Larry Lawton | ||||||||||
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Born | Lawrence Robert Lawton October 3, 1961 North Hempstead, New York, U.S. | |||||||||
Criminal status | Released from the federal prison system on August 24, 2007 | |||||||||
Conviction(s) | Interfering with the interstate commerce under Hobbs Act through robbery | |||||||||
Criminal penalty | Four concurrent 11-year federal imprisonment sentences | |||||||||
Imprisoned at | FCI Schuylkill, USP Lewisburg, FTC Oklahoma City, USP Atlanta, FCI Coleman, FCI Jesup, FCI Edgefield, FCI Yazoo, FCI Forrest City, FCI Tallahassee, and Riker's Island | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
Channel | ||||||||||
Years active | 2019–present | |||||||||
Genre | Entertainment | |||||||||
Subscribers | 1.48 million [1] | |||||||||
Total views | 198.6 million [1] | |||||||||
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Last updated: November 27, 2024 | ||||||||||
Website | realitycheckprogram |
Lawrence Robert Lawton (born October 3, 1961) is an American ex-convict, author, paralegal, motivational speaker, and YouTuber. Lawton gained notoriety for committing a string of jewelry store robberies along the Atlantic Seaboard prior to his arrest in 1996. He spent 12 years in prison, and once released, began a career as a motivational speaker, life coach, and author. [3] [4]
In 2007, he started the Reality Check Program to help educate at-risk youths on the consequences of breaking the law. [5] [6] He has acted as a spokesman for prisoners and prisoner issues, [7] been a vocal advocate for prison reform, and made appearances in the media as an expert on robberies. [8]
Lawton was born in North Hempstead, New York on October 3, 1961. His first encounter with organized crime was through his father, a metal worker who delivered bribes to the New York mafia. [9] In grades one through six, Lawton served as an altar boy at St. Francis de Chantal in The Bronx, [10] where he was sexually abused by a Catholic priest. [9] Lawton attended Intermediate IS 192 and Lehman High School, but did not graduate. In August 1979, he joined the Coast Guard [11] and took part in the Mariel boatlift. [10] In 1983, having earned his GED, he left the Coast Guard and began engaging in criminal activity, mostly loan sharking and bookmaking. [12]
Lawton executed his first robbery when he was 28, an inside job to collect insurance money. [13] He then began robbing jewelry stores along the Atlantic Coast, [5] using his contacts within the Gambino crime family to fence the stolen merchandise. [10] [14] At one point, he purchased an Italian pizza restaurant in North Lauderdale, Florida, which he later burned down as part of an insurance fraud. [9]
In May 1994, three males robbed a jewelry store in Daytona Beach, Florida, netting $500,000 (over $1,000,000 in 2024) [15] worth of gold and diamonds. [16] The robbers had dropped off jewelry for repairs, and later returned to rob the store. [17] Then in October 1994, four individuals robbed a jewelry store in Palm Bay, Florida. The two store owners were bound while two individuals robbed the store and a third acted as a lookout and the other as the getaway driver. [16] The robbers took $480,000 ($910,600.81 in 2022) [18] worth of gold and diamonds making it the biggest robbery in the city's history. [16] [19] Local police believed there was a connection between this robbery and a robbery that took place in May 1994 in Daytona Beach, and contacted the FBI. [16] [19]
In 1996, there was a robbery of a jeweler in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania. The robbers had been there the day before and returned asking about a ring. The robbers drew what police at the time believed were firearms, and restrained the store owner. The store owner managed to break free and grabbed a .38 caliber pistol and fired five shots at the robbers as they fled. [20] [21] One bullet narrowly missed Lawton, but struck his brother. [10] Lawton later said that he used a BB gun during the robbery. [12] Afterwards, another jewelry store in Lower Bucks County became suspicious of a person they believed was casing the place for a future robbery. They reported the car's license plate, which linked the car to Lawton. [22] Lawton was arrested by the FBI on December 2, 1996, in Florida and charged with the Fairless Hills armed robbery. [23] Fingerprint evidence connected Lawton to the October 1994 Palm Bay heist, and he was charged with that crime as well. [19]
Lawton is believed to have hit around 20 to 25 jewelry stores, [13] stealing a self-estimated total of around $15–18 million worth of high-value items, including watches, diamonds, and other gems. [24] [25] Lawton later claimed that he was the biggest jewel thief of the 1980s and 90s operating within the United States of America. [5]
Lawton was offered a three-year sentence in exchange for disclosing his accomplices but did not take the deal. [12] He was sentenced for racketeering and robbery and spent 11 years in prison before being released in 2007. [26] He received an additional sentence in 2002 for giving false witness. [12] While in prison, Lawton earned a paralegal qualification and became a gang mediator. [27] He was incarcerated in many prisons during his sentence, which included Jesup in Georgia, Riker's Island in New York, Edgefield in South Carolina, and Yazoo City in Mississippi. [12] [27] While recounting his prison experiences he said: "I saw inmates stabbed and friends die" and "I saw young men raped and pimped out as prostitutes for other inmates." [28] Another time he said: "I had my arms pinned down, and I was beaten and peed on — by the guards. I was kicked. My ribs were broken. I was beaten once a month." [12]
While in prison in 2003, Lawton was sent to solitary confinement for 27 days as punishment. Lawton filed a lawsuit against the prison and staff alleging that they violated his rights. The suit was later dismissed. [28] Lawton says he regrets his time spent in prison, because he missed out on seeing his children grow up; his grandmother died, and his father became afflicted with Alzheimer's disease while he was inside. [29]
After release he went to Palm Bay, Florida and started LL Research and Consulting and met a business partner. [12] He also founded the Reality Check program which aims to show teens the consequences of a criminal life. [30] [31] The program is four hours long. [27] Lawton does not hold a degree in child psychology or criminology. [12] High school students can use the time spent in the program towards the 75 hours of community service required for the Bright Futures Scholarship Program. [26]
Law enforcement officials and judges have supported the program. [32] In 2009, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office spent $4500 on 500 DVDs from the Reality Check program. [33] The DVDs contained condensed versions of Lawton's program and were 67 minutes long. In 2009 the Rockledge Florida police used the DVDs as part of a community policing project with the money to buy the DVDs procured through asset forfeiture. [34] By 2010, Lawton had shipped 10,000 DVDs across the country. [29] In 2013, Lawton was made an honorary police officer by the Lake St. Louis, Missouri Police Department due to his work after prison. [32] [35] He was the first ex-con to ever become an honorary police officer. [32] The Lake St. Louis police chief praised Larry's message about the consequences of going to prison and said it is not a scared straight program, noting that Lawton said "fear doesn't have a lasting impact." [35] Lawton and the police chief later appeared before United States Congress in recognition of the program. [24] [36]
The superintendent of student services at Brevard Public Schools declined to use the program and questioned its effectiveness: "[w]hile the program is well-organized and well-intentioned, it does not follow the scientific evidence-based research guidelines". [12]
Lawton also founded the Reality Check Foundation, which is a 501(C)(3) charity that includes a mentoring program, and an annual golf outing. [37] [38] It also hosts an annual bowling tournament. [39]
Lawton is an advocate for prisoners and their rights, and comments on the justice system. [40] [7] [11] In 2013, the Brevard County Jail re-introduced chain gangs as a pilot project with the goal of deterring crime. Lawton was critical of the move, saying that "[c]hain gangs send a bad message about [the US]." Instead he proposed a better use of law enforcement resources would be to "help inmates with drug addiction." [4] He was critical of Brevard County stopping letters to inmates in 2013. He said that some of the recipients could be innocent. [41] Other issues he is concerned with include prison conditions as well as post-release debt loads and their influence on unemployed ex-convicts. [42] Lawton has also shown concern over the prevalence of fentanyl-laced heroin, noting that in the past dealers had tried to sell pure heroin without any additives. [43]
In 2017, he appeared in a middle school in Havelock, North Carolina to explain his prison experiences. His appearance was part of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. [44] [31]
Lawton has made many media appearances. He has appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart , Christian Broadcasting Network , and Fox News . [29] Often he appears discussing crimes in the media as an expert on robberies. [8] [13] In 2010, Lawton filmed the pilot and sizzle reel for Lawton's Law, a reality show based on his work with at-risk youth. [45] He also hosted a local talk radio show. [12] In 2012, Lawton self-published Gangster Redemption, an autobiography co-written with Peter Golenbock. [10] [11] The 367-page book covers his early life, his string of crimes, and his post-release career. [10]
In 2019, he made a video with Vanity Fair where he analyzed fictional robberies from films such as The Italian Job and Heat . [46] Lawton has a YouTube channel, and he has made videos analyzing heists in movies and video games such as Grand Theft Auto V ; he also plays Prison Architect . [46] [47]
The Great Train Robbery was the robbery of £2.61 million from a Royal Mail train travelling from Glasgow to London on the West Coast Main Line in the early hours of 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn, near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England.
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A gentleman thief, gentleman burglar, lady thief, or phantom thief is a stock character in fiction. A gentleman or lady thief is characterised by impeccable manners, charm, courtesy, and the avoidance of physical force or intimidation to steal, and often has inherited wealth. They steal not only to gain material wealth but also for the thrill of the act itself, which is often combined in fiction with correcting a moral wrong, selecting wealthy targets, or stealing only particularly rare or challenging objects.
James Burke, also known as "Jimmy the Gent", was an American gangster and Lucchese crime family associate who is believed to have organized the 1978 Lufthansa heist, the largest cash robbery in American history at the time. He was believed to be responsible for the deaths of those involved in the months after the robbery.
"The Incredible Jewel Robbery" was an episode of General Electric Theater, broadcast by CBS on March 8, 1959. It was the first appearance of the three Marx Brothers together in the same scene since A Night in Casablanca in 1946. They had previously appeared in individual scenes in The Story of Mankind in 1957, and in pairs in Love Happy in 1949. "Jewel Robbery" would be their last joint TV appearance.
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Jack Roland Murphy, known as "Murph the Surf" or "Murf the Surf", was convicted of murder in 1969. He was also involved in the biggest jewel heist in American history, the 1964 burglary of the jewel collection of New York's American Museum of Natural History. Murphy is also known for being a surfing champion, musician, author, and artist.
The Pink Panthers are an international jewel thief network responsible for a number of robberies and thefts described as some of the most audacious in the history of organized crime. The organization has roughly 800 core members, many of whom are ex-soldiers with extensive military and paramilitary backgrounds. Both women and men play an equal part in the structure of the organization. The organization's membership mostly consists of Serbian and Montenegrin citizens, who are believed to be Bosnian War veterans making use of their military experience for criminal activity. The organization was named by Interpol after The Pink Panther series of crime comedy films.
Bruce Richard Reynolds was an English criminal who masterminded the 1963 Great Train Robbery. At the time it was Britain's largest robbery, netting £2,631,684, equivalent to £69 Million today. Reynolds spent five years on the run before being sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment in 1969. He was released in 1978. He also wrote three books and performed with the band Alabama 3, for whom his son, Nick, plays.
The Pierre hotel robbery was a January 2, 1972 robbery at The Pierre in New York City. The robbery netted $3 million, and was organized by Samuel Nalo; Robert "Bobby" Comfort, an associate of the Rochester Crime Family; and Christie "the Tic" Furnari, an associate of the Lucchese Crime Family. The heist was carried out by several of Furnari's gang burglars. This robbery would later be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest, most successful hotel robbery in history.
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Jewel Robbery is a 1932 American pre-Code romantic comedy heist film, directed by William Dieterle and starring William Powell and Kay Francis. It is based on the 1931 Hungarian play Ékszerrablás a Váci-utcában by Ladislas Fodor and its subsequent English adaptation, Jewel Robbery by Bertram Bloch.
The Graff Diamonds robbery took place on 6 August 2009 when two men posing as customers entered the premises of Graff Diamonds in New Bond Street, London and stole jewellery worth nearly £40 million. It was believed to be the largest ever gems heist in Britain at the time, and the second largest British robbery after the £53 million raid on a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent, in 2006. The robbers' haul totalled 43 items of jewellery, consisting of rings, bracelets, necklaces and wristwatches. One necklace alone has been reported as being worth more than £3.5m. Britain's previous largest jewellery robbery also took place at Graff's, in 2003.
Elmer H. Inman was an American criminal, bank robber, jewel thief and Depression-era outlaw. At one time considered Oklahoma's "Public Enemy No. 1", he was a member of the Kimes-Terrill Gang and associated with Herman Barker and Wilbur Underhill, Jr. throughout the early-1930s.
Joseph Jerome "Jerry" Scalise is a Chicago mobster and a high-ranking member of the Chicago Outfit criminal organization. He is most known for stealing the Marlborough diamond in London in 1980, and also for serving as a technical advisor on the 2009 film Public Enemies.
On 18 February 2013, eight masked gunmen in two cars with police markings stole approximately €38,000,000 worth of diamonds from a Swiss-bound Fokker 100 operated by Helvetic Airways on the apron at Brussels Airport, Belgium, just before 20:00 CET. The heist was accomplished without a single shot being fired.
The Cannes jewel heist was an armed robbery at the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in Cannes, a city on the French Riviera. The thief stole gemstones and watches ultimately valued at $136 million. .
In April 2015, an underground safe deposit facility in Hatton Garden, London, owned by Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd., was burgled.
On 25 November 2019, royal jewellery was stolen from the Green Vault museum within Dresden Castle in Dresden, Saxony, Germany. The stolen items included the 49-carat Dresden White Diamond, the diamond-laden breast star of the Polish Order of the White Eagle which belonged to the King of Poland, a hat clasp with a 16-carat diamond, a diamond epaulette, and a diamond-studded hilt containing nine large and 770 smaller diamonds, along with a matching scabbard. The missing items were of great cultural value to the State of Saxony and were described as priceless; other sources estimate the total value at about €1 billion. However, in the years following the burglary, more accurate estimates place the total value of the stolen items at around €113 million.
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