Ep 1 - So I conned him back

Summary

Podcast Summary: Cocaine Air – "So I Conned Him Back"

Release Date: June 4, 2025
Host: Jonathan Walton

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Introduction

In the gripping first episode of Cocaine Air, titled "So I Conned Him Back," host Jonathan Walton delves into the tumultuous journey of TJ Dominguez—a man whose life took a dramatic turn from running the world's largest Lamborghini dealership to becoming one of the most notorious cocaine smugglers in South Florida. This episode unpacks TJ's encounter with con artists, the trauma of betrayal, and his subsequent descent into the criminal underworld.

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Meeting the Con Artist

The story begins with TJ Dominguez recounting his relationship with Marianne Smith, who deceived him under the guise of an Irish heiress. Their interaction set the stage for TJ's transformation.

• [00:22] TJ Dominguez: "How'd you guys meet?"

• [00:36] Jonathan Walton: "Mare Smith passed herself off as an Irish heiress and member of nobility to cheat hardworking entertainment industry insiders out of hundreds of thousands of dollars."

• [01:03] TJ Dominguez: "You have been scamming us out of money this whole time?"

Marianne denies the accusations, but TJ stands firm in his assertion that he was the victim of a sophisticated scam, losing $100,000 in the process.

• [01:34] TJ Dominguez: "I'm TJ Dominguez. He got scammed out of $100,000 by someone he swore he knew, someone he trusted."

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The Aftermath of Betrayal

The betrayal left TJ deeply scarred, leading him to a path of vengeance rather than seeking justice through legal channels.

• [01:50] TJ Dominguez: "I managed to put my con artist in jail, though I still haven't gotten a dime back."

Despite his efforts, the financial loss propelled him into a darker world.

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From Vengeance to Power

Determined to reclaim his losses, TJ's quest introduced him to Ruben, a Miami banker who appeared eager to assist but was, in fact, another con artist.

• [19:10] Jonathan Walton: "Everyone said no."

• [19:39] TJ Dominguez: "Ruben was a president of a mortgage lending institution, and he wanted you to deposit $100,000."

Despite depositing a substantial sum, Ruben disappeared, revealing his deceit.

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The Turning Point

This second betrayal was the catalyst for TJ's transformation. Faced with mounting debts and no viable options, TJ resolved to take matters into his own hands.

• [27:10] TJ Dominguez: "Right. You just wanted more money. You did the right thing in my life."

• [27:38] Marianne Smith: "So he went to a dealership and pulled out like 10 or 15 cars, paid for them with a cashier's check... I got my hundred thousand back."

Using fear and intimidation, TJ orchestrated a plan to reclaim his money without resorting to violence, showcasing his strategic mindset.

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Embracing the Underworld

Unable to secure the necessary $14 million to complete his late father's sugar mill project, TJ turned to illegal activities. His initial foray into smuggling involved attempting to transport marijuana from the Bahamas.

• [35:17] Marianne Smith: "That night, I packed up my suitcase, I came to Miami, and I became a smuggler."

Despite lacking experience, TJ's determination led him to procure a boat and connect with individuals in the drug trade.

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Meeting Pablo Escobar

TJ's relentless pursuit eventually connected him with Pablo Escobar, the infamous Colombian drug lord. This partnership marked TJ's rise as a key figure in the cocaine smuggling network.

• [03:42] TJ Dominguez: "Pablo Escobar is the world's most powerful drug lord in the 1980s and 90s, controlling the vast majority of the globe's cocaine supply from his empire in Medellin, Colombia."

Marianne reflects on their close association:

• [07:12] Marianne Smith: "I should have been dead many, many, many times over."

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Confronting Betrayal Twice

TJ's encounter with Ruben not only reaffirmed his distrust but also honed his skills in dealing with deceitful individuals. This experience underscored the necessity of self-reliance and cunning in his new line of work.

• [26:17] TJ Dominguez: "What did he say?"

• [26:32] Marianne Smith: "He started quivering, shaking like a leaf... I want my cash back."

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Conclusion and Transformation

The culmination of betrayal, financial strain, and relentless determination forged TJ into a formidable figure in the criminal underworld. His transformation from a legitimate businessman to a high-stakes drug smuggler underscores the profound impact of trust and deceit on one's life trajectory.

• [34:59] TJ Dominguez: "After the death of a father, after being conned and humiliated, a lot of people would have put their victim shirt on and made it their uniform for life. But those people aren't TJ Dominguez."

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Notable Quotes

• [01:28] TJ Dominguez: "Being victimized by a professional con artist changes a person irrevocably."

• [09:06] Marianne Smith: "That is true. I had it with 30 cars and I dressed... they brought me the car that matches shirt that I decided to wear that day."

• [20:16] Marianne Smith: "Well, not so much make payment that I was in that category. It was really not all that unusual."

• [29:04] TJ Dominguez: "You just wanted more money. You know, harm to him. I didn't really mean it, but I."

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Final Thoughts

"So I Conned Him Back" serves as a profound exploration of betrayal, resilience, and the fine line between victim and perpetrator. TJ Dominguez's story is a testament to how personal trauma can redefine one's identity and moral compass, steering them towards paths they might never have envisioned.

For those intrigued by TJ's harrowing journey and the intricate web of deceit he navigates, Cocaine Air promises more untold stories in its upcoming episodes. Visit cocainair.com for exclusive photographs and additional content.

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This summary captures the essence and key moments of the episode, providing a comprehensive overview for listeners and newcomers alike.

Transcript

[Jonathan Walton]

We're back now with a shocking story. An American woman posing as an heiress to the fictional Irish royal family behind bars in Maine tonight, and now awaiting extradition to the United Kingdom. Jonathan, thank you so much for joining me. You know, I want to start with your relationship with Smith. How'd you guys meet?

[TJ Dominguez]

Well, I met Marianne Smith the way a lot of victims meet their con artists. My name is Jonathan Walton. Maybe you've heard of me. I was the victim of an international con artist, and it was all over the news.

[Jonathan Walton]

A royal scam. And it all happened in Hollywood. Mare Smith passed herself off as an Irish heiress and member of nobility to cheat hardworking entertainment industry insiders out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[TJ Dominguez]

I even did a podcast about my crazy experience called Queen of the Con. You've been scamming us out of money this whole time?

[Marianne Smith]

I have not.

[TJ Dominguez]

You have. Yeah. You're not gonna. You're busted. But the truth of the matter is, I've never gotten over getting scammed. I don't think I ever will. Being victimized by a professional con artist changes a person irrevocably. God knows it changed me, and it also changed the man you're about to meet.

[Marianne Smith]

I was a victim of a con, which pushed me in the direction that I actually ended up in.

[TJ Dominguez]

That's TJ Dominguez. He got scammed out of $100,000 by someone he swore he knew, someone he trusted.

[Marianne Smith]

He's a thief, man. I'm going straight now to the police and file charges on this.

[TJ Dominguez]

From my experience, people respond to being victimized by a con in a lot of different ways. Some never speak out. Crippled by the shame and trauma of it all, me, I fought back and managed to put my con artist in jail, though I still haven't gotten a dime back. But tj, after he got conned, well, it turned him into one of the biggest cocaine smugglers of all time.

[Marianne Smith]

By day, I owned and operated the largest Lamborghini dealership in the world. But by night, I flew tons of cocaine from Colombia to United States for Pablo Escobar.

[TJ Dominguez]

I'm Jonathan Walton, and this is Cocaine Air the TJ Dominguez Story, episode one. So I conned him back. So it's 2012 now, and I'm producing a History Channel series called the 10.

[Richard Karn]

Things you don't know about Pablo Escobar.

[TJ Dominguez]

And I'm searching and searching and searching for anyone who was close to Pablo Escobar and brave enough to talk about it on television. And I hit gold.

[Marianne Smith]

I mean, you go to Medellin. You walk into people's houses, they have a picture of Pablo, and they're burning candles underneath him like if he was a saint.

[TJ Dominguez]

Pablo Escobar is the world's most powerful drug lord in the 1980s and 90s, controlling the vast majority of the globe's cocaine supply from his empire in Medellin, Colombia. Escobar's shadow completely permeates the criminal underworld and pop culture even to this day. Hip hop stars from Jay Z to Kanye west celebrate him in their music.

[Marianne Smith]

I feel like Pablo when I'm working on my shoes. I feel like Pablo when I see me on the news.

[TJ Dominguez]

So after countless phone calls and emails and going down a bunch of terrifying rabbit holes, I finally uncover a guy who knows Pablo Escobar better than most. A guy who used to actually smuggle cocaine for him and is willing to tell me all about it. On that History Channel Show Back in.

[Marianne Smith]

2012, Pablo was said, I'd rather be dead than in prison in the United States.

[TJ Dominguez]

That's T.J. dominguez.

[Marianne Smith]

And something deep down inside me said, reach out to Jonathan.

[TJ Dominguez]

I'm actually sitting with TJ right now at his dining room table in an undisclosed location somewhere in Florida. But they've run that show. I've seen it a bunch of times on History. You know, the reruns of 10 you don't know about Pablo Escobar. And there you are.

[Marianne Smith]

It's funny you should say that, because let me just say this. I'm in prison, and somebody runs over to my. My room, knocks on the door. He says, you're on tv. You're on tv. And I said, I'm on tv. The guy says, yeah, you're. You're on TV right now.

[TJ Dominguez]

Wow.

[Marianne Smith]

It was your show. It happened to have been the History Channel. 10 things you don't know about Pablo Escobar. And I guess I was one of the ten things.

[TJ Dominguez]

You were one of the things, yeah. Yeah. TJ Dominguez is, hands down, the most fascinating person I've ever met in my entire life. And he has the most incredible story that's never been told because he's been in prison for years. And you're out of prison, what, two days now?

[Marianne Smith]

Yeah, three days.

[TJ Dominguez]

And here we are talking.

[Marianne Smith]

And two days don't count, guys, because one day I drank, like, six, seven bottles of champagne. Got it out of my system. So one day I was vertical. The next day I was horizontal. Just a couple of days.

[TJ Dominguez]

At the height of his cocaine career, adjusted for inflation, TJ's making nearly $100 million every month, flying tons and tons of cocaine from Colombia and sneaking it into South Florida. He has dozens of airplanes and mansions and Lamborghinis. He even has a pet mountain lion named Top Cat. And TJ has something else, too. A guardian angel. A magical, unseen force protecting him and guiding him through some of the most horrific situations you can imagine.

[Marianne Smith]

I should have been dead many, many, many, many, many times over.

[TJ Dominguez]

I mean, that's a given though, right? When you're dealing with Colombian drug cartels, especially someone like Pablo Escobar.

[Marianne Smith]

I could sit here and tell you that I know Pablo Escobar. Anybody could say that, because Pablo's dead. The trick is not me saying that I know Pablo when I'm looking at his book and Pablo says he knows me.

[TJ Dominguez]

TJ's flipping through a hardcover copy of the Accountant Story. Inside the Violent World of the Medellin Cartel, written by David Fisher and Roberto Escobar, who was Pablo Escobar's own brother and accountant, handling the billions of dollars coming in, responsible for paying cocaine pilots like TJ, who friends call Tito. So TJ, aka Tito, turns to page 106 and starts reading an Escobar quote referencing himself.

[Marianne Smith]

Tito Dominguez, who was one of our main transporters, had a fleet of 30 airplanes, including a 707. He owned one of the largest exotic car dealerships in the world, which had Clark Gable, 6 million dollar Dusenberg on his lot. He owned an entirely new housing development of more than 100 houses. Dominguez, who personally owned four Lamborghinis in different colors. And each day he would drive the color of the matches shirt he was wearing.

[TJ Dominguez]

Is that true?

[Marianne Smith]

That is true. That is true. I had it with 30 cars and I dressed. Boy, they brought me the car that matches shirt that I decided to wear that day.

[TJ Dominguez]

My God, that. Like the epitome of the American dream, right? So rich, you can match your Lamborghini to your shirt. Wow. But here's the thing. TJ Dominguez never set out to be a cocaine smuggler.

[Marianne Smith]

I don't condone drugs. I've never done any drugs.

[TJ Dominguez]

I've done a ton of drugs. So I will balance out this equation to you and I. TJ was a good kid from a good family with dreams of following in his father's noble footsteps. But becoming the victim of a con artist, actually, multiple con artists changed everything for tj. And he never looked back. Where were you born? Where'd you grow up?

[Marianne Smith]

I was really. I was born in Havana. My dad was A senator. He's a great man. Righteous. Very, very righteous. My d. My dad owned five sugar mills in Cuba and two in Haiti. I lived in Haiti for four years as a child. And then my dad had the family kind of, like, divided, and he's really very much into the nucleus of a family and keeping everybody together. So my dad sold his half, his interest, and became a builder here in Miami. So growing up and so forth. I grew up in North Miami.

[TJ Dominguez]

South Florida, in the 1970s is a wild and crazy place for TJ Dominguez. He's a popular kid in high school. Handsome. He enjoys surfing and practicing karate. And at 16 years old, he drives a green 1967 Corvette Stingray around town. But life at home is strict.

[Marianne Smith]

We all had to eat dinner together. Last button in the shirt had to be buttoned. TV had to be turned off. I grew up with great values, and I'm very proud of that.

[TJ Dominguez]

His dad is a very successful real estate developer in Miami, and he's making a lot of money, but he's not doing what he really wants to do.

[Marianne Smith]

My dad always had that love for the sugar industry because he grew up on it. He's an immigrant. My grandparents were immigrants from Spain. So my dad grew up as a poor boy cutting sugar cane and ended up owning five of them, five sugar mills.

[TJ Dominguez]

And with the year 1980 fast approaching, TJ's dad gets back into the sugar business.

[Marianne Smith]

So he goes ahead, he liquidates a lot of things, and we purchase a sugar mill in an island called Puerto Rico, where the plan was to dismantle the sugar mill and then put it on a barge, float it over, and take it over to Haiti, where we had 20,000 acres under contract, and we had all of the permitting from the president to be able to take the money out and so forth and so on. This was a huge undertaking. It really, really is. If you have no idea what a sugar mill encompasses, it's. We're talking like 20,000 acres, 10,000 employees, on and on and on. Millions and millions of dollars. Well, along the way, my dad, he funds the project out of pocket. Along the way, he gets cancer. Unbeknown to me, he starts writing a book about. I don't even know what he was writing a book about, but I found out later. So he gets cancer. Now we go to the hospital. It's terminal. So on his dying bed, he said, son, promise me one thing. I said, sure, dad. He said, finish the project. I said, I promise you I'll finish the project.

[TJ Dominguez]

The death of TJ's father takes a heavy toll on him, but he doesn't have time to mourn. There's a multi million dollar business deal on the table and TJ needs to get it done.

[Marianne Smith]

So all this weight fell on my shoulders. When I came back to the house, I saw the book that he was writing and it started with, in my absence, you shall do this.

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[Marianne Smith]

[e-mail] terms and it was like a map for me to follow to how to finish the project. Well, I had a meeting with all the engineers that we had on board. They all asked me what my plans were. I said, I'm going to finish the project. We have a feasibility study, we have the offices, we have employees, and so forth and so on. Well, I was. We were. We were missing $14 million to take the project to the next level, which we had a commitment from Capital bank by a gentleman named Abel Holtz. He was like president of the bank. So I put on my Brioni, put my best suit on, grabbed my briefcase, which is really my dad's briefcase, and took my A game down to see him. You know, I walked into his office, and the first thing he said to me was, you know, I'm really sad for your loss, and your dad was a great man, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, once we got past all of that, I said, I'm here to execute the commitment that we have for the project. He looked at me and I was like 19, 20 years old. He said, look, T, you're a great guy, but you're very immature when it comes to this project. This funding was really swayed. And what was the deciding factor was your father's history and the fact that your father was one of the most knowledgeable men in the industry. He says, you have no knowledge. I said, well, I lived in the sugar mill for four years. I worked in the lab. He says, I'm sorry, we cannot honor the commitment to you. I have a board of directors that I have to answer to. He said, but I'm going to refer you to maybe another lending institution that's maybe a little bit more liberal. So I said, okay. Well, I went to see them from there. I went to see another one and another one. Haiti didn't enjoy the best reputation because it was a dictatorship. So investment was really, really scarce. You know, there was no assurance there that if you invested there, the government was not going to be overthrown or you were going to lose your investment. I had a very, very Difficult time financing for the $14 million that I needed to complete the project. All of these investors were in Miami from banks. I went to mortgage lenders, mortgage brokers, institutions. And, I mean, I started running out of doors to knock on.

[TJ Dominguez]

Everyone said no.

[Marianne Smith]

Everybody said no. Everybody said no. I spent maybe two years. Now I'm defaulting on everything. The sugar mills falling apart. I owe the government of Puerto Rico, right? At a million dollars. $780,000, to be more precise. And I got the 20,000 acres over there in Haiti that I have to pay down on that land. I have employees. And I'm 19, 20, 21 years old. And it's just everything the weight of the world felt on my shoulders. I started getting a little bit more desperate.

[TJ Dominguez]

And desperation can lead to a lot of things, none of them good, as young TJ Is about to learn when he meets a Miami banker named Ruben. Who seems somewhat excited to give TJ A loan. And that should have been a red flag. Especially when Reuben tells TJ before any loan can be issued, he says to.

[Marianne Smith]

Deposit $100,000 with our escrow account. In our escrow account with our law firm. So I deposited the 100 grand, you know, and then I go back and I said, okay, Reuben. I got the commitment. I felt like I was, you know, floating on air. It was so wonderful. You know, I'm getting my dad's project done now.

[TJ Dominguez]

Was Reuben a lawyer or.

[Marianne Smith]

Ruben was a president of a mortgage lending institution.

[TJ Dominguez]

And he wanted you to deposit $100,000.

[Marianne Smith]

In a lawyer's account. Escrow accounts are like sacred accounts. You're not supposed to be able to touch them.

[TJ Dominguez]

And what was that 100,000 for security for him?

[Marianne Smith]

Well, no, it was to show that I had the means to be able.

[TJ Dominguez]

To make payments on the loan.

[Marianne Smith]

Well, not so much make payment that I was in that category. It was really not all that unusual. What you're doing is you're weeding out the rift right here. If you can't come up with 100 grand, then why should I take my time and look for 14 million for you?

[TJ Dominguez]

I get you. Yeah, it makes sense.

[Marianne Smith]

And that money's supposed to be touched. It's supposed to be sacred. Weeks later, I'm not getting the 14 million, and I'm just getting tomorrow. And then tomorrow's became a week later. And a week later became a month later. Two or three months of this stuff. I'm starting to really think that there's a problem here. And as I'm walking to his place of business, I Hear yelling and screaming behind the door, you know. So I stand, I freeze myself, and I just kind of hold the handle of the door and I don't move. And I'm listening for what's going on behind the door. And I hate son of a bitch and all back and forth stuff, right? So door flies open and there's. I got a guy standing, staring right at my face, like eye to eye. And I go, what? And the guy goes, what? And he goes, no, what? What? You know. And they were staring at each other. Guy's furious. Smoke's coming out of this guy's ears, right? And what's going on? And the guy says, that son of a bitch in there, he's a thief. I said, who? He says, reuben. I said, what do you mean he's a thief? He says, he's a thief, man. I'm going straight now to the police and file charges on this. Blah, blah, blah. So I said, but. But I gave him $100,000 good faith deposit. The guy looked at me, he says, you got nothing. If you gave that guy a hundred thousand dollars, you've got nothing. He's a thief. Slammed the door, walked out. At that point, I said, oh, my God. I didn't know what to do. I was naive. I was young. I was always in my dad's shadow. Even though my dad took me everywhere and exposed me to a lot of business deals and so forth and so on. So at that point, I had to make a decision. What do I do? Do I go to the authorities behind this other guy? I don't know how much money he lost. Well, you know what's going to happen? The authorities are going to take three, four years to get this thing settled. And at the end of the day, I will probably get a guilty conviction. That's not going to put food on the table and shoes on the kids, you know. So I said, I got to get this money back, so I gotta think this out. I went back to my car and I drove. And then I sat there. When I got to the house, obviously my mom and my. And my two sisters that I had were not privy to none of this. None of it. They had no idea what was going on. At that point, Jonathan, I decided, I'm gonna get the money back, but I'm gonna. I'm not gonna go to the courts to get my money back. I went to see my buddies that had these farms and I say, listen, a guy's name was Mike. I said, hey, Mike, I need you to do me a favor. He Said, yeah, what do you need, T? So I said, I need you to play the role of a rich Texan oil guy. He goes, what do you want to do? I says, and I need to borrow your farm, one of your farms, one of your barns for a little bit. What do you have in mind? I said, I got this guy that just ripped me off for 100 grand. I need to get that money back. So he says, so what do you want to do is I want to kidnap him, want to grab that son of a, put him in your barn, beat him to a pulp until I get my money. Simple as that. I mean, justice, right? And I didn't give a damn about Reuben. I mean, you know, I cared about one thing, one thing only. Give me one what belongs to me, you know? Give me what belongs to me. I don't care if you got to go out there and rob 10 other people. Give me what's mine. So I con him back. So I said, hey, Reuben, I got these friends of mine, they're from Texas, a lot of money. And guy said, you should meet, because these guys could be potential investors for you. He goes, yeah, I'd love to meet him. I said, okay, give me your address. We'll come by and pick you up breakfast, okay? So we did bike show. This is Mike, this is George, Tito and Reuben. So we jumped in the car. I said, we'll all go together in our car so we could talk.

[TJ Dominguez]

So TJ and his rich Texas oil buddies pick Reuben up at his house in South Miami. His buddies go all out and dress up in Stetson hats and cowboy boots. They're driving one of those gigantic 1970s Cadillac Seville's. Two of the men are sitting up front and the other one is in the back seat blocking one door while TJ Blocks the other and Reuben seated in the middle on the hump seat. They drive far out of the city. They're now in the middle of nowhere. A big ranch appears in the distance.

[Marianne Smith]

So I said, oh, by the way, they want to stop off at this ranch to look at this property. They're thinking about, maybe they do the mortgage on it. Oh, yeah, let's go look at it. So that's how I got him in the house. Mike walked in, the other guy walked in. Ruben walked in in front of me. And then when I turned around, I just. I smacked him. I smacked him real hard, grabbed him by the neck, spun him around, put my finger in his face. I said, I want my effing money.

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[TJ Dominguez]

What did he say?

[Marianne Smith]

He started quivering, shaking like a leaf. And I had him with a, like a really, like a death grip on his neck like this. And I slapped him hard. You know that I won I don't know how many years a karate tournament. And, and, but that also taught me a lot of self control. And I don't take candy from babies. And I don't hit. I just wanted my. That's all I wanted, you know. So I said, you know, he started like quivering. His little lower lips started like shaking. I slapped him twice. I said, I want my effort money, man. I said, you see that window out there? You're not gonna see that son again unless you give him my money.

[TJ Dominguez]

Wow.

[Marianne Smith]

I'm not playing games with you, Reuben. So he says to me, he started stuttering. He said, I can give you cars. I said, cars? I don't know anything about cars. I gave you cash. I want cash back. Make a long story short, Ruben had somebody in the Cayman in a Cayman bank that verified a draft.

[TJ Dominguez]

So this is where it gets really interesting. And it just proves Ruben is actually a con artist who works at a bank because he didn't have $100,000 anywhere to save his life, literally. But he did have a bogus Cashier's check for $400,000 dollars made out to a car dealership in Miami that he tricks a bank in the Cayman Islands into honoring. It's apparently part of a whole other scam Reuben is pulling on someone else entirely. But Reuben uses that bogus check for 400 grand to buy TJ a bunch of new luxury cars.

[Marianne Smith]

So he went to a dealership and pulled out like 10, 15 cars, paid for them with a cashier check. The dealer verified the draft with the bank. They authorized that there was. The check was good. And I drove out with 10 or 15 cars and sold them for a nickel on the dollar, a quarter on the dollar. And I got my hundred thousand back.

[TJ Dominguez]

And you didn't have to kill Reuben.

[Marianne Smith]

No, I did not.

[TJ Dominguez]

Just the fear of God was kill anybody.

[Marianne Smith]

Yeah, but he thought he was gonna die. And that's the theatrics of Hollywood. There's roles you play.

[TJ Dominguez]

Yeah. I mean, he needed to think that to get your money.

[Marianne Smith]

He needed to believe that. And believe it or not, when I said it, I don't know how far I would have gone. I didn't really. My. My feelings, my wishes were never to do any harm to Reuben.

[TJ Dominguez]

Right. You just wanted more money. I get it. You did the right thing in my life.

[Marianne Smith]

That's all I wanted. My God, you want money back. You know, harm to him. I didn't really mean it, but I. But at that point, I had to put the fear of God into him to take him to the next level. He was wearing a Rolex. I yanked it off of him and two other watches instead. I guess he was screwing his secretary because I noticed she was wearing a new Rolex also. I went back and I said, ruben, I want that watch that you girls wearing. You know, So I took that watch back. I sold those to friends.

[TJ Dominguez]

You notice the details?

[Marianne Smith]

Yeah, I know. I'm all about details.

[TJ Dominguez]

And TJ Is not giving up at this point. He's still trying to secure that $14 million loan to get his sugar mill off the ground and honor the promise he made to his dad before he died. So TJ Keeps knocking on doors and working all of his contacts and his dad's contacts. And eventually he finds someone interested in legitimately investing in his sugar mill. But it's the late 1970s now, and Haiti is in the grips of Jean Claude Duvalier.

[Marianne Smith]

Jean Claude Duvalier is a dictator, an alleged thief and a murderer accused of pillage his homeland and draining its treasury.

[TJ Dominguez]

So Haiti is considered a high risk country. And financial institutions are leery to invest. But TJ Finds somewhat of a kindred spirit and actually makes a deal with him.

[Marianne Smith]

Yeah, okay. When I shook hands with this gentleman in Miami, he was a president of a bank, son of a president of Cuba. My dad was a senator, so there was a little bit of family ties. I was in my 20s. He was maybe 47. Some is in that neighborhood. I tell him, well, you know, this is what I've got. I present him the feasibility study. He says, how do you want to structure this? I says, we can do this this way. You take 80%, I'll take 20. Once you're fully reimbursed and you have no more skin in the game at that point, I'll take the 80. And you take 20, but the first money that comes out goes to reimburse you. So we shook hands, and he says, okay, let's go to Haiti. We go to Haiti. I introduce him to the Minister of Finance, Minister of Agriculture. I bring him over to the office. I bring him over to meet all these lawyers. I spent three, four days introducing this guy to everybody. And the guy's like, yeah, this is really great, great project. In the morning, I get a phone call in my room. We're staying in the same hotel, Castel, Haiti. And he says, I was in the penthouse, by the way. So he says, I need to talk to you. I said, it's like six, seven o' clock in the morning. He's gonna spend all day together. He says, I need to see you before we go see the lawyer. I said, all right, fine. So I go down, I meet him for a cup of coffee in the lobby, and he says, look, I talked to my backers last night. I gave them the green light. This is a great, great, great project. They like it. We're all in. I said, okay, great. Well, you know, I'm glad to hear that. You know, we're going to see the lawyers today. We'll draw the agreements and we'll move on. He goes, there's only one thing. And I said, what's the only one thing? And he says, we're going to do the project, but it's going to stay 80 across the board. Not 20, 80. 80 to us. You get 20. I said, but that's not what we agreed in Miami. He looked at me and he said, look, kid, you're green behind your ears. Welcome to the real world. This ain't Miami. You got nothing without me. You got a pipe dream without me. So I looked at him and I said, I just came off the other incident with the other con artist robbing me. Now this guy's basically conning me again. He brought me all the way to the gate, and now he's going to slam the door in my face. At that point, I was a deciding factor. I looked at him and I looked at him and I said, I still remember exactly what I said. I said, look, my dad raised a man. My dad raised me to live by my word. I'm going to make you a promise. The last airplane going back to Miami is a 315 Eastern airline. If you're not on that fucking airplane, I'm gonna put you in a bag. And I don't break my word for nobody. That was it. I turned around, he left the island and trust me, I would have beat this guy to a pulp. I just had such. I don't even. I wasn't mad. I was just tired of being used and kicked to the curb. I really was. And that's when I decided what's right, what's wrong. It seems what's right is whatever works for you and you can get away with. And I'm not gonna let anybody push me anymore. Everything that they do, I'm gonna do better. I'm gonna be a bank. I made the decision that night. I went upstairs to the penthouse terrazza that was sitting on the top of the hotel. 10 story on top of a mountain. Very dark skies. Looked like I could just reach out there and grab these stars. It was so dark. That night, I had a talk with my dad. My dad, my dead father. And I said to my father, you're not going to approve of what I'm going to do. I'm not asking for your permission, but I'm gonna get the sugar mill done. But I'm gonna do it my way. I'm tired of asking people for money. I'm tired of having been humiliated. I'm tired of being abused. I'm really, really tired. Dad. I said, but I'm gonna make this promise. I'm gonna keep this promise to you.

[TJ Dominguez]

After the death of a father, after being conned and humiliated, a lot of people would have put their victim shirt on and made it their uniform for life. But those people aren't TJ Dominguez.

[Marianne Smith]

That night, I packed up my suitcase, I came to Miami, and I became a smuggler. I had like one hundred and something thousand dollars left. My family had no knowledge of what was left in the bank. I called my cousin up, the boat guy. I told him, help me buy a boat. What do you want a boat for? You're not a boat guy, you're a car guy. He said, yeah, well, you know, let's meet for a beer. I got a couple things I gotta ask you.

[TJ Dominguez]

TJ needs to make 14, 13 million dollars fast to get his sugar mill off the ground. And in his mind, the only way to do that now is to get a boat, sail to the Bahamas, a group of islands, 100 miles, give or take, off the coast of Florida and bring back a bunch of marijuana to sell. TJ's cousin is shocked.

[Marianne Smith]

He said, you're crazy. You don't even smoke pot. I said, yeah, well, you know. You want to go with me? Hell, no. He's a stockbroker at the time. He's doing Pretty good. He said, I think you're making a big mistake. I said, I'm not asking you for advice or permission. I just want you to teach me how to draw a damn boat. I bought a Scaraba, 30 footer, white with red stripes and twin four 54s, five and a quarter horses on each side. And I learned a little bit of how to navigate. I didn't really know compass and readings and all that. Basically, I grew up skiing in the bay, you know, just not really going out there. I didn't even know where the Bahamas was at. Never been to the Bahamas, right? I'm gonna do this. I'm geared, I'm determined to do this. I, I just don't know where the Bahamas are at. There was no GPS or anything. I knew they were east, you know, of us. So he says, listen, I'm not gonna go with you. You're crazy. But I'm going to introduce you to an old fisherman, an old Cuban fisherman. You could talk to him, maybe he'll go with you. So I said, okay, fine.

[TJ Dominguez]

So TJ found that old fisherman and he eventually found his way to the Bahamas. But procuring large quantities of marijuana by hitting up complete strangers is a whole other story.

[Marianne Smith]

I'm still nervous and I say to the guy, hey, man. Guy goes, yeah, you need gas? I say, no, man, I need, I need, I need to buy some marijuana. And the guy goes, oh, yeah, marijuana. He pulls out three joints out of his pocket, right? I said, no, man, I don't wait. I want bales for that. We gotta go see my uncle.

[TJ Dominguez]

Next time on cocaine air, TJ's first big marijuana buy could be his last.

[Marianne Smith]

So I take my money and I give it to him. He said, how much is there? I said, 25,000. He says, 30,000. You're $5,000 short. I said, well, that's what I got. He said, hey, man, there ain't no credit in this business. So I'm thinking, I'm going to get robbed. They're going to steal my boat, steal my money, throw me in the water, get eaten up by shark. But I have to go. I have no choice. Not my day to die.

[TJ Dominguez]

To see some incredible photographs documenting TJ's life, go to cocainair.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 this 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 Shenoy 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.

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