Original subtitles

[piano music]

- When I was first approached to do

the documentary, I was a little apprehensive,

obviously being a former police officer

and they said why don't just take a meeting

and see if you guys, you know, get on the same page.

And I spoke to him.

I told him if we were to move forward

with this, it could not under any circumstances

be a puff piece and you know,

there might be people calling you

a scumbag, piece of shit

as well as people saying you deserve

a second change and he was okay with that.

So, once I found out he was okay with it

and it wasn't going to be a puff piece,

I decided, you know, I think

it would be a good idea doing my due diligence

on what actually happened.

Once we decided to move forward, I really

dug in and did my due diligence on the case

and realized that a lot of stuff that I perceived

was through tabloids and the newspaper

and a lot of other people had the same perception.

So basically, it's my job and hopefully

when you leave here, you have an opinion

of other either way.

That he either deserves a second chance

or he got out because he is who he is.

- How you doin'.

My name's Lillo.

I'm an addict. - Hi, Lillo.

- You know, I went from the kid in the Bronx Tale.

You know, rising star from the neighborhood.

Starring in the classic movie to a junkie.

- [Narrator] Five a.m. December 10th, 2005.

Off duty New York police officer, Daniel Enchautegui

responded to what sounded like a break in

at a neighbor's home.

The burglary erupted into a gun fight

with Broncato and his accomplice.

- They said the police officer is dead.

He was villainized in the press immediately.

- [Narrator] We all remember Lillo Brancato.

He was such a rising star.

Acted with De Niro, James Gandolfini.

But his career came to a screeching halt one night

when he was involved in a crime that ended

with a police officer dead.

[echoing crash]

- So Lillo, tell me about how it was growing

up in Yonkers.

How about your childhood?

Family and all that stuff.

- We were very middle class.

Blue collar family.

It was a very tight knit community.

It was all, it was all Italian.

It was all Italians with the exception

of my next door neighbor which was Puerto Rican.

But pretty much, it was all Italian.

There was a lot goin' on in the streets.

You know, we were playin' stick ball, football.

Lot of that goin' on.

Parents yellin' from the window to get inside.

You know, yeah, it was a really, really good childhood.

Lot of great memories from my childhood.

- Was there ever type of drug use back then?

Not with you.

Did you ever witness any of that stuff

or was that even a thought or--

- Absolutely not, absolutely.

I mean, you would hear about things, you know,

in cautionary things, cautionary stuff in school.

- Right. - You know about drugs,

but that's something that wasn't really prevalent

in my life or something that I ever witnessed.

Or I really never paid attention to it,

only until later on in my life when it, you know,

the opportunity to do drugs started presenting itself.

- You're on Jones Beach one day

with your brother--

- Yeah, brother, like I was like maybe 10, 15 of us.

- [Steve] Uh huh, then what happened?

- It was the day after Fourth of July.

July fifth, 1992, and you know, we just decided

let's go to the beach tomorrow.

We used to go out to Jones Beach, field four

and that's a drive.

Yonkers with traffic, it could take you

an hour to get out there, sometimes even more.

So we went out there.

We just went out, school just ended,

so this is the beginning of summer vacation

and little did I know that that day

on the beach was gonna totally change my life.

Now, I had heard about The Bronx Tale

and I heard that there was open call auditions

and that they were looking for someone

with no previous acting experience

to play Robert De Niro's son

and a film called A Bronx Tale

which Robert De Niro would make his directorial debut.

And you know, to go back to what I

was just sayin', I thought in my mind,

that would be pretty interesting,

being that people tell me that I look like him,

but I said, naw, there's now way I'll

ever be in a movie.

I mean, it's a movie on the big screen.

Where the long shot, middle class, blue collar family,

it just doesn't happen every day.

And my brother, I hear my brother screaming.

I didn't know what happened.

I ran out of the water and my brother said,

"hey, you know, remember that movie we heard

"about, that Robert De Niro movie?

"Well, this guy, he's out here right, he's out here

"on the beach today looking for kids

"to play the part and I told him

"that you look like him."

And the guy's name is Marco Greco

and my brother, and the guy said,

he told my brother, "you're right, he

"does look like him."

And I just kind rose to the occasion.

I knew, I knew this was my shot.

So, he didn't have to ask me to do anything.

I just started doin' the face and

the whole thing and are you talkin' to me

and the guy's like oh wow, this guys' great.

I love this guy.

So, it was a Sunday, July fifth.

He said usually we're closed

at the Belmont Playhouse.

"Usually we're closed today, but I like you."

he goes, can you meet me in the Bronx tonight

at this time and for some reason, I just knew.

I knew on the ride home from the beach, I

just knew that something was gonna happen

from this situation.

I went home, I told my mom.

It was my next door neighbor's birthday.

My aunts were there and then, ah, you know.

Her son read for the part and she was like,

oh, you know, so and so read for the part.

You're not gonna get it.

They've got so many kids reading

and you know, it's big.

So I said, well, I can only try, right.

So, I went in that night.

My two friends drove me down there

and the guy, Marco, was there,

and I'd never seen anything in the screen play,

in screen play form.

The guy just gave me the scene

and he said, "have you ever done this before,"

and I said, "no, I've never done this before."

he said, "well, here's the scene.

"Just read it, see what it is

"and I'll come back in a little bit.

"Let me know when you're ready

"and you'll read it."

And I remember just lookin' at it

and just looked like something

that was familiar to me and something

that I possibly would be capable of doing.

It was the bathroom scene when I'm shaving.

In the original script, De Niro's shaving

and I ask him, dad, let me ask you a question

about the interracial dating, you know.

What his thoughts were on that

and the whole thing and that was the audition scene.

And I read it and I just knew what to do.

It just seemed like it came naturally to me

and I told the guy, Marco, I'm ready

and I read it and the guy was blown away.

He was like, wow, that was great.

That was the best anyone's ever read it.

And then he started asking me to do other scenes.

He said, "why don't you try this scene,"

and, "do this scene."

And the character in the movie, his name was Calogero.

My father's Sicilian and so is the character.

My father is from the province of Agrigento

in Sicily in a little town called Naro

and in Italy, you have a lot of these little towns

that have saints that come from that town.

- Right. - The saint from

my father's town was San Calogero

and my father even went to the reform school, San Calo,

when they used to shorten it.

But you know, just for like that part,

that role in that movie was just meant for me.

- [Steve] It was all lined up.

- Yeah, all the stars aligned

and I was like, wow, man.

He was like, that was great.

Then we exchanged numbers and he said right

before I left, he said, "call me in

"about a week," you know.

"Call me in about a week or so and I'll tell you

"how you did."

And he said a week, that seemed kinda distant.

Maybe I thought maybe he didn't like me

as much as I thought he liked me.

I was working for a lawyer at the time.

It was my summer vacation, summer job.

I was filing.

My father's a builder.

The lawyer was did the closings for my father,

so he was a family friend and took on

a summer job at his office and I

used to file stuff, answer phones

and I came home from work that day

and some woman had called on the phone.

She seemed very professional and when I heard

her voice, she asked for Lillo and that's

also my father's name and she said, "can I please speak

"to Lillo Brancato," and I said, "yeah, hold on, I'll

"get my dad for you."

And she said, "are you Lillo," and I said yeah.

She goes, "no, no, I think I want to speak with you."

She said, I'm so and so.

I work in down in Tribeca Casting

and we saw your tape and we loved it.

We wanna meet and we would like for you

to come down and I was like, wow, you know.

Now, it's started becoming real.

The next day I went down there with my father

and my uncle and was very overwhelmed

'cuz you know, like when I go down there, I've

never done, remember, like I said, I've

never done this before.

I've never been to an audition.

I don't know the whole process.

I'm not familiar with any of this.

So, when I went down there, my father

and uncle walked in the room with me

and there was like 40 kids there reading

for the part and you got kids in the corner reading

their lines, talking to the wall like real actors.

Guys that really wanna do this.

I was so intimidated and so overwhelmed

by the whole thing, but I just figured

what, they liked what I did, so I'm not

gonna change what I did.

I'm gonna just keep going in that direction.

Obviously they liked me.

I made it to this point.

So, I went in and I read.

They liked me again.

They said, "listen, can you come back tomorrow."

And I kept getting a call back, call back

and as that happened, I noticed

that there was a lot less kids in the room

and at that point, everyone was introduced

to me, you know, on a first name basis

and then one day they said we're gonna

go upstairs and meet Bob

and I had already met Chazz Palminteri.

Seen him in the building and he would

always congratulate me.

Saying thank you for coming down.

We really love what you're doin'.

Just keep it up.

Very inspiring, very inspiring stuff.

And then they said we're gonna go upstairs and meet Bob.

I said okay.

I just thought Bob is maybe a script supervisor

or someone, I didn't know who it was.

So, the way it was set up, I come in

through the door back there.

I'm De Niro.

He's got his back to me and Chazz is right there.

So, I can see Chazz.

I can see his profile and then he looked over

and they said, they said,

the door's a little open.

It's open and,

"Bob, Lillo's here to meet you."

And Bob's you know, turnin' around

and then he walked over, like you know.

I mean, you can't explain that moment

in words and just like when he came up

to me and you know, I remember he'd just finished

doing a movie, Mad Dog and Glory,

so he had that reddish hair that he had,

so it wasn't like De Niro,

the De Niro that I knew

- Right. - from seeing on TV

but it was still De Niro.

That's still the face. - Right.

- We hope they're not fooled by his fame.

He's an actor, he's acting on that stand.

- What was the first initial reaction

with other cops, the guys who worked

it when the story broke the next morning?

- It was anger, frustration.

Sorrow. - Today,

if you mentioned Lillo Brancato's name

to other cops, what would be the reaction?

- I think most cops would be hate.

You know, yeah, most cops would be

just flat out hate.

You know, it's just really one of those unfortunate

things that can happen.

Life can be very simple, but somehow us grownups,

we can complicate things.

- Mmh hmm. - And that was

the product of something that just

should never have happened.

- [Steve] What do you think Pat would,

what do you think his reaction would be to this?

- Pat would love his head on a platter.

- Right. - You know, especially,

Pat mentioned he can be very animated

and he's pro-cop to the max

and that what's you want in somebody

that's gonna represent you.

But even cops screw up.

- Right. - And there's cops

that have hit bottom, whether it be alcohol or drugs.

And he's human, this is one of the flaws of being human.

- [Steve] So police officer to police officer.

Why did you think it was important to come on

and do this documentary?

- Because the young police officer

that lost his life did something that I think

any other police officer would have done

and it's unfortunate.

Lillo Brancato is out and living his life

and still can do things and the young officer is not.

- The night the, actually it was in the morning

when it happened.

It was about 5:20 a.m.

I was in my crime scene office.

We received a phone call that an officer

had been shot and he was likely to die.

When I got there, the scene was,

there was a lot of cops around the peripheral

because there was, he was,

the incident happened in the middle of the block

- Mmh hmm. - And it went up

to towards Westchester Avenue.

- Mmh. - So there were a lot

of cops around the peripheral of the scene.

They had it marked off and the cops actually

did a great job in preserving the scene

because there was a lot of snow on the ground.

- Mmh hmm. - If you were in actually,

in Daniel's apartment, you could look

right out his, he lived in a basement.

You could look right out his window

and you could see the window where Bancato

and Armento tried to get in

and they broke the window.

It was directly across.

He had a clear view

and he actually went outside and went

to approach them in the driveway.

So, initially you don't know exactly

how it went down because Armento was removed.

He ran, him and Brancato ran towards Westchester Avenue

and they both left a blood trail

'cuz Daniel actually hit them with every shot

the he fired.

He hit the both of them with every shot.

He didn't miss them.

So, a couple of the bullets and fragments

actually came out.

Now, they both left separate blood trails

going down towards Westchester.

Lillo actually made it to the vehicle

that I believe was a Durango.

It was on the corner, right, parked

right around the corner on Westchester

and there was blood all over it

and that's where the officers had grabbed him.

- Mmh hmm. - Armento was short of that.

He dumped his gun right away.

He was where the cops grabbed him

and they were wearing really thin rubber gloves.

- Mmh hmm. - I mean, you don't

even see cheap gloves like that anymore

in the emergency room.

These were really, really cheap rubber gloves.

And there was a couple of them over there

where Armento was caught and there was one

back at the window sill where they tried

to get in and that's where we got Lillo's DNA from.

From that particular glove.

It'd be hard to get into the jury's mind.

- Right. - I don't know,

it might have come down to how the judge explained

the law to them

- Mmh hmm. - that they didn't

find him guilty. - Right.

- But they found him guilty.

I was satisfied that at least they found him guilty

of the burglary and he did do some time.

- Right. - So hopefully he

had time to reflect upon the people you hang out with.

- Right. - So, I wrote

on December 10th, 2005, the assigned, being me,

along with Police Officer Demato, I was training him

at the time, responded to 3117 Arnot Place

to assist Detective Schwartz with a the sheer number

of the Bronx Homicide Squad and the department,

excuse me, the department investigation

of a police involved shooting in which

the North duty MOS and two perpetrators exchanged gunfire.

The off duty MOS was removed to Jacobi Hospital

prior to CSU arrival where he expired from his wound.

He was shot once in the chest.

The perpetrators were also removed to Jacobi

prior to my arrival and are reportedly in critical condition

and then I described the way, the services that I provide

in terms of collecting the evidence.

I think the fact that he was who he was,

it might have had an affect on the jury.

Might have had an affect on the way the whole case went.

The same thing if you're in a car,

somebody has a gun, if the police come and stop you,

they pull you out and you have the gun on you,

the only person gets charged is the person

with the gun on them, but if that person throws

the gun down on the floor, now everybody goes.

- Right. - It's the same

with narcotics, guns.

So, being that he was involved in the burglary

and a police officer was killed, he should

have been charged

and that's the law.

- Took me awhile to decide to go forward

in a case like this.

I mean, so emotionally charged.

Obviously, a police officer is dead.

He was villainized in the press immediately.

Made to be a monster.

I have an astounding respect for police officers.

I've represented, as you know,

- Sure. - a lot of police officers

in some very difficult times

and I pride myself in helping out members of the force

when they need me.

This was obviously a difficult decision

for me to make, but it was a decision

that I was able to make pretty comfortably

once I got to know Lillo and once I got

to know the facts of this case.

- [Steve] Sure and what was your first impression

of Lillo at that time?

- A sweet heart.

Really a sweet heart of a guy.

Not the guy I read about.

Not the arrogant, you know, sort of abusive individual

who was callous or anything like that.

He was a sweet heart who clearly had lost control

of his life, lost control of his life

in the sense that drugs began to overwhelm him,

take away the person that he was that made him

so successful as a young boy,

make him so loved by so many people.

- Mmh hmm. - A lot of people

really love Lillo Brancato.

A lot of people care about Lillo Brancato

and that's why, I think, this was

so shocking to so many people.

But as individual as a person, you know, look, I

was a prosecutor.

I've been a defense lawyer a long time.

I like to not judge people based on Google searches.

I don't judge people based on third party analysis,

but on my own impressions and I had

some tough questions for him when I first met him,

but it was clear to me that there was

a good soul inside that sort of hardened shell

that had been eroded by years of drug abuse.

After that case was resolved, I still represent

the many cops - Right.

- in their times of need, including

the so-called infamous rape cops in New York

who were acquitted of rape after being vilified

for two years in the press as rapists.

And the funny part about that is,

the same people who were giving me

a hard time during the Brancato case

were the first ones to call me after

the rape cop acquittal telling me

how much I've done for the boys in blue

and how much they appreciated my help.

So, but that's all part of being a lawyer.

I don't take it personally.

Once I got to them about the facts

of the case and the person, Lillo,

it was clear to me that this was

an individual who had no legal responsibility

or moral responsibility for the death

of that police officer, as tragic as it was.

Another individual did and he's rightfully serving

the rest of his life in jail.

That's Armento. - A lot of people

don't realize that house was his buddy's house.

So, that's important to know.

He wasn't randomly going around the neighbor

trying to break into a home.

I mean, this was Kenny's house.

His buddy who had died just recently

but Lillo didn't know it, but he had been

there hundreds of times before

- Right. - where Kenny supplied

him with narcotics to get his fix.

He went there with Armento that night

and when he went there, they made

a sufficient amount of noise where

it's startled, awaken the neighbor who happened

to be a New York City Police Officer.

Of course, Lillo didn't know that.

Lillo didn't know Steve Armento was carrying a gun.

That was proven in the trial.

And the police officer fired first

and Armento returned fire and

all this was obviously of great surprise

to Brancato who was there to do what he'd

done a hundred times before.

So, there was no legal liability.

I mean, it's easy to lump it together

with another individual when a police officer's shot.

That's our instinct as a civilized society

and it's right in that sense to have

a visceral reaction like that,

because when a police officer dies,

it's tragic, if anyone dies, it's tragedy.

- Right. - But someone who

gave their life to serve the community

as police officers often do,

it really creates a righteous sense

of indignation and outrage. - Sure.

- That's a good visceral reaction,

but we also as a civilized society

have to step back and look at

the true facts and when I did

in this case and when the jury did

in this case, they came to the only right conclusion,

which was Lillo Brancato was not responsible

for this police officer's death.

- 2005 when the whole incident happened, you

had uniqueness of interviewing Lillo's family.

And you got to speak to his mom

and what was that whole thing like?

- Well, I think that the climate at the time

as a journalist, I remember first of all,

when he got arrested,

- Mmh hmm. - and it was a few months

before, it was in June 2005 when he was arrested

for an uncontrolled substance

- Mmh hmm. - And I remember

that made a lot of headlines because any time,

- What were you doing it for at the time,

if you don't mind me asking.

- At the time, I remember thinking I knew who he was.

He was certainly someone who had a great background.

He was a New Yorker, you know.

He was from Yonkers. - Right.

- And I just remember hearing, oh, here's

this guy, he got into drug problems.

He's probably another celebrity with drug problems.

We've done many interview like that

and then when I found out what happened

in December 2005, it was shocking,

but to be suddenly charged with murder,

- Right. - and also charged

with robbery was also something very, very serious

and then it became not just another celebrity

caught up in drugs.

It became something very, very serious

and it was making headlines everywhere.

- [Steve] Now, how did it come to pass

that you got to, months later, interview Lillo's mom

and how did that whole thing transpire?

- I knew Mel Sacks and Mel Sacks was the attorney

at the time.

I knew Mel very well.

I had interviewed him many times.

I'd interview many of his clients through they years.

He was probably, you know, if not the best

or one of the best for sure criminal defense attorneys

- Right. - in the country,

not just in New York

and Mel and I had a number of discussions

and he reached out to me and said, "I would

"like to give an exclusive to you

"with Lillo Brancato's mother," and I thought, wow.

I'll take it.

It was interesting as a journalist

because here I was interviewing her

and I was looking right across from her

and you could tell that this was a woman

who was clearly heartbroken, who was so devastated.

I thought she'd put a really human face

on Lillo Brancato for the public.

Our interview was shown all over the world.

So many people saw that interview

and the mother, I thought, was very heartfelt.

Very compassionate and you couldn't help

but feel heartbroken for the mother.

- Right. - I remember her saying

to me, "my son got a call, was going off

"to a Christmas party and then I didn't see him again."

And you could just tell that this was

this mother who just loved her son.

She adopted him - Right.

- when he was a young boy.

Really cared for him

and knew he got mixed up in drugs,

but was just shocked, shellshocked by everything

that was happening.

Clearly, he has paid his dues.

I hope he uses this time also to inspire

other children not to take the wrong path.

Not to get mixed up in drugs.

And I also hope that he uses the time

to also honor law enforcement, too.

Because I think he can have a powerful message

and inspire other kids and he's also

a great actor.

I admired his acting back then

and I think he's, you always want

the best for someone.

You want someone to have another chance

and maybe there's an Academy award

in his future, you never know.

- It was one day, Robert De Niro said to me,

he said, "Lillo, tomorrow I want you

"to dress like you're doing to church.

"Wear a collared shirt and I want you

"to dress nice."

He said, "we're gonna do what's called

"a screen test."

Now, I didn't know what that was

but you know, we're gonna do a screen test

and what we're gonna do is we're gonna actually

put you on film because film may make you look different.

It may make you look, you know what I mean.

- Right. - And I said, yeah.

No problem.

I remember I wore black slacks.

Button down, white button down shirt, black shoes

and I didn't know what I was gettin' myself into.

At this point in time, I thought, you know, I'm C.

I'm C, so I'm just sittin' there, I'm so nervous.

I'm just sittin' there.

My father's sittin' next to me.

And then, I feel someone tap my shoulder

and I look and said, "hey, how you doin', man."

And he said to me, he said, "hey, how are ya."

He goes, "I'm Phil Barbarino."

He says, "I'm reading for C also."

He goes, "it's me and you."

Whoo, when he told me that I was like, oh wow.

I guess I'm not the only, I guess I'm not the only guy

and I know he got to this point because he

was good also. - Right.

- There was something that got him to this point.

- Right. - Phil Barbarino was

the kid who shot Sonny at the end of the movie.

- Right. - Initially they were

gonna make him C and he was 21,

so the movie would have been a little different.

It would have been him at 21 and his friends

would have been around that age also,

- Right. - so they would have

been a little older.

Who, by the way, still a very good friend

of mine to this day, Phil.

I remember, we did the scene when Sonny

let me borrow his car and when I gave

it back to him, he found something under

the engine, under the hood that he thought

I planted in his car and nearly got physical

with me and wanted to know where'd you go in my car

and I begged and pleaded, Sonny, I'm sorry.

I didn't do anything, I'm tellin' ya'.

I just went to pick up the girl.

That was the scene.

So, Phil read the scene first.

Had the doors closed.

All I can do is hear him.

Me and my father were right outside

and all you hear is Chazz, "where the fuck

"did you go in my car!"

And you hear slap, slap.

You can hear him slapping this poor guy.

He's slapping the crap out of him.

What did I sign up for here, you know,

'cuz I'm thinking after he's done, I

gotta go in there and he's gonna beat me up

the same way.

So, Phil came out and he's all disheveled.

His hair was messed up.

His shirt was ripped.

He had hand prints on his face.

So, I'm like, wow, boy, they really worked you over.

They worked him over.

So, I'm like, nervous.

Now I'm nervous and you're gonna beat me

on top of being nervous.

So, I go in there and I, camera's roll

and we did the scene and they didn't put

their hands on me once.

So, all weekend I didn't hear anything.

I remember it was a Sunday night.

This lady, Robin, called me and said, "Lillo, Bob

"would like to see you tomorrow."

I said okay and I knew this was gonna

be the day.

My life was gonna change in one way or another.

So, I went down there with my father.

Robert De Niro, his office was on the eighth floor.

We used to go to the seventh floor.

The eighth floor, you needed the key,

but he had like a balcony where he could look down.

So now, he would come out, he knew my father

at this point and he's such a polite guy, Robert De Niro.

He used to call my father, Mr. Brancato

and he said, "hey, how you doin', Mr. Brancato."

They used to speak in Italian.

- Yeah. - They were right around

the same age, also, you know.

So, he said hello to my father

and he said, "Lillo, come up."

So, I go upstairs and you got Chazz

and you got De Niro and De Niro's, he's

just lookin' at me and he says, he

was making his face and he says, "well, we liked

"very much what you did."

Now, that was ambiguous.

- Right. - It could have been we

liked very much what you did, but you know.

- Right. - Or we like very much

what you did and you got the part.

[exhales heavily]

Thank you, Bobby, you know, thank you.

And to Chazz, thank you so much.

I said, "is it okay if I go tell my father?"

And when I went to tell my father, he

came outside with me to the balcony.

Had his arm around me and I told my father.

I said, "Pop," I said, "I got the part."

And my father just looked up, went like that.

And I said, "you mind if I use your phone?

"I'd like to call my mother."

And Robert De Niro said, "yeah, go ahead."

He said, "go use the one in the bathroom.

"You'll have a little privacy."

So, I went and I called my mother

and I heard my mother screaming.

My aunts were there, everybody, they

were all going crazy, he got the part.

Everybody's going crazy, you know,

'cuz my mom, she told everybody.

My whole street, everybody was outside.

Balloons and people whistling, "Lillo, congratulations!"

I'm thinking to myself, life can't

get any better than this.

It was like perfect, man.

Like living a dream.

- Biggie said it best, more money, more problems.

- Right. - You know what I'm saying.

- Right. - You know, once you

start to get in that money and the fame

and things are coming at you real fast, you

gotta keep up. - Right.

- And sometimes, trying to keep up, you might fall.

We had access to everything.

We was on defjam, we was rollin' with rush.

You know what I'm sayin'.

They gave us everything we wanted.

You know what I'm sayin'.

To the models, the club life.

Even before I met Jay, you know what I'm sayin', I

was always goin' to the clubs and goin'

to joints like Mars and underground clubs

where hip hop kids weren't even allowed in,

so I was always dibbling and dabbing

in certain crowds, but it's always there

in New York City.

It's not hard to find.

- I met Lillo in Italy, in Milan Italy, I think,

at a, I used to do a little bit of print work

and he did some print work as well

and so I met him back stage at a fashion show

and then I met him again in New York City

and we used to hang around in the clubs

a little bit and you know, he's a good dude.

I've never actually get crazy.

I mean, he was just of the most amiable,

just very relaxed, authentic people you wanna meet.

He was just of those kinda guys that you

have an instant liking to him.

You can understand why they canst him

in the film because he was very, you know, he

was likable, he is likable.

I was completely taken back because it

was unlike him, you know.

And when I hear more details about the story,

then I started to understand how someone like Lillo

could have found himself in that situation

and sort of guilty by osmosis or whatever it is,

but so yeah, I was surprised.

Celebrities, it hijacks the human ego

and it gives people a sense of hubris

where they just feel that they're untouchable

and you know, this can't happen to me.

- How you doin', my name's Lillo, I'm an addict.

- [Group] Hey Lillo.

- Paulie, thank you for sharing.

You know, I know today's topic is hope

and back before I ever came into these rooms, I

didn't think was any hope, just because of

the negative stigma attached to drug addiction

and you don't want to tell anyone.

You can't really go anywhere for help

because everyone's gonna look at you like you're

a piece of shit, a piece of garbage.

And I didn't want to really let anyone know

and as a result of that, I just kept getting deeper

and deeper my addiction to the point where I

was totally powerless.

There was nothing I could do in my power to stop.

I mean, it felt like there was a magnet

in my mouth pulling the drugs and you know,

as Mike said, I went away for some time also

and it's because of my lack of self control

when it came to drugs.

And then when I got out of prison, I started

coming to meetings, something that I never

really did unless I was forced to do because

of some case I going, whatever,

and when I first started coming to meetings, I,

the word hope was like the word that first

came to mind, because everyone was so welcoming

and you know, giving me their phone numbers

and now it's like you have something behind you.

You have a support system to fall back on

if you're ever in a situation where you feel

like you wanna use and I thank the people

in these rooms so much,

because if it wasn't and weren't for these rooms, I

don't know where I'd be.

So, yeah, thank you.

I mean, this really saved my life.

There's nothing worse than wasted fucking talent.

You had this opportunity of a lifetime

to become who you are right now.

To be, I would have done anything to work

with Abel Ferrara.

I don't ever have to work again after this.

That's the way I felt.

The way I saw it was, I was still young, you know,

so I was like, God, I've lost my right to party.

I lost my right to have a good time, to be young,

because I fucked with that drug.

Like, that drug was just, then you,

all bets are off after that.

You can't do anything anymore.

Now, you have to get sober

and you gotta stay sober for the rest of your life.

You don't even have to be an addict

to become an heroin addict.

You just have to take heroin five times

and then you realize you don't know

how to tie your shoes after your fifth time without out it.

At least for me, that's how it was.

I don't know if I was an addict

or if I, if it made me an addict.

I don't even know, but he, I knew

that it was the beginning for him.

All I know is Abel Ferrara, - Right.

- had a massive drug problem.

He was, he used to direct on his hands and knees, Abel.

Hey, so I want you to do this.

He'd be petting his hair and stuff

and I remember even Lillo was like,

what the fuck is this. - Right.

- How are we gonna get anything done here.

By the sixth day of shooting, I noticed

that Lillo was not the same kid that started

the movie with us.

I remember we had one scene in a horse

and carriage in central park and we

were stealing shots because, A, we

were shooting, winter time, we shooting snow storms

and blizzards in winter time for, we were

in a heat wave in New York.

It was that really big heat wave

and this fucking guy was puking off

the side of the horse and carriage

the whole time and I'm like, what's

going on, are you sick?

What's happening?

And it took me a couple minutes to realize,

it's like, this kid's doing heroin.

He's doing drugs.

He's fucking high as hell right now.

He's not withdrawing 'cuz he's not

a junkie yet. - Right.

- He just got high.

He's new at taking heroin 'cuz I was

already, I had been already at a rehab

and stuff and sober for a few years

and I was like, wow, he was just starting,

so I thought for sure he was getting high with Abel.

I was annoyed, I was really mad at him.

I was, I think I was more mad at

the situation because I knew how hard

it was for me and I'm like, don't

go down this road.

You have all this opportunity in front of you.

Why would you ever do this?

I was still pretty fresh, so,

and they're watching Abel and it's like

this is what you wanna be?

This isn't like, I'm a party animal.

I'm a Hollywood actor.

I've just become famous, I wanna

go out and part and enjoy the high life.

This is, you must really hate yourself.

Brad Renfro died right out of Deuces Wild.

That was around the same time period, I think,

that Lillo got in trouble, so now, you

have these two really talented,

and Brad Renfro was this gentle soul.

A mess, you know, so sad.

And Lillo and I reconnected this year.

The reason why I'm even here talking

to this camera, because I asked him

if he would fill in for me along with

a couple of other friends of mine

who went through, who had jail time

and came out on the other end and

are trying to keep their lives in

the straight and narrow and trying to help people.

But that's when I reached out to Lillo

and I said, will you go talk at this conference.

So, my whole take on all of this stuff

as much as it was awful and there's

all this waste of talent is that he's

turning it around, so is it wasted

at this point?

He's taking this experience and he's turning

it into something that could help other people

and something that's gonna work in his favor, I hope.

Put him on a different path.

I always tell, I asked him to speak at

this thing, which was a, it's a reentry program.

Kids coming out, people coming out of jail, not kids.

People coming out of jail and not having a chance.

They're scarred for life by that, so what other options?

I mean, just go get fucking high again, like I

can't even be a part of society now

because I fucked up?

I see it a different way.

I see a lot of people who had drug problems

as being highly sensitive people.

People who forget about even their problems,

it's how you carry your problems

and how you handle them and people like us handle

them in this very self destructive kind of way,

but you can turn that into something magical.

I believe that, I really believe that.

- You finished?

[guzzling]

[thuds]

- Thank you, T.

- Was that sugarless, motherfucker?

The last fuckin' drink you're ever gonna have.

[sobbing]

- For the sake of God, Marty.

[shouting]

- [Steve] There was speculation and rumors

that James Gandolfini actually took you

to the side on the site of Sopranos

and gave you some words of wisdom, some advice.

Can you elaborate on what that was?

- Basically just told me that, "you have

"something really good going for yourself,

"being given the opportunity to be

"in such TV shows and films, it's a blessing."

And you know, "you should be really careful

"in the decisions that you make

"and the life that you live, to not squander this."

And you know, I guess since back then I

hadn't reached that moment of clarity, I

kind of brushed off what he said and I shouldn't have.

But now that I can look back in hindsight,

wow, that was some pretty great advice

from a legend.

- I met Lillo when he was shooting Renaissance Man

with, through Mark Wahlberg who was a friend of mine.

I met with him and Randy, who introduced me to him.

- [Steve] And how did you guys become tight?

- Me and Lillo were tight from the beginning.

We just were naturally very, became friends.

A lot of similar interests and we just

always find him an interesting guy to talk to.

It's a very interesting commentary,

especially about acting and stuff.

It's interesting, the first year he

was in prison, he was just as messed up

as he was before and I was really angry

at him and we had a lot of conversations

where I really, really, we had

some tough conversations where I,

'cuz as much as I'm his friend, as much

as I want to be there for him as a friend,

it was, I was very angry because of

the loss of life.

I knew he didn't shoot the guy.

I knew he was in the wrong place

at the wrong time, but he's still responsible

for being there.

You know, I always knew, I was always afraid Lillo

was gonna hurt himself.

I really, I thought he was gonna die.

I knew he was gonna die if he didn't stop

and I kept telling him and that I kept, I did

everything in my power to convince him

that he's on a road where he's going

to die, so I always expected that.

I never expected him to hurt somebody else.

That was the shocking thing

and of course, when the truth came out, he

certainly didn't hurt anyone else.

He was there, but even being there

was upsetting for me and it made me, I

was very disappointed in him.

I love the guy, he's an old friend,

but you know, someone loses their life.

A police officer.

Just, it's heart breaking

and I was really angry with him

from the first time.

- [Steve] What was the reaction from friends

and family that knew you were close with him,

that's after the incident happened.

- Most of my friends called me

and said you gotta get away from this guy.

He's gonna be nothing but trouble for you.

Some people put a lot of pressure on me

to get away from, some of my family

and a lot of other people.

He really was a pariah.

But you know, the way I look at it, he's

my friend and he was my friend when he

was a movie star.

He's still gonna be my friend when he's

in his worst point in his life.

That's what friends are for.

I wouldn't have left him.

As a friend, I would never leave him.

- [Steve] Did you lose friends because of him?

- I did lose some friends because of him.

- [Steve] Did you lose family members because of him?

- Yes.

- How did I meet Lillo?

Just with the Rat Pack we used to run with

in the city.

Lillo was the hottest young actor on the scene

right then and running with our little A-listers,

here comes Lillo out of nowhere in the Bronx Tale

and just took New York by storm and

met him down at Scores.

[laughing]

Gentlemen's club also and one day he

was like, hey, you wanna give me

a ride home?

I said, naw, man, I've been drinking,

but here goes, "my car keys"

and he took the car keys and he went

in a brand new 600 Mercedes.

Young 18 year old kid and we bonded

right after that.

Lillo was two different people.

See, we have a disease that tells us we

don't have a disease.

So when Lillo was sober, Lillo was

the best person in the world.

When Lillo was getting high, then Lillo

was a whole different person and I

could tell you stories with, when we'd

be at a hotel room and have a bunch

of women and you're partying and Lillo

will start doing drugs and you could

just see the demon just taking Lillo on.

Not where he's violent, but when paranoia would set in.

Between you and I, bro, I see how sick you are

and sick I was, we gotta keep each other accountable.

You know?

[Lillo mumbles]

You know I love you, man.

- I love you, too.

I think also, if I didn't go out that night,

my life wouldn't have been saved, you know.

- Right, but you know,

we wouldn't have cost two lives, you know.

And we gotta look at it where,

and you know we talk about this

all the time,

on the phone and doing devotionals and stuff.

We know it's not all about us.

We ain't self centered about it no more.

If we could take this all back

and bring back our victims, we definitely will.

All we can do right now, we apologize.

We're sorry and God is not a God of second chance.

He's a God of another chance

'cuz we've been through our second chances.

- Right. - Just hope our family

and their family be patient with us

and know that we're sick.

Lillo, when Lillo did cocaine, he

would take a picture off the wall,

look for a microphone, look for a camera,

go under the bed, go everywhere,

just like you never seen before.

Just almost like he was allergic to cocaine

and nobody on the party scene had it worse than Lillo.

I could tell you this,

we had a photoshoot at my house for charity

and Lillo, during the day, sober,

great human being.

A lot of energy, a lot of compassion.

A lot of empathy toward the foundation

and toward the people.

People loved him and then as the night

went on, he started drinking and

the cocaine would come in, Lillo would

right away, go into something else.

It was so bad that I had a large house

right out in this area and I came home,

maybe three days after the function,

went into a bedroom downstairs.

We had a big place, 16 bedrooms.

I don't know why I went down there.

I opened up the closet to get something.

I don't know why I was down there.

'Cuz I opened it up and Lillo was still here.

- How many years sober are you?

- I can probably say that on

this past November 18th, 2017, celebrated 11 years.

- [Steve] How's that feel?

- It feels tremendous.

I mean, it's not something I can say

that gets easier every day, but it

gets more rewarding every day.

While I was away, one of the best things

that I learned is how to manage my emotions

and what I learned from experience

was that no matter how bad a situation gets,

either your ability to deal with it

will get better or the situation itself

will get better.

And then I came to a realization that I don't need drugs.

That God has equipped me with what's necessary

to overcome pretty much anything

and that is one of the biggest tools

that I use to keep sober until this day.

- Before I bet Lillo,

an actor by the name of Phil Barbarino

had the part of C and I was going

in for Mario and then Jill Greenburg told us

unofficially that it was, Phil was

gonna play C and I was gonna play Crazy Mario

and I think she said, I think Joey had

the part maybe even before us.

Joey from Goodfellas, so Joey was gonna play Slick.

And she told us this unofficially

that we were those characters.

- [Steve] Now, how did you guys feel knowing

that this guy just came out of nowhere.

- Well at first, we, I was on Phil's side.

At first, so I was like, this kid.

Don't worry, Phil, I said, he doesn't have

a shot, but I knew he had a shot.

- Right. - And then when I saw

him act, I thought he was fantastic.

I thought he was fantastic

and I believed that he was from the Bronx

and he had that Bronx accent.

I don't know if Lillo put it on

or if he just, maybe it's a Yonkers accent

that was close to the Bronx,

but he also spoke, he also speaks Italian

and Spanish and stuff like that,

so he was able to do the Bronx accent perfect.

I'm from the Bronx -Right.

- So, I know a Bronx accent when I hear it.

He had it.

After Bronx Tale we actually did,

we worked again together.

We knew each other's families, also,

from being on set, so I knew his mom

and dad and he knew my mom and dad, my brothers.

And Lillo has amazing memory, too,

'cuz he saw me years later and asked

my family by name, which was impressive.

But after Bronx Tale, we had done,

we had done a show called Falcone

about, it was a spin off of Danny Brasco

and it was James Russo.

Titus Welliver was in it.

It was a, Bobby Moresco, I think, directed it.

Anyway, it was gonna be a big series

and I was playing Nicky, the kid.

He was playing one of the wise guys.

And he was a regular in it.

I was gonna be, I think, a recurring.

Something like that, but he was a regular.

And then they killed him off

and I was surprised that they killed him off.

I don't know the real story, you

can ask Lillo about it.

But I remember him coming, if we

had a six or seven o'clock a.m. call time,

he'd come in wired from the night before,

not sleeping, he had the black under his eyes

and I knew he was out from the night before.

He looked terrible and that's when I knew

and then we met out a couple of times.

We didn't go out together, but I'd

go to a club or an opening for something

or an event and he'd be there

and he was with these kids.

I forgot their names, they're just weirdos.

I mean, this kid Rob used to wear

these contact lenses that were just so weird.

Terrible piece on his head.

They were just all around him.

They were obviously enabling him.

His family were builders in Yonkers.

They had a lot of money and they

did very, very well.

His father worked like, I've never seen

anybody work like his father, like a bull,

until he had the heart problem,

but his father was a great guy.

Worked really, really hard.

I remember Lillo always looked great.

He always drove cool cars

and stuff like that and then I saw him

in the club once, he had a hole in his sweater.

He had mangled shoes on

and he asked me for $20 or something like that

and I said, you're asking me.

I should be asking you.

[high pitched shouting]

- Hugs and smiles during the homecoming this afternoon.

Three and a half hours after his release

from an upstate prison this morning,

former actor Lillo Brancato arrived in Yonkers

a free man.

- It's a very big day.

Thank you all for coming.

I just wanna spend some time with my family.

- When you turn this corner,

what goes on in your mind.

- A lot of memories, you know.

I grew up here.

A lot of good memories

that all become the bad memories.

A lot of guys that I knew

from this neighborhood died, drugs.

Guys I was really, really close to.

I remembering taking care of my friend, Jimmy.

They used to call him Aruba.

He passed away in 2009

and he used to smoke crack

and I did also, but I wasn't, you know,

doing it every day.

He told me, he said, "Li, you know what.

"You keep messing with that crack pipe,

"one day it's gonna get you."

I remember the day that it got me.

It was in this very, very,

this very parking space right here,

this parkin' spot.

I was walking into the store

to get cigarettes and this guys parked

in this car and was speaking loud,

that they wanted me to hear it.

They guy said, the guys said, he goes,

"oh, Lillo's a good guy.

"He never forgot where he came from."

So automatically, I'm curious.

I didn't, I've seen him around.

I knew who they were, so I walked over

to the car and I remember I looked in the car.

I said, hey guys, how you doin'.

The guy's lookin' at me, said, "yeah, I'm alright."

And sitting down, pulls out a crack pipe

and he looks at me.

He didn't raise it up so high

so we could see it from outside.

It was down here and he said, he said, "you interested?"

and I knew what that was gonna be.

Once I take that first hit of crack, I

could be out for two days, a week.

And I said, yeah, yeah, I'm interested.

I got in the back seat of the car.

I remember we took a ride up this street

and we came around and the crack pipe

was full of resin, - Right.

- So I said to the guys, I said, no, no, no.

He was ready to put a rock in there.

And I said, no, no, no, it's fine.

I'll just, he goes no, no, no.

He said, "if you're gonna do it, you do

"it the right way."

I remember he put a $20 rock inside the pipe

and I remember when I took that hit,

that was it.

That was it.

From that day in July of 2005

until the day I got arrested, December 10th, 2005,

I did not miss one day.

I smoked crack every single day

and that crack pipe got a real hold on me

to the point where I used to be in my room,

look at the mirror and I was a shadow of myself.

I was about 135 pounds.

I looked like a skeleton

and I would literally like, so powerless,

and I used to look in the mirror crying.

Please God, please help me, help me please.

- [Steve] So when you see this neighborhood,

does it bring back more bad

or more good memories?

- I would say more bad memories,

but now that I have reached

the moment of clarity, I kinda deal

with it a little bit better

and just am so thankful that

that I did make it out and that I am

safe and sound and I am a,

that I am in a better place in life.

And thank God for that.

- Right. - Because without Him,

none of that would have been possible.

- [Steve] The iconic, the working man is a sucker.

What are your thoughts on that?

- Well, my old thoughts,

I would probably have to say

that I believe the exact opposite.

That the working man is not a sucker.

My father's a Mason, a builder

and worked really, really hard

and I can tell you this.

He's far from a sucker.

- Well, my relationship with Lillo

was like my relationship with a lot

of young studs coming up in New York.

Gettin' in the movie game and

the early '90s to mid '90s when I

was running an big gossip column in

the New York Daily News, I was in contact

with all those guys, all the young bucks,

and you know, I remember the movie premier

specifically for Bronx Tale,

because it was a big to-do.

It was in Tribeca.

Bob De Niro directing.

I remember there was a big thing

with, a lot of people couldn't get in

and you know, Lillo was about to

be crowned as this new actor that

was gonna make some noise for a long time.

And frankly, you left that screening

or the premier saying this kid fucking held

his own with Bob De Niro and Chazz Palminteri,

heavyweights, he's gonna be around forever.

Lillo didn't make me an enemy.

I never sought, I never went after him.

'Cuz you gotta understand, as an Italian guy,

there's a certain amount of movies,

a certain amount of movie us Italians see

that come on TV and you put the remote

and you can throw the remote away.

When you turn on Rocky or Godfather

or Goodfellas or Raging Bull

or Bronx Tale, Casino even, you're done

for the next two hours.

And when you're one of the stars

in those movies, you're like royalty to us.

So, I would never go out of my way

to write something bad about Lillo,

but it was getting increasingly harder not to

because there were altercations and fights

and arguments that warranted attention

in the columns.

There was a club uptown called Rouge

that a lot of the monsters stayed at

and big time guys.

Genovese guys, Gambino guys.

They all converged there.

These are fuckin' killers.

They don't take shit.

Polito would have worked in there

with the same attitude like he

was running his own show and those guys

wouldn't have it.

And again, he's treated a certain way

because he's from a certain movie

with a certain actor and they put kid gloves on,

but there came a time when he wasn't allowed

back in that club and that's a big blow

to a kid like that.

I think he has a shot to break in again

because he had some talent and I'm sure he

still has some talent.

Up until recently, everybody in this town

got a second chance.

I don't care if your were Mel Gibson

and started a race war on the PCH

or Woody Allen who married his adopted daughter.

I mean, you get second chances in this town,

in this business.

Right now, the climate in Hollywood is,

anything you did bad as a man, you're done.

What Lillo did didn't have anything

of a sexual nature to it, so if it's simply

a matter of breaking the law,

it's a tough spot, but I think he certainly

has the ability to come back

if he wants to.

That's why that movie resounded in all of us,

because I've lived a life where sometimes you're

not using the talent that God bestowed you

and when you're not using it,

things go bad in life and you

can really expect to find yourself on your ass.

When you accept that you have this talent

that God gave you, you make your living

with it, it's truly the gift that God

gave you, good things are gonna happen.

I think Lillo has a gift and got a gift from God.

He fucked his life up,

but I don't think that gift left him

and I think there's somebody out there

that's gonna put their hands out

and allow him back into the scene.

- When you start working in film

and TV business and make a little

bit if of money, you know for me, I

lived at home with my parents.

Went to boarding school.

I was very, lived in a sort of insulated bubble

and never really had to worry too much

about money, never had to worry

about buying stuff, so I never had

a lot of cash on me.

Never had a bank account or anything like that.

When I started working a lot in New York City,

it's not just having, being recognizable

or being the new hot guy or whatever they call it,

but it's all the sudden having,

being 18 or 19 and having $150,000 cash

in your bank account.

[laughs]

- [Steve] Right, could have been at that point,

that's like 10 million at that age.

- Right and you're working on jobs

and you're making 50 here, 75, 100

and it's just growing in your bank account

and really, you know, when you have

that kind of cash and never had

that kind of cash before, I just didn't see

there was no limit to what I could do.

So, that and sort of the access,

really it's the money that creates the access

and so, the drugs, you know,

all that stuff becomes very available

because you're supplying the drugs

and the alcohol for a lot of the friends.

So, they'll be finding stuff for you

'cuz you're footing the bill,

- Right. - And it's,

it's constant and never ending.

- So, I would be remiss if I didn't ask

the question that's probably the most important question

in this whole documentary.

Do you feel like you got away with murder?

- Well, I've always taken full responsibility

for how my addiction and my, you know,

decision making made a contribution

in the death of the heroic police officer.

But with that being said,

I don't feel that I was directly responsible

for the death, so therefore, no, I don't think

I was, or got away with murder.

- What were your initial thoughts

when you first heard about

the whole incident?

- Before we even knew who it was,

it was another cop murder.

- Were you working the night of or no?

- I was off that night actually.

- Okay. - But a few weeks

or months prior, another officer was killed.

I think it was Officer Dylan Stewart.

So, yeah, immediately, just the initial reports

that another officer killed.

I mean, any officer killed struck us,

but two almost back to back,

and then when we heard who it was,

someone kind of privileged who probably

had a lot goin' for him,

that struck an even deeper nerve

in pretty much all of us.

- What was the, if you can remember,

what was the initial reaction around

the precinct when, you know, around

the funeral time or right after it happened?

- Everyone in general was mad, livid.

Not just because of what happened,

but again, because of who it was

and that he was, what we view,

as a privileged person.

How could this have happened?

How could he been involved

and then kind of also a feeling

of like, almost being backstabbed

because, I think, in general,

a lot of us liked Lillo from Bronx Tale.

- Right. - So, we liked the movie.

We liked him.

I talked to a few today, actually,

about this and --

- [Steve] What were their thoughts?

- Like it was yesterday.

He was a scumbag.

He's a perp.

He's a piece of shit.

You know, he should still be in jail.

He should have gotten the death penalty.

So on and so forth. - Right.

- I've yet to find anyone in NYPD

who has anything positive to say about it.

- Do you think he deserves a second chance,

if not why?

[siren blaring]

- I don't and I don't because, I do believe

in second chances, but for me,

this was too egregious to deserve

a second chance

and from interviews I saw with people

who used to work with him, Chazz Palminteri, I think.

I think I've seen a few interviews

with him back then, he said that he

had heard he'd been involved in drug activity

and so on and he tried to steer him clear

and he told him this is gonna lead to trouble.

So, it sounded like there were probably people

around him who tried to steer him clear

from that bad element he was getting into

and he didn't listen.

This, things like this happen

when you're involved in that activity

and to me, this is something that's not worthy

of a second chance.

- Why did you think it was important

to do this documentary from a cop's side of things?

- I figured the public just needs to know

how the cops feel.

In particular NYPD cops.

That the feeling hasn't changed.

I hate to use the word hate, but I'm gonna use

the word hate.

Everyone that I know at NYPD that

had mentioned Bracato's name, they hate him.

Still consider him a scumbag.

Piece of shit, worthless.

And wouldn't see any movie or a project

with him in it and I felt

it was just important to make that known.

- Well, you know,

this is Saint Ann's Church.

This is where I did my first communion

back in 1984.

It's where I did my confirmation in 1990.

I don't live too far from here.

Maybe like two minutes down the street.

And you know, this church has a lot

of meaning to me.

I mean, it's like part of my childhood.

It's part of who I am.

And you know,

and really, only after I was incarcerated

did I really realize the importance

of having God in your life, you know,

because of the bad mistakes and

the choices that I made in my life

and what they resulted in.

A lot of people left my side.

A lot of people that were near and dear to me.

People that I loved.

They just weren't there for me.

Not everyone.

But one person who never left my side

was God, He was always there

and I now know because of what I went

through and the changes in my life

of who I was and then who I became

the day that I was released.

Funny how life works itself out

because, you know, 25 years later at least,

right next door to this church,

which is part of this church,

is where they have parties and stuff,

is where I attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings.

God does exist.

This is why I try to go to church

as much as possible and I thank God every day.

Every day of my life before I do anything, I pray

for at least 10 minutes to thank Him

for giving me the strength to become

the person that I am today.

You know, it's, I owe it all to Him.

So, here I am.

[somber organ music]

- I feel as though he got the right amount

of time just because he did do a robbery.

There was a weapon involved

and knowing the laws and actually having

an ex-boyfriend who went to jail for

the same thing, that's what he got.

He got 10 years and did 85% of his time

and I feel as though that was fair.

- It's so easy to get bored

and so then, the next thing is, what's next.

I've got everything.

Like, what else is there?

And so, drugs and alcohol and whatever

comes into the picture inevitably,

and it almost always, it's so hard

to navigate yourself through that world.

- I think that Lillo is a great artist

and wanted to keep working and you know,

at the end of the day,

I think it does, it does put a bit

of a shadow over all the amazing work

that he has done.

- [Steve] Somebody's watching this documentary

who didn't know Lillo or don't know him

obviously personally or don't know much

about him, what would you like

them to know about him that maybe somebody

wouldn't know?

- That's he's a different person.

He's dedicated to his, you know,

to his job and his career

and he's a good kid.

He's a really good kid.

He got great heart, you know.

What he's did, whatever happened to him,

it was just, it was from the drugs, nothing else.

[applauding]

- Thank you. - Thank you, thank you.