This Colombian Kid Stole Millions - The Juan Carlos Betancourt story

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Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast 9 min 1 speaker 8 chapters transcribed

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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Who is Juan Carlos Betancourt?

Narrator 0:00

So this little kid, he might be one of the best con artists I've ever seen. Let me show you. Now his name is Juan Carlos, and he lives in Colombia. And so far, he's had a really hard life. But Juan Carlos is about to do whatever it takes to succeed. So one day, he sets out to make that happen. And he heads to the local airport to catch a flight to Miami.

How did Juan Carlos make it to Miami?

Narrator 0:23

But little Juan Carlos, he can't afford a plane ticket. So he sneaks onto the tarmac and he climbs onto a cargo plane and he hides out in the wheel well. And he allegedly holds on real tight while the plane takes off and flies three and a half hours from Cali, Columbia to Miami, Florida. Then the plane lands and allegedly Juan Carlos falls out of the wheel well.

What story did Juan Carlos tell in Miami?

Narrator 0:46

And he just lays there on the tarmac, unconscious. And airport staff, they eventually find him. And he's shivering, and he's disoriented, and he's just a wreck. But he tells them, not that his name is Juan Carlos, but that his name is Guillermo, and that he's 13 and from Colombia, and that his parents had died, and that he doesn't have anyone else, so he fled to America. And his story just blows people away. Because they feel sorry for him. And so the local media, they start covering it. Then a police officer in the area, this guy, Lozano, he's driving home one day and he hears the story on the radio that they found this 13-year-old kid who had been hiding in the wheel well of a plane.

How did Juan Carlos live with Lozano's family?

Narrator 1:26

And Lozano is so moved, he goes and he volunteers to be Juan Carlos' temporary guardian while the state figures out what to do with him. So Juan Carlos goes and he lives with Lozano and his family. And this changes his life. Suddenly he's not living in poverty anymore. And this middle class lifestyle feels like wealth to him. And they've got all these nice things and so he tells himself that soon he's gonna have nice things too. And within a few weeks of living with Lozano's family, Juan Carlos starts stealing. And things around the house go missing. Plus, he's been disappearing for days at a time. And Lozano and his wife, they start thinking that something isn't adding up about this kid.

What was the truth about Juan Carlos's identity?

Narrator 2:07

Then, one day, they get a call. And it's the Colombian consulate, who had just gotten some important information. Turns out Juan Carlos isn't actually named Guillermo. He's named Juan Carlos. And he isn't some innocent kid. He's actually got a criminal record. And he isn't 13. He's actually 17. And his parents aren't dead. They're actually alive and well back in Colombia. And he probably didn't ride in the wheel well of that plane. It's more likely that he rode inside the plane with the cargo. And he just lied about it all because it made a better story. So Juan Carlos is just a little con artist trying to con his way into the United States so that he can have a better life. And so, bam, they immediately detain him and they deport him back to Colombia.

What scams did Juan Carlos try after being deported?

Narrator 2:56

Oh, but this isn't over for Juan Carlos. Because for a moment, he got a taste of a much better life. And he'll do anything to get that back. So over the years, Juan Carlos tries his best to scam his way out of Colombia and get back into the US and other countries using different aliases and fake IDs. But he ends up getting deported, like a bunch of different times.

How did Juan Carlos execute his hotel con?

Narrator 3:17

And while all this is going on, Juan Carlos, he's there developing the perfect con. Here's his perfect con. Juan Carlos dresses up real nice, pretending to be a rich man. And he goes into a five star hotel and he tries to make it look like he's a guest there. He hangs out in the lobby and at the hotel bar. He'll chat with the staff a little bit just to make sure that they notice him. And as he's doing this, he also takes note of other guests. He'll memorize their name. He'll memorize their room number. Then he'll go to reception, pretending to be that guest. And he'll say that he lost his room key. And reception, they'll recognize him like, oh, this guy, he's been hanging out in the lobby for a few days. Of course he's a guest here. So the hotel will let him in the room.