Narrator: In this episode of "American Greed"...
it had all the makings of a red-carpet romance.
She's an outspoken activist and TV star.
♪ I'm getting' my star on the Hollywood walk of fame ♪
Narrator: He's an Oscar-winning artist and all-around renaissance man.
Oxford, Navy SEAL, smart, handsome.
Narrator: But this is one rom-com with a true crime twist.
He's a pro. He's a con artist.
And he's dangerous.
Narrator: From Florida, to Texas, to Hollywood,
Antonio Wilson has a cross-country rap sheet
going back decades.
He's stolen more than $4 million
by breaking hearts, smashing dreams,
and swindling businessmen and women with outrageous lies.
Wyman: He brought in a lot of money on the basis
that he was a successful sound designer,
that he had won three Oscars.
Everything seemed legit... Until it wasn't.
Dress: But it all boiled down to lies, lies, lies.
"Give me your money. Here's some lies."
Narrator: "American Greed" has shocking new details in the torrid tale
of this master in the art of deception.
Crime does pay. That's what you're saying.
Lewis: "AKA Tony Mariot." "AKA Brice Carrington."
He had a million names.
Shipley: Antonio [bleep] with the wrong woman, is what he did.
She brought down the wrath.
Lewis: I'm sure Tony was confident I would never tell.
It would be a scandal.
Wrong girl.
♪♪
Narrator: Actress, singer, and social activist
Jenifer Lewis has spent decades on the Broadway stage,
and starred in dozens of movies.
♪♪
And in may 2015, Lewis is on top of her game,
when she earns a co-starring role
as savagely funny Ruby Johnson on the TV series "Black-ish."
Just got "Black-ish," and boom.
I said, "Oh, God sent the man."
Narrator: The man is Antonio Tony Mariot Wilson,
a manager and personal trainer at the L.A. Fitness
where Lewis escapes from her hectic schedule
for a quick workout.
Lewis isn't looking for a boyfriend,
but one fine spring day, love is in the air.
So, he bumped into me as I was exiting the gym.
And it happened to be just a happy day,
so, when he did, I smiled, and said, "Excuse me."
And he smiled back.
He complimented my hair, and I kind of flirted with him.
He flirted with me.
And we met for coffee.
Narrator: Lewis now believes the bump was a ruse.
But at the time, it seemed like a harmless one.
She's flattered, and charmed.
He said he had graduated from Oxford University.
He'd been a Navy SEAL.
His mother had passed away.
He had two children, and was divorced.
Narrator: Lewis is impressed.
Well, he was beautiful.
He was handsome, well-spoken.
He was educated.
I mean, what woman wouldn't, you know,
sit up when someone says they graduated from Oxford.
Narrator: Intriguingly, despite Lewis' long career
and high visibility in "Black-ish,"
Tony Wilson also says he's unfamiliar with Lewis' work
on stage and screen.
Is his professed ignorance a power move?
Lewis: When he said he didn't know me as an actress,
I believed him, in that he was in England.
Narrator: Within weeks,
Wilson sweeps Jenifer Lewis off her feet.
She finds her personal... And now exclusive...
Trainer is a bona fide renaissance man,
a real-life Indiana Jones.
Yes, the former Navy SEAL is an Oxford grad,
but he's also an author, theology professor at UCLA,
Biblical studies, archeologist.
By all appearances, Tony Wilson is a catch.
According to Lewis, Wilson is deeply religious.
And his claims are credible.
He shows her his writings, and when she checks online,
his books are available on Amazon.
Nothing about him made me not think
he hadn't graduated from Oxford.
Narrator: A good visual doesn't hurt, either,
as Jenifer finds when she opens the door one day
to find "Tony" in full military garb,
replete with the Navy SEALs trident
to wow his famous girlfriend.
He wore his uniform here,
and said he had just trained some young Navy SEALs.
He brought medals to my house, and said this is the one Clinton
pinned on me after a special task force.
Narrator: And to top it all off,
turns out, they're both in the movie business.
He says he's a motion picture sound designer
for blockbuster films like "Jurassic Park" and "King Kong."
What's not to believe?
He seems to know his way around Hollywood
as well as Jenifer.
We would be driving near a studio,
and he would say things like,
"That's the building that we worked on with 'Jurassic Park.'"
Narrator: but his real passion isn't fame, he tells Jenifer.
It's fortune. He's a mogul in the making.
With all his industry know-how,
he's created a specialized sound effects company,
Ultimate FX.
And, he says, he already has multi-million dollar prospects
in the works with blue chip clients like
ABC and EA Sports.
Ultimate FX is ready to launch into the stratosphere.
He just needs to find the right investors.
The graduating class of 2015!
Narrator: It's an exciting time for Jenifer Lewis.
And to the graduates who majored in theater arts...
[ Cheering ]
don't think that I'm not aware
that you are now my competition.
Narrator: But it's also a fragile time.
Lewis: In all of that, movies, and television,
and commencement speeches,
my mother just happened to be ill at the time that I met Tony.
I was real busy.
So, basically, I was not paying attention.
Narrator: Though in court statements, Wilson will later deny
that his relationship with Lewis was ever intimate,
his texts to her, calling her
"the future Mrs. Wilson," imply a serious romance.
"The reason I don't want to know about you
or see your work is to know for certain I love you,
and nothing else.
It is my hope we get to a place
where we never have to think about cash
but the peace it brings."
One of my girlfriends, one night, she came in,
and she was like, "Jenny's in love.
Jenny's in love. Jenny's in love."
Well, I was, I kind of told her, "No, I'm not in love.
I'm in a relationship, but I'm not in love yet," you know?
Narrator: But when he introduces Jenifer to his children,
she melts.
Lewis: When I saw how beautiful they were,
smart and lovely, I, uh, softened.
And he built up this fantasy world, and I started thinking,
"Could I live a normal life?
Could I actually marry and raise two children...
Help raise two children?"
And I was like, "you know, why not?"
Narrator: Wilson offers undying devotion,
and a comfortable, if conventional, life together.
Less than three months after meeting Antonio Wilson,
Lewis is sold.
He started to tell me about his sound business,
and I agreed to invest in it.
It sounded great.
I looked it up on the Internet.
Looked legit. So, I invested.
Narrator: To the tune of $50,000.
According to court papers, he instructs her to write "gift"
in the memo line of her checks, instead of "investment."
And there's something else.
Lewis says that, despite all their fun times
and talk of the future,
she's still just a bit ambivalent.
There's a nagging instinct
that she can't put her finger on.
Something is off.
It was like... it was shattered.
Something wasn't right.
There was no alignment in the feelings, you see?
Narrator: But when Jenifer confesses she's scared
by the pace of their whirlwind romance,
Wilson, who's courted her as a knight in shining armor,
Responds with an un-chivalrous ultimatum.
"Love your money or me, to be blunt."
Katzenstein: That's pressure.
And by pressuring a victim to pay quickly,
you not only get the money,
but you cut off the victim's opportunities to check on
what's going on, and check your claims.
That type of pressure is also a red flag.
Narrator: Coming up, a friend of Jenifer Lewis goes sleuthing,
and learns the stunning truth about Antonio Mariot Wilson.
When I met, him he had just gotten out of jail!
♪♪
Narrator: By September of 2015, actress Jenifer Lewis
is ramping up a whirlwind romance with Antonio Wilson...
Mr. Too-good-To-Be-True.
"Just wanted you to know you are being thought of.
Love you."
Whatever his faults, Tony is her rock.
She announces she's going to marry him,
and plans to pour tens of thousands more
into his Ultimate FX sound software business.
Concerned, and suspicious, friends gently caution.
What does she really know about Antonio Wilson?
A close girlfriend starts sleuthing
Antonio Wilson's online footprint.
Lewis: She went home, and researched him,
went deeper into the Internet, looking.
And then, she found Brice Carrington.
His picture. In my face.
Charged for fraud.
When I met him, he had just gotten out of jail!
Oh my God, it was...
it was beyond shocking.
Narrator: She recalls wondering just how many other people
her then-boyfriend had ripped off.
But as she'll soon discover,
Antonio Wilson has been slipping into new personas,
and inventing fantastical fictions for decades.
♪♪
In 2005, in the affluent Bay Area city
of Pleasanton, California, Antonio Wilson
goes by a different name... Brice Carrington.
It's a name he penned himself,
and it sounds like a soap opera character.
Brice Carrington finds a home to match the name
in a $2.7 million estate
in the exclusive Ruby Hill subdivision.
He enlists mortgage broker Clay Cunningham
to help him ink the deal.
Cunningham: Beautiful home.
6,100 square feet, four-car garage,
huge acre worth the land,
backed up to an 18-hole golf course,
which was the allure for that private community.
Narrator: Reviewing his new client's financials,
Cunningham sees large deposits,
but no regular paychecks.
Brice tells him that's because he works
in the movie industry,
and that's not a regular 9-to-5 job.
I'm like, "How do you just get paid, like, $60,000,
and $40,000, and $90,000?"
And he goes, "That's the way it goes in Hollywood.
It's piecework."
So, everything kind of...
fell into place, and had a reasonable,
plausible explanation.
Narrator: As Cunningham works the deal, he goes back and forth
as to whether his client is legit.
On the one hand, his style seems to match his story.
Carrington zips around town in a revolving lineup of luxury cars.
There's his custom Hummer H2, Mercedes SL500R,
and the pride of his fleet, a black Lamborghini Murcielago.
On the other hand, there are red flags.
Carrington is quick to brag
that he's an Oscar-winning sound designer,
creating all the signature sound effects
for blockbuster movies "Spiderman,"
"King Kong," "Fantastic Four," "Jurassic park."
He said that he created the sound for the T-Rex
on "Jurassic Park."
Look out!
So, I went to the movies, and watched "Jurassic Park."
When the credits start rolling,
I'm like, "I'm gonna read every name."
And i want to see if Brice Carrington
is on there somewhere. And it wasn't.
Narrator: Gary Rydstrom is the real
seven-time-Oscar-winning sound artist.
But Brice Carrington breezily explains
why his own name isn't in the credits.
"Oh, that's typical, because, you know,
we're... we're the back office.
You know, we put the sounds together,
and the producers put it... The film together."
Narrator: Carrington builds a friendship with Cunningham...
Perhaps strategically.
Cunningham: We took rides in very expensive cars, like his Lamborghini.
He seemed to be a very nice guy.
Narrator: Any lingering doubts Cunningham has quickly evaporate
when he visits Carrington's house,
and spots three gleaming Oscars in Carrington's office.
Cunningham: And I'm like, "Wow. Can I touch it?
Can I pick one up?"
And he goes, "Yeah, but put those little
white gloves on first,
because I don't want your fingerprints
to ruin the polish on the statuette."
Narrator: Cunningham is starstruck,
and convinced that Brice Carrington
is the real deal.
And, as he will do years later with Jenifer Lewis,
Antonio Wilson makes his pitch.
Though big-screen sound wizardry is his claim to fame,
his software business, dubbed Ultimate FX,
is on the brink of taking off.
Carrington says he's creating a software mixing board
that allows everyday folks to download
Hollywood-caliber sound effects into their own home movies
with a few clicks.
He doctors up impressive-looking contracts
with Pinnacle Software to show Cunningham.
Cunningham: And then, he offered me the opportunity to be an investor,
because he was going to make big money.
I trust, but verify.
I verified, even more than a normal person,
the other investors, would verify.
I did his lousy mortgage.
Narrator: Cunningham invests $100,000, then another $200,000.
And he isn't alone.
According to court documents, at least 13 investors
fork over more than $4.5 million.
In reality, that's what is funding Brice's
glamorous lifestyle, say prosecutors.
Defense attorney Randy Sue Pollack recalls
that her former client knows most of his targets well.
A lot of the people were people who lived in his community.
I mean, they had money.
And they had the money to invest.
And there's just... it's greed.
Everyone wants more money.
Narrator: Prosecutors allege that, while Carrington will spend
a few hundred thousand on developing a basic concept,
he has zero credits in the film industry.
But who needs experience when you're a great hype man?
He touts his a-list movie work in PR listings,
and flaunts "polishing my statuettes" on twitter.
Up next, Hollywood's had it
with Brice Carrington's credit poaching.
He hurt our community.
He hurt, you know, a lot of people in the community.
Narrator: But will he get away with his lies?
Crime does pay. That's what you're saying.
♪♪
Narrator: Brice Carrington is shamelessly promoting himself
as an Oscar-winning sound designer.
He says it, I see it, then "Wow. You got it."
And I wouldn't have paid attention to a sound engineer.
You know, if you'd... If he told me won for acting,
I would know that.
But, you know, it didn't seem like
something really far afield.
Narrator: But while most people might not catch on
to his made-up credits,
Hollywood's actual sound community knows the truth.
Everybody knew that he wasn't for real.
We just considered him to be just, you know, a jerk...
Just a guy making up stuff because he can.
Narrator: Charles Maynes is one of the real sonic maestros
behind dozens of iconic films,
including "Fantastic Four" and "Spiderman."
I mean, I think people were really offended
when he took the credit that he did.
Narrator: Beyond offensive, Carrington is downright absurd
when he advertises in Hollywood with this photo,
claiming he uses a lion's roar
in all of his "signature sound effects."
He literally had made these bus billboard posters,
and it was like somebody took a picture of it,
and was like, "Oh. my God." You know, "Really?"
Narrator: But by 2007, Maynes has had enough,
and calls Carrington out.
Maynes: Somewhere along the lines, I had heard
that he'd claimed credit for working on "Spiderman."
I was able to actually get in touch with him.
And I just said, you know, like, "This really isn't right.
You shouldn't be claiming credit
for stuff you weren't involved in."
And, you know, "Please stop."
In an industry trade statement,
Carrington writes a rambling retraction,
admitting that he's never worked on a feature film,
then claiming he's simply creating
his own versions of well-known movie sound effects,
and selling these alternatives to the public.
"Like, in 'Jurassic Park, '
we make a T-Rex using hogs in water,
lion growls, a lawn mower, and elephant roars.
That is my version."
His explanation lands with a thud.
I think, you know, anybody in the community
who saw that was like going, "Yeah, right."
It's total BS.
There's no evidence that these alternatives even exist.
Narrator: The sound community is entirely unaware
that he's pirating their credits to steal millions of dollars.
And he's not about to stop... until 2009,
when Internal Revenue Service agents come calling.
Carrington's tax filings are in arrears.
And U.S. attorneys take up a criminal prosecution.
Up until now, Carrington's mortgage-broker
turned Ultimate FX investor, Clay Cunningham,
believes his friend is going to make him rich.
Everything seemed legit... Until it wasn't.
Narrator: When IRS investigators show up with questions
about his role in financing Carrington's house,
his heart sinks.
It's an unnerving feeling, to open the door,
and have two IRS agents.
And they were just drilling me, for four hours.
I had a wife. I had a son.
Just a working Joe, trying to make it.
And I thought this was gonna be my "make it."
Narrator: Though they immediately clear Cunningham
of any wrongdoing, it's cold comfort.
He realizes he's been taken.
And he says the ripple effects are painful.
What a horrible thing to go through, and lose that money,
and being involved with something like this,
and set my family back, and be a catalyst of my divorce,
my bankruptcy.
Lost a home, lost my child at 13,
and I ended up back in Michigan, where I was born and raised.
But it's out.
I no longer have to hide it.
Narrator: As Carrington's court-appointed counsel,
Randy Pollack discovers her new client is full of surprises.
First, Brice Carrington is also Antonio Wilson.
Worse, Antonio Wilson has skipped out
on another fraud case in Texas
that he hasn't disclosed to anyone.
Pollock: But it was the same type of case,
and his claim was he... He didn't know about it.
But he did, and it was under his other name of Antonio Wilson.
Narrator: Carrington pleads "guilty" to tax evasion
and federal wire fraud for scamming Cunningham
and other investors.
The IRS confiscates his sprawling house and fancy cars,
and he agrees to pay $4.1 million in restitution
to victims of his Ultimate FX investment scam.
Carrington is sentenced to four years in prison.
And there's a cherry on top.
Remember those Oscars he showed Cunningham...
The ones that sealed the deal?
They're fake.
Carrington paid a local jeweler $52,000
to create exact replicas.
Now, in addition to prison,
he has to pay a $15,000 copyright infringement fine
to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Clay Cunningham, left to rebuild his life,
recalls angrily addressing the judge
at his former friend's sentencing.
Cunningham: I have no more faith in your judicial system.
Crime does pay. That's what you're saying.
Behind bars, Brice Carrington is reborn
as Oxford University theologian Dr. Tony Mariot,
and launches a hustle as a religious author,
self-publishing "Behind the Faith: Revelation."
He's released in 2013, after serving three and a half years.
♪♪
On September 11th, 2015,
within hours of her friend revealing the devastating truth
about her potential fiancé,
Lewis is rocked by another crushing blow.
Not only did I find out that he was a con artist,
but I found it out on the day my mother died.
Narrator: Though still reeling from grief,
that night, Lewis fires off a Final Text To Tony Wilson...
"Tony, I have been given some information
that is beyond disturbing.
I need to figure things out.
Please do not contact me at all."
She notifies police,
and is eventually granted a temporary restraining order.
But in a civil complaint,
Lewis says police tell her she doesn't have a case.
That's because Wilson instructed Jenifer to write "gift"
in the memo line for her investments.
And according to police, she says, that four-Letter word
is Wilson's get-out-of-jail-free card.
Though under fraudulent circumstances,
she gave him the money.
Police do not arrest Wilson.
I found out I had to get justice myself.
Lewis alerts L.A. Fitness,
and tries to have him fired,
but alleges in a later civil complaint
that Wilson keeps his job.
And she is told to "stop making accusations without proof."
It's an assault.
You're humiliated.
It's the impact of a tsunami,
when somebody gets that close to you,
and you find out that it's all a lie.
Everything's a lie.
And I will say, God knows I should have seen it.
Narrator: Coming up, Jenifer Lewis knows the awful truth
about Antonio Wilson,
and she's making sure everyone else does, too.
I'm sure Tony was confident that,
being a celebrity, I would never tell.
It would be a scandal.
Wrong girl.
♪♪
Narrator: Living in Santa Monica,
Antonio Wilson has scaled back from his flashy days
in Northern California.
Instead of a golf course estate,
he stays off the radar in an upscale condo
blocks away from the beach.
But after his scam on Jenifer Lewis goes bust,
Antonio Wilson is strapped for cash.
He reboots with a new persona... Altruistic businessman...
And a new company he calls "A Second Life."
Announcer: Second Life's application will let you choose
the service you need.
Narrator: Wilson says it's a software application,
featuring videos to help viewers get government benefits
like welfare and medical care.
Announcer: There is no method of simplifying the explanation
of how to get public assistance
for those who find it difficult to understand the process.
Second Life's application is a solution to this challenge.
Narrator: And just like before, Wilson targets wealthy,
successful women as investors in his platform.
Prosecutors say he hooks up with them
through dating apps such as Bumble.
They were not vulnerable, easy targets.
The women, by and large,
were smart, successful, sophisticated women.
He just moved very quickly.
I think he could identify what they were looking for,
and, within a day or two, were talking to him on the telephone,
and within that week, going on their first date with him.
Narrator: Within a few dates, each new love interest
gets the same smooth script
featuring Wilson's many talents...
Author, Oxford grad, and enterprising entrepreneur.
He hints that big investors are already jockeying for position
to buy into his company.
He would start going into these investment firms
that wanted to give him $30 million for it,
and that he was out raising $10 million dollars,
and all these people wanted in on his new app.
And then, he would say,
"If you get in early, before all this happens,
you know, you will own a certain number of shares
before the price goes up."
Narrator: While investigators say Wilson does spend
a few thousand dollars
in web development and promotional work,
A Second Life's shares are utterly worthless.
But it all boiled down to lies, lies, lies.
"Give me your money. Here's some lies."
Narrator: Between 2015 and 2018,
prosecutors say that Wilson rakes in
at least $300,000 from girlfriends turned investors.
It isn't a billion-dollar heist,
but, as Charles Maynes recalls,
years after his own Brice Carrington encounter,
he might be chasing a bigger thrill.
You know, I kept thinking back to the film
"Catch Me If You Can."
He was extremely skilled at deceiving people.
Narrator: Former assistant U.S. attorney Alex Wyman,
who will later prosecute Wilson,
thinks there's another motivation.
Greed played a factor.
He wanted to live above his means.
He wanted more than he had.
Need, I think, certainly played a factor.
He was a convicted felon.
He turned to fraud as a way of making money.
But most of all, I think he was a predator.
Narrator: And it seems he's a sucker for the spotlight.
Slipping into his Dr. Wilson, Oxford academic character,
he promotes himself as a learned scholar.
And he records himself as a self-styled Indiana Jones,
implying he's in Israel and the Middle East
on archeological digs.
He would have videos of himself out on dig sites,
you know, looking for, like, antiquities and stuff.
He would be in the dirt, you know, with a little brush.
And I don't know where he would go to take these pictures,
but I think it was probably out in the Mojave Desert.
Dr. Mariot Wilson gains enough academic notoriety
that writers even seek him out for interviews.
He offers readers sage pearls of wisdom... "Be honest."
Though, while he's busy wooing women
to invest in A Second Life, he's still a married man.
Married with two kids.
I'm not really sure how that works.
Narrator: And remember how he told Jenifer Lewis he was divorced?
That's just one story.
Other versions are downright gruesome.
And at the time, they knew he had kids,
but he always had some sob story about, you know, his wife,
usually that she was murdered, or in a car accident.
And another one where she was murdered
in front of him and his children.
Narrator: But one by one,
investors are beginning to notice cracks
in Wilson's stories.
When a girlfriend asks where her $150,000 dollar
investment has gone,
he tap dances around an explanation.
He would give her an excel document of some business
expenses that he was doing,
but he never quite had the right answer for her.
So, she was starting to get very suspicious.
And he never answered her question
of what he was actually doing with her money,
and when she'd be able to get her money back.
Narrator: Once Wilson's victims have handed over their money,
he avoids their questions, moves on,
and apparently counts on them to stay quiet.
A lot of victims in romance scams are ashamed.
They're embarrassed that they were conned by someone
that they trusted, someone they were romantically involved in.
Narrator: But Jenifer Lewis isn't ashamed anymore.
She's mad as hell.
Most people would've just wanted to go push away from that.
Not her.
Narrator: And this Hollywood icon is about to turn the tables.
She not only took out Antonio,
she absolutely vaporized that guy.
She brought down the wrath.
Narrator: Want more greed?
Follow us on Instagram, connect on Facebook,
and listen to the "American Greed" podcast
wherever you get your podcasts.
We'll be right back.
♪♪
[ Piano playing ]
♪♪
Narrator: By early 2017, Jenifer Lewis is on a mission.
This man came into my life, into my home,
into my bedroom and then into me.
I was embarrassed.
I felt like a victim... Which, I don't like that word.
I believe in fighting back.
I believe in getting justice.
Narrator: And she has a plan.
She hires a private investigator,
files a scathing civil suit
against L.A. Fitness and Antonio Wilson,
and sets the stage to play the player.
Jasmine Brand, whose namesake entertainment site
gets wind of the civil suit, publishes an exclusive.
Brand: So, typically, when we break a big story,
I'm always nervous about,
how is it going to be perceived?
You know, what are fans going to think?
Are we going to get backlash?
She's an established actress, and she was a victim?
It didn't really make sense to the average person,
but it was true,
and everyone was really kind of shocked by it.
Narrator: Lewis lights up her former boyfriend on TMZ
and social media interviews.
This is a horrible man, and he...
You know, I really got hurt.
It was very painful.
Interviewer: Are you suing L.A. Fitness?
I most certainly am.
I'm sure Tony Mariot was confident that,
being a celebrity, I would never tell.
It would be a scandal.
Wrong girl.
No. I tell everything.
I told him, I said, "You [bleep] with the wrong girl.'
"You [bleep] with the wrong girl,
'cause all I got is time and money."
When you tell, it is so freeing.
You're not holding it in.
She was brutally honest.
And, you know, she said,
"Because of this experience, you know,
I had to go therapy again. I battled depression again."
Those are real feelings.
And the fact that she's in the public eye,
and she talked about that, kind of speaks to
this is something that could happen to any woman,
and this is something that can affect you.
Narrator: As the news gains traction,
Lewis finds an army of supporters,
and a hard-as-nails champion named Don Shipley.
That's the power of people like Jenifer Lewis,
the power of the Internet.
It works both ways.
The phonies use it, you might as well use it, as well.
Narrator: Far from Hollywood,
at his veteran's retreat in rural Maryland,
Shipley is a retired Navy SEAL senior chief.
He's also obsessed with "stolen valor,"
the act of military impersonation
that is a federal crime.
A lot of the lies are very easy to understand.
The guy goes to the VFW.
He's a veteran. He goes to the VFW.
He has a few shots of Bruce Lee at the bar,
and he drops the SEAL bomb.
And he can't get out of it, because people have heard him.
Shipley publishes a website
featuring a Phony SEAL of the Week.
He has defrocked thousands.
I'm good at it, and I, uh, don't enjoy doing it,
but I enjoy taking down guys that need taken down.
I think I'll be doing this
till I close my eyes for the final time.
When Jenifer Lewis goes public,
many people see that Wilson claims to be a SEAL.
Some of them write to Shipley, asking him to find the truth.
Shipley: Navy SEAL training is an unclassified Navy school.
It's like being a cook in the Navy, a gunner's mate.
And records are kept of every guy that's ever graduated
in any form of underwater demolition or SEAL team.
And it's right at my fingertips, couple of keystrokes.
Narrator: Amazingly, Shipley realizes
that he has investigated Wilson years before,
back when Brice Carrington was first making his phony claims.
Then, and now,
Antonio Wilson has never been a SEAL.
But he is a Navy veteran.
Shipley: He did seven years. He got out as an E-5.
He had deployed with those air wings overseas a couple times.
There was no combat.
There were no personal awards that he had.
But by everything on his record, he was a good sailor.
Narrator: Good sailor, better liar.
But not good enough to outrun the truth forever.
Wilson earns a four-star excoriation
in a two-parter Don Shipley writes
for Phony SEAL of the Week.
Antonio [bleep] with the wrong woman, is what he did.
Now you're out, and everybody else knows you're a phony,
and everybody who hasn't heard about the term "phony Navy SEAL"
before, that watched, knows it now.
Narrator: Meanwhile, after months of civil litigation,
Lewis obtains a $13,000 judgment
against L.A. Fitness that she donates to charity.
A moral victory.
L.A. Fitness has not responded to "American Greed,"
but, in a statement,
claimed Wilson passed their background check,
and denied wrongdoing.
By 2018, when federal prosecutors and the FBI
take up the case,
Wilson is still selling ladies with his Second Life scheme.
But he's no match for the legal comeuppance
that's headed his way.
The FBI uses a trap and trace technique,
identifying call patterns,
and reaching out to the women he's swindled,
including Jenifer Lewis.
They came right to my door. It was kind of cool.
The FBI comes to your door, and goes, "FBI."
It reminded me of "Dragnet,"
where he would say, "Just the facts, ma'am."
And one of the female FBI members said,
"Uh, Ms. Lewis, just the facts."
I was like, "Okay. Okay."
And more women are coming forward,
with stories eerily similar to Jenifer's.
One of Wilson's targets even offers to record
a call with him,
asking for her $75,000 investment back.
This victim actually called a meeting with Antonio Wilson,
and gave him a very big sob story
about why she needed her money back.
And he actually did give her her money back.
But she was the only victim
that actually ever saw any money back.
Narrator: But it still doesn't erase his criminal culpability.
If you're intentionally and knowingly telling lies
to somebody to get them to invest in a business
that doesn't even exist,
absolutely, that's still criminal.
Narrator: Antonio Wilson has not responded to "American Greed."
Though, in later court documents,
Wilson expresses regret,
he disputes at least some of the events
that the women describe to prosecutors.
Up next, the feds close in,
and there's yet another surprise in store.
He started conning people at 15 years old.
♪♪
Narrator: Federal Investigators comb through
Antonio Wilson's records, and his bank accounts,
to verify his victims' statements.
And in this type of fraud, it's very relevant
to review the money coming in, and where does that money go.
What does he spend it on?
Does he spend it on actual business expenses,
and growing his app, like he's telling the victims?
Or is he spending it on personal,
uh, expenses, which he was.
Narrator: And following up on Jenifer Lewis'
preliminary legwork,
they confirm perhaps the most unsettling discovery of all...
Most of Antonio Wilson's adult life
is a road map of coast-to-coast crimes.
See, he was very smart.
Not smart enough not to get caught.
He started conning people at 15 years old.
Narrator: In Florida, Wilson makes the papers in 1988 for earlier,
less sophisticated versions of his romance scams.
And makes headlines again
after appearing on an Orlando morning show,
claiming to be NFL pro Dokie Williams.
But for all his dramatic flair and intriguing incarnations,
all of Antonio Wilson's con-artist characters
are finally catching up to him.
In early 2020, the FBI calls Wilson's cellphone.
Dress: At that point, he didn't know what we knew.
I found it interesting that he just started rambling on,
and he used the word, he wasn't doing anything "evil."
And we hadn't even talked much at that point.
We just asked him about his business.
Narrator: But when she informs him that he's the target
of a criminal investigation, Wilson lawyers up.
And I'm wondering if it's 'cause he was in the same
exact position a handful of years ago,
and knows the process, knows what to expect,
and if the FBI's calling,
then, he probably knew his game was up.
Narrator: Within days, he's ready to make a plea deal.
In May of 2020, Wilson pleads guilty
to a count of wire fraud.
And Jenifer Lewis celebrates on Facebook.
"Other women who have been abused by this predator
came forward, and I am so proud of them.
Sometimes, justice does prevail."
Narrator: But before his sentencing hearing,
Wilson doubles, then triples down on his lies,
claiming to be a Navy chief.
Prosecutors enter into evidence the DD-214 military service
form he's falsified, listing embellished
or made-up training and awards.
And there's more.
This appears to be a degree.
Wilson even submits easily disproven diplomas from Oxford.
The probation officer contacted Oxford,
and Oxford had absolutely no record of Wilson
ever being a part of any of their schools.
It was kind of curious that he submitted this,
given that, as part of the plea agreement,
he admitted that he didn't actually graduate from Oxford.
Narrator: On March 10th, 2021,
instead of the 30 months prosecutors ask for,
judge Stephen Wilson exceeds the range,
sentencing him to eight years in federal prison.
And he's ordered to pay $272,000 dollars in restitution.
No, he's good.
But you're not better than me.
And I hope he's watching.
Gotcha, didn't I?
Yeah.
And I'm gonna get you again.
If you get out, I'm gonna get you again.
I think all of the ladies in this story
kind of got the last word,
you know, 'cause look who's behind bars.
Narrator: Jenifer Lewis has moved on to a new starring role
as a formidable C.E.O.
And her own real-life experience
has inspired Lewis to lend her voice
to a documentary for a family seeking justice.
Reporter: Joining me now is actress Jenifer Lewis.
She's also the narrator and executive producer
of "Finding Kendrick Johnson."
Narrator: Lewis says she never expects to see
her investment money returned,
even after Antonio Wilson is released from prison in 2028.
He could be a good person,
and choose to do the right thing,
and he continues to do everything opposite of that.
You know, he deserves to sit in prison for eight years,
and think about that,
and hopefully make better decisions when he comes out.
Antonio's not gonna make the mistakes
he made this time, but he's not done.
I mean, he is gonna get out of prison.
He's got to eat again. And he's good at it.
And if Don Shipley's right...
We don't mind coming after you again.
Captions by VITAC...
♪♪