← Johnathan Walton Media
Johnathan Walton Media
Ep 3 - Let me show you how a man dies
00:40:18
TJ buys an old airplane and crash lands learning how to fly it. He eventually gets it to Colombia and starts making mad money smuggling South American weed. But all hell breaks loose when TJ loses a couple shipments of marijuana worth nearly a million...
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- [00:02]
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- [00:30]
T-Mobile Representative
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Zoe Saldana
Thanks. And here's my old phone to trade in.
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T-Mobile Representative
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Zoe Saldana
There's always a trade in.
- [00:47]
T-Mobile Representative
Not right now. @ T Mobile.
- [00:48]
Zoe Saldana
I feel like I have to give you something in return for karma.
- [00:50]
T-Mobile Representative
That's okay.
- [00:51]
Zoe Saldana
I don't really have much in my purse. Oh, let's see. Hand sanitizer. It's lavender.
- [00:56]
T-Mobile Representative
I'm good.
- [00:57]
TJ Dominguez
Seriously.
- [00:58]
Zoe Saldana
Let me check this pocket. Oh, mints.
- [01:00]
T-Mobile Representative
Really, I'm fine.
- [01:01]
Zoe Saldana
Oh, I have raisins. I'm a mom. Wait, wait one sec. I've got cupcakes in the car.
- [01:06]
T-Mobile Advertiser
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- [01:34]
Jonathan Walton
Previously on Cocaine Air.
- [01:37]
TJ Dominguez
It's like a game of chest in the water. You have to try to outthink the guy that's trying to outthink you. So it's really all mental. Before it all happens, you have to put pieces in front of you and be ahead of the curb before you turn that corner so you know what's on the other side of that fence. And how do I do that? By putting players, putting pieces, putting pawns, and these pawns and these pieces. They don't know me, so I'm buffered by one guy. They never meet me. They know there's a guy out there that's doing something, but they don't know who that guy is. In the event that they get in trouble, it doesn't ripple back to me.
- [02:15]
Jonathan Walton
TJ, in his mid-20s at this point quickly becomes an expert in smuggling bales and bales of marijuana from the Bahamas into South Florida. But it's just not enough. Enough.
- [02:32]
TJ Dominguez
I need $14 million to complete the sugar mill project. This is going to take forever. So I'm doing the math on this thing, and I'm like, got my arms crossed now, and I see that I've got, let's say, three, $400,000, and I got two or $300,000 of pod. And I'm sitting around waiting for more pot. I got more money than I can buy with pod. So how do you solve that situation? You got to go where the pod grows. Where is the pot grow? Colombia. I can't take a speedboat out to Colombia. So how do I get to Colombia? I need an airplane.
- [03:18]
Jonathan Walton
I'm Jonathan Walton, and this is cocaine air. The TJ Dominguez Story Episode 3 Let me show you how a man dies. It's 1986 now. Top Gun is the number one movie at the box office.
- [03:48]
TJ Dominguez
I feel the need, the need for speed.
- [03:58]
Jonathan Walton
And TJ Dominguez is about to merge onto his own highway to the danger zone because his marijuana supply in the Bahamas is unreliable and dwindling. So TJ wants to go to the source where the marijuana grows wild. The South American country of Colombia. Ever since Spain colonized Colombia in the early 1500s, marijuana has been a staple crop alongside its cousin hemp, which was grown to make roach and fabric. So Colombia has been a well established pot central for hundreds of years. There's just one problem. Getting to Colombia by boat will take TJ more than a week.
- [04:53]
TJ Dominguez
So I say, yeah, so I need to buy an airplane. I need to buy an airplane that's got two motors. Let me get the classified. So classified is the way it happened. Just like this. I picked up the newspaper classified. And I started looking for twin and I don't even know name brands on airplanes. Manufacturers. I don't know none of that. I've never been in small airplane. So I'm looking down, I say, oh, my God, look at this one. A Beechcraft, two engines, right? 50 grand. Wow. $50,000. Sounds like a deal. Where's the airplane? Tampa number. I call up the guy, you know, he said, hey, listen, you still got that airplane guy go? Yes, he's sitting right here. I said, all right. There's a thing called the air bridge. Back in those days, Eastern Airline, every hour on the hour, they had an airplane flight to Tampa in Orlando. So I said, I'll be there in a couple of hours. My name is TJ and I'm interested in that airplane. So I jump on an airplane, commercial Eastern airline. I fly out to Tampa to see this beach crab twin. And I get there. Thing was nasty. Needed a paint job. The paint was burnt underneath. So not knowing anything about airplanes, I look at this thing and I said, all right, so on. So it needs. It needs a paint job. Big deal. I'm a car guy. Just a paint job. What's that going to cost? Nothing, you know, Open up the door to the airplane. Got no seats. There's nothing in there. It's a shell. So I said, well, that's actually good because I don't need seats. I'm gonna fill this thing up with bales of marijuana. So I said, so that's a plus. We just carpet the thing. You know, I'm rationalizing all this stuff in my brain, right? So I look in the panel, which is what we would call the dash in a car, the panel of the airplane, full of holes. So I said there. Says, oh, it's missing some gauges. No big deal. Pep boys, right? Go down there, get some fuel gauges. Get this, get that. Well, I tell the guy, okay, 50 grand. Boom. I'm thinking I'm stealing this airplane, right? Stealing the airplane. Guy goes. So he said, cash, man. Does that still work? I don't want this thing reported. No problem. Give the guy $50,000 in cash. Now the airplane's mine. So I say to the guy, okay, man, I need you to get me a pilot to fly me back to Fort Lauderdale where I came from. And the guy says to me, okay, I could do that, but you can't go back with a plane. He said, what do you mean I can't go back with the plane? I own the plane, man. I just bought it, right? He goes, yeah, but it doesn't have the air certificate. I said, what's an air certificate? An annual. What's an annual? Well, a plane needs to be certified for safety every year. You have to comply. And this airplane is out of airworthiness, so it can't be transported. The only way we can transport this airplane is with a ferry permit, which means we got to take a special permission from the FAA to fly this airplane from point A to point B. And it can't carry any passenger. You would be a passenger. But I'm the owner. You're still a passenger. All right, all right, all right. Can you find me a pilot? Where does the airplane need to go? Fort Lauderdale. Can you give me a name over there? Guy's name is Billy, I said, okay, I'm going to be at Billy's, Okay? Make sure the plane goes over there. Fort Lauderdale. Fort Lauderdale International Airport, next to Runway nine, Right. Okay. So I now get to Billy's before he does because they got to file for special permission to fly this dud airplane that won't fly. Gotta find me a pilot, a jockey at that. You know, the one that is crazy enough to jump on an airplane that's not certified. So now I get to Billy's before Billy's office is from the ground to the ceiling, all glass, looking into Runway nine, right. Beautiful view of the airport. And so I'm befriending Billy, and so Billy says to me, so what kind of airplane did you buy? I. Man, I got a great deal on this airplane. Yeah, I see. I got a beechcrack, two engines, man. 50 grand, man. I stole the airplane. Really? Yeah. So I said, matter of fact, it should be here shortly. You know, sitting there talking back and forth. Next thing I know, Billy tells me, be quiet. He's got radios there in the office. Mayday, mayday, mayday. Wait a second. Shush. He says, you see look what's going on over there. They're right now dispatching the rescue unit and foaming the Runway. I said, what's going on? He said, there's an airplane coming in hot. He's got problems. I said, you're kidding me, man. He goes, yeah, this is like, look right now. You see where they're lined up? That's to foam the Runway. I said, you're kidding me. Yeah, yeah. Here he comes over there. You see? Look over here about 12 o' clock. I said, shit, Billy, that's my plane. That's what you bought? Yeah, that's my plane. So the guy lands. They land him in the longest Runway. He didn't have brakes, okay? Had some mechanical issues. So the guy lands safely. Taxis over, taxis over. Right in front of the ramp, right where we're looking at the thing. The guy still can get out of the. And he's like opening up the cockpit window, hey, get me out of here. What do you mean, get you out of here? Yeah, the door lock didn't work, so they screwed the door shut with sheet metal screws so you can get out of the airplane. Like somebody's with a screw gun, takes these sheet metal screws out, opens and drops the door. I said, oh, my God, that's my airplane. Billy goes, come on, let's go down there and look at it. He goes, where are the log books? I Said, logbooks? What are logbooks? He goes, you don't have logbooks. That's the history of the airplane. Everything that's ever been done to the airplane, whether it's opening up a window, closing it, turning a nut. This. That has to be written into the airplane. Without logbooks, this airplane's worthless. I said, well, I guess we got no logbooks. He says, okay, that means we're going to have to go from the ground up and create a set of logbooks. We going to have to take basically the engine apart, compression and do all of this stuff. I said, well, okay, do whatever, you know. He says, it needs a paint job. I said, okay, paint it. So now I'm a few hundred thousand or a couple hundred thousand dollars into this airplane. But before that happened, Billy calls me up. He says, hey, what color you want to paint the plane? We're going to have to strip it, take all the paint that's there that's burnt because there was a fire that started. Airplane had been seized in the Bahamas, and this guy bought it at an auction for a song and a dance. So I got really ripped off. I overpaid for this thing. I mean, the guy saw me coming from a mile away. So Billy says, what color you want to paint it? So I used to paint it blue, okay? Sky blue. I want this thing to blend in. So, all right, so now we do that. Now we're putting more money into the plane gauges. This airplane, when I bought it, it had this tape on the wings. It's called 100 mile per hour tape, okay? Because I have holes in the wing. This tape is guaranteed not to come off your mouth per hour. Flames full of holes all over. So I got all this money pumped into this thing, and the time is going by, I'm still waiting. And I hire a pilot to teach me how to fly. So now I can't fly this airplane that I own. So Billy says to me, I got another airplane that's ready to fly Air Commander. You could use that. If you want to buy that, I'll sell you that in the meantime that you're working on this other airplane. So I said to Billy, okay, fine, but I need an instructor to teach me how to fly. He goes, oh, I know a guy that's looking for a job, flight instructor. So I said, okay. So his name is Jack. So I said, okay, give me the address. So I jump on my Ferrari, I drive over to Jack's house. Beautiful home, right? So I pull up and I say, shoot, I should have come Like a Volkswagen or something. These guys got a really nice house. Sees my Ferrari, he's gonna want a lot of money for me to pay him for teaching me how to fly. Well, I get out of the car, I walk up to the front of the door. Nice home. Maybe like a four or five bedroom home. I ring the doorbell. Little old lady opens up the. She says to me, can I help you, son? I said, yes, ma' am. I'm looking for Jack Brackett, maybe your son. What do you want with Jack? I said, well, ma' am, I'm looking to have him teach me how to fly. I want to learn how to fly. I understand his instructor. So she goes, oh, you want to get my job, like in paint him? He said, yeah, that's the idea. She goes, all right, come with me. She closes the door. I'm thinking, I'm going in the house. No, no. She closed the door. Come with me. So now we start walking around the outside of the perimeter of the house. You got a sidewalk winding around the house. We were way in the back. She's renting out a little efficiency, like a little shed. Okay? Jack is living in this little shed. She would open up the door. Jack here, somebody wants to pay real money. You know, you're behind on the rent three months. I was looking at this lady. I said, oh, Jesus. So Jack opens up the door, he goes, we want to give me a job? I said, yeah. She goes, yeah, Jack, like he's gonna pay you, like, real money. So I said, yeah, I want to learn how to fly. Jack says to me, I don't have a plane, so how am I going to teach you? I said, well, I got an airplane. He goes, so you got an airplane? I said, yeah, you could teach me my airplanes. What kind of airplane you got? I got an air commander. He goes, all right. So I turn around and say to the lady, he owes you three months. So she gives me a figure. I said, okay, here's three for now and three for the future. And Jack turns around, he says to me, come on, boss, let's go. Let's go look at your airplane. That's how I got Jack involved in my life.
- [15:09]
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- [15:24]
Jonathan Walton
Let's go.
- [15:25]
Ziply Fiber Advertiser
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- [15:31]
TJ Dominguez
The numbers look good, Brad. You're on mute.
- [15:33]
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- [15:38]
TJ Dominguez
Fiverr.Com so now I'm learning how to fly. I'm doing takeoffs, I'm landing, I'm flying, I'm getting stick time. My airplane. We now named the other airplane the Hangar Queen. Why the Hangar Queen? Because she was like a prima donna ballerina. More money, more money. She never did anything, just sat there, soaked up more and more money. But I got this. Air Command is really cool, going back and forth, back and forth. And I'm doing these trips right, But I don't know anybody in Colombia. But I need a connection in Colombia. Well, as luck would have it, I got another buddy of mine that got an albatross, which is like a multi million dollar airplane, a seaplane that lands in the water. His airplane got popped by the feds and it landed in the Bahamas. So he calls me up, hey, T, I said, yeah, what's going on, guys? Name is Tico. So he says, listen man, I got an airplane I was seized in the Bahamas. They didn't bring it into the United States, but it had a little marijuana and they threw it all, they dumped it. So they didn't catch the airplane with wheat, but it's still being held in the Bahamas. I know you got great contacts over there. Can you get me that airplane out of there? And what do you want for it? What do you want to do that job? So I said, okay, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll go down there, I'll get your airplane out of there and what I'm going to charge you. What I want is a connection in Colombia because. What do you mean a connection? I want a marijuana connection. That's what you can do for me. That would be my pay. So you pay me with a marijuana connection, plus whatever expenses I incur for getting your airplane out of there, whatever that is, you pay for that. Give me a contact down there and we're square. So he goes, okay, that'll work for me.
- [17:33]
Jonathan Walton
So TJ gets on a plane, flies to the Bahamas, quickly figures out who the director of the airport is and sets up a meeting with him. And TJ does not show up empty handed.
- [17:49]
TJ Dominguez
So I go into his office, I got this briefcase, a couple hundred grand in the briefcase, right? And they're all in hundreds. So I'm Sitting there. And I tell the guy, he says, what can I do for you? I said, well, you know the albatross over there? He says, yeah, what about it? I said, I'm here to see if we could work out something that I could get the plane out of here. He goes, well, you know, that airplane came hot with DEA chasing it, and we're holding it, but we didn't put a hold on it. It was the feds who put the hold on it. I said, I understand that, but what will it take for me to get that airplane out of here? He says to me, I can't let that airplane go. I said, hey, can I come around the side, the other side of your desk for a minute? So he says, why? I said, I just want to show you something. Would you please? He goes, all right. So I take my chair, I move it around the side of the desk, and he's got this drawer here, right? So I say to him, would you mind if I open up that drawer? He said, what do you want to open up my drawer for? I said, because I think you would be really interested in what I'm going to show you. All right. So I put my. My briefcase on my lap. I turned sideways so he's got a good view of what's inside this briefcase. I go click, click. I open up the briefcase. I got nothing but hundreds lined up like little soldiers inside my briefcase. And I said, stacks. Boom. I throw one in there, I pick up another stack of hundreds. Boom. I throw it in there, pick up another stack, I throw it in there. I said, in case you're interested, each stack is 10,000. Boom. I put it under the fourth. On the fourth. He said, what is it that you want done? I said, well, I want to take the airplane. I don't know what it's going to take to. He says, look, man, I can't approve you to take the airplane because I'm not authorized for that. But I'll tell you what I could do. I said, go ahead. I'm listening. He says, I could look the other way while you take the airplane. I said, you could look the other way. I said, that'll work for me. I said, but here's another issue I've got. I'm going to need to work on an engine on the airplane in order to get it off the ground. He says, so I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll move it out of the way a bit.
- [20:09]
Jonathan Walton
Little.
- [20:10]
TJ Dominguez
Little bit. I said, okay, I'm going to give you a Couple of more stacks so you can look a little longer. Okay. And move it a little further down the way. So I give him another couple of stacks. It's like $60,000. I drop into the drawer. He says, I'll move it off to the side. I said, okay, fine. So now I'm working on this airplane. Got the airplane moved to the side. I'm bringing in mechanics starters, and we got this radial engine. And I'm like seventy something thousand dollars, eighty grand into this, fixing the airplane. And it's been about a month or so. I got a phone call from Tico. Hey, man, what's going. What's going on with the airplane? I'm working on it, you know. And he said, yeah, but how long is it going to take? I said, well, you know, I'm glad you called because I'm just getting ready to call you. Yeah, I said, because I want to re up, you know, my investment here. I want to get caught up. Yeah. I said, yeah, I'm like $80,000 in the hole here, and I like to get recuperate my investment. He. He says, well, come on by here and talk to me. So I said, all right. So I go over there to his house. When I enter his house, he's got this Colombian guy that's dressed in like a little tennis shorts. And the guy's like a real prima donna looking. He's got the gold Rolex presidential going. I don't know who he is. So Tico says to me, this is my partner from Colombia. I said, oh, nice to meet you. Blah, blah, blah, blah. What's going on with the airplane, T? I said, well, God darn, man, I'm doing everything I can. You didn't tell me how bad this thing needed work. I've had to replace this part, this other part. I'm 80. 80 grand into the hole. So he says, well, you're going to be able to get it off the ground? I said, yeah, I'm going to get it off the ground, but I'm going to need my $80,000. So the Colombian guy says to me, can we see the airplane? And I said, absolutely, but I want my. My money before we go any further. So the guy goes, okay, I'm gonna give you 80 grand. So they gave me 80 grand. I said, how quick can you go? And I go, I can go right now. I said, I have. I'm gonna drive back up to Fort Lauderdale because I was in Miami. I'm gonna fly back here in my airplane. I'm gonna pick you up at Miami International Airport. So be ready to go, and 30 minutes or 40 minutes, be there. I'm gonna drive up and fly back, pick you up. We're going straight to the Bahamas. Well, exactly what I told him is exactly what we. We landed the Bahamas. I'm flying the airplane with Jack over here. Captain Jack's teaching me how to fly. I'm still learning. Not licensed or anything, but I got a lot of air time now. Flying and landing and taking off and doing all the crazy stuff and at the same time drinking beers. Crazy days, right? So we land in the Bahamas, and the guy sees that I'm doing everything I said I was going to do. There's the airplane. It's off to the side in a little corner there. A little cockroach corner right there. Got my guys working on the airplane. I said, you see? And the guy goes, yeah, no, no, man, I see everything you're doing. He says, you're on target. Let's go get a beer. So I said, all right. So now we go to this little dew drop in, little beach club in. And I got my feet up on the railing. We're both looking at the horizon. We're not looking at each other. He says to me, looking straight forward, drinking a heide again without looking at me, and we're both looking at the horizon. He says to me, hey, man, that airplane that we flew in over here, is that your airplane? And then he turns and looks at me. At that point, I turned and looked at him and I said, yeah, you know what about that airplane? That one does fly. And he says, you want to put it to work? I said, man, he said, thought you'd never ask.
- [23:51]
Jonathan Walton
So this guy that TJ's talking to is going to be instrumental in TJ's marijuana business because he's got all the right connections in Colombia, and he really likes TJ and he really believes in him.
- [24:09]
TJ Dominguez
He says, how quick can you get going? He said, how quick can I get going? Just hang on here for one minute. I'll be right back. I run into the room and I go, captain Jack. That's how he's like to be called. If he said jack, he wouldn't answer. It had to be a captain in front of the Jack. Captain Jack. Yeah. What's going on, T? Listen, man, let me ask you something. You know what I do for a living? He goes, yeah, you're a builder. I said, yeah, that's right. I'm a builder. I said, you know what else I do for a living? Well, you Got the radios and the beepers and stuff? Yes, yes, yes. I say to him, but you know what else? He says, I don't know, man. Why are you asking me all these questions? I said, because I'm a smuggler, Jack. A what? I said, I bring in a lot of marijuana, man. Why are you telling me all this? Jack says to me. I said, because it's simple, Jack. I got an offer to fly to Colombia to pick up a load of marijuana, and I'm not ready to fly that trip alone. I need somebody to fly with me. You want to make $50,000? I'll pay $50,000 to fly down there to Colombia and pick up a load of marijuana. He said, well, I don't want to go to jail. I said, you're not going to go to jail. He said, how are we going to get rid of the weed? I said, simple, Jack. We're gonna fly over the ocean. I got a couple of speedboats waiting down and open up the door and throw this out the door of the airplane. Ain't no landing the airplane, so there's total safety, man. So he goes, you're gonna be there with me? I said, I'll be there. I would miss this thing for the world. Are you kidding me? Yeah. So I said, well, start packing, Jack. We're out of here. So I run back to the Colombian guy says, I'm ready to go. Let's go. I packed up, and Jack and I went down to Columbia to pick up some marijuana.
- [26:09]
Jonathan Walton
So in a very short time, TJ's flights to Colombia start paying off big time. He's bringing in tons of marijuana every month. But he's not actually flying all that marijuana into South Florida. He's flying it over the Bahamas, well off the coast of the Bahamas, and then dropping it in the ocean so his boats standing by can fish it out and sneak it into South Florida. By this point, TJ has a revolving portfolio of waterfront homes up and down the Florida coast that would receive these tons of marijuana every other day. But as streamlined as this process is, things don't always go according to plan, and tragedy is literally lurking around every corner.
- [27:14]
TJ Dominguez
I'm on a speedboat, right? And I had lost three or four trips, right?
- [27:18]
Jonathan Walton
Meaning what?
- [27:19]
TJ Dominguez
I lost two boats. It hit waves, disintegrated, blew up. People died. They died. The boat went under.
- [27:31]
Jonathan Walton
It's no secret drug smuggling is probably the most dangerous profession in the world. And having a bad day at work as a drug smuggler means people die.
- [27:44]
TJ Dominguez
I felt so bad. I felt like oh, my God, I have sinned. You know, I've done something terrible.
- [27:52]
Jonathan Walton
But TJ is too far in now to even consider stopping. Besides, accidents happen in every profession. And that certainly wasn't the last one for tj.
- [28:08]
TJ Dominguez
Another one, we put the stuff in the wrong boats. When I was in the airplane, that was really crazy, huh? I'm down here. Go ahead, drop the A. Don't hit me. Okay. We fly by, we see two speedboats put down, you know, ton of marijuana. We dropped 2,000 pounds of. Of wheat on the wrong boats. But I'm responsible for all this marijuana to a Colombian in Colombia, you know.
- [28:31]
Jonathan Walton
So those two boats got like manna from heavens all of a sudden.
- [28:34]
TJ Dominguez
Oh, yeah, yeah. Crazy day, you know, no GPS again, you know, and when you're out there in the middle of the ocean, 300 miles away from the shore, and you're doing 180 knots on an airplane and it's dusk because we're doing the air drums right before the sun totally goes down, you don't want to do it in the daytime and you don't want. You can't obviously do it at night because you're not going to be able to see anything. So we got to time that just perfect. On the last bale, we usually put a glow stick on the last bail. Okay, that's the last one going out. Follow it. So I was determined. I always take two boats with me. I learned that from experience. One's a shadow boat. It follows the lead boat wherever the lead boat that's got the drugs on board, wherever he goes, the other one goes. We usually talk with FM transmitting radios, headsets back and forth. The 925 would like you to respond tonight. In this particular incident, I wanted to drive the lead boat, which was the one with the drugs. At this point, my guys were like, arguing with me. No, you're the guy. You're the head. If you go down, everything shuts down. You got to be in the shadow boat, you know, and all arguing back and forth. And I'm on the boat with a ton of marijuana. Well, they finally talked me off the boat, so I get on the shadow boat. Make a long story short, we got separated with bad weather, and I could hear the engines roaring, but I couldn't see them. It was nighttime. We're doing this kind of stuff at 2 o' clock in the morning when we're coming in. And they hit rock formations in the flats in the Bahamas. Boat went under and they all died. And I had been on that boat arguing for 30 minutes when we were fueling 400, 500 gallons of gas. Fuel for the boat, for the run inside to the state. So again, destiny took a hand. You got to get off the boat. You got to get off the boat. I didn't want to get off the boat. I got off the boat. Less than an hour later, we're running side by side. We get separated. He hits a rock. Both of my guys died.
- [30:38]
Jonathan Walton
Could have been you.
- [30:39]
TJ Dominguez
Should have been me. Wow.
- [30:43]
Jonathan Walton
At this point, TJ has cheated death at least a hundred times. And he's making millions of dollars now. So he starts parlaying all that cash into legitimate businesses, businesses that he's really passionate about. How, when, and why did you open a Lamborghini dealership? How'd that come about?
- [31:06]
T-Mobile Representative
Hi, Zoe Saldana. Welcome to T Mobile. Here's your new iPhone 16 Pro on us.
- [31:11]
Zoe Saldana
Thanks. And here's my old phone to trade in.
- [31:13]
T-Mobile Representative
You don't need a trade in. When you switch to T Mobile, we'll give you a new iPhone 16 Pro. Plus we'll help you pay off your old Phone up to 800 bucks and you still get to keep it.
- [31:22]
Zoe Saldana
There's always a trade in.
- [31:23]
T-Mobile Representative
Not right now. @ T Mobile.
- [31:24]
Zoe Saldana
I feel like I have to give you something in return for karma.
- [31:27]
T-Mobile Representative
That's okay.
- [31:28]
Zoe Saldana
I don't really have much in my purse. Oh, let's see. Hand sanitizer. It's lavender.
- [31:32]
T-Mobile Representative
I'm good.
- [31:33]
TJ Dominguez
Seriously.
- [31:34]
Zoe Saldana
Hmm. Let me check this pocket. Oh, mints.
- [31:36]
T-Mobile Representative
Really, I'm fine.
- [31:37]
Zoe Saldana
Oh, I have raisins. I'm a mom. Wait, wait one sec. I've got cupcakes in the car.
- [31:42]
T-Mobile Advertiser
It's our best iPhone offer ever. Switch to T Mobile, get a new iPhone 16 Pro with Apple intelligence on us. No trade in needed. We'll even pay off your Phone up.
- [31:51]
T-Mobile Voiceover
To 800 bucks with 24 monthly bill credits. New line, 100 plus a month on experience beyond Finance Agreement 999.99 and qualifying ported for well qualified plus tax and 10 connection charge. Payout via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days credits end in balance due if you pay off early or cancel CT mobile dot com.
- [32:07]
TJ Dominguez
Well, I've always had a love for cars. I'm a car guy at heart. Not about the money. It's about the love of sports cars. Whether it's an mg, a Triumph, you know, it's got to be a two seater. You know, I love two seater cars. Open top, you know. And my favorite car of all times, all my whole life to today even is the XKE Jaguar, it's, it came out in 1961 and in the last run was 1974, two seater, very, very low to the ground. So I had a whole bunch of cars, right? Having had a whole bunch of cars and I've got tickets of 170mph. Back in those days, you didn't really go to jail if you, you were not an ass, you know, you didn't badmouth, you know, you didn't mouth off to the policeman, go ahead and disregard a case, he's going to yell at you, tell you it's not the autobahn and all this kind of stuff, but he's not going to take you. And now you're automatically taken into jail. And I had great lawyers that paid off certain individuals for these tickets to go away. And they did, they really, really did. So now at one point before this I didn't, my license was like to a point that the insurance company would not insure me because I got a few of these crazy tickets, right? So I'm having a hard time getting insurance. So I sit there and I said, how can I get around this? You know, if I become a car dealer, there's a couple of upsides to this one. I won't pay taxes because I'm a dealer. So when I buy a $300,000 car, $500,000 car, I'm buying under the corporation, so I don't have to pay taxes, I own it. But I pay no sales tax because I'm buying it to resell. Thing is, I'm not going to resell it. I'm a keeper. So that's one benefit. The other benefit was I can get a blanket insurance under the dealership. So now I've got five tags and I'm going to run through the corporation. Another benefit to all of this. I can have my own mechanics because I've actually got into fiscal fights with mechanics that have abused my car and they put scratch on my car and I, I'm, it's not road rage, but I treat my car like an extension off of me, you know, so finding an honest mechanic is a hard thing to do back in the day, you know, even to today, you know, they're going to tell you, oh yeah, you need a new starter. Come back in two hours and take your starter, lower it down, repaint it, put it back up there and try, oh, I found a used one. You got a deal on it? Yeah, the deal is I just sold you your own starter back again. You know, so having been around people like that it was nice having my own mechanic.
- [35:01]
Jonathan Walton
So TJ goes ahead and gets a car dealership license under a new corporation, essentially so he can insure his cars. Because at that point, TJ had racked up so many insane speeding tickets for doing 150 in a 55 that car insurance companies refuse to cover him. Then one night around this time, TJ's driving by a South Florida Ferrari dealership and he sees a lavender colored Ferrari on the lot and he wants it bad.
- [35:44]
TJ Dominguez
Make a long story short, I go in the next day and I said to the salesman, is that an original color? Is that a repaint? And guy goes, no, that's an original color. Especially order for a client. He didn't have the money, so he never took delivery of the car. So I said, okay, I'm gonna buy it. And that was funny because I was with another guy that was my buyer of marijuana. And he said, you're gonna really like it, T. And I say, I really, really like it. He goes, you know what? Stay next to the car. So I go stand next to the car and he says to me, you know what, T? You look so good next to that car, I'm going to buy it for you for a gift. So I said, john, you're going to buy me this Ferrari as a gift. And then he goes, yeah, yeah, man. He says, got your name written all over it. I said, you know, that's really a nice gesture. Meanwhile, the salesman's looking at this, right? He thinks we're crazy. So I said, you know, John, you see that black vents over there? That 560 and 560 was to catch me out was the big ones, like 600. So I said, you know, John, that looks a lot like you. Go stand over there and see if, if you really fit that image. You know what, John? The least that I could do is buy you that car. Tito, you're going to give me this car. I tell you what I could do. You're going to give me a Ferrari. And he goes, well, that's really nice. Let's go get some lunch. Salesman says to me, well, sir, this Ferrari with a special color won't be here if you take too long. I said, get your hand out of my pocket. If it's meant to be, it will be here. But don't hustle me for a deposit because I'm not that kind of guy. Okay, I'll be back. When I was trying to figure out how the hell we're going to pay for this thing with cash, because the dealer you know, back in those days, anything worth $10,000 had to get reported to the IRS. And I know the owner of the dealership. So I'm gonna go have a couple of beers and talk to John here about spending 300,000, $400,000 in cash and giving it to the owner of the dealership. So John is like, are you sure he's gonna. We're not gonna get in trouble here? No, I know the guy. Know the guy really well. You sure he's gonna take this cash? Yeah, yeah. Listen, let's go back over there and let me do the talking. Let's get the money, put the money a couple. I go see the owner of the dealership, And I said, Mr. X. Hey, T, what's going on? How are you? I said, hey, listen, man, you see those two cars over there? I want to buy them, but I want to buy them in cash. Have that any problem? He goes, no deposit in payments. Don't worry about that. I said, okay, here's the money. And I said to the owner, and the general manager heard it. Don't tile the car under me. Put it under the corporation. I got a dealer license. Oh, you do? Yeah. So as I'm walking out, general manager that he had there comes up there, and he goes, hey, man. I said, yeah. And he knew of me. He goes, how would you. You got a dealer license? I said, yeah, I got a dealer license. He goes, how would you like to have your own car place? I said, what do you mean? So he says, you know, I could run it for you. I'm not real happy here. This guy's a little tight with the money. He says, look at all the benefits. I will take care of all your cars. You have a place to park it. You have a place to keep it. I'll make sure that they're all. All spotless. Get a transportation equipment. I'll move your cars around. You have your own mechanic. And I say, keep talking. I'm liking everything I'm hearing, right? So the more he talked, I said, okay, fine. Come by my office. My investment company is interregional investment. We'll sit down, we'll talk. We'll get into this car business, and it'll be on you. So I'll call you up. And I want to drive the red one. You drop it off. I want the blue one. You make sure that all this happening. I will make sure that everything is 100 points right for you. So I buy a little building over here that was the size of a shoebox, okay? I'M in the car business now, used car business. I put up Lamborghini's Ferrari. Now I'm hearing from Lamborghini and Ferrari lawyers that I can't advertise because I'm not a franchise. So they're telling me, take that sign down. I'm like, what do I need? I, I am selling these cars. But you're not a franchise. You cannot, you have to have that word up there says used or pre owned. All right? And I just had a big old sign, Ferrari, Lamborghini. Well, it's against the law to do that. I'm hearing from their lawyers. It's really pissing me off, right? I said to my general manager, find out what franchise is out there for sale, and if it's not for sale, I'll make it for sale sale. Tell me what franchise I want. Something like Ferrari or Lamborghini. So that name came up and then I made it for sale. $5 million later, I became the Lamborghini franchise, the guy to go to. That's how I got into the car business. I didn't get into it because of money. Money I'm making. It was just a passion for the cars and a place to park my cars.
- [40:39]
Jonathan Walton
So as the months go by, TJ's leading kind of a double life, especially when it comes to business. By day he's selling Lamborghinis to rich people, but by night he's smuggling tons of marijuana from Colombia into South Florida. Things seem to be going really well when all of a sudden, the proverbial shit hits the fan. TJ gets kidnapped and brought to a deserted farmhouse. There's a guy standing over him now with a loaded gun pointing at TJ's head. He cocks it back and is about to fire. Oh, I would be my pants right about now, crying and begging for my life. But TJ is just cut from different cloth entirely.
- [41:44]
TJ Dominguez
Here's what I said to him. Go ahead, kill me. I said, I'm ready to die. He said, listen, man, if you're gonna torture me and then shoot, shoot me also. Go to the end. Just shoot me. Oh my God. I'm out with this torture and I'm tired of this. Shoot me. I'll show you how man dies.
- [42:08]
Jonathan Walton
To see some incredible photographs documenting TJ's life, go to cocaine air.com. and if you're enjoying Cocaine Air, please hit that share button and text it to your friends and family right now. And if you feel comfortable, leave us. A five star review. Reviews really help other listeners find us cocainer was created, written and executive produced by me, Jonathan Walton for Jonathan Walton Media executive producers Evan Goldstein and the inimitable TJ Dominguez. Audio engineering by me, Jonathan Walton. All sound design and editing was done by the super talented Puneeth Chinoy from Podcast Pundits and the Cocaine Air cover art is by Bobby Animation. We've got a lot of fascinating untold stories like Cocaine Air coming down the pike at Jonathan Walton Media. So subscribe and keep an ear out.
- [43:18]
Libsyn Ads Advertiser
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