 00:11:19,750 I don't know how to describe it other than that's what you play for. 169 00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:23,640 Who would believe it? You know, shocked the world. 170 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:28,420 The champions go to the White House and meet President Bush. 171 00:11:28,780 --> 00:11:32,220 And now, Rumeel, I have a prop for you, a basketball. 172 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:39,180 In Cambridge, the street where Helen and Lou Ford raised their family is renamed 173 00:11:39,180 --> 00:11:41,320 Rumeel Robinson Place. 174 00:11:42,220 --> 00:11:47,500 Rumeel even makes the cover of Sports Illustrated. I read this magazine all 175 00:11:47,500 --> 00:11:49,560 time, and I always look at the cover. 176 00:11:50,110 --> 00:11:53,490 And I said, oh, that's good, you know, this one made it, that one made it, you 177 00:11:53,490 --> 00:11:59,990 know. But to see your own kid, it's like, wow, is this real? 178 00:12:02,070 --> 00:12:06,870 In the NBA draft, Ramil Robinson is the 10th overall pick. 179 00:12:07,430 --> 00:12:11,530 He goes to the Atlanta Hawks, and his future looks secure. 180 00:12:13,450 --> 00:12:16,110 It's a story with heroic overtone. 181 00:12:16,710 --> 00:12:19,510 A kid born into poverty and obscurity. 182 00:12:20,010 --> 00:12:25,690 and abandoned by his mother at a tender age, has found a home in America and 183 00:12:25,690 --> 00:12:28,310 made his audacious dream a reality. 184 00:12:28,770 --> 00:12:31,270 Okay, you made it now. Here you go. 185 00:12:32,250 --> 00:12:33,850 Let's show what you can do. 186 00:12:35,430 --> 00:12:40,390 When American greed returned, out of bounds and out of control. 187 00:12:40,890 --> 00:12:46,410 Rameel's problem was reckless spending, and he fell in love with a stripper, 188 00:12:46,470 --> 00:12:48,010 just like the song said. 189 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:49,560 That was his problem. 190 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:08,980 Selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the NBA draft, Ramil 191 00:13:08,980 --> 00:13:11,700 Robinson has realized his childhood dream. 192 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:14,180 He moves to Atlanta. 193 00:13:14,810 --> 00:13:21,470 signed a contract worth $4 .3 million over four years, and finally gets his 194 00:13:21,470 --> 00:13:22,470 piece of the pie. 195 00:13:22,730 --> 00:13:28,030 I got there, and he's staying in this tri -level penthouse overlooking 196 00:13:28,030 --> 00:13:32,350 Park. And I'm like, you know, I'm thinking back now, I'm like, okay, you 197 00:13:32,350 --> 00:13:37,690 what I'm saying, well, moving on up. I'm like, okay, wow, Rue, this is cool. 198 00:13:38,030 --> 00:13:39,230 This is real cool. 199 00:13:40,310 --> 00:13:43,990 The penthouse, though, is just a temporary crash pad. 200 00:13:45,370 --> 00:13:49,570 Within a year, Robinson decamped to a leafy Atlanta suburb. 201 00:13:50,430 --> 00:13:52,170 It was a big, big house. 202 00:13:52,430 --> 00:13:55,330 And I lived in a state. It was not a house. 203 00:13:55,910 --> 00:13:58,230 There was a pool house. I could have lived in the pool house. 204 00:13:58,770 --> 00:13:59,850 That's how big it was. 205 00:14:01,390 --> 00:14:05,670 I'm like, Rue, what are you going to do with all this space, man? What do you 206 00:14:05,670 --> 00:14:06,670 need all this space for? 207 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:12,440 Oh, gee, you know, for my boys, they all come up, and I'm like, well, how often 208 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:13,019 is that? 209 00:14:13,020 --> 00:14:15,340 You know, you don't need all this space for that. 210 00:14:15,580 --> 00:14:21,660 Well, the dogs, well, these dogs don't need 11 acres. 211 00:14:22,420 --> 00:14:24,940 All this land, oh, it was gorgeous. 212 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:27,660 I'd never seen anything like it. 213 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:29,000 Mm -hmm. 214 00:14:30,540 --> 00:14:35,620 But his mom rarely visits, and something happens to Rameel in Atlanta. 215 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:40,160 though neither she nor anyone else in the family can explain it. 216 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:46,040 But somehow, the good son becomes the prodigal son. 217 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:52,540 Robinson, they say, is a regular in Atlanta's strip clubs, where he can blow 218 00:14:52,540 --> 00:14:54,820 several thousand dollars in a single night. 219 00:14:56,460 --> 00:15:02,300 In fact, his brother says that sometimes after a night at a strip club, Robinson 220 00:15:02,300 --> 00:15:03,980 takes several dancers home. 221 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:15,200 The strippers must be surprised when he shows them his room closet. 222 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:21,060 Have them, you know, throw on their birthday suits and clean his house and 223 00:15:21,060 --> 00:15:24,980 pay them all another thousand dollars cash or whatever it was he was giving 224 00:15:24,980 --> 00:15:27,500 them. He just recklessly spent their money. 225 00:15:31,980 --> 00:15:35,040 Years later, in an ESPN program, 226 00:15:35,770 --> 00:15:39,170 Robinson looks back on those young and wild days. 227 00:15:39,590 --> 00:15:40,610 We're coming out of college. 228 00:15:40,930 --> 00:15:42,790 You know, we're going into the pros. 229 00:15:43,050 --> 00:15:44,990 You're young, you're with a lot of money. 230 00:15:45,210 --> 00:15:47,990 What are you going to do? You're going to have a great time. 231 00:15:51,630 --> 00:15:53,930 On the court, Robinson struggles. 232 00:15:54,690 --> 00:15:57,890 He's not the dominant player he was in high school and college. 233 00:15:58,530 --> 00:16:01,770 And his brother says he clashes with coaches. 234 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:07,400 Romero didn't understand he was very talented as a player, but when you get 235 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:09,280 that level, you're not the only one. 236 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:15,960 You're not the only one. You're one of many, and you can be replaced just like 237 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:17,600 that, and that's exactly what they did. 238 00:16:17,900 --> 00:16:21,900 Over seven seasons, Robinson pinballs around the NBA. 239 00:16:22,540 --> 00:16:28,760 Atlanta, New Jersey, Charlotte, Portland, Los Angeles, 240 00:16:29,140 --> 00:16:30,140 Phoenix. 241 00:16:31,099 --> 00:16:36,680 By 2002, the journeyman is long gone from the NBA and now plays for smaller 242 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:38,440 teams in Italy and Croatia. 243 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:43,420 It's a tough road for him as he confides to friend Marshall Jones. 244 00:16:44,060 --> 00:16:48,440 There was a time he called me. He was like, yo, D, they left me. I'm like, 245 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:49,339 do you mean they left you? 246 00:16:49,340 --> 00:16:50,600 At the hotel, man. 247 00:16:50,900 --> 00:16:52,800 They just got on the bus and left. 248 00:16:53,380 --> 00:16:55,480 I said, why did they leave you? 249 00:16:56,000 --> 00:17:00,460 He's like, man, I didn't want to get on the bus because it takes too long. 250 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:03,580 It's a ruse. What do you mean you don't want to get on the bunch, man? 251 00:17:04,220 --> 00:17:07,720 That's how they travel over there, you know? 252 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:11,920 It's like, yo, nah, man, you look over these cliffs and this and that. I'm 253 00:17:12,020 --> 00:17:13,220 rude, man. 254 00:17:13,420 --> 00:17:15,880 You have to do what the team does. 255 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:20,540 You know, you can't just make up your own, you know, your own rules. 256 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:25,359 It's obvious his heart isn't in it anymore. 257 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:27,900 His career is done. 258 00:17:28,380 --> 00:17:29,700 At that point in time, I think. 259 00:17:30,140 --> 00:17:35,900 That's when he said, you know what, let me close the book of trying to play 260 00:17:35,900 --> 00:17:41,960 basketball and let me move on to some other business ventures. 261 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:48,740 When American Greed Returns reveals plan to give back. 262 00:17:49,060 --> 00:17:55,620 And he said, when the project is completed, he said, you're going to be a 263 00:17:55,620 --> 00:17:56,620 woman. 264 00:18:10,860 --> 00:18:17,200 His basketball dream over, Ramil Robinson sells his Atlanta mansion and 265 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:18,200 in Miami. 266 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:21,600 Here, he hatches a new plan. 267 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:24,920 It harks back to his roots in Jamaica. 268 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:32,380 Robinson envisions building a world -class mega resort on Jamaica's North 269 00:18:32,620 --> 00:18:35,060 It is called Harmony Cove. 270 00:18:35,380 --> 00:18:38,460 This was going to be a 2 ,000 -plus acre. 271 00:18:39,100 --> 00:18:43,640 oceanfront resort development in Jamaica. Unlike anything that the 272 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:46,020 it was to be the flagship resort there. 273 00:18:46,300 --> 00:18:53,080 You're talking about building a billion -dollar resort, golf courses, dredging a 274 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:55,580 harbor so that cruise ships can come in. 275 00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:59,260 Robinson forms a company, Megalodon Development. 276 00:18:59,820 --> 00:19:04,760 But the development team he assembles isn't exactly all -star talent. 277 00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:07,740 All he'd ever done was be a basketball player. 278 00:19:08,430 --> 00:19:11,810 His partner mowed lawns for a living. 279 00:19:12,030 --> 00:19:17,150 There just wasn't anyone there that had any kind of experience doing anything 280 00:19:17,150 --> 00:19:18,150 close to them. 281 00:19:18,870 --> 00:19:24,670 An experience be damned, Ramil Robinson begins to energetically solicit 282 00:19:24,670 --> 00:19:26,090 investors in Miami. 283 00:19:26,390 --> 00:19:29,470 And he also taps his family network. 284 00:19:30,090 --> 00:19:31,330 He asked me. 285 00:19:31,790 --> 00:19:36,090 how much something about the equity in my mom's house, how much equity is in 286 00:19:36,090 --> 00:19:39,790 house. And I was like, how would I know? I don't know that. You need to talk to 287 00:19:39,790 --> 00:19:40,549 her about that. 288 00:19:40,550 --> 00:19:44,090 And he said, Mom, I need your help. I said, what's going on? 289 00:19:45,630 --> 00:19:48,930 Robinson flies to Boston and unveils his plans. 290 00:19:49,490 --> 00:19:53,850 And he had all the plans and everything, and he laid it all out on the table and 291 00:19:53,850 --> 00:19:59,270 looking at this stuff and looking at all these different aspects and, you know, 292 00:19:59,290 --> 00:20:00,290 it looked pretty good. 293 00:20:00,300 --> 00:20:01,600 I said, well, I don't have any money. 294 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,040 And so he said, well, what about the house? Can you put the house? 295 00:20:05,500 --> 00:20:10,020 I can hear my late husband always said, always help our children. 296 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:13,680 I could hear him saying, help our son. 297 00:20:14,700 --> 00:20:15,740 So I said, yeah. 298 00:20:17,900 --> 00:20:20,740 At the time, Helen's house is paid off. 299 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:27,640 She agrees to take out a mortgage for $600 ,000 and loan the proceeds to Ramil 300 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:29,500 as seed money for his development. 301 00:20:30,510 --> 00:20:33,490 He promises to cover all the monthly payments. 302 00:20:34,670 --> 00:20:41,110 And he said, when the project is completed, he said, 303 00:20:41,230 --> 00:20:44,910 you're going to be a rich woman. He says, I'm going to give you half a 304 00:20:44,910 --> 00:20:50,330 dollars. You can do whatever you want with it. Thanks, Mom, and whatever. 305 00:20:50,650 --> 00:20:51,990 I said, oh, okay. 306 00:20:52,690 --> 00:20:53,930 So I believed it. 307 00:20:54,850 --> 00:20:55,910 I believed it. 308 00:20:58,890 --> 00:21:04,550 When you first hear the story, it's so improbable that you think that that's 309 00:21:04,550 --> 00:21:07,290 just made up, that that's a con. 310 00:21:07,710 --> 00:21:13,270 But as it turned out, it wasn't. There was a real live project called Harmony 311 00:21:13,270 --> 00:21:19,150 Cove and that the Jamaican government really wanted to build this billion 312 00:21:19,150 --> 00:21:23,930 -dollar resort and that somebody actually had contacted him. 313 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:28,680 He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, had an NBA career, he had 314 00:21:29,220 --> 00:21:32,200 And so apparently somebody thought it was a good idea to involve him. 315 00:21:33,500 --> 00:21:35,620 But it's not such a good idea. 316 00:21:36,420 --> 00:21:40,320 And there are several important points Ramil forgot to tell his mother, 317 00:21:40,420 --> 00:21:43,780 according to FBI Special Agent Kevin Kohler. 318 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:50,840 First of all, he has no money. He has no income. He has no meaningful assets 319 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:52,080 that he can pledge as collateral. 320 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:54,600 He has a terrible credit history. 321 00:21:58,300 --> 00:22:03,840 And without Helen knowing, Robinson steals her house right out from under 322 00:22:04,100 --> 00:22:09,360 What she doesn't realize is that he has arranged to have the title of the 323 00:22:09,360 --> 00:22:11,680 property transferred over to one of his business associates. 324 00:22:12,500 --> 00:22:16,980 The associate takes out a $500 ,000 mortgage on the property. 325 00:22:18,500 --> 00:22:21,500 Nearly all of that money goes to Ramil. 326 00:22:22,510 --> 00:22:28,250 A couple months later, the property is refinanced for $625 ,000 and transferred 327 00:22:28,250 --> 00:22:29,530 to another business partner. 328 00:22:29,970 --> 00:22:35,690 The loan applications for these transactions are replete with lies about 329 00:22:35,690 --> 00:22:38,610 will live in the home and how much it's worth. 330 00:22:38,970 --> 00:22:44,690 He defrauded these banks. They loaned money on a house that wasn't worth near 331 00:22:44,690 --> 00:22:46,810 what the bank believed it was. 332 00:22:47,510 --> 00:22:51,430 A few months later, the house is flipped for a third time. 333 00:22:52,010 --> 00:22:54,070 This time for $1 million. 334 00:22:56,110 --> 00:23:00,910 So in a matter of about a year, this house that has no debt on it and is 335 00:23:00,910 --> 00:23:04,890 about $400 ,000 now has a million dollars of debt. 336 00:23:05,550 --> 00:23:08,530 And nearly all of that money had gone to Rumil. 337 00:23:08,790 --> 00:23:14,150 Very little was spent on Megalodon or to further this Harmony Cove venture that 338 00:23:14,150 --> 00:23:18,410 Megalodon was involved in, even though that is what he had promised his mom. 339 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:25,640 What's more, the proceeds of Helen's home aren't nearly enough to satisfy 340 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:32,980 Next on American Greed, see how Robinson swings open the vault of a small bank 341 00:23:32,980 --> 00:23:34,160 in the middle of Iowa. 342 00:23:34,540 --> 00:23:39,500 And later, hear what little regard Robinson has for his mother's home. 343 00:23:40,580 --> 00:23:44,620 Listen, you don't live by a house a lot. A house don't make a man or a woman. 344 00:23:58,990 --> 00:24:04,470 Ramil Robinson is not the first former NBA player to blow his money on 345 00:24:04,470 --> 00:24:07,070 strippers, cigars, and fast cars. 346 00:24:08,630 --> 00:24:13,870 But what sets him apart from some other broke athletes is his willingness to 347 00:24:13,870 --> 00:24:16,930 turn to crime to grab the almighty dollar. 348 00:24:18,170 --> 00:24:23,610 Through A Friend of a Friend, Robinson meets a loan officer at a small bank in 349 00:24:23,610 --> 00:24:24,970 suburb of Des Moines, Iowa. 350 00:24:27,470 --> 00:24:33,070 This loan officer, who has agreed to talk to American Greed anonymously, is a 351 00:24:33,070 --> 00:24:34,950 former college basketball player. 352 00:24:36,090 --> 00:24:41,510 And basketball talk is how the two men hit it off when Robinson calls the loan 353 00:24:41,510 --> 00:24:42,930 officer from Miami. 354 00:24:43,570 --> 00:24:46,230 I think I was a lot of starstruck at first. 355 00:24:47,110 --> 00:24:53,050 When somebody has made it to the level that he made it, and I had aspirations 356 00:24:53,050 --> 00:24:56,530 get there myself at one point in time, I gave it. 357 00:24:56,910 --> 00:24:59,210 more credibility than I should have. 358 00:24:59,770 --> 00:25:04,930 Robinson tells the loan officer he's on the cusp of getting a big infusion of 359 00:25:04,930 --> 00:25:09,090 development funds to build his green mega resort in Jamaica. 360 00:25:09,470 --> 00:25:14,330 Until that ship comes in, he just needs a small bridge loan to produce 361 00:25:14,330 --> 00:25:17,130 promotional materials and business plan. 362 00:25:17,870 --> 00:25:23,710 But to hear him talk, it was, you know, the path had already been established 363 00:25:23,710 --> 00:25:24,770 and the road was paved. 364 00:25:25,310 --> 00:25:28,850 That was the first thing that I remember really jumping out. It's like, wow, 365 00:25:28,890 --> 00:25:31,330 this thing, you know, it's ready to go. 366 00:25:33,330 --> 00:25:37,110 Robinson applies for a $377 ,000 loan. 367 00:25:38,670 --> 00:25:44,350 But the FBI says Ramil grows frustrated at how long the loan process is taking. 368 00:25:45,470 --> 00:25:52,330 To speed things up, he proposes paying $100 ,000 of the loan back to the 369 00:25:52,330 --> 00:25:53,330 loan officer. 370 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:58,340 He knew the loan officer was strapped himself for money. He was living beyond 371 00:25:58,340 --> 00:25:59,179 his means. 372 00:25:59,180 --> 00:26:02,280 He had a fair amount of consumer debt. 373 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:07,980 And so when Ramil proposed paying him a portion of these loan proceeds, it 374 00:26:07,980 --> 00:26:08,980 seemed attractive. 375 00:26:09,380 --> 00:26:13,500 That's where the greed part, I guess, comes in in the story. 376 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:15,440 Everybody has greed. 377 00:26:16,700 --> 00:26:19,640 Robinson nets $277 ,000. 378 00:26:20,140 --> 00:26:22,620 It should last a while, right? 379 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:32,120 Within two months, he's spent it all. He makes a $25 ,000 payment on a condo for 380 00:26:32,120 --> 00:26:33,160 himself and his girlfriend. 381 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:39,020 He spends $35 ,000 furnishing the condo with high -end electronics, with 382 00:26:39,020 --> 00:26:40,300 designer furniture. 383 00:26:41,020 --> 00:26:43,760 He purchases a couple Mercedes -Benzes. 384 00:26:44,460 --> 00:26:50,740 He spends large amounts of money at cigar shops, designer clothing shops, at 385 00:26:50,740 --> 00:26:51,619 strip clubs. 386 00:26:51,620 --> 00:26:54,580 He spends all of that in about two months. 387 00:26:55,500 --> 00:26:58,720 Robinson never makes a single repayment to the bank. 388 00:26:59,120 --> 00:27:04,600 Yet he brazenly calls the officer again and again asking for more. 389 00:27:05,260 --> 00:27:10,620 But that initial kickback that's paid opens up the vault to the bank. 390 00:27:10,860 --> 00:27:15,320 And the bank continues to loan money because of this loan officer who's taken 391 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:16,320 the kickback. 392 00:27:16,580 --> 00:27:23,340 In short order, there's a loan for $80 ,000, then $150 ,000. 393 00:27:24,420 --> 00:27:28,480 $111 ,000 and $495 ,000. 394 00:27:28,700 --> 00:27:34,120 Special Agent Kohler says that a measly 5 % of the proceeds go where they're 395 00:27:34,120 --> 00:27:37,500 supposed to, to business development for Harmony Co. 396 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:43,160 With the rest, Robinson puts on a clinic of self -indulgence. 397 00:27:43,660 --> 00:27:48,280 And as you scan through what he's spending it on, here's just a single 398 00:27:49,340 --> 00:27:50,680 $111 ,000. 399 00:27:51,710 --> 00:27:57,050 in withdrawals and spending at restaurants and jewelry stores and such. 400 00:27:57,250 --> 00:28:01,010 You see heavy strip club traffic in this month. 401 00:28:05,430 --> 00:28:10,670 Robinson is spending so much, he can't possibly make good on his promise to his 402 00:28:10,670 --> 00:28:11,670 mom. 403 00:28:11,970 --> 00:28:15,550 Which brings us to that fateful day in Cambridge. 404 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:22,140 I opened the door and here's the constable saying, are you Helen Ford? 405 00:28:23,020 --> 00:28:26,300 Ramil's mortgage on his mom's house is months overdue. 406 00:28:27,060 --> 00:28:32,360 And Helen is evicted from the home she has lived in for more than 30 years. 407 00:28:33,360 --> 00:28:36,400 Never thought anything like that was ever going to happen. 408 00:28:37,340 --> 00:28:38,340 Never. 409 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:43,440 And I couldn't believe that he did that. The person, the hand, you bite the hand 410 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:44,440 that feeds you. 411 00:28:45,070 --> 00:28:49,210 I gave you a chance in life, and you did this to us? 412 00:28:51,290 --> 00:28:57,030 Helen is distraught and crying when she enters the office of Dennis Benson, a 413 00:28:57,030 --> 00:29:01,510 lawyer who grew up in the neighborhood and spent many hours of his boyhood at 414 00:29:01,510 --> 00:29:02,510 her home. 415 00:29:02,590 --> 00:29:09,470 And I said to her that I generally don't take on those kinds of cases, but I 416 00:29:09,470 --> 00:29:15,460 wanted to help her. And it was one of those moments where a client, touches 417 00:29:15,460 --> 00:29:16,460 at your core. 418 00:29:17,180 --> 00:29:22,780 Dennis files suit against American Home Mortgage, saying they were negligent in 419 00:29:22,780 --> 00:29:23,980 not seeing the fraud. 420 00:29:25,100 --> 00:29:30,760 Helen dispatches her son Donald to Miami to find out what Ramil is doing and if 421 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:33,520 there's any way she can get her money and her home back. 422 00:29:34,700 --> 00:29:36,180 When American Greed returns. 423 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:42,420 It's a sad thing to me to go from being one who's being looked up to to be the 424 00:29:42,420 --> 00:29:43,740 one who's being looked for. 425 00:29:46,860 --> 00:29:49,080 Want inside information from the show? 426 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:51,500 Join the Greed Social Network. 427 00:29:52,020 --> 00:29:54,520 Like us on American Greed's Facebook page. 428 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:55,940 We'll be right back. 429 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:16,540 Donald Barrows arrives in Miami looking for answers. 430 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:20,680 And looking for his brother, Rameel Robinson. 431 00:30:23,260 --> 00:30:28,820 His first stop is Rameel's luxury condo in a private gated community called 432 00:30:28,820 --> 00:30:30,100 Williams Island. 433 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:33,080 Knocking on the door, there's no answer. 434 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:37,340 And there was a big space underneath the door, so I got down on the ground and I 435 00:30:37,340 --> 00:30:39,460 looked under there and I could tell that the place was empty. 436 00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:43,920 And I actually, like, yelled Ramil under the door, and you just hear the echo 437 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:45,540 just going throughout the whole place. 438 00:30:45,820 --> 00:30:46,820 Where'd he go? 439 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:54,100 Donald plays gumshoe detective hitting high -end bars and restaurants in South 440 00:30:54,100 --> 00:30:56,720 Beach, where Ramil might hang out. 441 00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:02,480 Eventually, Donald gets a cell phone number and calls Ramil, who agrees to 442 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:03,079 him up. 443 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:06,820 So he comes and he picks me up in this really nice car. 444 00:31:08,159 --> 00:31:14,020 over $100 ,000 Mercedes -Benz, and we're riding. We weren't even in the car for 445 00:31:14,020 --> 00:31:18,280 20 minutes, and he turns to me, and he's like, do you have $20 for gas? 446 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:24,560 The next night at dinner, it's the same song and dance. 447 00:31:25,100 --> 00:31:30,220 And then he turned, and he looked at me, and he had the same look in his eye as 448 00:31:30,220 --> 00:31:34,440 the night before when he asked me for the $20 for gas, and I knew what was 449 00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:36,280 on right away, and I was like, you know what, Ramil? 450 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:38,840 Yeah, unbelievable. 451 00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:43,680 Come to find out Vermillion didn't have the money to pay the restaurant bill. 452 00:31:44,940 --> 00:31:48,780 Turns out Robinson has been evicted from Williams Island. 453 00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:54,760 And he's now living on this dingy block of cheap hotels in North Miami Beach. 454 00:31:57,460 --> 00:32:02,740 He rents a single room, sponging off his girlfriend who makes her money doing, 455 00:32:02,940 --> 00:32:05,540 what else, dancing in strip clubs. 456 00:32:06,670 --> 00:32:08,810 From Williams Island? Yeah, a big come down. 457 00:32:09,430 --> 00:32:10,730 A big come down. 458 00:32:10,930 --> 00:32:14,830 And if he's living like this, then how's he going to be able to do what he said 459 00:32:14,830 --> 00:32:15,830 he's going to do? 460 00:32:16,450 --> 00:32:21,770 Donald pushes Ramil to scrape together enough cash to pay creditors so their 461 00:32:21,770 --> 00:32:23,030 can get her house back. 462 00:32:23,690 --> 00:32:26,790 But there's no squeezing blood from this turnip. 463 00:32:27,090 --> 00:32:30,590 By that time, Ramil was so poor he couldn't even pay attention. 464 00:32:34,830 --> 00:32:39,870 Back in Cambridge, Helen Ford, now alone, has moved into a small apartment. 465 00:32:41,410 --> 00:32:45,810 Her former home is vacant, except for the occasional squatter. 466 00:32:47,110 --> 00:32:52,930 One day, to publicize her plight, she and her attorney, Dennis Benson, take an 467 00:32:52,930 --> 00:32:55,230 ESPN reporter through the home. 468 00:32:56,370 --> 00:33:01,010 When I walked up the driveway, I could hear my husband's voice. 469 00:33:03,470 --> 00:33:04,950 Tell him me it will be okay. 470 00:33:07,550 --> 00:33:11,530 He said, Helen, you're a strong woman. Keep your head up. 471 00:33:13,050 --> 00:33:14,430 God's going to take care of you. 472 00:33:16,490 --> 00:33:17,670 I said, thank you. 473 00:33:18,570 --> 00:33:25,190 And then when I got to the stairs and I opened the door and I looked in and I 474 00:33:25,190 --> 00:33:30,770 said, wow, this was once mine, no longer mine. 475 00:33:34,410 --> 00:33:39,990 I remember walking into Romero's room and seeing the memorabilia and the 476 00:33:39,990 --> 00:33:42,330 trophies and the dust. 477 00:33:43,610 --> 00:33:49,590 I felt the pain that Helen felt and the disappointment. 478 00:33:49,890 --> 00:33:51,850 A terrible experience. 479 00:33:52,310 --> 00:33:55,950 And I hope nobody else has to go through that ever again. 480 00:33:57,690 --> 00:34:03,230 Because when you give your all to someone who you didn't even know. 481 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:07,580 You welcomed him into your bosom and your family. 482 00:34:09,420 --> 00:34:16,199 And I never mentioned him or introduced him to people as my foster son. 483 00:34:16,340 --> 00:34:17,639 This is my son. 484 00:34:18,699 --> 00:34:20,860 And I think that's the part that hurts. 485 00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:36,080 In Des Moines, Iowa, the loan officer is freaking out. 486 00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:41,260 I'm adamant. I'm on him every day. You've got to get these loans paid back. 487 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:47,139 Once a true believer in Harmony Cove, the banker finally wakes from his pipe 488 00:34:47,139 --> 00:34:51,100 dream. My mistake in this, my biggest mistake in this whole thing, or the real 489 00:34:51,100 --> 00:34:57,060 point, was at that point in time, I had the opportunity to switch on the light 490 00:34:57,060 --> 00:34:59,700 and tell everybody, hey, there's... 491 00:34:59,950 --> 00:35:05,350 probably something wrong with this that, you know, I wasn't aware of. But we 492 00:35:05,350 --> 00:35:10,750 need to, you know, really, really hammer into this. Instead, I tried to fix it. 493 00:35:11,570 --> 00:35:14,870 Fix it by trying to hide the bad loans. 494 00:35:15,610 --> 00:35:18,310 His sleight of hand fools no one. 495 00:35:18,590 --> 00:35:23,290 And ultimately, that's how it gets discovered by the bank is one of the 496 00:35:23,290 --> 00:35:25,810 officer subordinates becomes concerned. 497 00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:31,500 that she sees this practice of him rolling interest and penalties into the 498 00:35:31,500 --> 00:35:33,840 principal and then rolling it into a new loan. 499 00:35:34,180 --> 00:35:37,840 She blows the whistle, and the officer is fired. 500 00:35:38,580 --> 00:35:40,320 But that's just the beginning. 501 00:35:41,020 --> 00:35:43,480 The kickback is a federal crime. 502 00:35:44,020 --> 00:35:49,580 In September 2009, both Ramil Robinson and the loan officer are arrested for 503 00:35:49,580 --> 00:35:54,400 conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank bribery, among other charges. 504 00:35:57,740 --> 00:36:03,380 When American Greed returns, see how much Robinson really cares about the 505 00:36:03,380 --> 00:36:04,900 neighborhood that saved him. 506 00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:06,720 They got my name on it. 507 00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:08,040 Whoopee! 508 00:36:08,540 --> 00:36:10,920 That's how much I care about my name being on the street. 509 00:36:29,450 --> 00:36:34,630 In Des Moines, Iowa, Rameel Robinson stands trial for bilking Community State 510 00:36:34,630 --> 00:36:41,390 Bank out of $1 .2 million so he could live life like the high flyer he once 511 00:36:43,630 --> 00:36:46,410 Keith Rigg is Robinson's defense attorney. 512 00:36:47,830 --> 00:36:52,370 Basically, the defense had to be convincing the jury there was a level of 513 00:36:52,370 --> 00:36:56,750 incompetence there which took this out of being criminal. 514 00:36:57,440 --> 00:36:59,940 and into basically just being stupid. 515 00:37:00,720 --> 00:37:04,360 But the feds say incompetence is no excuse. 516 00:37:04,860 --> 00:37:09,920 So Ramil was not prosecuted and convicted because he was a bad 517 00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:13,760 There are many bad businessmen who don't violate the law. 518 00:37:13,980 --> 00:37:20,320 But what made this a crime was he repeatedly made false statements to the 519 00:37:20,420 --> 00:37:25,660 and then above and beyond that was the very significant act of... 520 00:37:25,900 --> 00:37:28,340 bribing or paying a kickback to a lone officer. 521 00:37:28,940 --> 00:37:34,980 In an unusual twist, the defendant's own mother testifies against him. 522 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:41,580 The sense of betrayal that Helen Ford felt was profound because here was this 523 00:37:41,580 --> 00:37:46,880 young man that she cared for, she loved, she supported. 524 00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:54,580 To find herself in a court of law testifying against him was something 525 00:37:54,580 --> 00:37:55,580 her apart. 526 00:37:55,690 --> 00:37:58,070 That was, I think, when it all hit me. 527 00:37:58,370 --> 00:38:01,850 How could he do this to me and my family? 528 00:38:02,470 --> 00:38:08,490 And so through sobs on the witness stand, she explained her current 529 00:38:08,490 --> 00:38:14,610 and circumstances, and Ramil sat and watched all this. The jurors were quite 530 00:38:14,610 --> 00:38:16,470 moved, it appeared, by her testimony. 531 00:38:17,370 --> 00:38:20,930 It takes the jury three hours to render its verdict. 532 00:38:21,530 --> 00:38:23,290 Guilty on all counts. 533 00:38:25,610 --> 00:38:29,170 Pending his sentencing hearing, Robinson is out on bond. 534 00:38:30,630 --> 00:38:37,350 During that time, he speaks with the ESPN program E60, and he napalms any 535 00:38:37,350 --> 00:38:38,970 bridge he had with his family. 536 00:38:39,810 --> 00:38:43,910 Listen, you don't live by a house a lot. A house don't make a man or a woman. 537 00:38:45,590 --> 00:38:50,230 But if that's the only thing you think you have, maybe you should have went to 538 00:38:50,230 --> 00:38:52,830 college and learned to study seven subjects. 539 00:38:53,440 --> 00:38:57,200 Or five subjects. You just took five subjects and not just did one thing in 540 00:38:57,200 --> 00:38:58,200 life. 541 00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:04,920 What he didn't realize is at the age, you know, of 50 years old, my mother did 542 00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:09,100 go back to school and got a master's degree in education. 543 00:39:10,180 --> 00:39:14,800 You know, devastating to me to hear him talk like that about her. 544 00:39:16,620 --> 00:39:19,660 After all the sacrifices I know that she made for him. 545 00:39:23,530 --> 00:39:25,230 I don't care about anybody but himself. 546 00:39:28,850 --> 00:39:33,630 Three months later, at his sentencing hearing, the prosecution plays the 547 00:39:33,630 --> 00:39:34,970 in open court. 548 00:39:35,290 --> 00:39:38,550 Helen's always known that I never liked that house anyway, Jeff. 549 00:39:39,150 --> 00:39:41,730 Okay? They got my name on it. Whoopee! 550 00:39:42,850 --> 00:39:45,290 That's how much I care about my name being on the street. 551 00:39:46,010 --> 00:39:51,510 But it's hurtful to hear him say that he didn't like that, I never liked that 552 00:39:51,510 --> 00:39:52,570 house. Really. 553 00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:56,960 Well, you never showed it. You never showed it. 554 00:39:57,360 --> 00:39:58,460 This changed. 555 00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:01,520 I just, it's mind -boggling. 556 00:40:02,100 --> 00:40:07,560 Before he sentences the defendant, the judge gives Robinson a chance to address 557 00:40:07,560 --> 00:40:08,538 the court. 558 00:40:08,540 --> 00:40:12,460 My standard advice to people is, you are going to say something. 559 00:40:12,720 --> 00:40:15,980 Once you get much past, I'm really sorry. 560 00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:18,340 Sometimes things can go a little sideways. 561 00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:21,840 In an emotional, incoherent rant. 562 00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:27,280 Robinson says he was convicted because his attorney is incompetent, and it 563 00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:28,280 doesn't end there. 564 00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:34,960 Robinson also accuses the judge, the Honorable Ronald Longstaff, of being 565 00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:38,380 corrupt. He made a bad situation much worse. 566 00:40:38,620 --> 00:40:43,860 When Robinson is finished, all eyes turn to the judge to see his reaction. 567 00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:49,940 And it was really interesting because he kind of got a hint of a smile on his 568 00:40:49,940 --> 00:40:54,810 face. It certainly clarified things for him. And he didn't get angry at all. 569 00:40:55,470 --> 00:41:00,090 Once he was done, said you'd made what was a hard decision simple. 570 00:41:01,070 --> 00:41:06,790 The judge says, by your statement today, you demonstrate to me absolutely no 571 00:41:06,790 --> 00:41:07,790 remorse. 572 00:41:08,530 --> 00:41:14,350 Told him that money is like a drug to you, Ramil. And just like that, Ramil 573 00:41:14,350 --> 00:41:19,430 Robinson, the Caribbean cast -off who realized his dream in the NBA, 574 00:41:20,350 --> 00:41:24,930 is given the stiffest sentence available, six and a half years in 575 00:41:25,570 --> 00:41:28,370 You know, he was blessed. You know, he was a blessed athlete. 576 00:41:28,710 --> 00:41:30,130 He had a blessed family. 577 00:41:30,550 --> 00:41:32,010 He had great friends. 578 00:41:32,330 --> 00:41:37,650 It's never too late to really reflect and to take responsibility and try to 579 00:41:37,650 --> 00:41:38,589 rebuild your life. 580 00:41:38,590 --> 00:41:42,750 And I think that's the part of his life that probably has to wrestle a little 581 00:41:42,750 --> 00:41:43,750 bit more with. 582 00:41:45,030 --> 00:41:49,390 The lone officer pleads guilty and is sentenced to two years in prison. 583 00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:55,400 In 2013, Helen Ford gets her house back. 584 00:41:56,000 --> 00:42:00,840 Dennis Benson negotiates a settlement with American Home Mortgage, the company 585 00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:02,340 that greenlit the fraud. 586 00:42:03,020 --> 00:42:08,480 As long as she stays current, paying for the home that was already paid off, 587 00:42:08,720 --> 00:42:11,480 Helen can stay there for the rest of her life. 588 00:42:11,980 --> 00:42:13,080 But I made it. 589 00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:15,500 I made it. 590 00:42:18,250 --> 00:42:21,410 I made it, and God is good all the time. 591 00:42:23,810 --> 00:42:27,930 Because I'm still alive, and I'm back home. 592 00:42:29,410 --> 00:42:30,730 I'm back home. 593 00:42:36,650 --> 00:42:41,970 A sign on the street now reads, Helen and Lewis Ford Square.