Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Inside the Mind of America’s Most Notorious Car Thief | Skinny Keem
07 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
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Start your free trial today at shopify.com slash win. I can make $50,000 a week because I'm bringing Bentleys, Porsches, Ferraris. I've net worth them $150 million. God can strike me down right now. I had lawyers. I had brain surgeons. I had nurses. All these people was buying the cars because it's good money. I used to be a big stealer. If I couldn't get it, I'm stealing it.
So I would go in the corner stores. If my mom wouldn't give it to me, I'm stealing it. So this one time I went in the corner store, I wanted some cookies. And I picked the cookies up my arm sleeve. I used to steal, but I slotted up my arm sleeve. And the people caught me.
They chased me all the way home, stood at the corner, looked around the corner, seen what house I went in, came back later on, knocked on my door and told my mom. My mom beat me, but I was like, I'm hungry. I just wanted to get something. How old were you? I had to be like seven. Seven.
Chapter 2: How did Skinny Keem start stealing cars?
Because, yeah, it was around seven because I seen my first sister at seven. So... That wasn't bad. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, so I would just jump right in. I came out of nowhere. It was like seven. It was the summer of... It had to be 86, 87. So it was two little boys in the store. And one of them name was Marcus Yates. So I don't know if somebody came in and tried to rob the store or not.
They was in there playing a video game. I came to get the cigarettes. And I left out the store. And as I was leaving out the store, two men was coming in. And something happened. They shot the store up. And a little boy got shot in the head. I came back, I heard it, I came back to the store and I seen him laying on the floor and the was coming from under the door.
Back then it was, they was like, I guess they was warring with each other. It was like the Black Mafia family, well, JBM, Junior Black Mafia. And I think the Jamaicans. This is in Philadelphia. Yeah, it's in Philadelphia. So everybody was on pins and needles about that back then. It was a lot of killing going on back then. But we stayed on the lower block. My block, it wasn't too much going on.
You know, you had the drug dealers and stuff. And I never went swimming or nothing. I used to stay on the block and watch all the hustlers. Any neighborhood I went to, I stayed on the block, stayed back and watched all the hustlers. Because I knew I wanted to get money when I got older. So I would go to the store for them. They would all be nice to me and cool with me.
And I'd just sit out there and watch them. I never went swimming. I never played basketball. I used to just ride my bike and be out there with the hustlers. Did you get in trouble in high school? I mean, you said, are you going to school? Stopped going to school. When? Middle school. Okay. Yeah, I stopped. I mean, I would go periodically, but I really stopped, and I was rapping.
So the only time I went to school was to rap, to, like, battle somebody, because I was kind of popular on the rapping. So I wouldn't even go to learn. I didn't. I didn't really learn how to read and write or, like, really count money until I started moving the cars. Right. Because it was so much. So one of my African friends, he kind of taught me. He's like, all right, 2520s is 500, 50 is, yeah.
You got to at least know how to count money. money. Yeah. I mean, it was like, cause I wasn't really dealing with large sums. So I, I just was rapping. I thought my whole life was going to be rapping. Right. Yeah. And you know, you're still going to need to know how to count money and make sure that people aren't, these guys are each other or left and right.
I, you know, my buddy Zach is, he's a guy that comes on. Sometimes we were in prison together. We both taught GED. Yeah. Black guy. Super funny. We were teaching GED one time. And he's telling this guy that we're teaching, and this was the SLD, like the, you know what I'm saying, the slow, the guys that weren't going to get their GED. But they had to, so you did what you called life skills.
So we were really teaching life skills, how to count money, how to keep a checking account, that kind of stuff. And the guy, one guy was like, you know, Zach's going, you know, like, what? Whatever his name was, T-Dog or something. He's like, bro, what are you doing? He's like, you've got to at least have to learn how to count money. And he's like, I mean, man, I ain't getting no job.
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Chapter 3: What was the turning point in Skinny Keem's criminal activities?
I'm like, this is what I'm doing. I am really him. I'm really doing this. I'm doing it. And they didn't believe me. They still locked me up, but they still didn't believe me, though. My thing was I started renting cars. I always had to have a car. I started renting cars. And I would see other people in the car, I mean, other people in the neighborhood, and they had nice cars.
And I used to always be like, where the fuck is they getting these cars from? But they were stolen. They was from off the lot. So what I did was I go back down to Logan, and I run into one of my homies, and they stealing cars. This before I even got in the game on it. I just wanted something to ride around in. They stealing cars and probably selling them for like $200, $300.
So this is in 2000, 2001. Yeah, this is in 2000, 2001. So they stealing cars. But he was doing it back in like 98 and shit like that. But I ain't really paying no attention because I ain't know how to drive. I ain't learn how to drive until I was 20. Okay. So I went back there and we started buying stolen cars. We started buying them for like $200 and shit like that.
And just ride them around the neighborhood and No, that shit. So later on, I'm going to just tell you how this shit started. Okay. So I got out of jail in 2006. What were you in jail for? The drugs. All right, so I was in jail for an old drug charge from 2006. I think 2000. Yeah, from an old drug charge in 2000. And they kept on being on my ass about it. Because I never went to court.
Well, that seems reasonable. Yeah, so I never went to court and shit, so... I finally go to, well, they finally grabbed me because they was talking about some shit. So they come, they surround the car. I'm driving one day and I noticed this cop behind me, but I ain't really paying no attention to him. So I started digging up my nose, just thinking that they going to ride by.
pulled me over, and then when he come to the car, I give him my little brother name. And then he goes back to the car. The only reason why they knew who I was is because I gave him my little brother name, but I gave him the same address as the house that the warrant was for. Okay. They connected it. Yeah. And my picture came up.
So all these cops just came out of nowhere and shit, pulled me out the car, take me down to the roundhouse. They questioned me for, like, three days. I don't know what's going on. I'm telling them, like, I don't know what's going on. They're questioning you about a matter that you don't know anything about. Yeah, that I ain't know nothing about. So they let me out, and they come back.
They come back, I think, like, six months later or something like that, and they lock me up on a warrant. They just lock me up. So I'm in court. A warrant for what? The drug charge? A warrant for the drug charge. So I'm in court and I think they about to let me go. And then the judge yell out, he wanted downstairs for me. And I'm like, hold up. I ain't nobody.
So my mom and my baby mom was in the courtroom. And then so I knew it wasn't serious because they gave me a bail. They gave me a $25,000 bail, but they was trying to hold me in jail thinking that I wasn't going to pay the bail, which I didn't. I still didn't pay the bail. So I finally got up out of all of that. It wasn't no, I ain't get charged with no nothing.
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Chapter 4: How did Skinny Keem's operations expand over time?
So he took me to him, and he let me meet him. And we start talking. We exchange numbers, and I ask him, what do you want? And he says they really want Range Rovers. So I got home. Who's they? The people overseas. Overseas? Yeah. Where? Do we find out that later or do you know now? Yeah, in Sierra Leone or Freetown. Oh, okay. So I had people from Africa, all countries. Is that South Africa?
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah, it's South Africa, right? So at this point, had they explained the operation to you? Like, hey, we're taking these cars and shipping them overseas? Or you just got... Somewhat, but yeah, I just figured it out. Yeah. Yeah. We did a... I should send you this. We did an episode on this guy with this New York City detective in the stolen, whatever they call it, stolen auto cars unit.
He worked there for like 20 years. His name was Vic Ferrari. He worked there for like 20 years and I did an episode on we did a couple episode on him He's got some hilarious storage, bro. You get a kick out of his Yeah, you definitely matter one of those tip talks got like five billion.
Yeah, cuz they they like to talk about that Yeah, well, this was a reason Mike Tyson's Mike Tyson's motorcycle was stolen and he was like part of finding it or they found it and They found it in pieces. Like, by the time they had a snitch that would call and be like, hey, listen. And he's like, he's out there stealing cars. He's doing shit.
He's like, but, you know, periodically he'd have some competition, whatever. Because that way you get to stay on the street and do whatever you're doing. He'd call up and be like, listen. you know, my guy so-and-so, yeah, he'd go, he just stole Mike Tyson's Ducati. Ducati? Is that right? Yeah, Ducati. Ducati. Bugatti's car. No, it's a Ducati. So, Ducati. Ducati, yeah, the motorcycle.
He said he just stole it. And they're like, all right, well, where is it? Because they think that's pretty cool, right? Like, we'll go get it. And he's like, where is it? Where is it? He's like, well, it's in boxes right now. They've already taken it out. He's like, what are you stealing? He's like, about an hour ago. And within an hour or two...
They had taken it, broken it apart, put it into boxes, and they're shipping it to, like, Haiti. So he said, I'll give you the container that they're bringing it, where they're bringing it. And they went there and they got it back. They said Tyson was pissed. He's because they, like, broke it all up. Yeah, he's like, well, what am I going to do with this? Yeah, that's what they do.
They chop his stuff down and send it over now. But, yeah, I'll send you the link to his videos because he's got a hilarious story. So so you meet that you meet the connect you kind of figure out they're kind of shipping these things and then He tells you this is basically we're looking for Range Rovers. Yeah Range Rovers Toyotas basically Yeah Foreign shit.
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Chapter 5: How did Skinny Keem manage to send $600,000 overseas?
the construction company. I sent the 600,000 cause everybody was trying to move their money out because the something just got hit and they took cars and all that. It came on the news. I remember because pay phones was still out and I got out the car.
I ran into the bar and I seen it on the news and I came outside on a pay phone and I called my connect off the pay phone and was like, yo, I don't know what's going on, but I just seen it on the news and,
and they just like yeah just lay low and nobody told on me though so i knew they was watching me so what i did was i sent everything i had i wanted to make it look like i was just flat broke i sent everything i had to an overseas thing to at least have a construction company john because i was getting the excavators okay dig the diamonds up all right so So how do you send $600,000 overseas?
You just like pack it up? You just have cash, right? Yeah, I just had cash.
Chapter 6: What led to Skinny Keem's fear of being arrested?
So you just pack it in a bag and suitcase and give it to someone? Yeah, take it to the... And so you're taking... They know what to do. They know what to do with the money. I didn't... I didn't know what to do with the money. I was scared. I thought I was about to go to jail for a long ass time. Just seeing it because I didn't know the game like that. I just knew that I could sell a car.
But when I seen them up on the news and they pointing out countries on the news, I'm like, oh, shit, I'm scared to death at this point. And then I get the call from the from the feds like, hey, they know who you are. And then I had a case with the city. So that $600,000 that I had, I didn't even care about it because I had a case. I was suing the prison system.
And that was supposed to have been for a million dollars. So I didn't care about the $600,000 because I just got the paper on, hey, this is what we're going for for the city. So I'm like, all right, I'm going to be cool. I'm going to just, you know, use that money. That didn't happen to me. I was going to say, it's virtually impossible to sue the government and get anything.
Yeah, I got $18,000 from them. They didn't give me no million dollars. That paper, yeah. So what I did was... I didn't have nothing. So I was messing with this girl. So I went and I stayed in her basement. Her aunt let me come stay in her basement because my mom was moving to Florida. And I wanted to stay back in Philly until things blew over. So I went to her house in Upper Darby.
I stayed in the basement. I did this shit for about nine months. I started going to school because I knew that the cops was watching me. I knew that they was on my ass. So I put on scrubs. And I put on a stethoscope. I got a book bag. And I got some of my girlfriend books, nursing books. And I started sneaking into her college, taking nursing classes. Okay.
The whole time the cops was, you know, trying to put a case on me. But they couldn't put none on me because they never seen me. I never was doing nothing. So I stayed away in that school for the nine months. I would still wear my flip-flops because it was still, it was kind of warm.
I would still wear my flip-flops and I would just get up every morning because her aunt didn't let me stay in the house during the day. So I couldn't just stay there all day long. So I had to find something to do. So I started getting on the bus with her and going to the school. And when she go to her class, I'll go to my class.
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Chapter 7: What happened during Skinny Keem's first arrest?
And I, how long did that, how long does that last? About nine months. Okay. And then that lasted about nine months. And then the city had gave me some money. And then I don't know if the recession was over. I don't know what the fuck was going on, but in 2010, it, it, it like reset. And then I started making way more money than I was the first. So what happened?
People, they, these guys came back. Yeah. Everybody came back from overseas. Everybody like fled the country because it was hot. Then they came back and they contacted me at first. I was like, no, cause I just got the little $10,000 and shit. I'm like, no, I'm gonna just figure out what I can do with this.
And then I burnt through that $10,000 and I was calling them like, all right, man, I'm back. And then I just went back on from there. I had got my own place. I just started coming up again. So what did you do? Go out and find the same group of guys you were working with before? Same group. Same group. I just rolled around. It was like, yo, I'm back. I'm back in business.
Everybody like, yeah, thank God, man. We was waiting for you. So, OK, so same thing. They start giving you orders. You start. Yeah, they start giving me orders and I started fulfilling the orders. And then I moved up. I moved up into Ridley, Ridley, PA, and my house got robbed. Somebody was watching me. Damn, the cops watch me. He was watching me. But it had to be somebody that I know.
Chapter 8: How did Skinny Keem's life change after the Disney deal?
Because anybody else would have killed me. I had made another million dollars by... So this was 2010. By the end of 2010, my girlfriend, she had put a place in her name for me and shit. And I had moved in there. And I was so oblivious to it because I gets the apartment with the big ass balcony. I mean, it had a big ass deck and you could see everything from the street.
So if you ride and pass my house, you could just wave to me and shit. And I'll be right there. So everybody, I think everybody just knew where I live at. And somebody just got bold. So one night I had went out to this little concert or something. They had to been watching me. Listen, this pillow is great. It's called Ghost Bed.
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So me, still oblivious to shit, I calls the cops on myself, basically. And I'm like, my house got robbed because my mind just go blank. And I tell them that I got robbed for the million dollars. Now I'm hot with the police. That's a bad idea. Bad idea. They took me and my girlfriend down to this one. I knew it was over.
They took me and my girlfriend down to the police station and fingerprinted us. And because they had a big safe, somebody must have seen me bringing a safe in because I bought the safe in on a big ass truck. I had to bring a safe in on the truck and shit. So the safe was big as shit. They took the safe out. I had cameras.
They said, them cameras, they didn't get one of them cameras that when I got, when I got in the house, it was like a big ass fireman X just sitting on a couch. Like we got you. Um, yeah, I was going to say, I knew a guy who these guys had been a part of a robbery and they'd gotten away with like $3 million. And, and what,
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