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- [00:00]
A
Are you a yo yo dieter? You diet, lose weight, but gain it all back plus a few extra pounds. Then later you lose it again and regain it again and again and go through that cycle. I know I am, so I identify as this a yo yo dieter. It's dangerous. Studies show that you can increase your risk of heart attack, stroke, type 2 diabetes and other health problems. Breaking free of your yo yo diet pattern is a main reason doctors created Lean. Lean is a supplement, not an injection, and you don't need a prescription. The science behind Lean is impressive. It's studied. Natural ingredients target weight loss in three powerful ways. Lean helps maintain healthy blood sugar. It helps control appetite and cravings. And it helps burn fat by converting fat into energy. Listen, if you're tired of losing weight and gaining it back, if you want to lose meaningful weight at a healthy pace, Lean was created for. Let me get you started with 20% off when you enter our code unlock20@takelean.com, that's code unlock20@takelean.Com. welcome back to this week's episode of Unlocked. This is going to be a much different episode than what you're used to, and honestly, it's definitely a God given episode. When I tell you the story and how it came about, I think it'll touch you. I mean, it definitely touched me and there were tears and goosebumps and all the things, but I have the pleasure of having on Brady Brewer. You guys may or may not know him, but this kid is an absolute rock star. So welcome on Brady.
- [01:43]
B
Hi.
- [01:44]
A
So to tell everyone what happened, you, I was moving yesterday and I showed up and my mom was reading an email that had somehow gotten to her email and you. It was addressed to me. And I was like, blown away and just so moved by your email. And we were like, all right, we got to figure out how to help. We were reviewing the email and then you came to Nashville hoping to find me, meet me. We literally ran into each other in a parking lot.
- [02:17]
B
All I came here with was just a zip code and literally just a dream.
- [02:21]
A
When you said your name, I was like, that you wrote the email. I knew immediately and it was insane.
- [02:27]
B
We saw you just barely asked you for a moment of your time and you immediately came up to us, talked to us, and, you know, you were like, wait, Brady Brewer? The. You. You sent the email, right? And it was just kind of from the moment you started walking up, I knew that you were definitely going to be open to listen and at the very least, you know, just kind of hear us out. For five minutes. And you did. And you know, now you're even doing more and wanting to help. And you know, you kind of out of nowhere were like, you want to be on my podcast?
- [02:57]
A
Yeah. Right. The best part was I was like, how long are you staying for? And you go, however long I need to.
- [03:02]
B
Ye. Yeah.
- [03:03]
A
I'm like, how old are you again? 16. If I didn't mention that guy. 16 years old. Which is crazy.
- [03:09]
B
Yeah. When we, when we got back in the car, we were like, that couldn't have gone any better. Yeah. We immediately kind of went back and you know, my dad, he wasn't able to speak on the phone because sometimes they do like, it was like Sunday, couldn't kind of speak on the phone. And so it was like messages. And he was like, what? Tell me more what happened? And it was. It was kind of constant back and forth until, you know, you know, then you had. You kind of texted us later that day at like 3 and you know, come by, you know, get more information.
- [03:45]
A
Get this, get that. So to bring. To give people. Because people may be like, okay, what's his story? Why is he here? So to give people a little background, your dad was federally indicted, was sentenced, served two and a half years in federal prison for a white collar crime. And something that really, I mean, it was signed. The signing of a bank document.
- [04:13]
B
Yeah. Just to kind of Clarify, it was three separate charges. He got five years in federal prison and on 20. 20. February. I think it was around February. Early. It was early February. And he had to go, you know, report to just kind of go to jail, go to the federal prison. And you know, he wasn't a. He wasn't a aggressive guy. He wasn't a. He doesn't have any violent or any. It was not. It was nonviolent.
- [04:44]
A
He's a veteran.
- [04:45]
B
Yeah, he's an honorable Marine veteran. Veteran. And he got sentenced to five years in a medium security federal prison where.
- [04:56]
A
Which is absolutely insane. For people that have listened to this podcast and who followed along the journey. I've definitely talked a lot about point system and kind of the different securities of prisons from camps to supermax to. And there is no reason why a white collar offender should ever be in my. Should never be in a low security prison, let alone a medium security prison. I mean, that's what camps were made for, was for white collar offenders. So the fact that he was in a medium security is absolutely insane. Yeah, I mean, Ghislaine Maxwell was in a low. Or it like she just got moved to it, like, that's the crazy part for me is how you compare and contrast these things. So he spent his two and a half years there, served his time, and then got out, obviously on probation. But during the time that he was in prison, can you kind of. And obviously it's a touchy subject, and I feel terrible even talking about it, but obviously, you know, your parents are separated, divorced, your dad had custody of you and your brother. And can you kind of tell people, your brother Michael's story of what happened?
- [06:09]
B
Yeah, so just for starters, it was. It was three and a half years that he was there. And so at the start, it was. It was really rough. My mom was a recovering alcoholic. She was about sober for a month. However, it just took an impact on the family, took a huge toll. And so she started drinking again. And my brother also developed into the world of, you know, kind of just being, you know, getting drugs on Snapchat and just kind of getting whatever he kind of could.
- [06:43]
A
And it was part of the whole. For people that don't remember, I mean, what was it? 20. What, what year? 20. 18. 19. Sometime around then, there was a huge kind of epidemic of children dying from getting drugs on Snapchat. And that's where you saw a lot of people going in front of Congress testifying and making noise on how dangerous it is for kids to be on Snapchat. So he was really. That he was a big part of that story.
- [07:15]
B
Yeah, yeah. So essentially it was really rough. I had just turned 11. We moved from Ponte Vedra down to Orlando. I'd say probably mid-2020. It was a two, two bedroom, one bath for the three of us. Michael, my brother, he would always, you know, I mean, he was. He was a big kid for 13, you know, you know, he was. He was genuinely. He loved football. He couldn't wait to, you know, just kind of just pursue that dream of wanting to, you know, go as far as he could in football and do whatever. And he. He was really. He was like 5 foot 10, you know, like 100, like 70 at like, at like 13. And he was. Yeah, so he was a big kid. And Peabody hit him really hard. But so I love you.
- [08:11]
A
That's hilarious.
- [08:12]
B
Yeah. So when he. But on December of 2020, I would say that's when he started really spiraling out of control. It was a mix of my dad, you know, being. Being absent. You know, he couldn't really talk to my dad as Covid was going on. And so prisons were. It got really rough with.
- [08:36]
A
There was no visitation the phone calls you could barely get. I mean, it was. It was not a way to keep families together by any means.
- [08:45]
B
My dad, let alone my dad, would never want us to visit because he would never want to be. He just didn't want to be seen like that. But at the end of 2020, December, Christmas Eve, two days before his birthday even, he was born on December 26, which is kind of a. Kind of bad birthday because you get Christmas presents, but do you get your birthday present?
- [09:05]
A
Exactly. They have to be separate.
- [09:06]
B
Yeah, but so basically, he, you know, he. That night he got a pill on Snapchat. It was. I think he was trying to get a Percocet or mdma, but that pill was laced with a highly lethal amount of Fentanyl. He overdosed, and he was found at 3am with, you know, purple lips, you know, around. His eyes, was blue. It was. I mean, I. We. We woke. We woke up to it. We. We went in. I. I mean, I saw him. His. I. I thought he was you. You. The only reason why you think he wasn't, you know, kind of dead was because he was. His breathing was so shallow, you could hear it through the walls. And so we called the police immediately. They got in, you know, they put him on a stretcher. They immediately took him down where his heart stopped seven times on the way to a hospital. And I mind you, it was probably three minutes to the hospital for an ambulance. And when he was there, doctors told my dad, when he was in jail, when he was in prison, he had to get a call saying that his son overdosed. And the doctors actually told them that him and my mom, that he. They recommended taking him off life support because he was never going to wake up. He was going to be a vegetable. And because just his brain was without oxygen for so long that he was. He wasn't gonna speak. Even if he did wake up, he wasn't gonna speak, he wasn't gonna walk, he wasn't gonna do anything.
- [10:53]
A
Yeah.
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B
And. But he did. He woke up. And I guess from there on, you know, he didn't know. He. When he woke up, I guess it was like the doctor said he couldn't do anything.
- [11:04]
A
Yeah.
- [11:06]
B
From there he was transferred. After a couple months, he was transferred to Nemours Children's Hospital, where he was actually recovering. He went from having to be picked up from a, you know, like, kind of crib. Those, like, crib hospital beds, they would have. They would put people in if they, like, roll around or just can't really control their body. And you know, being placed down and to, being able to, with like, with some assistance, walk up steps.
- [11:38]
A
Wow.
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B
In, in just a couple of months. And so he did incredible. But then he was signed over to the state.
- [11:49]
A
Yeah, like a medical foster home. He was signed over.
- [11:52]
B
Yeah. So it was two people. They had, it was, it was horrible conditions for him.
- [12:00]
C
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- [12:30]
A
And I want to remind people too in the midst of this story, this was for a white collar minimal crime that the bank that the government stated was at a loss or was the victim even testified on your father's behalf. So all of this for that? Yeah, that's the craziest part.
- [12:54]
B
And at this point, my dad, he couldn't be updated. You know, cell phones were always almost down. He didn't know what was going on with Michael. He couldn't even really see. He couldn't see him. He didn't know what was going on. And the only person that could be helping him right now would be my dad, but he is not there.
- [13:15]
A
And so the conditions that Michael was in when he was in this FOST system, what, what was that like?
- [13:23]
B
It was a small house, deep in neighborhood. So it was like a 15 minute drive just to kind of get in there off like a large road. And it was two people taking care of five children. One was, one they adopted which was like a five year old. Then all of the, all the other ones were, they needed like genuine all time care. My brother and a lot of people.
- [13:52]
A
Do this just so they can get money from the government. And the sad part is, is the government doesn't even go through and make sure that it is a fit and able home for people like your brother.
- [14:07]
B
This, his room that he stayed in was about as long as this couch. It was probably the width of, if you had two couches right here put together, probably that width had room for one small single bed and then a small narrow walk space. Just literally the only thing you could do in there or he could do in there was get out of his chair, get into bed and get out of bed into his chair, you know, if he had to go to the toy. There were times when he would have to go to the toilet at night and he tried to call for one of the. One of the foster parents was. His name was Felix. He called for Felix. Felix wouldn't come up. He'd say, go to the bathroom by yourself. And he would have to, you know, essentially try his best to just even get onto the toilet. He would fall. He would try to get himself back up. If he needed more assistance, he'd have to wait like 10 minutes just for Felix to get out of bed.
- [15:09]
A
That right there should be investigated in itself.
- [15:14]
B
Yeah. And so he only got out of that place when my dad got back home.
- [15:22]
A
And so. And at this time, your mom had signed over all of her rights, correct?
- [15:28]
B
She did. And also she was early into my. I think it was around maybe early 20, 21, late 2020. She was also diagnosed with end stage terminal. Her cirrhosis from all of her drinking. And she. So she's kind of just forced to get sober or. She was going to, you know. Yeah, yeah. And she wasn't fit to take care of him. She obviously couldn't work. We lived off this person, a very kind person that was a client of hers for life insurance. And then he kind of just helped us get through the entire, like, pretty much the entire time. But so basically what happened was, you know, I. When my dad left, I started. I was in sixth grade. I kind of failed all those classes. I had to make him up, and I made them up probably like two years ago. But good for you. Yeah, I was going through it and I was like, I failed this.
- [16:29]
A
Yeah. And you know what, that you were going through so much, not just your dad being gone, your brother. Like, I honestly don't know how you did it. I don't.
- [16:40]
B
Yeah, we. We got through a lot. And essentially when my dad finally got home, it was 2020 of August 2023, August 7th. And within literally, like a month and a half, DCF was also, like, literally trying their best to, like, keep Michael from him, even though he was, like, showing that he was fit in everything. But literally within a month and a half, not only did he get full custody of Michael, he also got commendations from DCF stating how that he is a perfect fit of a parent. And they're also, you know, from. If you look on the US Injustice.
- [17:26]
A
Site and what's that site?
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B
It is us injustice.com.
- [17:31]
A
Okay.
- [17:32]
B
And you'll see in one of the folders, I don't know if it's an affidavit or just a letter?
- [17:39]
A
Yeah, it's a letter to the court.
- [17:41]
B
Stating it's from Anita riggs. She's a 45 year mental health professional, I believe that's her title. But. And she literally says herself, my dad is the perfect embodiment of a selfless parent that could ever be. Because ever since when, when my dad got home in 2023 of August 7th, me and my brother had absolutely nothing, not, not a single dollar to our name. Now he just kind of fast forwarding a little bit, we'll go back. But me and Michael have trust in our name. We. Michael has so many his assets, so he is taken care of very well. He. He has progressed with his recovery so much to the point where he can. Being a walker, he can walk to the front door and back, you know, and 50 laps and without it, without us, without a sweat, you know, he can do very well. You know, I mean, we're still working on the issue of. Because when you sit in a chair for so long, your posture gets really bad. So we. I don't know if he'll need surgery for that or just maybe something to fix the scoliosis or. I believe he has scoliosis or something just because the posture really got really bad.
- [19:03]
A
And so with Michael's condition, obviously that's been a struggle and you've helped to take care of him. You help him whether it's get ready for the day or bathe or just, you know, you are a caretaker for him. And at 16, that is a lot to, that's a lot to take on. But your dad, when he got home, I've heard from everyone that Michael had so much progression just in his fight and his mentality and just overall physical well being. And then obviously your dad was on probation and didn't have a single hiccup for how long?
- [19:52]
B
Roughly seven months, a year until we moved to Jacksonville, which was definitely after seven months.
- [19:58]
A
Okay, and during this period your parents filed for divorce, Correct? Right. So they filed for divorce and then that's when things kind of started going sideways for your dad.
- [20:11]
B
Yeah. So essentially my mom started colluding with Jewel Butler, his probation officer in Jacksonville.
- [20:21]
A
I mean, I've seen and it's. And like I said, I cannot imagine how hard it is for you as a son to have to see these things and talk about these things. And you're still fighting for your dad every day. But I've seen for myself the call logs and the countless hours that this probation officer spent on the Phone with her. I mean, at times 60, 90 minutes. I mean, there's nothing. What are you Speaking about? For 60 and 90 minutes, there is nothing beneficial and no probation officer should ever take the word of anyone else without seeing factual evidence or proof of things that are happening. You work for the government. You work for the courts. You are to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. And everything that I've seen is just so unsettling.
- [21:14]
B
Yeah, it might have. It's. That's just Joel Butler. I mean, she called the probation office. I mean, it was a threat to my dad. Every time. It was like, I'm calling. I'm calling your. I'm calling the probation office. And it would be like that. So she called so many times that it truly got to a point where you would lose count of the calls because it was just back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. I mean, she colluded with Joel Butler to. I mean, just literally. I mean, my dad had multiple violations filed against him which are. Which were nonsense. And I mean, it led to literal bank fraud against my dad, leading to.
- [22:03]
A
Over $20,000 money being stolen from him.
- [22:06]
B
Yeah. Because Jewel Butler gave my mom his accounting. And.
- [22:10]
A
And you. Do you have that factual evidence that this happened?
- [22:15]
B
There is all of the information with my mom and Jewel Butler. It's. It's rock solid, hard evidence from. I mean, literally. Also my mom's phone. I mean, she. On June 15, she filed an affidavit of 2020, 2025, June 15, affidavit stating everything on there is true. Everything that. Talking to Jewel Butler, Jewel Butler colluding with her, all of it is true. And I mean, she even testified recently because my dad has been incarcerated for just absolute nonsense. But because.
- [22:54]
A
Yeah, they said he was in violation of his probation and they threw him back in jail.
- [23:00]
B
Yes.
- [23:01]
A
So right now, he's currently sitting in jail. His businesses are losing money. Michael is suffering. You're suffering this. Nothing about it makes sense or nothing screams justice to me. And what. You know, your dad was working hard to build back in businesses and primarily to provide treatment for Michael. There's a new cutting edge technology that could enhance Michael's life tremendously. And now that your dad is sitting back in jail, Michael may or may not get that treatment.
- [23:38]
B
Yeah, it's called the. I hope I'm saying this right. It's called the CRISPR gene. And it's essentially something that tells. It shuts. It's a gene that shuts off your ability to regenerate your Dead brain cells. And that's exactly what my brother has from the lack of oxygen supplied to his brain when he overdose. And that led to an anoxic brain injury. And now those is. So take. You have three brain cells, one sending a signal. The bottom and top one are healthy. One is sending. Sending a signal to that bottom, sending a signal through all of them. But that middle one is dead. So it has to kind of go over it and it kind of boom, ticks, goes through. But that. Now if my brother. You trying to see him sit still, you. You can't. He has to take, you know, Diazfam just to kind of treat that, calm down those like nerves. Those, those. Yeah, those ticks that are caused by that. And. But this CRISPR gene that tells your brain cells not to regenerate, they're trying to figure out a way to deliver that into, you know, a human to turn that gene off. Right. And one that is found. You know, my dad's on the board of the Dan Lewis foundation for Brain Regenerative Research. I mean, my dad has made it so. And he is going to do more just to get. My brother's going to have he. So when there's this brand new discovery, he's not gonna have to wait.
- [25:11]
A
Yeah.
- [25:12]
B
You know, he's not gonna have to, you know, hope that one day he's gonna be in the line for that. He's your dad.
- [25:19]
A
Your dad has fought for Michael and is fighting for Michael like you're fighting for your dad.
- [25:25]
B
The reason why he is completely essential to absolutely everything is because he is the only person that is actually helping. Like, again, you know, it really he's the only person that's helping my brother, that's creating funding for him and creating all of that stuff. And my Michael has a trust now where he owns, you know, majority in my dad's business. Philosomatic. And it. That it's only going to grow to the point where my brother has complete fallback no matter what happens. But that can only happen if my dad is able to work on that. He is not able to work on that from the inside of a, you know, county jail. You know, he's. Again, you know, I talked to, for example, a deputy officer at that. At the federal courthouse. His name is Decarlos Shepard. I. I've spoken to him. He can'. He can't speak to me about like, the legal particulars of it because I guess, you know, maybe he just doesn't want to. But he can't tell me his opinion on the whole Thing, but it really is as simple as there's absolutely no benefit to putting him back in jail.
- [26:42]
A
There's, let him pay whatever you say is owed, let him pay the money, let him be out, let him help his son who is in a make or break it situation. Like, let him be there for you so that you can be a kid again, that you can be 16 and you can, that's my thing when it comes to the federal government. And what I want to touch on to show people how truly messed up all of this is and how I will stand by my statement that a dollar to the federal government means more than a human life. Because your dad was sentenced to five years in federal prison for essentially nothing. My whole argument has always been a financial crime should be met with a financial punishment. It's that simple. And then if you can't financially meet that punishment, then there's, you may have to serve time, you may have to do X, Y and Z. But the man who sold Michael the pill laced with fentanyl on Snapchat was sentenced to one day in jail.
- [27:59]
B
Yeah, he, he didn't serve any time. He didn't do any. So he essentially sells a 13 year old kid a laced fentanyl pill before literally one day, or I, I don't know. When he sold it to him, it could have been two days before Christmas, but either way, sold it to him, ruined forever that kid's life, completely ruined.
- [28:31]
A
For just a kid who had dreams of going and playing football and making it as far as he could make it, who probably wanted to get, who probably wanted to get married, have kids, not, he still can do that, but not to the quality that he could have.
- [28:49]
B
And he's only going to be able to do that if there is going to, there has to be a cure. And hopefully with, you know, all these developments in AI, all these developments in medical technology and all of that, you know, hopefully we're hoping that soon, very soon, there is going to be a cure. Yeah, because the only thing our family fights for is so my brother can actually, you know, get out of bed himself again and go do things on his own again. He doesn't have to, you know, call my name so I can get his meds and, you know, get him breakfast and you know, he doesn't have to tell, he doesn't have to, you know, say, hey, can I get a new shirt? Or because he has, you know, he can't see, he's legally blind, he has to, he doesn't know where things are. He has to have so much assistance. You know, I. I really do pray that there's hopefully. Because I don't know the specifics of it, but I do believe the reason he. His eyes are not damaged, it's like the. The image. Your eyes have the image and then it goes to your brain. His brain doesn't process that because I think the anoxic brain injury. So, you know, we pray with that cure that even he is going to be able to see again and just be able to do what he used to be able to do, which is actually be a human with free will. You know, he can't do any of the things he has wanted to do since then.
- [30:27]
A
And when he was in the hospital, how much fentanyl was in his system from one pill, do you know?
- [30:33]
B
I don't know the specifics. I know that it was literally enough to kill an elephant, literally.
- [30:40]
A
And how do you know how the pill was sent to him or how he obtained it through Snapchat? But what was the delivery of it? Do we know?
- [30:51]
B
It was literally to the window of his bedroom. Literally to the window of his bedroom. And I mean, you didn't even have to go out the door. That. That's the crazy part about it. They just, hey, let me get this pull up. And I mean, like the exact location of where you are, you know, can be accessed so easily.
- [31:16]
A
That literally gives me goosebumps and should truly scare every single parent about social media and TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, any form of social media with your children, you should have an eye on. Right. Because now when we saw this with Snapchat, we had no idea that these things could happen. I was hearing about this and I was like, how does that happen? And the fact that these criminals and murderers, because that's what they are in my mind, are getting a day in jail for a fentanyl pill like that. To me, I mean, it scares me for you. It scares me for my future children. Our government has to hold these people accountable. And that's also another fight that you guys are fighting right now, correct? Is to hold Snapchat accountable for what happened.
- [32:15]
B
Yeah. And you know, our. Of course we're wanting to fight that. We want to. Michael, he needs justice for what happened. And at the very least, he needs the person that can help him. The only person that can help, the only person that has ever wanted to help him. I mean, of course I don't say. But, you know, the only person that can. Has the ability to help him is my dad. And right now he Is, you know, I mean, I'm told by, you know, people that probation only wants the best. How do you want the best when you are literally looking at this man that has done absolutely nothing wrong and that, you know, I mean, an earlier fight from before mid July, because he was able to finally actually live at the New Smyrna House. We had a house up in Jacksonville where he went to Brooks Rehabilitation. Now, at Brooks Rehabilitation, there's an NRC neuro recovery center where there's a thing called a cyberdyne. It connects to your legs and it reads the brain cells going to your legs and helps build new connections. Now, that tremendously helped Michael. However, you can only do amount. You can only do a certain amount of treatments before it actually, you know, stops kind of helping. And he maxed that out. And that costs an unbelievable amount of money. I'm talking thousands of dollars out of your pocket per treatment. Yeah, we didn't. This was mid 2024, so we didn't have necessarily the funds. But what my dad did was for the hospital. He literally built a website and new stuff for them. And the deal is he gets those treatments basically for free. And he is my dad again. Only reason why he was able to do all of that. But then we got the most out of birth rehabilitation we could. And so now 2025, around March, April, we were moving into the New Smyrna House, which in New Smyrna beach, you know, right on the inlet. It's very nice. And we have. But what's around there is hbot, and it's an hour's drive, but when you drive for an hour every day, it kind of gets to the point where it's not even that bad, right? And he has core, which is a core rehabilitation center, because really, what is. What he needs right now is strength, right? He needs strength in his legs. And if you looked at pictures from him from before my dad came home, which was like. Like him in like a pajama pants and stuff. And now he. I mean, you should see him when his hair is going back. He looks awesome. And, you know, he has weight to his legs. He has genuine. He feels like in. Because he does. He has genuine purpose because he's going to speak out about all this with the Snapchat thing. He's going to become an actual advocate for all of this stuff because he is the perfect representation of what the very least can happen to you. Because all of these. All of these cases against Snapchat. And it really hurts me to say are mainly parents fighting because they're kids lost their lives, lost their lives from being laced with fentanyl or whatever other stuff that is, you know, crawling over the world nowadays. Like fentanyl. Just the smallest amount can completely like just end your life, which is horrible. And there's so much of it coming into the country nowadays, and it's just not, you know, hopefully, you know, that stuff gets cracked down on. And I know there's been efforts to get that crackdown on, which I. I've seen a lot. And it really, you know, helps knowing that that stuff's not gonna be happening as much as it did before. But those fights are the parents. Michael is the. He speaks, he communicates his words. He loves talking about, you know, I mean, you know, he. With his friend that is now helping him. He was an old friend from pre injury that he did a lot of stuff with and now is back in his life at 19. My brother's 18, where he's going to literally full time, you know, put him in the gym. Come on, Michael, let's go, let's go. He can be on the StairMaster for 15 minutes now, my brother, wow, he can, I mean, that takes strength and he can do it because he is pushing himself to the max and he has people around him that is pushing him to that and.
- [37:31]
A
He'S making progress. But your dad being home, he's only gonna make so much without your dad being home.
- [37:37]
B
And now my brother is missing. Now with my dad in jail and all of this, that has been really getting way worse since July. My brother had to stop his HBOT treatments, which with hyperbaric oxygen therapy, you have to continuously go there because for example, what, for example, what we're doing is when he goes in, it's. I mean, we're talking quarter million dollar machines, right? He goes in for 90 minutes, comes out, it essentially reoxygenizes. I think I'm saying this right, I'm not a scientist, but he could have fooled me. Yeah. His brain cells and helps him and, and those in possibly, we're hoping, kickstart those dead brain cells into being active again, you know, without fully regenerating them. So but until then, that would be perfect, right? He gets a kickstart on some of those brain cells and possibly, you know, a lot of his jerks will stop. A lot of those movements will be easier for him. I mean, when he stands, his biggest issue, like right now when he stands is like he can't stand fully straight. You know, he has to bend his knees because he's so scared.
- [38:51]
A
Yeah.
- [38:52]
B
From the jerks that he's gonna fall. And so when he falls, he wants his knees bent so he falls backward. You know, he, it's so scary for him that he bends his knees because if he strains him, he's, if he strains them out and tries to walk, he's scared he's gonna fall forward. And, you know, he can't catch. He, he can try to catch himself, but he, you know, he's still in that phase where he's trying to build that strength in his arms. So it's not, it really is as hard as something can get.
- [39:23]
A
And, and so he can't resume these treatments until your dad comes home and has the finances to, for him to resume them.
- [39:33]
B
Yeah, my dad's the one that, my dad, he, I mean, you don't. Who else is doing hours of research a day in just brain health and brain neuro. In neuro. Brain therapy, all of that stuff? Who else is doing all of that for their. Because a lot of people don't have that type of support, you know, that my dad is giving him. And, you know, no one is appreciating it. That when I talk about the people that aren't appreciating it, I'm talking about the people that are literally fighting to get them in jail, which makes no sense to me whatsoever. Because why you're not putting him away. You're putting my brother away for life.
- [40:24]
A
Because they're putting, they're putting your brother away for life, but also they're putting you away as well. You, you're still a kid.
- [40:34]
B
Yeah.
- [40:34]
A
You're 16. You're still a kid. And this whole time I've heard you talk about dad and Michael and all these people. But what about Brady? How, how would you say this has impacted you?
- [40:51]
B
I mean, I, I, I don't speak. I, I, I feel like, you know, it, especially since my dad's gone jail, it really is hard to. Because our entire effort for the last two weeks has just been to get him out. And all of those have been not only denied, but harshfully denied. And, you know, I mean, I mean, when he, on Friday when he was being sentenced, my brother testified. Right. Essentially saying that, you know, my dad is. Yeah. Testified in saying everything. Right. No, Everything truthful. My dad is the only person that is going to be able to provide for him and the only person that's going to be able to actually cure him. And I mean, my, my dad's working on, you know, building AI to the point. I mean, he, he's not waiting for it to happen. He's doing his best to build AI and servers that are going to be able to kind of compute and analyze and create possibly tremendous discoveries in, in brain research and all of that. Because, you know, AI, if it could get to a point where it can analyze. It can predict the outcome of something and it can analyze the full effect of what that could have on something, it can. I mean, it can save years of medical research.
- [42:21]
A
Yeah. And, but, but do you see what you just did?
- [42:27]
B
What did I do?
- [42:28]
A
What'd you do?
- [42:29]
B
What'd I do?
- [42:30]
A
I asked how Brady was affected. Not about dad or how smart he is or what he's doing or. Michael, because you're affected too. And I'm looking at you and saying this because I was you. And fortunately for me, I had to deal with it at 25. I didn't have to deal with it at 16. I didn't have to do what you're doing. And you have to give yourself credit and pat yourself on the back because sending the email that you sent, showing up on my doorstep, fighting for your dad, fighting for your brother, someone's gotta fight for you eventually. And so just remember that because what you're doing is absolutely amazing. And when you showed up at my house, I knew I had to help. I knew I had to make noise and bring awareness to what's going on. And getting your dad home is the number one priority, obviously. And holding these rogue probation officers accountable. And that's the craziest part, is just the lack of accountability. And even when you guys have had evidence and proof to put forward to the judge, the judge didn't want to hear it. The judge said that, you know, your word meant nothing, which is absolutely insane, but not shocking to me. So we're gonna fight to get your dad home. But I also want you to remember you matter too.
- [44:08]
B
Thank you. Everything with. I mean, I guess the way it impacted me was so I haven't been to in person school since face to face, since my dad got home. I mean, I did do seventh grade when I was supposed to be in eighth grade, but I mean, since then I've just kind of. I, I've gone back academic wise. I, you know, I'm in the grade I'm supposed to be in, which I, I was gonna go into school for my 11th grade year. This kind of got in the way. I think I'm. I might go in late September or just take some classes to make up and then I'm gonna definitely go in for my Second semester. But, you know, the only reason why. I mean, my dad heard I was the year behind, and he was like, what? In jail? And. And he was like. And he was like, you are going to do your eighth grade online before. I swear, you are going to do it before you go in, and you're gonna do it before the next school year. And so I had, like, three months to do it. So I heard those words, and I got the eighth grade year done online over the summer.
- [45:30]
A
And it wasn't because you couldn't do it?
- [45:32]
B
No, it wasn't because I couldn't do it. I mean, I didn't really think of that as an option. I wasn't too involved in that. So my dad made the decision.
- [45:44]
A
The reason you fell behind in school, it wasn't because you couldn't do it. It was just you. The emotional toll that it takes to have a parent incarcerated is you feel like you've lost everything. And then Michael feeling like you lost him, and then all the other things.
- [46:03]
B
Going on in your life, it turned into a. After my dad left, it. It turned into a blur.
- [46:09]
A
Yeah.
- [46:10]
B
I can remember some stuff from when I was 11, maybe 12, but I'm not. I kind of. I kind of lost time there. I don't really know what happened. I. I think I was just not really too into the whole, you know, get that essay done thing. But.
- [46:31]
A
That is amazing.
- [46:33]
B
Yeah. And I mean, you know, also, I. I would say ChatGPT wasn't around then, too.
- [46:39]
A
God dang it.
- [46:40]
B
But I. I don't know. It wasn't. It. Didn't it start in 2022?
- [46:46]
A
Did. When did chat GPT come out? Probably around then. 22. 22. Yeah.
- [46:53]
B
There were no. There were no AI detectors back then, so, you know, when people use that to submit their work, you know, they'd have, like, their teacher say, you're really good at writing. Did you ever consider, you know, majoring in, you know, something that you. And it was a. Just kind of. It's really funny, but I mean. Yeah. So, I mean, I've kind of come back there over the. Over the time my dad got back, I've just been kind of taking care of my brother and also doing, you know, online school and.
- [47:26]
A
And what do you want to do? Let's say dad comes home and dad takes back over Michael and life kind of goes back to normal. What does your future look like? Do you know yet?
- [47:40]
B
I'm not too involved. I mean, I like golf. That's really the only sport that I. I like doing I don't want to do. I don't want to play football because I. One takes a lot of talent to get into, like, the NFL or something. But also, I don't really want the, you know, like the CTE there too. But, you know, with. I. I like golf. You know, maybe I. I'm still practicing on how to hit a driver good.
- [48:05]
A
But, hey, golf, you can get great at. I love golf.
- [48:10]
B
You can either get great at and stay great, or you can get. Or you can try to get great and just stay bad.
- [48:16]
A
Exactly. Hey, I love that we'll have to go play golf together. I will go play golf with you.
- [48:22]
B
I tried to. I knew Smyrna Beach. There was this. It's a really good green. It's like a 18 hole. Then there's like a one hole with a river. I think I lost like four balls there.
- [48:34]
A
That sounds like me.
- [48:35]
B
You know, you just want to get.
- [48:38]
A
To be a kid.
- [48:39]
B
Yeah. So basically, after high school, I. I want to go into the Naval Academy and I want to. I want to be a Marine. I want to fly in the Marine Corps and kind of. I want to also be a pilot when I grow up.
- [48:55]
A
Good for you.
- [48:58]
B
Just kind of see how that future goes. But you can do it.
- [49:02]
A
You can do anything you set your mind to. You can. And I just want to say, you showing up, doing. Showing up, fighting for your dad, fighting for Michael, your voice means more than you will ever know. And Michael's battle and your dad's battle and showing up and doing this podcast and how well spoken you are and knowledgeable, it's absolutely insane. And I will do whatever I can to. To help and bring awareness to it. And we gotta get your dad home. We gotta get Michael the care that he needs. So I give you my word, I'm gonna help you. And you're just amazing. So thank you for showing up and doing this.
- [49:46]
B
Yeah, thank you. You know, you asked me the first time, could I get a hug?
- [49:52]
A
Yeah.
- [49:52]
B
Yeah.
- [49:53]
A
Come on. Oh, I'm so proud of you.
- [49:58]
B
Thank you. I mean, it. It really. With everything that's been going on, I. I think all of the. The hope from the start and everything, you know, we. You know, for example, when he's been incarcerated for the last two weeks, you know, I mean, we submitted and basically the reason why he's there is because they said he didn't give them, like, tax documents, which he gave April. April 21st. And then also they think, here's the crazy thing. They think he's hiding assets behind me and My brother's trust, they think he's hiding millions of dollars from them and trying to disclose that and trying to keep all that for himself. Offered to dissolve the trust. So you guys can see everything offered to even Albert Bustamonte, who is a co or is a trustee on the trust. Me and Michaels. And, you know, he's a pillar of his community. He's a respectable lawyer. He is. I mean, if you're going to take anyone's word as credible, it's going to be his.
- [51:10]
A
Yeah.
- [51:10]
B
And the judge, he saw his affidavit, literally also dismissed that one, too. Doesn't think it's credible or whatever dad.
- [51:19]
A
Wants to offer and give transparency. Any questions asked here, let's. From what I'm being told, he wants to be as transparent as possible.
- [51:32]
B
He literally. After Friday, I think it was like, Monday, Tuesday, after Friday, on. It was August, maybe, because there was.
- [51:41]
A
A hearing, because they violated his probation. So that's why you had a hearing, correct.
- [51:45]
B
August 14th, August 13th. Well, they had the. He. Well, they didn't. They. They actually didn't have a hearing. Well, he. He had a hearing in July. It was July 11 or July 16, with Judge Roy B. Dolan Jr. And in that hearing, that was for the violations, again with Joel Butler, which they essentially said it wasn't looking good. Right. The lawyers didn't think it was. It was a very scary situation. They wanted him. They. They said, hey, you don't have to go to jail. You don't have to take the chance. But we want you on an ankle monitor for nine months to track you, and your curfew is seven to seven, and you have to pay $10,000 in restitution each month. And you have to be our. You have to literally do everything we say at every single second. And if you disobey, then you're gonna be treated like a hard criminal, you know? And so, you know, my dad. I mean, looking at me and Michael didn't want to take that chance, so he. He had to accept it. And it was about late. Late July, early August, where they started complaining about the tax documents and trust stuff. Now, trust, no issue can dissolve that at the snap of a finger. If you guys really want to see everything, right. The tax documents, they had that back in April 21st. My dad sent that to them. Two probation officers, Jewel Butler, and then I think a supervisor, Todd Schaefer, or he might be a probation officer. I'm not too sure on his title, but he sent them IRS documents showing exactly what they really wanted. And my dad kind of did that. It was kind of like a. My dad sent it and when he. When they wanted this stuff, he kind of didn't recall it. Right. It was like, I mean, he's bit. He. I mean, 20 hour sessions where he has to code and if he stops then stuff is going to get messed up.
- [53:57]
A
Yeah.
- [53:58]
B
And so you can't expect someone to remember every single thing. Right. And so they filed a warrant for his arrest. Judge literally signed it the next day. The officer that was in charge of arresting him, literally, my dad was talking with him. And the officer gave him as much time as possible to turn himself in. Because even the officer thought, I don't know why they're arresting you, man, this is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. And it's crazy.
- [54:26]
A
All because they said they didn't have the documents or the documents weren't up to par.
- [54:31]
B
They said they didn't have them. Which they did.
- [54:33]
A
Which they did. You saw where there was an email where your dad had sent them. And because the probation officer, who's making close to nothing and who is at work from this time to this time, half the time doesn't even show up to work is normally how these probation officers work. Just because the probation officer didn't have it, then your dad was the liar.
- [54:56]
B
Right. And I mean, they didn't take into account that they literally had it. And he got a warrant out for his arrest. They tried to squash that. Didn't work. And when he went to, you know, kind of, it was like a small. It was like a small hearing, like deciding whether or not he's actually gonna go or not. And, you know, they. You're gonna go in. We, you know, and so after he was in, it was like on. It was like three days later on Tuesday, he was going to have a. He was gonna have a hearing. And that's when they said. That's when they brought up concerns about two affidavits. That one. One of which was affidavit from Marianne Freeman, which kind of stated it was his accountant. She's not a cpa, but you don't have to be one to do that stuff.
- [55:44]
A
Yeah.
- [55:45]
B
And it said, he doesn't have the text on documents you guys are wanting. He literally does not. We're in the process of literally getting them. You just have to wait. They found that to be. They. They want. They were trying to accuse my dad of falsifying it. Right. And then literally. So we had. We had to continue it. We had. We had to file for continuation On Friday, that's when kind of everything got really weird because she testified through zoom, because she's in Michigan, I believe.
- [56:23]
A
Okay.
- [56:23]
B
And she literally testified that the tax documents, he doesn't have them, she signed it, everything. And they find her uncredible and are saying that she does not, like, don't find her credible. And now they're trying to get him. I don't know what their plan is there, but I think they're trying to still say that he falsified the affidavits.
- [56:49]
A
And my thing is, let's be real here, he spent time in federal prison. He spent years. He was finally getting his freedom back. Michael is being cared for. He got custody of Michael back almost immediately. You're being cared for. He's not going to do anything to jeopardize that. He's, he's not. And that's something to point out. And the website you said that people can go to is usinjustice.com.
- [57:19]
B
Yes.
- [57:20]
A
And there they can see, read the story, court documents, full transparency on this site, correct?
- [57:28]
B
Yes. And so after that hearing, which he obviously lost because the judge was in it, it's, it looks very personal, honestly. It looks like he looked at my dad's background and immediately assumed this guy never changed. And which is kind of really weird to say because I don't understand how you look at his two sons in the courtroom, you know, they're ready to fight for him and say, you know, he never changed or whatever. But anyway, that, that's, that's the judges just discretion and they're allowed to make that choice just whether or not they want, want to, you know, accept it or not. And so he went back into jail. And here's where things get a little bit weird. The judge made a point about the victims of the crimes or the non, I should say, just, I wouldn't even really call them crimes. Just non violent financial, you know, crimes.
- [58:26]
A
But mishaps, whatever.
- [58:28]
B
Yeah. And so the, the, the victims. And okay, so he owes around $8 million in restitution right now. Okay. We make an offer to the prosecutors, get them out of jail, put them back on supervisor lease. You guys will get full disclosure of the business. You guys want to think he's hiding stuff. You guys can get full disclosure, $80,000 a month of restitution. That is an eight times increase from the 10,000amonth he was paying before. And because if you guys care about the victims, don't care about the victims, that's over a million dollars or $960,000 of restitution each year, which I, I don't understand how that is how you look at that and think, yeah, we're going to decline that. But yeah, so they did. They declined that.
- [59:21]
A
That's. And that's not in the best interest of victims of any continuing to house him. First off, you're wasting taxpayer dollars. The victims aren't getting repaid. You're suffering, your brother's suffering, Your dad's sitting here saying, listen, I may have made a mistake, I served my time, let's make it right. Honorable veteran, like everyone. I've said if everyone makes. Everyone makes mistakes. If the worst thing you've ever done was put out on your front porch for everyone to see, you'd probably be really afraid right now. And so he's sitting here trying to make it right, offering solutions, and the government still does not want to listen.
- [60:10]
B
Right. And so here's where things get a little, little odd. So last. So about August 22, we file a motion for reconsideration, right of detention. So to just to get him out. It was an emergency motion reconsideration because the civil rights are being violated. That's what makes an emergency. Maybe, maybe you guys don't want to call it an emergency because he has a highly disabled son at home that needs urgent medical care and it just needs his dad back. His only source of really anything. If you guys don't want to call that emergency, you guys don't have to call that emergency. But the real. His civil rights are being violated. That's an emergency. And not only did the judge respond within hours, but it was. Not only was it a. Threatened to sanction the lawyer that filed it, Ryan Vecchio, because he called in an emergency. Judge doesn't think it's an emergency. But he, the judge, you know, literally just said. Because the emails. Right, because the emails of the reason why he's in there were dated April 21. He doesn't count it as new evidence. He's not going to take it into account. Which makes absolutely no sense. He doesn't. My dad didn't have access to his Gmail to give to you because you guys detained him.
- [61:36]
A
Yes, exactly.
- [61:38]
B
Say whatever you want. He is as busy as a person could possibly get. He's not going to remember every single thing that has been done. So did not take that into account. Is crazy. But he also, which I, which might I say, he has a advocation hearing. Something along the lines of that. But for the violations that are now pending against him as well, which are 10 violations from Molly Crawford, which is. Which was his P.O. over the span of 16 days. 10 violations.
- [62:16]
A
That's absolutely insane.
- [62:17]
B
And so now, the weirdest part about this is not only are those 10 violations, but on July 8, he sent an email to Chief Parker Anderson. Not just Chief Parker Anderson, but a middle district of Florida. But a complaint, a formal complaint about Molly Crawford. Because in his messages, you know, when he needs to reschedule, he's, like, texting her, hey, can we please reschedule? Can we please reschedule this? It's getting in the way of Michael's treatments. She wouldn't answer.
- [62:53]
A
Yeah. And because that probably wasn't within her.
- [62:56]
B
Right.
- [62:56]
A
You know.
- [62:57]
B
Right. But she would only answer when she. You know, when she felt like it, when it was. When it was good for her.
- [63:02]
A
Yeah.
- [63:03]
B
And. But. So that was July 8th. Chief Parker Anderson replied to him on July 9th, saying, I want you to. This is essentially a receipt that he's. That he's looking at it and that he is going to thoroughly review this. On July 10, all those violations, those 10 violations are filed against him, including three dated literally July 9, the day after that complaint. If that's not clear. And blatant retaliation, I don't understand what could possibly. I. That is as close to dates that could be filed as possible.
- [63:44]
A
Yeah.
- [63:45]
B
And. Yeah.
- [63:46]
A
So I think that. And getting everything, like, you have, like, down to a T and how you've pointed out, like, the documents you've sent me are absolutely insane on just how descriptive they are. It's amazing. So getting that in the right hands is going to be key for moving forward. And I. It's crazy to hear the stories. I hear them, it seems like every day now of the corruption and all that. I ask people that are listening or watching, is this kid right here is 16 years old. Regardless of what you believe parents did or did not do, there are still children that are suffering. And their rehabilitation is a real thing. People can make a mistake. It doesn't mean you have to suffer for it for the rest of your life. And what the government should not do is prohibit you from any sort of rehabilitation or prohibit you from making a wrong. Right. And that's what I see is happening now. So we're gonna fight. We're gonna get your paperwork. Hopefully, I'm gonna make as much noise as I can possibly make because you deserve that. Michael deserves that. And we just ask that justice be served in every circumstance. So I'm gonna keep fighting. And I think you found a new friend. I found a new friend. Thank you for coming.
- [65:18]
D
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