Harvey Guillén
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
They go to movies, concerts, and dinners.
They hold hands walking down the street.
For a guy who spent 30 years pretending to be someone else, this must feel like breathing for the first time.
Except there's a problem.
They don't just want to be themselves.
They want to live fabulously.
Mercedes in the driveway, designer clothes, Michelin star restaurants, and that kind of lifestyle doesn't come easy when you're starting over in your 30s.
So when the money runs out, when the bills pile up, when reality threatens the life he's always dreamt of, Steven does what he's always done.
He lies, he invents, and he becomes whoever he needs to be to survive.
First, he exaggerates his credentials on job applications.
And when that doesn't work, Stephen starts running insurance scams.
He fakes slip and fall accidents and sells counterfeit Rolex watches.
The schemes get bigger as he gets more confident.
And it works.
Well, for a while.
But in 1990, Stephen gets caught, convicted of fraud, and sentenced to six months in jail.
Six months, that's it.
If Stephen had just done his time and walked away clean, none of what comes next would have happened.
But Stephen spent his whole life hiding.
Now that he's finally living openly, he can't stand the thought of going back into a cage.