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<v Speaker 1>Paul Bergran was the lawyer who could get you out

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<v Speaker 1>of any sticky situation. Caught selling pirated videos like Queen

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<v Speaker 1>Latifa was in nineteen ninety five, Better call Paul accused

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<v Speaker 1>of lying to a jury during testimony like Lil Kim

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<v Speaker 1>was in two thousand and three. Better call Paul caught

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<v Speaker 1>stabbing your spouse ten times with a steak knife. No

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<v Speaker 1>matter if you were innocent or guilty, Paul could get

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<v Speaker 1>you off the hook. We see lawyers like this and

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<v Speaker 1>the Sopranos are breaking bad. But what happens when those

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<v Speaker 1>fictitional lawyers cross over into the real world. At the

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<v Speaker 1>peak of his career, Paul Bergeran was undefeated, a master

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<v Speaker 1>lawyer who knew the system inside and out. But when

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<v Speaker 1>an FBI agent finds traces of Bergran's involvement in a

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<v Speaker 1>massive drug ring, questions start to arise. On the Lanks.

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<v Speaker 1>Paul went to achieve his dominance in what he would

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<v Speaker 1>do to ensure that he stayed there. In wonder He's

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<v Speaker 1>True crime podcast, criminal Attorney host Jens Jenkins will tell

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<v Speaker 1>you the true story of how Paul Bergran went from

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<v Speaker 1>representing others in court to representing himself. No one is

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<v Speaker 1>better suited to breaking the law than those who know

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<v Speaker 1>it the best. Paul Bergrin is a hot shot criminal

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<v Speaker 1>defense attorney in Newark, New Jersey. Seemingly unstoppable and with

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<v Speaker 1>unorthodox method, He's built a reputation for getting his clients

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<v Speaker 1>off the hook. But is Paul's legend grows, so do

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<v Speaker 1>the suspicion swirling around him. When FBI agent Sean Brockos

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<v Speaker 1>starts investigating a major drug ring, she makes a shocking discovery.

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<v Speaker 1>The gang's most powerful player is none other than Newark

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<v Speaker 1>star attorney. Has the ex federal prosecutor crossed the line

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<v Speaker 1>and started committing crimes himself? From wonderre comes a new

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<v Speaker 1>series about a lawyer who breaks all the rules, the

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<v Speaker 1>FBI agent determined to take him down at all costs,

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<v Speaker 1>and the people caught in the middle who paid the

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<v Speaker 1>ultimate price. I'm about to play a clip from Criminal Attorney.

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<v Speaker 1>Follow Criminal Attorney on the Wondery app or wherever you

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<v Speaker 1>get your podcast. Listen to Criminal Attorney early and ad

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<v Speaker 1>free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery

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<v Speaker 1>app or on Apple Podcasts.

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<v Speaker 2>From Wondering, I'm Brandon Drinks Jenkins and this is criminal term.

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<v Speaker 2>It was two thousand and three and Sean Brocos was

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<v Speaker 2>on her way to a Newerk apartment complex. She had

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<v Speaker 2>received a tip that someone in that apartment had a

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<v Speaker 2>gun that they shouldn't. Sean was in her early thirties,

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<v Speaker 2>blonde and white and Newark. She'll pick a teacher, or

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<v Speaker 2>a dentist, or someone with a desk job at a bank,

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<v Speaker 2>which is actually what she'd been doing seven years earlier.

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<v Speaker 2>She ran the loan department at a bank in El Paso.

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<v Speaker 3>So overseen who qualified for commercial loans, personal loans.

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<v Speaker 2>Car loans, until one day when federal agents came to

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<v Speaker 2>the bank. They were investigating one of the bank's clients,

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<v Speaker 2>who they suspected a money laundering. It wasn't like in

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<v Speaker 2>the movies. It wasn't all that exciting, just two guys

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<v Speaker 2>wearing suits serving a subpoena. Sean was fascinated.

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<v Speaker 3>She thought to herself, Wow, this sounds a whole lot

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<v Speaker 3>more interesting than the work I'm doing. I literally walked

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<v Speaker 3>down to the local FBI office, I put my name in,

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<v Speaker 3>filled out an application, and before I knew it, I

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<v Speaker 3>was off to Quantico for training for the FBI.

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<v Speaker 2>Fast forward to present day, and Sean was a full on,

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<v Speaker 2>bona fide FBI agent.

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<v Speaker 3>It was something that I knew would be an adventure.

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<v Speaker 3>Look Newer at that time was not a great place,

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<v Speaker 3>but if you're in law enforcement, boy, there's no better

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<v Speaker 3>place to be.

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<v Speaker 4>She was part of the gang squad.

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<v Speaker 3>We were always running cases on the Bloods and the

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<v Speaker 3>Crips because at the time in Newark, those were the

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<v Speaker 3>strongest street gangs.

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<v Speaker 2>And on this day the case involved someone affiliated with

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<v Speaker 2>the Crips. The man's name was Chemo DeShawn McCrae. Kimo

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<v Speaker 2>had been convicted of a felony, so it was illegal

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<v Speaker 2>for him to have a gun and that was enough

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<v Speaker 2>to take him down. When Shawn and her partner got

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<v Speaker 2>to the apartment, they knocked on the door. They were

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<v Speaker 2>let inside where they met Chemo and mother.

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<v Speaker 3>We said, hey, we know you have a gun in

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<v Speaker 3>the apartment. We know that you cannot be in possession

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<v Speaker 3>of a gun. We don't have a search warrant. We

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<v Speaker 3>can get one, but if you turn that weapon over

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<v Speaker 3>to us, that would be the best thing to do.

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<v Speaker 4>They went to the bedroom and opened the closet door.

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<v Speaker 3>And there was in the back of a closet. It

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<v Speaker 3>was a sizeable shotgun, brown stock older model and slid off,

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<v Speaker 3>meaning the barrel had been shortened.

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<v Speaker 4>They grabbed the shotgun and headed back to the living room.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, I immediately walked up to Chemo and I said,

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<v Speaker 3>you're going to have to come with us, and I

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<v Speaker 3>was holding him. I think it was on his forearm

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<v Speaker 3>or maybe like his upper arm, and I remember he

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<v Speaker 3>just literally slipped right out of the jacket. So in

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<v Speaker 3>a split second, he's gone and I'm left holding this

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<v Speaker 3>jacket and he's out the door.

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<v Speaker 2>Kimo and his mom were on the ground floor of

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<v Speaker 2>the apartment building, so his escape was pretty simple, and

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<v Speaker 2>he had another advantage.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm thinking, I'm not chasing him. I'm in skirting heels.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm not going to chase after him through the projects.

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<v Speaker 2>As Sean watched Chemo run off, she also saw a

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<v Speaker 2>lost opportunity. See Sean wasn't just there to get a

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<v Speaker 2>gun off the street. Sean Brocos needed someone like Chemo,

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<v Speaker 2>shared her eyes on some of the bigger players in Newark,

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<v Speaker 2>and getting Chemo in the custody was just the next

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<v Speaker 2>very important step in her plane. In this case, Keemo

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<v Speaker 2>McCray was not the white whale she was looking to land,

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<v Speaker 2>but he was connected and could lead her up the ladder.

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<v Speaker 2>She needed someone to go inside the crew and feed

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<v Speaker 2>her information. That was why she needed Keema McCrae to

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<v Speaker 2>agree to be a confidential informant. Now, let's be clear here,

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<v Speaker 2>the FBI throughout its history has had a pretty bad

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<v Speaker 2>reputation when it comes to informants.

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<v Speaker 4>They use a small fish to go catch the big fish.

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<v Speaker 2>But that feels more like big game hunting for optics

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<v Speaker 2>more than any attempt to stop a problem or protect citizens,

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<v Speaker 2>like how long ago did they start the war on drugs?

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<v Speaker 2>And how's it going now? But that's the game Sewan's

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<v Speaker 2>playing here. There is no FBI investigation without getting people

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<v Speaker 2>on the street to talk. And that was why the

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<v Speaker 2>fact that he was now out the door and down

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<v Speaker 2>the block was such a bad look. Sean turned to

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<v Speaker 2>Chimo's mother. At first, she claimed the gun was hers,

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<v Speaker 2>not Chemo's, but Sean wasn't buying it one bit.

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<v Speaker 3>I said, you cannot own this gun for your son.

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<v Speaker 3>It is his, and you cannot do this. It's just

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<v Speaker 3>not the right thing to do. And she said, yes,

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<v Speaker 3>it is his gun. It is not my gun, but

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<v Speaker 3>I don't want to get my son into trouble. So

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<v Speaker 3>that's when I said, look, just come down to our

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<v Speaker 3>office tomorrow. We can work through this.

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<v Speaker 2>Sure enough, the next morning, Kimo and his mother show

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<v Speaker 2>up at the FBI field office in Newark. Chimo's a slim,

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<v Speaker 2>black guy in his early thirties. He's been in and

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<v Speaker 2>out of jail a few times at this point, petty

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<v Speaker 2>stuff like weapons possession, robbery, and drugs. But now he's

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<v Speaker 2>got kids. He's very close with his fan, and he

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<v Speaker 2>does not want to do any more time. Sean remembers

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<v Speaker 2>that Chimo's mom did a lot of the talking. He

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<v Speaker 2>looked terrified in his mom's apartment. Kimo had gotten the

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<v Speaker 2>jump on Sean. But here in her office, with Kimo's

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<v Speaker 2>mother by side, ready to do anything to secure his freedom,

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<v Speaker 2>Sean had all the leverage. She'd been in this situation

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<v Speaker 2>enough times before. She'd sat across other young men like

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<v Speaker 2>Kimo and tried to flip them, so by now she

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<v Speaker 2>had a whole speech worked out.

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<v Speaker 3>You don't have to answer any questions. I'm not going

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<v Speaker 3>to ask any questions, but I'd like you to listen

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<v Speaker 3>to me for the next five minutes.

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<v Speaker 4>Sean leaves it out. For Chimo, it's simple.

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<v Speaker 3>You can either join our team become part of team

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<v Speaker 3>Government Mo, which means you're going to help us in

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<v Speaker 3>our investigations. If you decide against that, you do know

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<v Speaker 3>that I will have to arrest you for being a

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<v Speaker 3>possession of this weapon. And what that's going to look

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<v Speaker 3>like is you're going to do jail time. You have

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<v Speaker 3>the previous conviction, you will be going to jail quite

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<v Speaker 3>some time.

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<v Speaker 2>So go to jail or become an informant and risk

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<v Speaker 2>your life trying to infiltrate a ruthless drug gang.

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<v Speaker 4>Rock Meet Hard Place,