Two Taps and Friends

DiGiorgio & Weekes | Related To The Mob: War Stories with Cousin of Don John Gotti, John Digorgio #67

• Daniel Rosenberg • Episode 67

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In this candid conversation on Two Taps and Friends, host Daniel Rosenberg welcomes guest Johnny DiGiorgio—world traveler, former nightclub figure, and first cousin to Victoria Gotti—and returning guest Attorney Johnny Weekes. Johnny DiGiorgio opens up about his younger days in New York circles connected to the Gambino family, the doors (and extra scrutiny) that came with that name, a dramatic home invasion shootout, and a high-stakes case that carried a 25-year mandatory minimum.

Together with Johnny Weekes, they explore authentic lawyer-client relationships, the shift from payphones and street connections to modern surveillance, the impact of RICO on loyalty, and the quiet power of straight talk and second chances. From Medellín Airbnbs to Boca Raton suits and lacrosse fields, this episode offers a reflective look at resilience, reinvention, and the human stories behind well-known names.

Thoughtful listening for anyone drawn to real-life transformation, legal insight, family legacy, and the quiet evolution of consequence in a changing world.

⏰ Timestamps ⏰  
00:00 🎬 Teaser 
2:00 👨‍⚖️ What was it like growing up with family ties to Victoria Gotti and the Dapper Don?
11:00 📞 How did payphones, nightclub business, and “connections” shape Johnny’s early life in New York?
15:00 🔫 What really happened during the home invasion shootout at Johnny’s house?
22:00 ⚖️ How did Johnny Weekes help Johnny DiGiorgio beat a 25-year mandatory minimum drug case?
30:00 🌎 Why did Johnny DiGiorgio choose life in Medellín, Colombia—and what keeps drawing him back?
Airbnb stories, Italian cooking abroad, and the appeal of a different pace.
33:00 📡 How has technology and RICO forever changed the old “lifestyle”?
35:00 🔗 What does RICO really mean for loyalty, snitching, and consequences in organized crime?
43:00 👔 What’s happening now in Johnny DiGiorgio’s world—and where does he get those sharp suits?

What do you believe has changed most about loyalty, trust, and consequences over the past 30 years?

#TrueCrimePodcast #truecrimestories #legalanalysis #attorney #truecrimestory  #investigations #news #lawyer #LawyerLife #realtalk #CourtCase #CourtroomDrama #JusticeSystem #LawAndOrder #CriminalLaw #CriminalDefense #mafia  #DefenseAttorney #streetlife   #SecondChances #CriminalDefense #PersonalTransformation #mafiaboss #snitch #federal  

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SPEAKER_02

In my younger days, I was always in stupid trouble.

SPEAKER_03

He is first cousins with Victoria DeGiorgio, who later became Victoria Gotti, who is married to the infamous John Gotti, known as the Dapper Dap Dapper Don.

SPEAKER_02

It was unfortunate for them, but there was a big shootout at my house. I met the guy in Florida, told me what he pays for the kilos, and I spoke to the guy in the Dominican Republic what I could get them for. And it was a $20,000 difference. He's in a Dominican. And this guy was in Pompado. And you would do business together and just give me $5,000 a key. He was looking at a 25-year minimum mandatory. A lot of kilos. With the technology today, I would never attempt to do anything wrong.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, as John Gotti Sr. said, today they could hear a snake fart in Africa. Right. So everybody's legit.

SPEAKER_03

Because there's everybody's a snitch. Attorney Johnny Weeks back on the panel. Welcome back. This is Johnny DeGeorgia.

SPEAKER_02

Welcome to Two Taps and Friends. What are your favorite drinkers? Let's dive into another episode of Two Taps and Friends.

SPEAKER_03

Welcome back to Two Taps and Friends. I'm Danny Rosenberg, host of the show. Today I have a very special panel on. I have, first of all, one of my good friends and colleagues, and uh hopefully at times will be a trial partner, attorney Johnny Weeks back on the panel. Welcome back.

SPEAKER_04

It's good to see you again, Danny.

SPEAKER_03

Always a pleasure to have him back on. And I have a very special guest. Um, this is Johnny DeGiorgio. Johnny, welcome to the show for the first time. Thank you. Johnny is the um, he's a very interesting guy. He's a world traveler. He is first cousins um with Victoria DeGiorgio, who later became Victoria Gotti, who is married to the infamous John Gotti, known as the Dapper Dap Dapper Don. Um, you know, with the one of the alleged mob bosses of the Gambino family. So welcome to our show, Johnny. And uh I wanted to bring Johnny on both the Johnnies. I had both the Johnnies on. We wanted to bring Johnny on, Johnny to Giorgio, because he has such an he's had an interesting life as a world traveler. And welcome to the show, my friend. Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here. So let's start off first of all. How did you meet this guy right here? And let's stem into that. And then we'll go into your background. You could talk to me about your your connection to Victoria and John and all those guys. Okay.

SPEAKER_02

Well, I met in my younger days, I was always in stupid trouble in my 20s, and I was always arrested for something stupid. It was never your fault. Never my fault. And uh one time I got, I forgot what the case was, but I was in uh a little bit more trouble this time, so I had to get a good attorney. Right. And I think I paid in those days like $10,000 for this bald-headed lawyer. And I was in jail, and I'm sitting in the in the bullpen there in the courtroom. In the courtroom. And my lawyer went up there and literally did a shitty job. Really, really upset with him. And he turned around, went like that, and walked out. And then a young public defender was representing some of the guys that were in jail, also dismissed, dismissed, dismissed. And I'm looking at this young, he wouldn't shut his mouth. Talk to James.

SPEAKER_03

He still doesn't shut his mouth, but it's fine.

SPEAKER_02

But people and I looked at him, he's a public defender, wouldn't it cost me a dime? He's getting these guys are worse cases than me. They're cases dismissed. So I called him over. I says, Come here. He came over. I I got his name, introduced myself. He gave me his card. And I says, if I ever get in trouble again, I want to call you. Gave me his card. Well, lo and behold, a year later, I got in trouble again. So I called the public defender's number, and the secretary told me that Johnny's no longer here, but he's in private practice. Do you want his phone number? I said, absolutely. That's what happened. So I called him up, I went to see him, he took my case, and from that he either got my case dismissed or I got a great deal. And since then, all my friends, a bunch of hoodlums, always calling me, Johnny, you got a lawyer, you got a lawyer. I sent everybody to Johnny because I was uh I I felt confident.

SPEAKER_00

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02

I wasn't gonna get any repercussions from them.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_02

And he did a fantastic job, and I got him a lot of clients that again, I was getting in a little trouble here and there. And and Johnny's been uh uh not only became a very close friend of mine, but he helped me out of a lot of jams.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_02

He really did. And and I, you know what, you know what, most uh inmates or or defendants end up not liking their lawyer, like I did my first one, sure piece of shit. Him I loved more and more and more and more and more, and so do my friends. As a matter of fact, if my memory is correct, which is probably not, I can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning anymore. So I remember years ago, John Sr. was down here, and on a violation from New York, they arrested him.

SPEAKER_03

We're talking about John John.

SPEAKER_02

And don't hold me to this because I believe hold on, listen interviewers.

SPEAKER_03

Dan, can you put up a picture of John Gotti so they know who we're talking about? But go ahead.

SPEAKER_02

And I think uh John helped him out with that either worked with him or had somebody help him, if if if if I'm correct.

SPEAKER_04

John Jr. as well.

SPEAKER_02

John Jr. as well, right? So that that's that's how confident and how much respect I have for this man.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I get it. And the thing is, it's funny because you say public defenders. So people uh uh and now in private practice, like Johnny and I will get calls and they'll be like, oh, I got a public defender, they're all this, they're all that. But we always say, like, there's some great public defenders. Though because what it is is it's the young guys or the young girls go there to train. There's no better place to train how to defend a trial than a public defender. You can go to the prosecutor's office, but you're prosecuting cases. As a defense attorney, a public defender, you're literally walking in. Yeah, they're handing a young guy like Johnny and me 100, 200 files, like here, these are your files, go. And then you're you're trying to you're you're you're trying cases, so you get gems in there, and that's how you like you pay this high-payer lawyer, but you see a young up-and-guy, and you got lucky, right?

SPEAKER_02

But but you know something I I also think, I don't think this, I know this for a fact. Right. You know, your personality has a lot to do with it. And and I'll tell you why. I'm outside looking in at all you guys, and you know, Johnny worked as a public defender with five, six, seven years in that building. So on his floor, he's got the DA, the prosecutors. He and it's every morning, hey Joe, how you doing? Hey Danny, how you doing? I sued his whole, he knows everybody, right? And if if they like him, and they do because of his personality, which matters a lot, he's not a son of a bitch guy, right? They work together and fix it, make the cases work.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that's that's life. I mean, that's just life in any fashion, right? Right. Who you know, how you get along, but they have to you have to have the respect. So Johnny's a lawyer that's he tries a lot of cases, he's known as a as a as an effective, very effective, sharp lawyer. So that goes a long way. You have to have that reputation too, and you know, it takes time to develop that.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, last week I had a really nice kid, Mike ClaPont, he's never been in trouble in his life. And uh he had a case, and uh he's supposed to start, he was so nervous every night for months. He was either calling him or I'm gonna lose, but he's got a really good job, and he's gonna lose his job if he gets a conviction. I said, Man, just just time heals wounds, bro. Let this thing drag out as long as possible. He didn't understand that I do. And uh last last week, we had uh last Monday, I think it was, he had trial set.

SPEAKER_04

We're always telling him, Mike, it'll be fine, it'll be fine. I think he showed up with seven people in the back of the including you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Well, I was gonna go with him to, you know, because I felt sorry for him, you know. And uh what happened with the trial?

SPEAKER_04

I I know I got everything dismissed. And he got everything dismissed.

SPEAKER_02

You should have seen Mike afterwards. He's hugging me, his mother, his father. Uh he's like, I mean, I have an offer he can't refuse.

SPEAKER_03

It's typical, you know, don't worry, they dismissed all charges, but that's great. But listen, question I have for you is you know, in it the relationship that you have, right? You're your Victoria's first cousin. And and I take it you lived in New York. Were you living in New York for how long? Were you coming back and forth from Fort Lauderdale, New York?

SPEAKER_02

I was living in that I moved down here, and then I was going back and forth for like 10 years. Right.

SPEAKER_04

His dad owned one of the biggest bagel shops in town here down here.

SPEAKER_02

We my my father, what happened? My father was in a construction business. Yeah, huge construction in New York or Fort Lauderdale? New York. And uh he had enough of it after what, you know, and uh he wanted to move the family down to to Polka Ratone. He bought property there. Okay, and uh his dream was to retire down here, and everybody left except for me. I was in a nightclub business up there at a very young age.

SPEAKER_03

I wasn't leaving how old were you saying young age? 19. Okay.

SPEAKER_02

I wasn't leaving New York.

SPEAKER_03

Where? In Brooklyn, Manhattan, or in Manhattan, okay.

SPEAKER_02

And uh and what happened was uh, you know, I was coming to see my family, my brothers, and little by little, I'm looking at I had a little issue up there with the nightclub. Okay.

SPEAKER_03

Did you want to talk about that?

SPEAKER_02

Well, no, it's just you know, they came in for taxes and all of this. I thought it was under my name. But you know, there was there was uh a little issue. It was a little issue that I didn't want to deal with, right? And I didn't really have to, I didn't have to deal with it. Right.

SPEAKER_03

Because it's not under your name. Why would you have to do that?

SPEAKER_02

I wasn't on the hook for anything, so I said, the fuck this, I'm getting out of here. So I I I I seeing how my brothers were living, okay, great life, and I just sold everything, not that that it was much, and I moved down here.

SPEAKER_03

Right. So when you're living in New York and you have this relationship, you were talking to me a little about it off here. Like, how did that affect you? What kind of was were doors being open for you? Were things a little bit, you know, talk about what you're willing to talk about. Obviously, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

You know, I wasn't, you know, inside that lifestyle.

SPEAKER_03

Right, good, thank God. That's why you're still sitting here, probably.

SPEAKER_02

The thing that I yeah, right, like that's why you're here. Those guys don't end up on the hills. I had I I felt I had a little bit better than that. I wasn't on the hook for anything involved with that. Right, right. And when I needed something, your John Gyler. I had the connections to get it. Right. If I couldn't find the right, for example, back in the day, they had uh uh pay phones.

SPEAKER_03

Remember those things, Johnny? He doesn't remember. He remembers he remembers.

SPEAKER_02

We live payphones, we carry phones, Johnny in the ladies' room, in the men's room, and you know, you put the money, but that business is very, I mean, you make a lot of money with it, especially with the long distance.

SPEAKER_03

How are you making the money? Just renting it to the clubs?

SPEAKER_02

Well, that business in itself, okay. You could put your payphones, your privately owned payphones, three of them in the in the in the men's room of uh of uh Joseph's. Okay.

SPEAKER_04

This is a club that you ran.

SPEAKER_02

No, no, this wasn't no, this wasn't a club that I ran, this was somebody else's clubs. Got it. They had pay phones. Uh Marnachi was the guy who had uh all of the payphones in Hollywood and and Fort Lauderdale clubs. He had all of his payphones in there. Okay, and I had an opportunity to get into that business. How would I get that opportunity? I forgot the guy's name now, it's McGears. Right. I said, if I could get us in these nightclubs, because I'll make you a partner. He told me he'd make me a partner. Fast forward to tape. I you know, made a call who I was able to get our payphones, those payphones taken out. Oh, they they removed this guy. They took those payphones out and put our payphones in. Little things like that.

SPEAKER_03

And do you think and you think that was because of your relationship? It was 100%. Okay, right.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, I mean who am I? To tell me. He's had a big vending machine.

SPEAKER_03

And it was this miniature, not to name names, was he connected in any way?

SPEAKER_02

Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

But uh, and I'm going back in when I was in my 20s, you know, so so uh little things like that. But the the on the other side of the coin, it was bad for me. Because you probably got it like anytime I had an issue, if I got pulled over for a ticket or whatever, there was always five cop cars that came. So don't get out of the car. You know, it was like your name was connected in their mind, they knew everybody knew who you were. I was considered in in the uh in in the database as a Gotti nephew. Ah and I'm not a Gotty nephew, but that's what it says. Right. So when they hear that, I mean it's always uh the possibility of a problem if they pulled me over it. So there was always five, six cop cars there. You know, get out of the car, put your hands up, we could see them. And I wind up either giving me a ticket for my tinted windows, something stupid like that. And it was always, it was uh it was bad. Right, it was great in a way, but it was bad as well. Because it was great because when I went out, everybody knew me. Right, and a lot of times I was with John Jr. And you know, the word got out, and uh, you know, everybody was hands-off Johnny, Johnny D. You know, so it was good that way.

SPEAKER_03

But um and was it dangerous for you at times being in that in that I mean obviously when you're up in New York or there, where you're not really dangerous.

SPEAKER_02

So I put myself in danger.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_02

I really a lot of times. Um, I mean, I had Club Boca. I was involved with Club Boca back in the day. And uh, you know, I had a uh every weekend on Sundays we took the money from Club Boca and put it in my in my house. Because on Monday morning we had a club in Atlanta, Georgia, and Bucket also. We used to fly to Atlanta, make a bank deposit Monday morning, and I had a home invasion in my house. Oh wow, it was bad. They came in at two o'clock in the morning, wanted the money from Club Boca.

SPEAKER_00

Here. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_02

And uh uh it was unfortunate for them, but there was a big shootout at my house.

SPEAKER_03

Oh god. Wow, anybody anybody get killed?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Oh wow. Two out of those four guys died, but they started shooting in there. Right, right. But you know, the reason why I'm telling you that is because the next day I mean the news was out there, CBS and on the front page of the paper, Gotti kin. Had nothing to do with John Gotti. Or the or the nothing to do with that and any of that. Nothing. It just was a it was a home invasion. I didn't get in any trouble. It makes for a juicy headline, though. Exactly. So that's where it was bad for me. Right, right. And bad for them because something like this, John called me, what the hell, you know, what are you doing down there?

SPEAKER_03

You know, and I Johnny, for you, when you're as a defense attorney for him, and I can speak from experience on the thing, did it affect does it affect cases for you? Did it affect it with him? Because he's he's a little bit on the kind of in the safe zone, but not the safe zone. Exactly.

SPEAKER_04

Let's start off how we met. Yeah, top. So I was in Judge Williams's courtroom.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, Marsha Williams before he went to Juvenile. Did he have the cigar on list? Yeah, he was great. Yeah, he's the greatest judge in the history of the room. I still remember him. Shout out to Judge Williams if you watch.

SPEAKER_02

I never forget to I never forget what he told me. Because uh he said to me, really nice judge. He says to me, Mr. DeGiorgio, I want you to know something. There's a consequence for everything we do in life. Yeah, and this is what by said what I had, whatever I had to do, which was fair. But I'll never forget that because he's right. He's the greatest.

SPEAKER_03

And to listeners and viewers, if you can find clips of Judge Elijah Williams, go do it. You'll never be more entertained. Elijah Williams, we love Johnny. The most entertained, should have his own show, but he'd probably get himself in trouble if he had his own show, the stuff he would say. But tell me the story, Johnny. So you're in Williams.

SPEAKER_04

John's story, my story, a little bit different. And I think it's just for the fact that it's been a long time. I mean, we're talking, that was my second year out of law school. So 25, 26 years ago. And um so I came into the courtroom that day because that was my assigned courtroom because I was a public defender. And so I walk into judge.

SPEAKER_03

That must have been a fun for a courtroom with Johnny Lee and Elijah in the same room. He just started.

SPEAKER_04

If you remember correctly, he just started. Wow. And he was in from Jag third-degree felony court. Oh, wow. And um, so we're we're in there, and I'm his I'm his public defender. It was myself, Mila Schwarzreich. Oh, wow, uh, and I believe Mike Farberic and Pascal Chansey, right? Great, great group. Great lineup. Great group. In fact, I believe a couple weeks later, I'm not sure in between, because that is a long time, and uh I'm not as old as you, but I'm I'm up there too. Yeah, yeah. I think Regina Tobinaka showed up. No shit. So, I mean, you're talking, I mean, if you look back, those just amazing lawyers, right? You know, still still amazing lawyers. Right. Um, Spencer Moltak was the prosecutor at the time. Spencer's a judge now. Kelly Dell was the prosecutor at the time. I mean, these are great Dellin Schaefer. Yeah, yeah, they did. Um Spencer's a judge down in Miami. Right, great judge. I mean, I could go, I could just do a whole segment on Judge Williams' courtroom because it was a family, that group of people.

SPEAKER_03

That's the thing with those offices. You get like superstars come out of these offices, you know, and some lackeys.

SPEAKER_04

Judge Williams had come in there and he said, listen, my case count is like 3,000, 4,000 cases. This is ridiculous. You guys need to work together. And we really did. We worked together and we resolved these cases. And it was, it was amazing. He really did a good job. So John comes in that day. And as John, as you're talking a couple couple minutes ago, and you said that like people knew you just because of the John Gotti connection. I'm a kid from Norfolk, Virginia. I I don't know John Gotti. I don't know, I don't know nothing from nothing. So the the the in-courtroom bailiffs, and if you remember before we have all these guys with the guns now. You had these bailiffs, and all those bailiffs. You've got retired cops from New York. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

It's just Al, did you have Big Al tell me? You had Big Al? That's who you're talking about? It's my favorite. So old Long Island beat cop from New York.

SPEAKER_04

In walks, John in custody. And these guys are all like, you know who that is, you know who that is. I'm like, I don't know who that is. And he's right. His lawyer got all matched. Some guy from New York, and he walks out, and John called me over. And he, and of course, I was told earlier who he was, but I didn't, that doesn't didn't mean it. I was there. And he goes, if you can get me out of the jail, I'll never forget it. And I'll say, look, I'll get you out. Um, and here's my card, but I'll get you out of it today. And so I went up in front of Williams and I said, Listen, and the lawyer had already left.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

And he told Judge Williams.

SPEAKER_02

You didn't even say goodbye to me.

SPEAKER_04

I don't, I don't want that lawyer anybody. I want this public defender. And so I got him out. And a couple weeks later, I'd gotten a call from John because I was in the interim of leaving. And John was like, I will make sure that I introduce you to everybody. Now, John literally introduced me, and I mean, we've had a segment here before how I represented at one point in time probably every strip club in Broward County. All those connections are through John DeGiorgio.

SPEAKER_00

Wow.

SPEAKER_04

So as much as John thinks he's helped me out, uh or excuse me, that you've helped me out. I've helped him out, John has helped me out considerably. I mean, I've John has put my name on the street, obviously, because I'm really good at what I do. But at the same time, so because of that, John and I, and I've known his dad before his dad passed away, I've known them all. And I've I've really taken a um a liking to all them. And John will call me and say, hey, this is what's going on. He'll call me about a boxer, he'll call me about John Jr., you know, he'll call me and he'll say, Hey, uh Vicky's here. Vicky's here. Vicky's place in Las Vegas is open if you want to go use that. So we talk a lot. So I just thought, like, you know, of all the good stories that could come before you on this podcast that you do, he's got a life that's well lived. He's been through a lot. Uh, he's had some great stories, especially the case that we had down in Miami together. Oh, God.

SPEAKER_03

You guys want to talk about it? Can we?

SPEAKER_04

John got caught up in some crazy drug trafficking case one day. And they wanted to give him a 25-year minimum manager.

SPEAKER_02

You know, you know what I did. Lovely. I'm not gonna get into the whole story, but what if you were in Martin County, you wouldn't be sitting here. What I did was I spent a lot of time in the Dominican Republic. Okay. And I met uh somebody that his uncle was uh kicked out of the United States for a drug cartel, cocaine. And I knew here in the United States, I knew somebody who sold kilos. And I'm going back, I was 26, 27, something like that.

SPEAKER_04

So what I thought about is But you weren't that old when we were dealing with this case. No, yeah, that was years and years and years ago.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. So what what I did was I I just I met the guy in Florida, told me what he pays for the kilos, and I spoke to the guy in the Dominican Republic what I could get them for. And it was a $20,000 difference. So my idea was to introduce him to him, he's in a Dominican, and this guy was in Pompado, and you would do business together and just give me $5,000 a key. And if you didn't, I cut you off. That was my whole plan. I wasn't involved with the drugs or none of that stuff. And the windup is uh he the guy in Dominican hooked me up with somebody in Hollywood that knows him, supposedly, ended up being the cops. Always for out of Hollywood. So I introduced these two. I got stuck in the middle, so I was because of my past, they looked at my shoes. You were the big fish, and I was the big fish, right?

SPEAKER_04

And I don't even came in and saved the day.

SPEAKER_03

Tell me about that. What happened? How'd you work it? He was in front of this judge at the time, and John was in this is in Miami.

SPEAKER_04

Miami. Okay. And I and he and he was worried, he's like, you don't have these connections out of Miami. I told you, I just had this conversation.

SPEAKER_03

It doesn't, when you get to a certain point, it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_04

What do I know?

SPEAKER_03

Let me just handle it. After a while, you know everybody.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. I mean, he c he sat in there for a couple days in the county jail down there, but we got everything basically taken care of, and John was out and he was happy. And but at the end of the day, I mean, like, he was looking at a 25-year minimum editor. A lot of kilos. Yeah. So, like that's their thing. I never saw a kilo in my life.

SPEAKER_03

That's that's their thing. That's what they're thinking. That's how they get you, though. Right.

SPEAKER_04

But it's been a couple, we've had some really good stories. We've uh had some really good uh he sent me a couple cases that ones that we laugh upon now. He'll send me clients and he'll say, But Johnny, you got you gotta really hand hold this kid.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

And uh I'll be like, I don't handhold anybody. Let me just do my job. Right. And I'll get it fixed. But sometimes, you know, my you know, Josh Rydell.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Josh and I are in the same office. Josh is a hand holder. Oh, yeah. Johnny Weeks is not a hand holder. Like I'm well, Josh is a politician. He's a politician. The mayor of Coconut Creek. Shout out to Josh Rydell. Great guy. And if you ever want to live in a great city, Coconut Creek is the place to be. Agree. Because he will fight for you. But Josh will hold your hand. Right. And Josh will ask me, Johnny, like how do you speak to them like that? Echo, because it's a reality. It's a reality of what it is. I'm not like, you know, and I, you know, and it's a business. And at the same time, I'm I'm there to fix your situation. Let me fix your situation. Right, right, right. I don't want to spend time doing anything else. That might be my my flaw, but at the same time, I get it, I get it done. Well, the thing is, is if you're clear, this is what I found.

SPEAKER_03

If you're clear and you're a straight shooter and you speak to your client in a way that you're straight, but no, that they understand what's going on. That's the big thing. A lot of people just don't know what the hell's going on. And if you say, look, this is that's a form of hand holding. We're just not gonna sit here and say it's gonna be okay. And we're not therapists. That's not what me and especially me and you, you know. But go ahead, what were you saying?

SPEAKER_04

No, it's just and that's just the the style that like I think John liked about me because I wasn't one of these guys from New York that was doing that. I wasn't one of these guys that's like, give me your money, I'm gonna tell you that it's totally gonna be okay. It ain't gonna be okay. You might not get out today, right? I mean, I had that conversation with a kid at the jail before I got over here, right? You know, like when you're gonna go shoot up a house, I got one of the things.

SPEAKER_03

There's consequences, yeah, but but you know something in a bad county, too.

SPEAKER_02

What what Johnny's saying, all lawyers, what when when when when the defendant doesn't know the lawyer, the lawyer always says things that they want to hear. Period. Bad lawyers. 90% of it's bullshit.

SPEAKER_03

Bad lawyers, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

90% of it's but most of them.

SPEAKER_03

Right.

SPEAKER_02

Well after I got to know him, you know, what he said to me, I felt comfortable. Right. You know, it's it's it's it's it. And and and I and and the good thing about this is that any client that I sent Johnny, I always got a phone call. Thank you. And that means a lot to me. That's everything. And I was able to help him, and more so it was another notch on his belt.

SPEAKER_04

I don't advertise, I never have. It's a weird thing. Same here.

SPEAKER_03

And apparently, this is advertising now. I didn't even it was unintentional.

SPEAKER_04

You know, you know, if I do good job for one guy, I think it helps out. They'll send me 10 clients over the like their lifetime. And those 10 will send another 10, and those 10 will just send another 10. That's the business model. You work really hard, you pick up your phone 24-7. Right, same year. I call it a couple of things. My wife loves it. John will call me, I pick up right away. Same here. Like, and it's not just because it's John, I want him to think that he's special, but I do that for everybody.

SPEAKER_02

I call him two o'clock in the morning.

SPEAKER_04

So I just think that that's the I don't like going to a doctor's office and sitting in the waiting room. Hate it. So, right? So I'm not gonna make the lawyer experience like a doctor's office experience. Right? You're paying me good money, but again, you need the truth. And I'm not gonna sit here and bullshit you just because I want your $50,000. I want it, don't get me wrong. But if you want to go down the street and give that money to someone else because he's gonna tell you some BS lie, you'll come back to me after the fact. And I, as I tell him, you're gonna come back to me, but but I'm gonna have to now fix his problems. So it's gonna be a lot more than $50,000.

SPEAKER_03

Listen, nine times out of ten, when you're I found when I'm honest, and sometimes it gets the conversation gets salty, right? Like you know me. It's like, and I'll tell him my line is listen, if you don't want a lawyer that's willing to yell at you or yell for you, go get another lawyer. I don't know what to tell you. You know, it's a respectful thing. Like I had a client that uh she was just needy, just would tell you the same story over and over again, wasn't getting through. You know, there's something wrong, right? Like it's not even understanding, like, let me, this is the game plan, is what we need to do. Nothing. So she goes and she hires uh another colleague of ours, right? And he calls me, he's like, hey, I just want to let you know. I'm like, listen, go to it, right? Good luck with this lady, and I warn you, you know. I get a call the other day, dude. I can't do it, Danny. How did you do it, Danny? I'm like, it for me, if I communicate that way, very straightforward, I let you know what's going on. Same as Johnny. That's the most effective way of communication. It's the most effective way of communication for me and my clients. And I find like usually the relationship, it just goes well from that standpoint because they know I'm not gonna bullshit them. And they know Johnny Weig's not gonna bullshit you. He's not gonna bullshit you. Sometimes Johnny will say shit that might, you know, I know what's coming out of his mouth. He's gonna tell me like it is, even if I don't want to hear it, he'll say it, you know, and then he'll text it to me too to make sure I heard it, you know. So, but that's the that's what you want. That's what I want, and that's what authentic people want, you know. But now, what are you doing these days, Johnny? What do you do? These days, yeah. I mean, you're in Colombia. What you're colon, you stay in Colombia a lot, right? I love it there. I saw I researched you, all of a sudden I see you in a bar in Colombia sitting there telling stories on the bar. Yeah, I do. Oh, it was a podcast, right? It's a park at the bar. You see it like a beach place, right?

SPEAKER_02

I was at Julio's. Oh, yeah, yeah. Tell me. I have my uh the the lady cook in there is from Italy. Wow. Believe it or not, and she makes me my macaroni. I go there once a week. Sweetheart. The people in Medellin, Colombia and Poblado are amazing.

SPEAKER_03

What brought you to Medellin?

SPEAKER_02

I have a my partner, uh Joey Rustivo, he's an international recording artist. He made a lot of hits in the 90s. Okay. And uh their old boy band broke up after five or six years. They made three gold hits. And he took his money, and his father passed away, and he went to Columbia. He went to Medellin. He never came back. He bought a building there, uh, three floors, there's seven bedrooms, hot tubs, etc., on each floor, and he Airb's and Airbnbs. Uh, 15 guys, 10 guys at a time, rather than get hotel rooms, that they take the whole floor. And when I go there, whatever's available, uh I go in that room, which is always something available for me. And I got to know everybody there. I really did.

SPEAKER_04

Um, nice people, the the women are I mean, they're absolutely breathtaking. He'll call me. He says he got a new girlfriend every other weekend.

SPEAKER_03

God bless.

SPEAKER_04

God bless. He tells me I've never been. He said, Johnny, you gotta get down there. I said, I said, John, if you'll never go down, don't get Johnny Wings down. He'll never go. Don't get that.

SPEAKER_03

We need him up here. He'll never get up. We need him up here a little bit.

SPEAKER_04

He'll be calling me every week.

SPEAKER_03

Let's go back.

SPEAKER_04

What's the name of your uh of um of that Airbnb? Do you remember it? Icon. Icon Airbnb in Medellin, Colombia, and Poblado.

SPEAKER_02

If anybody wants to.

SPEAKER_03

Go to the bottom. Icon Airbnb, go check it out. I'm sure it's amazing. You ever been to El Salvador?

SPEAKER_02

No, but I was you know, I was just in El Salvador last year. I was supposed to go there a few months ago.

SPEAKER_03

You're gonna end up buying something there because now it's safe. I came over there and arrested everybody.

SPEAKER_02

I met a somebody from there, a girl from there. Right? And she's been uh a poblado. Yeah, she uh I was planning on going there, but question for you.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, you grew up in like the heydays in the in the what I mean. I take it was the 70s and 80s in New York, in the heydays back then. When you see the world as it is now, technology and the way things are, and I mean, in that same world that you were in, without like commenting on it too much, what do you think? Uh is it can it even be at that same level ever again with the technology that we have now? And like for some for people that are doing shady things with the surveillance they have now. What are your thoughts on that? I mean, you were talking about payphones, you're bringing me and Johnny back, right? Like those payphones were every people you couldn't tap the right payphones. Johnny, I called you five times, I I beeped you, but I didn't have a quarter. Remember? It was the best, you were done, right? But like tell me about the difference you see here.

SPEAKER_02

I would never, with the technology today, I would never attempt to do anything wrong.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, as John Gotti Sr. said, today they could hear a snake fart in Africa, right? Right. It's just a different. Yeah. He said, What are you kidding me? They could hear it's snake fart in Africa. You just can't do anything, right? And it's good.

SPEAKER_03

Um and you think that it's definitely if that industry can't be the same ever again. When I call it an industry, that world has got to be so.

SPEAKER_04

Well, I think that's why they've why not not them, but I think that's why crime has gone towards more fraud. Right. Because you can do fraud on the computer, and there doesn't, and there might be a trail through the computer, but there's not a trail like the payphone and the wiretapping and watching individuals. I mean, you used to see it all the time. I mean, and then they all went down for tax evasion.

SPEAKER_03

So Rico, Rico came into play.

SPEAKER_04

Rico came into play. If you don't know what Rico is, right? John had a Rico case.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. But without bringing it up to you, can you pull up the case? We're not talking about you, but can you pull up the the chart on so I can explain what Rico is real quick to the listener and viewer, Dan? The chart, the table. I can uh so this is how the organizations used to run, right? They would have like different layers for the listers and viewers at look, right? And it used to be that if they were at the bottom and they were committing the crimes of soldiers, they could they would arrest them, but you know, the dons would be protected, the conciliary, all these other guys along the way would be protective. But when Rico came, explain Rico a little bit, Johnny.

SPEAKER_02

I don't you know something I honestly truly I don't fully understand it.

SPEAKER_03

Well that Johnny, not you, his Johnny.

SPEAKER_02

I got I had a Rico charge, right?

SPEAKER_04

Johnny, explain Rico. And I so under Rico, they can actually get the top of the top, and they're basically saying for the the viewer just to understand that everybody's almost a family. So if you if the the the Don told the underboss, who then told the capped and a soldier went out and did it, it would be able to attach all the way up the chain of command on Drico and they would involve everybody in it, even like in John's particular situation where he might not have been in charge or had anything to do with it. Right, just owns a club, you get rope, you get roped in. Right. Get roped in. In fact, it's almost unbeatable. Listen, right?

SPEAKER_02

When I when I got arrested on my federal case in 1993, I I was innocent. I was a loan shark. I would have admitted that. They had me conspiracy to kill five government witnesses.

SPEAKER_01

I didn't even know who these people were. Right.

SPEAKER_02

I didn't know them. I didn't, I didn't know my six code defendants, except for one. I never saw them in my life. Right. And they just tied me in with them.

SPEAKER_03

And the idea, just for lists of viewers, is like like just like Johnny was saying, you become like a a part of a of a machine, right? If you're a part, if your part was as a bicycle, you were the wheel, turning the wheel, fine. All they need to prove is that you were the wheel. What the bicycle was doing, you could get if the bicycle was going to do something worse, you get attached with that. And uh with and when they when they charge with Rico, the idea with them is if they go and they bust now because of Rico, they could go take uh a street level soldier. Low hanging fruit, low hanging fruit, and they flip them, is what they call it.

SPEAKER_02

That's the main purpose, right?

SPEAKER_03

It is exactly look, you're facing life for murder, or explain to me who's on this chart and where do they go, right? And that's and that's the idea of it. And I think that's what I mean, that along with technology, probably You can't beat it.

SPEAKER_04

And then the feds will turn around and they'll charge you. And if your the viewers don't know this, the federal government does have a 98% conviction right, right? But what they do is they make these soldiers and then they offer them up to 50% reduction in their sentence on a 5K or a rule 35. Right. 5K meaning that you testified or helped out before your conviction. Right. And in a rule 35 under the uh federal government statutes, uh, they you helped out after. In other words, you weren't smart to help out before, you get sentenced to 20 years, and then you come back and go, Well, I know this now. And then they turn around and they go, Okay, well, we'll we'll reduce your sentence to 10 years. Right. And so you have individuals that are getting these max prison sentences in federal court, right? And they're like, I'm not going to prison for for me not doing I didn't have anything to do with this murder. Right.

SPEAKER_02

Nobody wants to go to prison. Right.

SPEAKER_04

Nobody does.

SPEAKER_03

That's another everybody's like, oh, this guy won't tell, he won't.

SPEAKER_04

So it got rid of the rat situation. Right. I mean, candidly speaking, that really got this got rid of the rat situation, a coupled with the other, you know, because the guy at the bottom, even though he's afraid to probably lose his life, but at the same time, you know, he's going to prison for something that he doesn't even know about for 25 years. If he gets out and they take care of him, but who's to say that's even going to be around in 25 years? Right, right. And obviously, you see, that's basically if you watch that show um with uh uh Sylvester Stallone out at Oklahoma. Right, right, right. He went to prison on Rico case and he kept quiet. And then when he gets out, you know, that's what it is, which is a great show, by the way, if anybody ever watches that show.

SPEAKER_03

I haven't watched it, but it's supposed to look amazing.

SPEAKER_04

Um called the um it was great. It's either the king of Oklahoma.

SPEAKER_03

King of Oklahoma or some king of Tulsa. Tulsa King.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, yeah, I heard of that. Tulsa King's great show. Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_03

Great show, right? But that's that's the uh so it's a different world now, right? Johnny, I mean, and do you I mean, for you observing all these years, I mean, this whole world's probably falling away now.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, you have family, which is it's so it's so different that uh John Jr. He's making movies with uh uh John Travolta. He made a couple of movies, he made a movie on his own. Yeah, he's completely legitimate. He's all legitimate, right? Uh Victoria, uh uh My Father's Daughter, the book. Uh This Family of Mine is the book. My father's daughter is the movie that she made for Lifetime, which is a great book, right? It's a great book, but the movie We'll put that at the bottom too for listeners. The uh uh my uh this my father's daughter, she made the movie for life, one picture of the year. She wrote it, uh, narrated it, did it's a fantastic movie. A one picture of the year for HBO. And uh, everybody's Angels doing a podcast. Angel God is has her own podcast now every night. So everybody's legit.

SPEAKER_01

Because there's there's everybody's a snitch. Look at Sammy Gravano.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, yeah, the the most famous. The big famous guy. He's done, you know uh Patrick wanted to have John and Sammy on together.

SPEAKER_03

Patrick been David for listeners of viewers.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. And John wouldn't even do it. He says, for what? The guy's claiming he's this, he's that, he's dead. As soon as the handcuffs came out, he sung like a canary on everyone. All the rules that he says he abides by went out the window.

SPEAKER_00

Right. Right.

SPEAKER_02

And you know that happens because people have never been to jail before shouldn't be have that kind of status that Sammy had when John was alive, John Sr. Because they never experienced it.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_02

Once they have kids and a wife and they had going to jail for 20 years, their whole attitude changes.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_02

I don't care who you are.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_02

Even in my case, in my federal case, Mikey Scars was uh no, he wasn't on my case, he was on the gold club case. Mikey Scars was was indicted with the gold club. And make a long story short, uh, him and uh five other people were on trial. And and uh he wound up snitching. He snitched on my cousin John Jr. And he worked with my he was uh captain for John. Right, he was a made man, right? And and uh he's never been in jail before. He had a family. The minute he gets in trouble, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

People, unless you experience that. Like that's as defense attorneys. We see, I would say 99% of people are gonna end up doing it, especially in the feds. In the feds, because it's they give you too much time to hang it over you, they come at you so heavy, especially the girls if they get arrested. And when that document says USA versus you, you know, it's a heavy thing, you know, it's a nightmare. Yeah, but so it's a different world, but yeah. But listen, I appreciate you coming on, you know what I mean? I'd like to have you back on again. If you guys have any any last parting things you guys want to say, because we're kind of running out on the spot.

SPEAKER_04

No, I just want to say I wore this uh excellent suit today because the ball you think that you and so and my friend has this suit store down the street in Boca Raton called Guy LaFierry. So give it a plug. I will he amazing suits, amazing suits. He's right down about a little south of the Boca Mall. And uh how much? Oh, did you get a discount on this suit for the plug? If Johnny Weeks can look this good, if Johnny Weeks Georgia doesn't ask how much, and he can make me look better. By walking out with this suit on, then Guy is the man. So if you're not buying your suits from Guy, I don't know what you're doing, especially up here in Boca and Fort Lauderdale. This that's the guy. He's been there for years. He's amazing. You wear suits? I could tell you. I wear suits every day.

SPEAKER_03

I wear suit. I was wearing a suit an hour ago. I have one in the car. I wear suits out.

SPEAKER_04

Not only does he wear suits, but he also wears lacrosse outfits because his son's an amazing lacrosse player. Yeah. I wear many hats. Yeah. So uh his son's about to go to uh play lacrosse up in uh Long Island or New York area. Marist Poughkeepsie's and um he's um he got recruited up there and he's going to college up there to play. My kids obviously three or four years behind him, but um he'll go.

SPEAKER_03

It's a rough sport, right? Rough sport, rough sport, tough, tough sport, I would say.

SPEAKER_04

Tough sport. But uh Danny and I have seen each other on the lacrosse fields in the courtroom. Oh yeah, nice guy. He's amazing. He's amazing.

SPEAKER_03

I told you, Johnny's one of ours. It's like I told you, like Johnny's really good.

SPEAKER_02

He would get Hector in here.

SPEAKER_03

Hector would be wonderful.

SPEAKER_04

Hector's Hector's a professional boxer. He does all the time.

SPEAKER_03

He's UFC now. He's an MMA. Yeah, I'd like to get everybody guys come back in on panel helps.

SPEAKER_04

Helped him for a couple of his cases because he didn't have a driver's license for a long time. How to get that. Sometimes when you come in the United States, you might want to get a driver's license. Yeah, you might want to get a driver's license.

SPEAKER_03

But he's got a story. I bet he does. I bet he does. Just like you got a story. But listen, I love to have you back. You're always welcomed as well. Uh, thank you for coming on. It's an interesting story. If you ever want to come back on, I'd love to have you back on. If you ever think of anything you want to come talk about, people you want to come, or people you think you don't want to talk about, and maybe you will, that'd be great too. Johnny, I love you, buddy. Anytime. And I'll have you back on soon. So all my listeners and viewers, I'm gonna link at the bottom. I'm gonna link Johnny's stuff. I'm gonna link Victoria's stuff at the bottom. I'm gonna link the suit guy stuff at the bottom. Everybody that got plugged is getting linked at the bottom today. But thank you guys for watching and listening. Uh, please like, subscribe to the channel. Like we say, if you like, subscribe to the channels. We're able to bring more people, amazing guests like Johnny Weeks, Johnny Dion. Um, our marketing team has us everywhere on Instagram, iHeartRadio, we're on YouTube, we're on everywhere. We're literally everywhere. Our marketing team does a great job, our recording team does a great job. Thank you all for listening and watching. Love you all. We'll see you next time. Goodbye. Cut.