do any get suspicious when they come in here? absolutely. i ve had people tell me i must be a cop because i m too tall, my teeth are too white i i m in too good a shape. they sometimes ask you about drug use to see if you know street lingo. a lot of people get really suspicious. but they will come back? absolutely. and take the money. after guys like todd are essentially caught on camera admitting their crime, they are allowed to go out and continue committing these crimes because the police want to get as many people and as much evidence as possible. to build a case. they want to infiltrate this criminal world and let the investigation run as long as it continues to be productive without the danger. eventually after a year when
the storefront operated for the better part of a year. some 40 criminals, 100 crimes. very successful. once the cops sit down the front, they now have to stage this massive operation to round up all the people they have caught committing crimes. tell whitney i love her. and they have to do it almost instantaneously, because word travels fast. in this community. they have to have dozens of officers sweep in at the same time at multiple locations. they bring them all in to be interrogated. some we had a chance to talk to as they were coming in. some we had a chance to talk to after they had been interviewed. hey, todd, how are you doing? we re doing a story on an investigation conducted by vegas metro police. okay. there s evidence that you
a storefront operation, fencing operation and get word out on the streets this is the place to bring stolen goods, cars, guns to counterfeit money, have the criminals bring in more criminals and essentially identify this huge pool of bad people and catch them in a sting operation and off the street. a nightmare. todd is a pretty significant player in this operation. pretty much he s one of those narratives throughout the investigation. he s there for a long time and brings in a lot of vehicles. one dude i was in prison with, did a little time with him, drove the mustang, cobra. is he here yet? i have two malibus. todd comes in with a virtual used car lot. he s got a chevy, a scion, a
they have seen themselves. they are behind bars. they are a little less brave now. i think in many cases they have been locked up long enough to clean themselves up from whatever drug they might have been using and have a clearer look at things and realize how messed up they are and how they messed up. they come to this realization in realtime. it s a very emotional moment. listen, todd, i appreciate you talking to me. how much trouble am i in? todd pleads guilty to several charges, burglary and possession
few more questions. maybe it won t be a storefront. maybe it will be some other type of operation we do. make no mistake, we ll be doing it. as for j leon r., he may not have admitted to me he stole the vehicles. he pleads guilty and is sentenced to 10 years to life behind bars. in watching the raw video of our investigations following las vegas police department, two things struck me. one, it really gives a sense that the police are out there doing more than just reacting to criminal activity. they are proactive. there are criminals out there like todd and rusty and j leon r. who consider their job to commit crimes looking for opportunities every day. the age old tale of cat and mouse, cops and robbers.