Speaker 1: It's Nightside with Dan Ray on WBS, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: Thanks very much to Cole. Yes, we have four hours tonight.
Speaker 2: We'll keep you warm if you're out there traveling boy,
Speaker 2: I hope you've got a heater working in the car
Speaker 2: because it is continuing to be cold. They talk about
Speaker 2: a dry January. This is a this is our cold January.
Speaker 2: But you have to kind of expect that because it
Speaker 2: is no way. The last couple of winters. Things have
Speaker 2: been maybe a little more temperate during this time of year,
Speaker 2: but things do sort of balance out with mother nature.
Speaker 2: At least that's been my experience. My name is Dan Ray.
Speaker 2: I'm the host of night Side with Dan Ray, the
Speaker 2: aptly named Nightside with Dan Ray. Rob Brooks, the producer
Speaker 2: of our program, is back in broadcast headquarters, Broadcast Central
Speaker 2: as we call it, and he will set you up
Speaker 2: with telephone calls beginning at nine o'clock. Coming up at
Speaker 2: nine o'clock tonight, we are going to talk about some
Speaker 2: ice rayds here in Bar Austin. I guarantee you that,
Speaker 2: and we will. I don't see why anybody would be
Speaker 2: opposed to ice raids in which criminal criminals are removed
Speaker 2: from the country, criminals who are not supposed to be here.
Speaker 2: We have enough criminals ourselves, we don't need to import criminals.
Speaker 2: And then at ten o'clock time we'd be talking with
Speaker 2: the new Israeli Consul General to New England, Benny Sharoni
Speaker 2: Consul General of Israel to New England, and we will
Speaker 2: talk about the ceasefire in Gaza and what is going
Speaker 2: on in Israel and for even more broadly in the
Speaker 2: Middle East. But first we have four interesting guests on
Speaker 2: different topics, like to introduce to you our first guest.
Speaker 2: His name is Sean Collins. He's a lawyer and an
Speaker 2: expert in long care insurance and that's something that a
Speaker 2: lot of people have to be thinking, particularly as people
Speaker 2: live longer and longer. Attorney Collins, Welcome to Night Side.
Speaker 2: Thanks very much for being with us this evening.
Speaker 3: Thanks Dan, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: So what exactly do you you're a lawyer and you're
Speaker 2: an expert in long term care insurance. Is this part
Speaker 2: of your practice or is this a separate interest that
Speaker 2: you've developed.
Speaker 3: So it is part of my practice.
Speaker 4: It's pretty much all I do in my practice, and
Speaker 4: I'm also working on setting up a separate company that's
Speaker 4: you know, a non law firm to help folks with
Speaker 4: clean filing issues, you know, try to avoid the need
Speaker 4: of hiring an attorney.
Speaker 2: So for a long time, everybody figured, hey, when you retire,
Speaker 2: you got Medicare, and you're all set. Medicare, which passed
Speaker 2: in nineteen sixty five. Well, Medicare does provide some benefits,
Speaker 2: but there's a lot that isn't covered. Long term insurance,
Speaker 2: as I understand, and if I'm wrong, since you're the expert,
Speaker 2: please help me out. Is the sort of insurance that
Speaker 2: people might buy. Look sometime in there, maybe forties, fifties
Speaker 2: or sixties, anticipating the need as people live longer and longer.
Speaker 2: Is that what we're talking about you and I tonight.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's that's exactly right.
Speaker 4: So typically we'll cover stays in assisted living facilities, stays
Speaker 4: in nursing homes, and these are longer term stays that
Speaker 4: you know are not going to be covered by Medicare.
Speaker 4: So when these policies were sold, primarily in the late
Speaker 4: eighties through the early two thousands, they were sold to
Speaker 4: cover folks once they needed to move into a facility,
Speaker 4: once they needed home health care, benefits that were not
Speaker 4: going to be covered by Medicare. So that's the idea,
Speaker 4: is that this insurance product was going to protect their
Speaker 4: assets from a long stay in a you know, perhaps
Speaker 4: a memory care facility or again a skilled nursing facility.
Speaker 2: Now, the uber wealthy, the elon musks of the world,
Speaker 2: they in effect have the ability to self ensure. All right,
Speaker 2: folks who are at the other end the economic spectrum,
Speaker 2: they get the benefits also of Medicare, but also of Medicaid.
Speaker 2: It seems to me that people who are in the
Speaker 2: buying are the people in the middle, the big middle,
Speaker 2: who do have a home that they hope to pass
Speaker 2: on to their kids, and all of a sudden mom
Speaker 2: or Dad finds themselves in a long care facility that's
Speaker 2: costing twenty thousand dollars a month. Is this a good investment,
Speaker 2: Because like insurance, it's kind of a gamble. You hope
Speaker 2: that you will buy adequate insurance to cover whatever you need.
Speaker 2: At the same time you think to yourself, well, you know,
Speaker 2: do I really have to spend that give us the
Speaker 2: pluses and the minuses from your perspective, from the perspective
Speaker 2: of people who are in the middle, because again Elon
Speaker 2: Musk is not buying any long long term health insurance.
Speaker 2: He's all sad, and folks who are on the other end,
Speaker 2: they probably don't have the ability because it's an expensive
Speaker 2: vehicle to purchase, correct.
Speaker 4: So then, and it's a lot more expensive now than
Speaker 4: one it was in its heyday. So you know, the
Speaker 4: sales of long term care insurance really peaking in the
Speaker 4: nineties and into the early two thousands. I mean, that
Speaker 4: was the long term care insurance heyday. There's far fewer
Speaker 4: carriers available now, much more difficult to find coverage, their
Speaker 4: underwriting restrictions are much higher, and frankly, it's just unaffordable
Speaker 4: for most folks. People that purchase their coverage back in
Speaker 4: the eighties and the ninety two thousands, now they maybe
Speaker 4: got a great deal on it, and you know that's
Speaker 4: something that they should hang on to. Now again they're
Speaker 4: you know, getting hit with rate increases on their policies,
Speaker 4: so they have a whole other headaches. But right now
Speaker 4: it's a difficult to find coverage, and it's difficult to
Speaker 4: find coverage that is not you know, very expensive. So
Speaker 4: you know, everybody's circumstances are different. You definitely want to
Speaker 4: talk to your insurance adjuster and see if there's a
Speaker 4: plan that makes sense. But you know, one of the
Speaker 4: things that I would keep in mind is I would
Speaker 4: advise anyone to purchase a long term care insurance policy
Speaker 4: today that gives the insurance company the ability to increase
Speaker 4: rates in the future. So if they're going to sell
Speaker 4: you a product today, you want to make sure that
Speaker 4: it's a product that the rates are absolutely locked in
Speaker 4: and there's no way they can go up. And if
Speaker 4: you can't afford that, then you should probably rethink whether
Speaker 4: you need to buy it.
Speaker 2: What's the possibility that, just as in Southern California, Los Angeles,
Speaker 2: I think a lot of insurance companies are not going
Speaker 2: to be able to cover the losses out there. And
Speaker 2: I think a lot of insurance companies, this is my opinion,
Speaker 2: I could be wrong. I're going to go belly up
Speaker 2: because of the magnitude of the damage that has been
Speaker 2: done in Los Angeles, outside and outside of Los Angeles.
Speaker 2: What's the possibility that some of these long term insurance
Speaker 2: companies that took people's money in the eighties and nineties
Speaker 2: and two thousands, As people live longer and find their
Speaker 2: need for healthcare greater. What's the chance that some of
Speaker 2: these companies might go belly up?
Speaker 4: You know, I think inst is that these companies will
Speaker 4: go belly up. It's a bit overstated by the industry.
Speaker 4: It's my view that the industry there there were some
Speaker 4: carriers that did fail, and you know, but it's my
Speaker 4: view that the industry is using those carriers to instill
Speaker 4: a bit of fear mongering as a way to increase
Speaker 4: premiums on folks that they already have locked in for
Speaker 4: twenty to thirty years.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 4: That's not to say that there aren't certain carriers they're
Speaker 4: going to have that have bigger problems than others. But
Speaker 4: for the most part, these carriers can withstand losses. And
Speaker 4: maybe they're not going to make the profits they want,
Speaker 4: maybe they're going to make you a bit less money,
Speaker 4: but they're not going to go belly up.
Speaker 2: But you talk about the heyday the eighties, the nineties,
Speaker 2: in the early two thousands, was that the baby boomer
Speaker 2: generation looking ahead and saying, hey, we got to worry
Speaker 2: about mom and dad when they get into the seventies,
Speaker 2: eighties and perhaps beyond. Is that why it was such
Speaker 2: a good time for these insurance companies becauld people walking
Speaker 2: in the do and say, I want to buy long
Speaker 2: Trump Care insurance.
Speaker 4: I think so because they were they were in a
Speaker 4: position where, you know, back in the eighties and the nineties,
Speaker 4: they could the baby boomers could go in and purchase
Speaker 4: a policy for their parents, still right, So they could
Speaker 4: get a policy for their parents, and then they're also
Speaker 4: looking at I want to maintain my independence, and they're
Speaker 4: buying a policy for themselves. So I know that that
Speaker 4: was happening a lot where folks were purchasing policies for
Speaker 4: their parents that were in their seventies when they maybe
Speaker 4: were in their forties.
Speaker 3: So I think that's exactly right.
Speaker 2: So Sean, let me give you a chance. What is
Speaker 2: the service that you can provide? And we only got
Speaker 2: about a minute and a half left, But if folks
Speaker 2: want to fight avail themselves of your services, what service
Speaker 2: do you provide? Who do you help and how?
Speaker 4: So I help sure, So I help I help folks
Speaker 4: that are having a difficult time navigating the claim process.
Speaker 4: So as an attorney, you know, most of the time
Speaker 4: when when I hear from people, things have already been
Speaker 4: a mess. They may have been fighting with the insurance
Speaker 4: company for a year trying to get the claim covered,
Speaker 4: and you know, all kinds of reasons just to why
Speaker 4: of these claims get denied. It's a lot more complicated
Speaker 4: than than it may first appear. And I think the
Speaker 4: claim process has gotten much more difficult over the last
Speaker 4: you know, five to ten years. So people give generalized
Speaker 4: advice about how to deal with the claim process. Generalized
Speaker 4: advice doesn't work. You need to look at your particular
Speaker 4: insurance policy, and there's thousands of different variations of the
Speaker 4: insurance policies in the language. So you know, I'm starting
Speaker 4: a company that will be will be a non law firm.
Speaker 4: It's going to be a patient advocacy organization. And the
Speaker 4: idea is that if you can get infect with us,
Speaker 4: we can help navigate you through the claim process and
Speaker 4: you know, hopefully things should go smoothly and you won't
Speaker 4: ever need to hire a lawyer. If you want to
Speaker 4: get in touch with us, you can email us at
Speaker 4: info at Safe Harbor l TC dot com or give
Speaker 4: us a call at one eight eight eight six one
Speaker 4: one zero nine zero eight.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm going to ask you Sean Is give that
Speaker 2: email address one more time.
Speaker 4: Please sure it's info at Steve Harbor ltc dot com.
Speaker 2: Okay, when when we finish up what you're about to
Speaker 2: finish up, please give both that email and that phone
Speaker 2: number to my producer, Rob, who you spoke with before,
Speaker 2: because there will be some people who might have missed
Speaker 2: it and they'll be able to call Rob during the
Speaker 2: next forty five minutes and get that contact information if
Speaker 2: they are so inquined. Thank you very much, and I
Speaker 2: thank you for what you do because there's a lot
Speaker 2: of people out there who going to find themselves in
Speaker 2: trouble for a good reason. A lot of us are
Speaker 2: living longer than our parents did, and that's why I
Speaker 2: fear that some of these companies, unless they have really
Speaker 2: leveraged themselves properly, are going to be problematic. Sean Collins,
Speaker 2: thank you so much for having joined us tonight, and
Speaker 2: stay online and give that info to Rob so he
Speaker 2: can have it if anyone wants to call in during
Speaker 2: the next hour. Thank you so much, sEH.
Speaker 4: I appreciate it, very appreciate it, and thanks a lot.
Speaker 2: You're very welcome. We get back when we talk about
Speaker 2: an old drug which provides a new problem for people
Speaker 2: who have it, who are who are addicted, and we're
Speaker 2: going to talk about nitrous oxide which is making a
Speaker 2: comeback and what you can do about it if you
Speaker 2: find yourself attracted to it. We have a couple of
Speaker 2: other topics coming up. We're going to be talking with
Speaker 2: the Gambino crime family associate after the eight to thirty
Speaker 2: news is going to be talking about a big air
Speaker 2: show coming up in New Hampshire. I think you're going
Speaker 2: to want to know about it. And as they say,
Speaker 2: we'll get to our topics of the night with phone calls.
Speaker 2: Going to talk with Ed Flynn Boston City Council about
Speaker 2: the ice sweep that has occurred in Boston in the
Speaker 2: last day or so. And also going to be talking
Speaker 2: about the Israel Hamas ceasefire in the Middle East with
Speaker 2: the Consul General of Israel to New England. My name
Speaker 2: is Dan Ray. This is Nightside. We will be right
Speaker 2: back right after this.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray line from the Window World
Speaker 1: Nightside Studios on w b Z, the news radio.
Speaker 2: Back in the days, back in the old days, there
Speaker 2: was a drug called nitrous oxide. Apparently it's now making
Speaker 2: a comeback. With us as my guest, Michael Mulfin he's
Speaker 2: an addiction expert. He overcame addiction and is now sober.
Speaker 2: His real job is as a home builder. So kind
Speaker 2: of an interesting combination, uh combination, Michael, What exactly is
Speaker 2: nitrous oxide?
Speaker 5: Well, good evening, Dan, and thank you so much for
Speaker 5: having me on. Yeah, it's an old one. It's it's
Speaker 5: an old it's an old drug, and it's nitrous oxide
Speaker 5: is for your listeners, when you go to the dentist
Speaker 5: and they give you laughing gas or something to uh,
Speaker 5: you know, to calm you down.
Speaker 6: Uh, that's what it is.
Speaker 3: I mean, that's exactly what it is. And what it
Speaker 3: does is.
Speaker 5: It it calms the brain down, and and the more
Speaker 5: you use it, you actually hallucinate and disassociate from your
Speaker 5: you know, your from your body. And that's where the
Speaker 5: attraction is for addicts.
Speaker 2: So how how is it ingested? I mean is this
Speaker 2: I mean, they were they were kids back twenty years ago,
Speaker 2: thirty years ago that used to uh try to sniff
Speaker 2: what was it aerosol dispensers. Is that what we're talking about?
Speaker 5: Yeah, So my personal experience, I used to do that
Speaker 5: and there's a you know, rush or airplane glue to
Speaker 5: get that instant high all the way down to the
Speaker 5: old markers, you know, the markers we used to you know,
Speaker 5: to sniff the liquid paper, the white liquid paper, and
Speaker 5: but this is, you know, on steroids, a lot stronger
Speaker 5: and and today our our kids, our college students, anyone.
Speaker 5: It's easy accessible because you can now purchase them online.
Speaker 5: You can also purchase it in local smoke shops, you know,
Speaker 5: these smoke shots that are selling kret them that they're selling,
Speaker 5: you know, the thh you know, see vape pins and
Speaker 5: all that. You can also get what they're called whippets.
Speaker 5: And they're little canisters that you can open up and
Speaker 5: you inhale it and it gives you this instant high
Speaker 5: and it can be very dangerous.
Speaker 2: And how did this make a comeback? I guess if
Speaker 2: at some point it must have fallen out of fashion.
Speaker 5: Well, you're right, fell out of fashion. But it makes
Speaker 5: a comeback really because the Internet and these smoke shops,
Speaker 5: these smoke shops are getting their hands on anything that
Speaker 5: is not illegal. It's just right in the middle of
Speaker 5: the gray line. And they sell these things, you know,
Speaker 5: and they call them whippets, you know, or hippie crack
Speaker 5: is what they call it and these kids are you
Speaker 5: know ingesting it? And what happens is this is my
Speaker 5: personal opinion, it's a gateway drug into hallucingens. I mean,
Speaker 5: it's a gateway drug into mushrooms. It's a gateway drug
Speaker 5: into LSD asset. Because an attict wants they're triggered, they
Speaker 5: want more and so they want more of the experiencing.
Speaker 3: It's very dangerous.
Speaker 2: So if it is. Look, I know that marijuana is
Speaker 2: legal in Massachusetts. We have not only medical but recreational dispensaries.
Speaker 2: I think we're about to open up cannabis cafes here
Speaker 2: in Massachusetts. So how does that decision by the voters
Speaker 2: and by the politicians. How does that then open up
Speaker 2: the door to something that I don't think the voters
Speaker 2: of the politicians really are aware of. How does that work?
Speaker 2: I mean, how that stuff legal to be sold in
Speaker 2: when we think of as pot dispensaries.
Speaker 5: Right, let me answer it this way, speaking from a
Speaker 5: recovering addict. Okay, it's a great question. How was asked
Speaker 5: before in the talk show just recently that if we
Speaker 5: were to magically build a wall around the entire United States? Okay,
Speaker 5: would that help the drug epidemic. Yeah, it would help
Speaker 5: a little bit, but the real problem is, I'm still
Speaker 5: going to get high. I Am going to find a way.
Speaker 3: To get high. So it's on the attic himself.
Speaker 5: You know. We can vote and do all the things
Speaker 5: we want to, but what we need to do is
Speaker 5: is we need to stop focusing on addiction and start
Speaker 5: focusing on why the addiction. And that's where we'll start
Speaker 5: getting the change. And it's one attic in recovery helping
Speaker 5: another one. It's starting to get people on your show,
Speaker 5: your successful show, sharing success stories of how we've overcome.
Speaker 5: And that's where we don't have to go to the
Speaker 5: ballot box. We just go right to the people and
Speaker 5: the true stories of redemption and restoration. And that provides
Speaker 5: hope because it is a deadly epidemic.
Speaker 2: Oh. Look, we've seen the sentinel, you know, numbers which
Speaker 2: have been pouring across the southern border for now years
Speaker 2: and there are so many I've done stories with parents
Speaker 2: who lost two kids the same night, you know, with fentanyl. Look,
Speaker 2: you don't have to convince me on this, but look, everybody,
Speaker 2: I like cores light and a and a glass of
Speaker 2: red wine with dinner. So I'm not the perfect person either, Okay,
Speaker 2: but I can handle it and I take and it
Speaker 2: doesn't impact me.
Speaker 5: Well, the reason why, the reason why I love what
Speaker 5: you said right there is you had to have a
Speaker 5: core light and a glass of wine. Okay, but it's
Speaker 5: not your source. It's not that's it's not your source.
Speaker 5: And that's what addiction is is that once something becomes
Speaker 5: my source, and I'm chasing these visible things to fix
Speaker 5: my invisible problems, then I'm an active addiction.
Speaker 3: Okay, you know what, Michael.
Speaker 2: I need to talk to you more, and I think
Speaker 2: my audience needs to talk to you more. And so
Speaker 2: we do four interviews in the eight o'clock hour here
Speaker 2: in Boston.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 2: And then I'd love to have you back and to
Speaker 2: talk to some of my listeners because I know that
Speaker 2: my listen news have kids who are in trouble, and
Speaker 2: I know so my listeners in trouble, and so my
Speaker 2: best callers are people who are reformed addicts. I have
Speaker 2: friends of mine who were heroin addicts. I have friends
Speaker 2: of mine, and I saw them through recovery, and I
Speaker 2: worked with them and and to some and supported them. Okay,
Speaker 2: they did it on them their own but I think
Speaker 2: support is very important, uh, and I'd love to have
Speaker 2: you back. So how can folks get in touch with
Speaker 2: you in the meantime, what's the best way?
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 2: You you have you have a website, we do.
Speaker 5: We have a huge platform, and that's all we talk about.
Speaker 5: We've been doing this for seven years and it's it's M.
Speaker 5: It's M two. That's the letter M, the number.
Speaker 3: Two the rock.
Speaker 5: T h E r O c k dot com. Visit
Speaker 5: our website and you can follow us.
Speaker 2: Okay, so M to the rock. So M two t
Speaker 2: H E r O c k dot com or dot
Speaker 2: org dot com dot com. Michael, we'll have you back.
Speaker 2: Thank you for what you do. Congratulations on your recovery.
Speaker 2: You're an inspiration and can be an inspiration of some
Speaker 2: of my audience who may be dealing with some problems
Speaker 2: with their own family. And we'll get you back and
Speaker 2: we'll talk to as well. Thank you very much. Michael Molfin,
Speaker 2: an addiction expert. It's M two b Rock all one
Speaker 2: word dot com. Coming back on nights side, right after
Speaker 2: the news at the bottom of the hour, and we're
Speaker 2: going to talk with a form a member of the
Speaker 2: Gambino crime family. A life of crime that has turned around.
Speaker 2: So we got a couple of stories of recovery here tonight.
Speaker 2: That's an uplifting. Later on we'll talk about thunder over
Speaker 2: New Hampshire. We're not talking about thunder thunder. We're talking
Speaker 2: about an air show. We'll get to all of that,
Speaker 2: and then we'll get to our talk portion of the program,
Speaker 2: beginning right after the nine o'clock news. My name is
Speaker 2: Dan Ray. This is night Side with Dan Ray on
Speaker 2: WBZ Boston. We are an iHeartRadio station. You can check
Speaker 2: us out on the iHeartRadio app. Listen to us from
Speaker 2: anywhere in the world, as can your friends and relatives
Speaker 2: who might listen anywhere in the world. Back on Nightside
Speaker 2: after this.
Speaker 1: You're on Nightside with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Nicole. Pleasure to welcome Robert Brelli to Nightside.
Speaker 2: Robert is a former Gambino Family crime member and associate.
Speaker 2: Robert Brelli, Welcome to Nightside.
Speaker 3: How are you well.
Speaker 6: I'm doing well. Thank you for allowing me to be
Speaker 6: on your show. Do appreciate all that you're doing well.
Speaker 2: I had an opportunity to watch a previous interview. You
Speaker 2: sound like a very interesting person, and maybe we'll do
Speaker 2: this at a little longer format at some night. But
Speaker 2: we got about eight or nine minutes here just to chat.
Speaker 2: I did a lot of work out here as a
Speaker 2: television reporter in the nineteen nineties and into the two thousands,
Speaker 2: going after corrupt FBI agents here in Boston who framed
Speaker 2: men who were mafia associates up here for murder they
Speaker 2: had nothing to do with. So I understand your lifestyle
Speaker 2: and I understand your story probably better than most talk
Speaker 2: show hosts. So tell us about it. I understanding you're
Speaker 2: a young guy. You're growing up in Brooklyn, New York,
Speaker 2: and you really got involved with with the big leaguers,
Speaker 2: if you will, the heavy hitters at a fairly young age.
Speaker 2: Tell us how you got involved and where it led you, well.
Speaker 6: You know, at an early age, you know, Like I
Speaker 6: try to describe it as like.
Speaker 3: Two types of.
Speaker 6: People to tweet, types of people that I had experiences
Speaker 6: in my life. Of course, it was my family, my
Speaker 6: mom and dad, legitimate people you know, worked really hard
Speaker 6: but had a hard time making ends meet. And you know,
Speaker 6: it's kind of a low income family, so we were
Speaker 6: I guess you would say poor neighborhood and most of
Speaker 6: the arguments in the home would be over finances, so
Speaker 6: there wasn't looking to be like my dad or my
Speaker 6: mom or anything like that is what I would want
Speaker 6: for myself growing up. And then at that time, we
Speaker 6: had the older friends in the neighborhood that we got
Speaker 6: drafted by when the Vietnam War came back, strung out
Speaker 6: on drugs and alcohol and stuff like that, so I
Speaker 6: didn't want to be And then you had the guys
Speaker 6: down the block that had the social club, and they
Speaker 6: seemed to get older respect from everybody in the neighborhood.
Speaker 6: They kind of protected the neighborhood. They had everything that
Speaker 6: I would have wanted growing up. I wasn't sure how
Speaker 6: they got it. I didn't want to care how they
Speaker 6: got it. I just wanted it. So I started hanging
Speaker 6: out with them at an early age. And then as
Speaker 6: I got a little bit older and they could see
Speaker 6: that they trust me. The more that they trust me
Speaker 6: more things that they gave me to do. And then
Speaker 6: I hooked up with a guy a judgment in Queens
Speaker 6: and his dad happened to be one of the big
Speaker 6: bosses of the neighborhood, and that's how I got really
Speaker 6: established in that time. But to just make it clear,
Speaker 6: I never became a member. I was just an associated.
Speaker 2: Sure enough, I got you. I understand that. The distinction
Speaker 2: and the different it's it's said member slash associate on
Speaker 2: my my cue card here, and so I appreciate that correction,
Speaker 2: and I do understand it's a it's a significant difference.
Speaker 2: Now you got yourself locked up. You I don't know
Speaker 2: if if you pled out, if you are were convicted,
Speaker 2: if you cut a deal. But what's the worst.
Speaker 6: Case you're talking about?
Speaker 2: No, I yet it. No, I get it again. So
Speaker 2: let's let's go.
Speaker 6: Let's go to the worst.
Speaker 2: Let's go to the worst case than you. What was
Speaker 2: the most serious crime for which you were charged and
Speaker 2: charged in or.
Speaker 6: Convicted when I first got locked up at the age
Speaker 6: of twenty years old for two murders in possession of
Speaker 6: a weapon.
Speaker 2: Okay, now, of course, uh, you've done your time. I assume.
Speaker 6: Did you beat all those I know I actually beat
Speaker 6: all those cases.
Speaker 2: You beat the well, your lawyer beat the cases. I
Speaker 2: guess right.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 6: I laid up for a while waiting for bail. Then
Speaker 6: I got bailed out. Then when I had to go
Speaker 6: on trial. They remanded me for trial, and that's kind
Speaker 6: of where I would say I got a lot of
Speaker 6: recognition with the mob was because I did get locked
Speaker 6: up for murder that I didn't commit, kept my mouth shut,
Speaker 6: did everything that I was taught growing up and being
Speaker 6: gloomed in that lifestyle. U waited to get bailed out.
Speaker 6: And then I have five eyewitnesses against me for that case,
Speaker 6: and I ended up getting acquitted on the case. And
Speaker 6: then after that it was just like, Okay, Nowice the
Speaker 6: up and coming star. The guy did his thing, you know,
Speaker 6: stood his time, you know all that kind of recognition
Speaker 6: that you get, especially for a case that much. You
Speaker 6: know they're facing that much time. So that would be,
Speaker 6: I would say, my stepping stone into really being recognized
Speaker 6: with some of the big heavy hitters.
Speaker 2: But at some point, at some point, you had a transformation,
Speaker 2: I guess, is how we would characterize her, how it's
Speaker 2: characterized the book, A life of crime, transportation, and transformation.
Speaker 2: And hope what prompted the transformation?
Speaker 6: The last time I got arrested, well, let me just
Speaker 6: go back a little bit. And I know we don't
Speaker 6: have a lot of time, but I got involved with
Speaker 6: the drug business, and then the drug business got involved
Speaker 6: with my business. And then I had a little girl
Speaker 6: that was born with my girlfriend, and I cleaned myself up,
Speaker 6: and then seven weeks after she came home after she
Speaker 6: was born, I went back out to get high again.
Speaker 6: And that one too many was definitely well my thing.
Speaker 6: When you know they say one is too many, thousands,
Speaker 6: never enough, that's kind of I fell into that trap
Speaker 6: and I never went back home and got ready. Then
Speaker 6: I was out on the streets in Brooklyn, New York,
Speaker 6: in Queen's Area, strung out on crack cocaine. So I
Speaker 6: got arrested. I got arrested in ninety seven for well
Speaker 6: like I had warrants for a case in Queensland. Then
Speaker 6: a case in Florida was involved with some of the
Speaker 6: guys from the game be No Crime Family, and I
Speaker 6: was wanted for the federal case. So I never went
Speaker 6: to back to court the staatecase because I knew the
Speaker 6: Feds were gonna end up getting me, and long story short,
Speaker 6: I have to do some time. So my wile services
Speaker 6: picked me up and actually January twenty third today, it
Speaker 6: makes twenty eight years since I had a drink and
Speaker 6: a drug. So yes, so so that I call on
Speaker 6: my angels now. But they were warring offices and they
Speaker 6: placed me in Rikids Island, and you know, I'm locked up.
Speaker 6: I know there's two things I really need to do.
Speaker 6: You know, I've been and then out of prisons a
Speaker 6: lot in my life, and I need to get a
Speaker 6: good attorney to get me out of the mess I
Speaker 6: got myself into. And then I need to get commissary
Speaker 6: money because I know I'm not going to get built
Speaker 6: out this trip, so I know that I need to
Speaker 6: get it, you know, a little as comfortable as I can,
Speaker 6: get as much money as my commissary so I can
Speaker 6: live as comfortable as I can on that time. And
Speaker 6: then I'm talking to my daughter, but her mother won't
Speaker 6: let me go see her because I was all strung out.
Speaker 6: She allowed me to talk to her over the phone.
Speaker 6: And that was my daughter crying this one time, and
Speaker 6: I said, well, you're crying because she won't come and
Speaker 6: see me. And that just chattered my heart into pieces
Speaker 6: because there were so many times that I was in
Speaker 6: the neighbor when I rather get hird and go see
Speaker 6: my own little girl. And uh ran back to myself
Speaker 6: and just cried like a little baby. Didn't want the
Speaker 6: inmates to see me and just asks God to either
Speaker 6: have somebody kill me or change me. I can't live
Speaker 6: like this anymore, and I believe God answered the scaia
Speaker 6: to cry at my heart.
Speaker 2: Well, Robert, that's an incredible story again, a life of crime, transportation,
Speaker 2: and now hope. So you've written a book. It's called
Speaker 2: the Story of Robert Berelli. I assume it's a kaillable and.
Speaker 3: Called the Witness.
Speaker 6: It's called the Witness.
Speaker 2: The Witness, I'm sorry, the witness, the story for the government.
Speaker 6: I was waiting for the government because I ended up
Speaker 6: cooperating with the government on my last time in prison,
Speaker 6: and and so we wrote the book. I was a
Speaker 6: witness for the government. I'm a witness of Jesus.
Speaker 2: Well, you remember the fed winness protection program.
Speaker 6: Yes, sir, I was okay, do.
Speaker 2: You still have protection or are you out.
Speaker 6: In your own No? No, I got torn out quite
Speaker 6: a long time ago. So now I just once they
Speaker 6: threw me. Of course, that clink never told anybody that
Speaker 6: was in the program, so that's all that had to
Speaker 6: be hidden. But now I could go out and share
Speaker 6: my testimony. And once they toned me out, and that's
Speaker 6: what I do.
Speaker 2: Okay, Well, Robert, I really enjoyed the conversation. I could
Speaker 2: have talked to you for five hours, never mind five
Speaker 2: or ten minutes. And I hope people buy your book,
Speaker 2: The Witness, The Story of Robert Barelli in the New
Speaker 2: York Gambino Mafia crime Family, A Life of Crime Transformation,
Speaker 2: and hope I wish you the best of luck, my friend,
Speaker 2: and maybe we'll have you back and we'll go into
Speaker 2: this a little bit more in depth. As they say,
Speaker 2: around the time when you got busted in ninety seven,
Speaker 2: I was helping a guy get out of jail who
Speaker 2: had done thirty years in prison for murder he had
Speaker 2: nothing to do with. He and three other associates my
Speaker 2: last day on television were awarded one hundred and sixteen
Speaker 2: million dollars by the federal government for the corrupt fb
Speaker 2: the work of the corrupt FBI agents. I don't know
Speaker 2: if the name H. Paul Rico rings a bell, but
Speaker 2: he was Jay Goo Hoover's most trusted and probably most
Speaker 2: corrupt FBI agent throughout the nineteen fifties and sixties and
Speaker 2: put a lot of people away for crimes They didn't
Speaker 2: commit so they were There was as much crime being
Speaker 2: committed up here by the FBI as there was by
Speaker 2: by by organized crime, believe it or not in old
Speaker 2: Boston time. So Roberts, best of luck, and we may
Speaker 2: get back to you, and if you'd like to talk
Speaker 2: to someone might listen to something like that. That might be
Speaker 2: a good experience and a good lesson for people to learn.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for your time tonight.
Speaker 6: Okay, Can I just mention that if they go to
Speaker 6: Robert Barelli dot com that would be my what website
Speaker 6: that's the best seat to will make a donation and
Speaker 6: I can mail them a book and sign it for them.
Speaker 2: So okay, Robert Barrellian and the correct spelling of Robert
Speaker 2: everyone has, but Brelli is bo r E l l
Speaker 2: I dot com. Robert, Thanks, Mauch, appreciate your time. I
Speaker 2: really do all right. Congratulations on the degree U turn
Speaker 2: in your life.
Speaker 6: Hey man said that, thank you so much. You'd be
Speaker 6: blessed and I appreciate all that you do.
Speaker 2: Right back at you. We get back when we talk
Speaker 2: thunder over New Hampshire with Major Michelle Mastro Bautista. We
Speaker 2: are looking forward to this conversation because we've got an
Speaker 2: air show coming up to New Hampshire that you want
Speaker 2: to get some tickets for. We'll get you all that
Speaker 2: information right after the break.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 1: Night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: Welcome back. Delighted to introduce Major Michelle Mastro Bautista of
Speaker 2: the New Hampshire Air National Guard. Major I should salute you.
Speaker 2: How are you?
Speaker 7: I'm doing very well. Thanks, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2: You're more than welcome. So we're going to talk about
Speaker 2: program called the thunder Over New Hampshire Air Show or
Speaker 2: to nh Air Show, and it's coming up later on
Speaker 2: this year. Tickets are still available, but I think they're
Speaker 2: going fast. First of all, you were a group called
Speaker 2: the New Hampshire Women's Foundation. Tell us you've kind of
Speaker 2: you're in the National Guard and you're also with the
Speaker 2: Hampson Women's Women's Foundation. How long you've been in the
Speaker 2: Guard to reach the rank of Major. I assume it's
Speaker 2: been at least ten years, maybe more.
Speaker 7: Oh, it's been a few more than that. We're almost
Speaker 7: on the near the twenty side of the house. But
Speaker 7: it's been a good time. The whole time.
Speaker 2: That's great, that's great, and you signed up, but sometime
Speaker 2: after nine to eleven if my calendar is correct, So
Speaker 2: thank you for your service. What's your involvement with the
Speaker 2: New Hampshire Women's Foundation, which is highlighted here as well,
Speaker 2: So tell me a little bit about that, then we'll
Speaker 2: talk about the air show.
Speaker 7: Oh I think that's supposed to be the New Hampshire
Speaker 7: Military Assistance Foundation.
Speaker 2: Okay, Well, then if it's written incorrectly, I apologize to
Speaker 2: have to talk to my producer about that. Tell us
Speaker 2: about that.
Speaker 7: Yeah, the New Hampshire Military Assistance Foundation is a nonprofit
Speaker 7: here in the Portsmouth area that helps the support the
Speaker 7: men and women of the New Hampshire National Guard. So
Speaker 7: we collaborate with them to put this air show on.
Speaker 2: Okay, so that's one of the sponsors. Okay, So the
Speaker 2: airshow it's called thunder Over New Hampshire. I think most
Speaker 2: of us have some idea where PE's airbase is in Portsmouth,
Speaker 2: New Hampshire, and it is a little bit off in
Speaker 2: the distance. It's September sixth and seventh of this year.
Speaker 2: Great way to Is that going to be Labor Day
Speaker 2: weekend or is that the week well, I guess it
Speaker 2: is probably Labor Day weekend.
Speaker 7: It's exactly the weekend after Labor Day, the weekend.
Speaker 2: After Labor Day, Okay, and it's the US Navy's Blue Angels.
Speaker 2: I think everyone knows the Blue Angels. Tell Us of
Speaker 2: the show is free, but you have to to follow
Speaker 2: instructions to make sure you're either in a parking space
Speaker 2: that maybe you pay a little bit of money for.
Speaker 2: Tell us tell us what people can do to have
Speaker 2: access to this, and let's get them to the website
Speaker 2: so they got plenty of time to make sure that
Speaker 2: they are where they want to be on September sixth
Speaker 2: and seventh.
Speaker 7: Sure, well, the website that everyone should check out is
Speaker 7: the thunderover New Hampshire dot com website, and I highly
Speaker 7: suggest people go there now to sign up for air Insights,
Speaker 7: where they can get first hand information as soon as
Speaker 7: it comes out, particular in particular about new opportunities for
Speaker 7: parking and access to the show. But the show is
Speaker 7: completely free to everybody. There were premium parking tickets that
Speaker 7: were on sale, but we also did give out over
Speaker 7: three thousand free parking tickets each day. But there is
Speaker 7: access to the ramp each day and that will be
Speaker 7: on the south entrance near the Piece Trade Port, so
Speaker 7: bikers and walkers do have access to it. So admission
Speaker 7: is there is no admission to the show, but there
Speaker 7: is premium parking that comes.
Speaker 6: To the fee.
Speaker 2: And how long. I've never been to a Blue Angel show,
Speaker 2: but I'm just wondering how long on the shows each day.
Speaker 7: Well, there's a full day of activities. You could be
Speaker 7: there from gate open to the gate clothes, kind of
Speaker 7: like Disney World. We have lots of statics to see
Speaker 7: until the lineup begins around lunchtime. So the aerial acts
Speaker 7: will last anywhere from three to four hours. But there's
Speaker 7: black Hawks C twelve F sixteen F thirty five and
Speaker 7: over seven acres of STEM to see, So like I said,
Speaker 7: it could be a full day if you plan the
Speaker 7: right way.
Speaker 2: And and STEM is with science technology, mathematics, that's there.
Speaker 2: It's education when you say STEM right.
Speaker 7: Yep, yep, that whole yep, everything with sciented technology. We're
Speaker 7: definitely promoting that heavy across the whole military and there's
Speaker 7: a lot to see that the community brings and pulls
Speaker 7: together to showcase on our ramp.
Speaker 2: Now, is this sub is this show. Besides obviously showing
Speaker 2: the uh the ability of the US Air Force, is
Speaker 2: it also perhaps one of one of the purposes might
Speaker 2: be to interest young people in either serving or even
Speaker 2: perhaps even thinking of it as more of a career opportunity.
Speaker 2: I assume that that it's going to be inspirational.
Speaker 7: Absolutely, that is definitely one of the top reasons that
Speaker 7: we put on air shows. It is to one give
Speaker 7: back to the community where they can see where their
Speaker 7: taxpayer dollars are going every day. But also, and almost
Speaker 7: more importantly, it is to plant the seeds that we
Speaker 7: hope to inspire the next generation of you know, sailors, pilots,
Speaker 7: soldiers across you know, across our country. And actually this
Speaker 7: show is really special because part of our aerial lineup
Speaker 7: includes aircraft from the Navy, Air Force, Army, and course.
Speaker 7: So we're really excited to show that you can you
Speaker 7: can fly on almost every branch and hopefully yeah, this
Speaker 7: does expo inspire young people or any age really just
Speaker 7: to keep you know, supporting.
Speaker 2: Us the show. How often is this an annual event
Speaker 2: at peace or is this a show that comes around
Speaker 2: every few years?
Speaker 7: Well, we did take about a ten year hiatus earlier
Speaker 7: in the two thousands. We came back in twenty twenty one,
Speaker 7: right on the heel of COVID we had our first
Speaker 7: show with the Thunderbirds, and then we did have one
Speaker 7: two years ago with the F sixteen Viper Demo team,
Speaker 7: and then so now two years later we're having an
Speaker 7: excellent lineup with the Blue Angels as the headliner. And
Speaker 7: the plan for us as hosts the one fifty seven
Speaker 7: theory fueling Wing is to do it about every two
Speaker 7: to three years as we're able to do so. It's
Speaker 7: a very large effort. It takes a lot of people
Speaker 7: to help us. So as long as we can keep
Speaker 7: doing it that way, then I think we're going to
Speaker 7: try to stay in this business.
Speaker 2: Well. So the message here is it's something that is
Speaker 2: not going to be there every year, and you want
Speaker 2: to take advantage of it. As you said, the weekend
Speaker 2: after Labor Day September sixth and seventh, and give us
Speaker 2: that website one more time where people can follow up
Speaker 2: and go and make some notes and plan what will
Speaker 2: be a great family event.
Speaker 7: Yeah, it is a great family event. The website is
Speaker 7: thunderover New Hampshire dot com and the date is six
Speaker 7: and seventh September. We hope to see everybody there. We're
Speaker 7: the only air show in New England this year, so
Speaker 7: you should come come out and see it.
Speaker 2: Major Mastro Bautista, thank you for your service and thank
Speaker 2: you for your time tonight. I appreciate it very much.
Speaker 7: Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: You're very welcome. When we get back here on Night's side,
Speaker 2: we will go to our talks, talk issues of the night.
Speaker 2: The first one is going to be the activity of
Speaker 2: ISIS in the first couple of days of the Trump administration.
Speaker 2: It's been active in the Boston area, it's been active
Speaker 2: in a lot of cities around the country, and we're
Speaker 2: going to bring you up to date on it. There
Speaker 2: was some reference to this in this morning's Boston Herald.
Speaker 2: We will explain it all right after the nine o'clock
Speaker 2: news here at Night Side.